Stewartsreadingcircle's Blog

“Hortensia and Marion are next door neighbours in a charming, bougainvillea-laden Cape Town suburb. One is black, one white. Both are successful women with impressive careers behind them………..both are sworn enemies, sharing hedge and hostility pruned with zeal.

Love thy neighbour? Easier said than done.”

Next meeting is planned for Tuesday 7th July at 4pm. As with our last few meetings, we will have to be mindful of advice on meetings at this time. I’ll be in touch before then.

A “Grapes of Wrath” for our times. Don Winslow.

We will try to meet on 16th June (Bloomsday) in as physically distancing way as we can manage. If the weather is good, the meeting will be outdoors in the grounds of Stewarts. If not, we will rethink it or postpone until July. Keep safe.

We had such great plans for this book in April, the one City, One book choice for Dublin 2020 but Covid 19 got in the way. Christine lives in Palmerstown and we are all hugely loyal to her as well as fans of all her books. She wrote Tatty in 2004 but it still resonates today. I quote Ann Enright……”Keeps getting better, long after you have put it down. In perfect, unassuming prose, Christine Dwyer Hickey conjures all our childhoods. This book is for anyone who ever wondered about the shouting next door”.

Meeting due to be held on Tuesday 5th May at 4pm but I will be in touch before then. Siobhan

Another best seller! it’s been a great year for the top reads for this book club.

“Utterly unforgettable….This is a as powerful a story about the transforming potential of education as you’ll ever read” Bookseller.

Meeting at 4.15pm on Tuesday 7th April in the library

“Olive , Again follows the blunt , contradictory, yet deeply loveable Olive Kitteridge as she grows older……..” This novel is a follow up from the much loved book “Olive Kitteridge”. Reviews tell us that it can be enjoyed without having read the first book but then again you may still want to…..Meeting at 4.15 on Tuesday 3rd March.

Meeting in the library at 4.15pm on Tuesday 4th February. See you all then for discussion on this most interesting piece of history recanted through the Conor o’Clery.

In January, we welcome Alice leahy, Director and co-founder The Alice leahy Trust, to our book club. She will be here at 1pm on Tuesday 7th January to chat about her memoir, The stars are our only warmth.  Copes are available now from the library. “Restless and outspoken, a tireless advocate for those who literally have no homes to go to” Pat kenny.

“Expect miracles when you read Ann Patchett’s fiction” New York Times

One of the first books we read many years ago when this book club began was the memorable and much loved , Bel Canto by Ann Patchett.  This is her seventh novel since then and critics are saying it’s her best. Let’s meet at 4.15pm on Tuesday 3rd of December and discuss.