The lighter side to reading groups

Book clubs are sweeping the nation, largely thanks to Richard and Judy. So why do people like reading in groups and how can you set up your own club? Kate Whiting finds out.

Sitting in a tight circle, chair leg to wooden chair leg, in the staff room of Howden library, is the newly formed Howden Reading Group. It's their third monthly meeting and already the members have overgrown the tiny backroom and are spilling into the junior book section. The success of the East Yorkshire group is obvious, as another lady pokes her head around the door and asks: "Is there room for one more?"

Roger Watkins, chairman of the group, is clearly flabbergasted at the numbers and after opening the meeting, immediately broaches the topic of 'emergency measures' to ensure they can meet in more comfort next time. "We have two options," he says. "Hire a meeting room at the Shire Hall or split into two groups and meet on separate nights."

The general consensus is that the latter would not be 'a very attractive option' and it is decided to look into hiring a room at the nearby Shire Hall or use the junior section.

Space is not the only problem facing the reading group: "As we get bigger in size, we need longer for everyone to have their say," continues Roger. "How would we feel about starting earlier?"

If he was looking to apportion blame for the popularity of his group, Roger would be as well to point a finger at Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan, whose faces beam out from a poster on the library wall. Over the past three years, Richard and Judy have become the King and Queen of the Great British Book Club thanks to their televised version on C4. The bookshop Waterstones has a section of shelving dedicated to the TV duo's reading list, and budding authors around the country live in hope that their book might one day reach the hallowed heights of 'Richard and Judy Best Read of the Year'. This honour, which has so far made household names of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones and David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, is bestowed at the British Book Awards on March 29.

Avid readers can meanwhile vote for their favourite from a shortlist of ten books introduced by Richard and Judy on Wednesday afternoons on C4. At Howden library tonight, the theme for the evening's meeting is: "A book that I have recently enjoyed". Sue starts proceedings with Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea: "When I was a child," she tells the group, "I was of the generation when you read all the classics, like Jane Eyre. I thought she was the romantic heroine.

"I was at college in the 60s. In 1966 Wide Sargasso Sea was written by Jean Rhys - it shattered my illusions forever. It tells the story of the Madwoman in the Attic, Bertha Rochester, who was treated very unsympathetically in Jane Eyre. It's very Women's Libbish - it makes you want to go out and burn every bra in sight."

And with that the group moves onto tales of aborigines and evacuee children, of olive farms in Italy, immigrants in America and German spies. To the sound of tap dancing filtering through the ceiling, Caroline then introduces the group to The Archaeology of Death and Burial by Mike Parker-Pearson.

"I borrowed it from the library and thought it was so good I bought my own copy. It changed my way of thinking," she says. "Archaeologists, without realising it, will make assumptions about the burials they find, according to our own society."

The group is transfixed as Caroline reads through a list of anecdotes from the book, including whether cannibalism is a form of nourishment or a way of taking strength from the person who had died. There isn't time for them all, so Roger carefully picks the next person to share their book. "I try not to let an individual dominate," says Roger, a retired English teacher. "There are all kinds of benefits to being in a reading group, but it's very frustrating if people go home and say 'I couldn't get a word in edgeways'. I try not to say too much myself."

Bernard, 74, has been coming to the group since it began partly, he says, to support the library, which was saved from closure three years ago:

"I've now got three or four new titles that I otherwise would never have read," he says. "It's great, so long as one doesn't take oneself and ones opinions too seriously."

"I borrowed it from the library and thought it was so good I bought my own copy. It changed my way of thinking. Archaeologists, without realising it, will make assumptions about the burials they find, according to our own society."

The Howden Reading Group was the brainchild of Andrea Wake, East Riding Council Community Information Officer, who oversees a cluster of libraries and their reading groups in East Yorkshire. "The interest was there in Howden, it's a thriving little community. But every reading group is different. Some are quite vocal and tell me what they want. Then we order a collection of books in and people choose.

"The groups aim to broaden people's reading tastes. I had one man who took a book out about Shire Horses. At the next meeting he said: 'I would never have found it in the normal course of events, but it's one of the best books I've ever read.'

"It's also a social occasion for people to meet up and discuss their response to books. It's that sharing. Some people get really excited about the books."

Next month the Howden group is discussing the work of Nevil Shute. The author of A Town Like Alice penned his first novel in Howden while working for the Vickers airship company. If you're in the area, try and pop in - as long as you don't mind sitting on the floor.

Reading Group tips:
If you get excited about books and want a chance to discuss them with kindred spirits, then why not start your own book club? It can be formal like the library group, or more informal, like a gathering with some friends and a good take-away at one of your houses.

Think about how big you'd like the group to be - somewhere between 10 and 15 people is usually ideal to get a good discussion going - and how often you'll meet. Then choose a book or author that everyone will like - this isn't always easy, so maybe start off by discussing everyone's favourite genres.

If you're strapped for time, but have broadband access at home, you could always set up an Internet book 'forum' and email your friends to discuss how you're getting on with your latest read.