North and South — Elizabeth Gaskell

“I take it that ‘gentleman’ is a term that only describes a person in his relation to others; but when we speak of him as ‘a man’ , we consider him not merely with regard to his fellow men, but in relation to himself, — to life — to time — to eternity. A cast-away lonely as Robinson Crusoe — a prisoner immured in a dungeon for life — nay, even a saint in Patmos, has his endurance, his strength, his faith, best described by being spoken of as ‘a man’. I am rather weary of this word ‘gentlemanly’ which seems to me to be often inappropriately used, and often too with such exaggerated distortion of meaning, while the full simplicity of the noun ‘man’, and the adjective ‘manly’ are unacknowledged.”

This week's book is North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell and we'll not be meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

Homage to Catalonia — George Orwell

“Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism as I understand it” wrote Orwell following his experiences as a militiaman in the Spanish Civil War, and chronicled in Homage to Catalonia. Here he brings to bear all the force of his humanity, passion, and clarity, describing with bitter intensity the bright hopes and cynical betrayals of that chaotic episode: the revolutionary euphoria of Barcelona, the courage of ordinary Spanish men and women he fought alongside, the terror and confusion of the front, his near-fatal bullet wound and the vicious treachery of his supposed allies.

“All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.”

This week's book is Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell and we'll not be meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

Wuthering Heights — Emily Brontë

“I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the colour of my mind. And this is one: I'm going to tell it — but take care not to smile at any part of it.”

This week's book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and we'll not be meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details. 

Please note change of book caused by the Great Diary Shortage.  Project Hail Mary can be read in June.

 

Things Fall Apart — Chinua Achebe

“Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.

It was deeper and more intimate that the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw.

Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself.”

This week's book is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and we'll not be meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

The Cement Garden — Ian McEwan

“At the back of my mind I had a sense of us sitting about waiting for some terrible event, and then I would remember that it had already happened.”

This week's book is The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan and we'll be not meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

Riders — Jilly Cooper

“‘Hunting’s like adultery,’ he said. ‘Endless hanging about, interspersed with frenzied moments of excitement, very expensive and morally indefensible.’”

To celebrate St Valentine's day, we'll be reading the first in Jilly Cooper's Rutshire Chronices.

This week's book is Riders by Jilly Cooper and we'll be meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

Train Dreams — Dennis Johnson

“The world needs a hermit in the woods as much as a preacher in the pulpit.”

This week's book is Train Dreams by Dennis Johnson and we'll be meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy — John le Carré

“The more identities a man has, the more they express the person they conceal.”

A mole, implanted by Moscow Centre, has infiltrated the highest ranks of the British Intelligence Service, almost destroying it in the process. And so former spymaster George Smiley has been brought out of retirement in order to hunt down the traitor at the very heart of the Circus — even though it may be one of those closest to him.

This week's book is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré and we'll be meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

Hadji Murat — Leo Tolstoy

Hadji Murat, one of the most feared and venerated mountain chiefs in the Caucasian struggle against the Russians, defects from the Muslim rebels after feuding with his ruling imam, Shamil. Hoping to protect his family, he joins the Russians, who accept him but never put their trust in him — and so Murat must find another way to end the struggle.

This week's book is Hadji Murat by Leo Tolstoy and we'll be meeting at Ye Olde Cocke on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl — Belle du Jour

“Time is limited and some opportunities never repeat themselves.”

Belle couldn't find a job after University. Her impressive degree was not paying her rent or buying her food. But after a fantastic threesome with a very rich couple that gave her a ton of money, Belle realized that she could earn more than anyone she knew — becoming a call girl. The rest is history.

Appropriately, our saturnalia, the celebrated Spath-o-thon, will take place at the same time, with a contrastingly puritanical policy of not turning up a random house. Probably.

This week's book is The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl by Belle du Jour and we'll be meeting at Ye Olde Cocke on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

Please note change of book. This is our last book this year, and we meet next on 08 January 2026 for Hadji Murat.

The Essex Serpent — Sarah Perry

“The Essex earth had bucked as if trying to shake off all its towns and villages; for twenty seconds, no more, a series of convulsions that paused once as if breath were being drawn and then began again.”

This week's book is The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry and we'll be meeting at Ye Olde Cocke on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

The Quiet American — Graham Greene

Into the intrigue and violence of 1950s Saigon comes CIA agent Alden Pyle, a young idealistic American sent to promote democracy through a mysterious Third Force.

As Pyle's naive optimism starts to cause bloodshed, his friend Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, finds it hard to stand aside and watch. But even as Fowler intervenes he wonders why: for the greater good, or something altogether more complicated ?

This week's book is The Quiet American by Graham Greene and we'll be meeting at Ye Olde Cocke on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

As we're coming to the end of our reading list, we'll be pitching books at the meeting. You may like to consider the unread books list and the unreadable books list.

Frankenstein — Mary Shelley

“So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein — more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.”

This week's book is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and we'll be meeting at Ye Olde Cocke on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

I Who Have Never Known Men — Jacqueline Harpman

“I was forced to acknowledge too late, much too late, that I too had loved, that I was capable of suffering, and that I was human after all.”

This week's book is I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman and we'll be meeting at Ye Olde Cocke on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

The Buried Giant — Kazuo Ishiguro

The Romans have long since departed, and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. But at least the wars that once ravaged the country have ceased. The Buried Giant begins as a couple, Axl and Beatrice, set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen for years.

They expect to face many hazards — some strange and other-worldly — but they cannot yet foresee how their journey will reveal to them dark and forgotten corners of their love for one another.

This week's book is The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro and we'll be meeting at Ye Olde Cocke on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

Orbital — Samantha Harvey

A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe. Together they watch their silent blue planet, circling it sixteen times, spinning past continents and cycling through seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans. Endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day.

Yet although separated from the world they cannot escape its constant pull. News reaches them of the death of a mother, and with it comes thoughts of returning home. They look on as a typhoon gathers over an island and people they love, in awe of its magnificence and fearful of its destruction.

The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from earth, they have never felt more part — or protective — of it. They begin to ask, what is life without earth ? What is earth without humanity ?

This week's book is Orbital by Samantha Harvey and we'll be meeting at Ye Olde Cocke on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

Dream Count — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, is a lawyer who has been successful at everything until — betrayed and brokenhearted — she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin, is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America — but faces an unthinkable hardship that threatens all she has worked to achieve.

This week's book is Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and we'll be meeting at Ye Olde Cocke on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.