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. We can usually be found on the table with the books and flirtinis.

We've become rather popular recently so unfortunately aren't accepting new members just at the moment. But please drop us a line on the Contact Us form and we'll add you to our mailing list.

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

Unread Books

A list of books we've not read — please also see the contagion-themed list on our hilarious and informative contagion pages.  Also anything by Margaret Atwood or Mick Herron, obviously.

A Big Book of Reassuring FactsMost People at the Bookgroup
The Evil of AmbiguityMost People at the Bookgroup
Y Caer Pedd Ei Ar — The Ancient Welsh Art of Speed ReadingGareth Morgan
Volting Ambition: Getting to the Top in the Electricity IndustryPeter Roddis
Be Limp: Relaxing on DirigiblesCassandra Smith
Hurdy GurdyChristopher Wilson
Incomparable WorldS I Martin
The ComediansGraham Greene
Open WaterCaleb Azumah Nelson
ApeirogonColum McCann
The Dancing FaceMike Phillips
The Essex SerpentSarah Perry
Mr CadmusPeter Ackroyd
HawksmoorPeter Ackroyd
Burial RitesHannah Kent
The Cadfael Chronicles: A Morbid Taste for BonesEllis Peters
The PrestigeChristopher Priest
The Tenant of Wildfell HallAnne Brontë
Swimming Against the Current: The Importance of Electrical Safety in Public BathsPeter Roddis
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and DisappearedJonas Jonasson
MiddlesexJeffrey Eugenides
Howl's Moving CastleDiana Wynne Jones
Hiding Behind Things: A PrimerAlison Lean
Behind the Scenes at the MuseumKate Atkinson
Histeria: The History of WisteriaTom Lean
Real TigersMick Herron
The Ballad of the Sad CaféCarson McCullers
Roger the Cabin Boy: Man-management at SeaGareth Morgan
AusterlitzW G Sebald
The Time Traveller's WifeAudrey Niffenegger
Lost in Nepal — An Adventurer's Guide to The All-You-Can-Eat Buffets of KatmanduPeter Roddis
The Day of the JackalFrederick Forsyth
The OdysseyHomer / Emily Wilson
The Lying RoomNicci French
The Whole TruthCara Hunter
Ohm Alone: Optimizing Domestic WiringPeter Roddis
Tome Alone: Stealing a Library, Book by Book, Map by MapTom Lean
The PenelopiadMargaret Atwood
Surfeit of LampreysNgaio Marsh
Gagging for It: First Steps for the First Time BrewerTom Lean
Gagging on It: First Aid for the First Time BrewerTom Lean
TyllDaniel Kehlmann
A Bend in the RiverV S Naipaul
O Henry ! The Elimination of Inductance from Electrical CircuitsPeter Roddis
Two Faces of JanuaryPatricia Highsmith
The Master and MargaritaMikhail Bulgakov
The Narrow Road to the Deep NorthRichard Flanagan
Gravity's RainbowThomas Pynchon
All Hands on Deck: The Importance of Clarity of Annunciation Whilst Giving Orders at SeaGareth Morgan
Lord JimJoseph Conrad
The Tin DrumGünter Grass
The Erotic Majesty of BridgesTom Lean
Any Old IronAnthony Burgess
Dead SoulsNikolai Gogol
I, ClaudiusRobert Graves
Tarzan of the ApesEdgar Rice Burroughs
FountainheadAyn Rand
What Am I Like ? Similes for BeginnersTom Lean
The Right Stuff — Tom Wolfe
The Call of the WildJack London
The Snow LeopardPeter Matthiessen
Off Your Trolley: How To Avoid Answering Moral DilemmasTom Lean
The DispossessedUrsula K LeGuin
It Can't Happen HereSinclair Lewis
Grief is the Thing with FeathersMax Porter
The Fatal TreeJack Arnott
The Good PeopleHannah Kent
The Dead ZoneStephen King
The AwakeningKate Chopin
Sideburns for Fun and ProfitTom Lean
The UnitNinni Holmqvist
Making HistoryStephen Fry
Making Up HistoryTom Lean
The Woods, The Jungle, The SeaSamuel Bigglesworth
Harriet SaidBeryl Bainbridge
The Loney — Andrew Michael Hurley
Tales of the UnexpectedRoald Dahl
The Heart Goes LastMargaret Atwood
Boring: A History of Drills and DrillingTom Lean
ScoopEvelyn Waugh
Billy LiarKeith Waterhouse
A Farewell To ArmsErnest Hemingway
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s NestKen Kesey
Learning To TalkHilary Mantel
The Black DahliaJames Ellroy
Crisps: A Users' GuideTom Lean
The Rotters’ ClubJonathan Coe
Water for ElephantsSara Gruen
The Sound and the FuryWilliam Faulkner
Under The VolcanoMalcolm Lowry
The Raw Shark TextsSteven Hall
The Rum DiaryHunter S. Thompson
Cloud AtlasDavid Mitchell
Fifty Shades of Black: Fashion Tips for HistoriansTom Lean
The Painted VeilSomerset Maugham
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-timeMark Haddon
The Haunting of Hill HouseShirley Jackson
Into The Darkest CornerElizabeth Haynes
We Need To Talk About KevinLionel Shriver
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs TonightAlexandra Fuller
Hysterical: A History of the ClergyTom Lean
RoomEmma Donoghue
Histerative: A History of HistoryTom Lean


Please note this list is not comprehensive, and mayn't be accurate.