South Manchester Book Group

We're a friendly and open reading group, and we share a love of books and discussing them with other people. We meet every fortnight, but you don't have to come to them all. It's dead simple; choose a book you like the sound of, read it (or even part of it) beforehand and turn up with a few ideas and money for beer / wine / flirtinis. It's very informal, and we're quite a friendly bunch. We meet at a pub in Didsbury around 8 pm, and can usually be found on the table with the books and flirtinis.

If you enjoy talking about books over a quiet drink, then please join us — new members are very welcome.

Our reading list, past, present, and future, appears here and a short version of what we’re reading next is here.

Thursday 29 June 2017

The Children of Men — P D James

Book cover for P D James's The Children of Men in the South Manchester, Chorlton, and Didsbury book groupThe year is 2021. No child has been born for twenty-five years. The human race faces extinction. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiat, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably, as he faces agonising choices, which could affect the future of mankind.

This week's book is P D James's The Children of Men and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

Thursday 15 June 2017

The Handmaid's Tale — Margaret Atwood

Book cover for Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale in the South Manchester, Chorlton, and Didsbury book groupThe Republic of Gilead offers Offred only one function: to breed. If she deviates, she will, like dissenters, be hanged at the wall or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire - neither Offred's nor that of the two men on which her future hangs.

This week's book is Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

Thursday 1 June 2017

I'm Travelling Alone — Samuel Bjork

Book cover for Samuel Bjork's I'm Travelling Alone in the South Manchester, Chorlton, and Didsbury book groupWhen the body of a young girl is found hanging from a tree, the only clue the police have is an airline tag around her neck. It reads ‘I’m travelling alone’.

In response, police investigator Holger Munch is immediately charged with assembling a special homicide unit. But to complete the team, he must track down his former partner, Mia Krüger – a brilliant but troubled detective – who has retreated to a solitary island with plans to kill herself.

Reviewing the file, Mia finds something new – a thin line carved into the dead girl’s fingernail: the number 1. She knows that this is only the beginning. To save other children from the same fate, she must find a way to cast aside her own demons and stop this murderer from becoming a serial killer.

This week's book is Samuel Bjork's I'm Travelling Alone and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.