The Readers

Group Leader: Margaret Mason – margaret@u3a-llandrindod.org.uk

The Readers is a Book Group which normally meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 2:30pm, Meeting locations vary. Please check with the group leader. Each member of the group has the opportunity of recommending a book and leading the discussion at a meeting.

Belonging to the Readers group gives us an opportunity to read up to 12 books a year, most of which we would never otherwise have picked up. It allows us to get out of our genre rut and explore books modern and old fashioned which someone else has enjoyed. Some we like and others we don’t and very few meet a unanimous verdict of approval. (Though there are exceptions such as Jane Austen’s “Persuasion”, which it seems everyone enjoys). The books usually generate all kinds of thought threads from the members, and lively discussions take place, where modern politics and trends are woven with personal recollections to illustrate the parts of the books that have stimulated the conversationalist.  –  I.P.

Note: The Readers is one of two book groups in Llandrindod u3a. See also the Book Circle.

The group recently had a visit from Kathy Biggs (front row bottom left), Author of “The Luck” , which we had just read.

Forthcoming books

  • August 2022 – ‘The Luck’ by Kathy Bigg

Books read previously include:

  • ‘The Secret Scripture’ – Sebastian Barry
  • ‘Wild Swans’ by Jung Chang
  • ‘The Hare with Amber Eyes’ by Edmund de Waal
  • ‘Flight Behaviour’ – Barbara Kingsolver
  • ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier
  • ‘Suite Francaise’ by Irene Nemirovsky
  • ‘The Bell Jar’ by Sylvia Plath
  • ‘The Thirteenth Tale’ by Diane Setterfield
  • ‘The Railway Man’ by Eric Lomax
  • ‘Trustee from the Toolroom’ by Nevil Shute
  • ‘Russian Winter’ by Daphne Kolotay
  • Father and Son by Edmund Gosse
  • January 2015 The sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
  • February 2015 A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
  • March 2015 ‘Wives and Daughters’ by Elizabeth Gaskell
  • April 2015 ‘The Children Act’ by Ian McEwan
  • May 2015 ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseini
  • June 2015 ‘Brideshead Revisited’ by Evelyn Waugh
  • July 2015 ‘Infidel’ by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
  • August 2015 ‘The Time Travellers Wife’ by Audrey Niffenegger
  • September 2015 ‘The ‘Miniaturist’ by Jessie Burton
  • October 2015 ‘Go Set a Watchman’ by Harper Lee
  • November 2015 ‘Us’ by David Nicholls
  • December 2015 ‘Emma’ by Jane Austen
  • January 2016 ‘Washington Square’ by Henry James
  • February 2016 ‘The Help’ By Kathryn Stockett
  • March 2016 ‘Cutting for Stone’ by Abraham Verghese
  • April 2016 ‘Round Ireland with a Fridge’ by Tony Hawk
  • May 2016 ‘Gone with the Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell
  • June 2016 “All the light we cannot see”, by Anthony Doerr
  • July 2016 “A walk in the woods” by Bill Bryson
  • August 2016 “When Hitler stole pink rabbit” by Judith Kerr
  • September 2016 “Hotel Du Lac” – Anita Brookner
  • October 2016 “Absolute Friends” – John LeCarre
  • November 2016 “A short history of tractors in Ukranian” – Marina Lewychka
  • December 2016 “The life of Pi” – Yann Martel
  • January 2017 “Magic Army” – Leslie Thomas
  • February 2017 “The Leopard” – Giuseppe Lampedusa
  • March 2017 “The Noise of Time” – Julian Barnes.
  • April 2017 “The Pearl that Broke its Shell” – Nadia Hashimi.
  • May 2017 “Only Time will Tell” – Jeffrey Archer.
  • June 2017 “The Shock of the Fall” – Nathan Filer.
  • July 2017 “A Prayer for Owen Meany” – John Irving.
  • August 2017 “Case Histories” – Kate Atkinson.
  • September 2017 “Talking to the Dead” – Harry Bingham.
  • October 2017 “The Essex Serpent” – Sarah Perry.
  • November 2017 “The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society” – Chris Stewart.
  • December 2017 “Cold Comfort Farm” – Stella Gibbons.
  • January 2018 “The Peach Blossom Pavilion” – Mingmei Yip.
  • February 2018 “The Citadel” – A.J.Cronin
  • March 2018 “The Devil Wears Prada” – Lauren Weisberger
  • April 2018 “Confederacy of Dunces” – John Kennedy Toole
  • May 2018 “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” – Rachel Joyce
  • June 2018 “A Man called Ove” – Frederik Backman
  • July 2018 “Stoner” – John Williams
  • August 2018 “Wilt” – Tom Sharpe
  • September 2018 “His Bloody Project” – Graeme Macrae Burnet
  • October 2018 “The Mysteries of Glass” – Sue Gee
  • November 2018 “On Angel Mountain” – Brian John
  • December 2018 “The Christmas Thief” – Mary and Carol Higgins Clark
  • January 2019 “The Thing about Clare” – Imogen Clark
  • February 2019 “Small Island” – Andrea Levy
  • March 2019 “Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine” – Gail Honeyman
  • April 2019 “The Crystal Cave” – Mary Stewart
  • May 2019 “Inside the O’Briens” – Lisa Genova
  • June 2019 “Tulip Fever” – Deborah Moggach
  • July 2019 “The Ginger Tree” – Oswald Wynd
  • August 2019 “The House on the Strand” – Daphne du Maurier
  • September 2019 “The Lightkeeper’s Daughters” – Jean Pendziwol
  • October 2019 “Beneath a Scarlet Sky” – Mark Sullivan
  • November 2019 “Double Cross” – Ben Macintyre
  • December 2019 “The Christmas Train” – David Baldacci
  • January 2020 – “Blacklands” – Belinda Bauer
  • February 2020 – “The Garden of Lost and Found” – Harriet Evans
  • March 2020 – “Notes on a Scandal” – Zoe Heller
  • April 2020 – “Persuasion” – Jane Austen
  • May 2020 – “The Kashmir Shawl” – Rosie Thomas
  • June 2020 – “Small Great Things” – Jodi Picoult
  • July 2020 – “Time and Time Again” – Ben Elton
  • August 2020 – “Transcription” – Kate Atkinson
  • September 2020 – “The Trouble with Goats and Sheep” – Joanna Cannon
  • October 2020 – Brother of the More Famous Jack” – Barbara Trapido
  • November 2020 – Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis de Bernieres
  • December 2020 – A celebration of Agatha Christie
  • January 2021 – The Beautiful Years – Henry WIlliamson
  • February 2021 – Last Piece – Imogen Clark
  • March 2021 – Finding Gobi – Dion Leonard
  • April 2021 – Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
  • May 2021 – Beuond the Dark Depths – Hannah Nash
  • June 2021 – Cranford – Elisabeth Gaskell
  • July 2021 – Parson Harding’s Daughter – Joanna Trollope writing as Caroline Harvey
  • August 2021 – On the Beach – Nevil Shute
  • September 2021 –
  • October 2021 – Nomads Land – Jessica Bruder
  • November 2021 – Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern
  • December 2021 – Mist over Pendle – Robert Neill
  • January 2022 – The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
  • February 2022 – The Girls in the Attic – Marius Gabriel
  • March 2022 – The Tartar Steppe – Dino Buzzati
  • April 2022 – The Sisters of Glass Ferry – Kim Michele Richardson
Members of the group in August 2016 discussing Jan’s book – “When Hitler stole Pink rabbit”