When we read a good book, something magical can happen. Locked down and in our own home we lose ourselves inside a fictional world, created by the imagination of the author but transformed into a virtual reality by our emotional response to the written word.

And when we reach the end of a novel which has pulled us into its embrace, we feel the need to share that experience with someone else. This surely is why we recommend books. “You really must read this. Here, borrow my copy and tell me what you think.”

Reading may start as a solitary occupation, but being a member of a book group allows us to share our experiences, good and bad, and find out how other people reacted. Maybe they hated the plot which kept you enthralled. Or maybe you found what others considered to be elegant prose to have been pretentious.

Jesmond Library book group meets on the second Wednesday of every month at 7pm. Currently meetings are held remotely by Zoom, but we hope to be able to meet in person in the library later in the year as and when this becomes possible.

The next meeting is on January 13th when the book under discussion is ‘The Vanishing Futurist’ by Charlotte Hobson.

Next month, February 10th, we will be discussing ‘The One Hundred Year Old Man who climbed out of the window’ by Jonas Jonasson.

10 March: Matt Haig ‘How to stop time’

14 April: Martin James Cooper ‘The Persistence of Memory’

For a Zoom invitation, email events@jesmondlibrary.org

New members are very welcome!