Breadcrumb Trail
Readers' Groups for Adults
A number of Readers Groups have been set up in Trafford with a view to promoting an interest in literature.
They are informal gatherings of people from all backgrounds who meet on a regular basis to talk about books and to share their enthusiasm for reading.
Each group has a slightly different approach to the content of the meeting and may discuss themes, fiction genres, favourite titles or perhaps a "Book of the Month".
In all cases the common thread is the sharing and enjoyment of books.
Reading groups are held at the following libraries:
- Altrincham Library
- Coppice Library
- Davyhulme Library
- Hale Library
- Old Trafford Library
- Partington Library
- Sale Library
- Stretford Library
- Timperley Library
- Urmston Library
- Woodsend Library
Altrincham Library
Telephone: 0161 912 5920
Second Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm
Coppice Library
Telephone: 0161 912 3560
Group one - first Monday of the month 11.00am - 12.00 noon. Unfortunately the group is full and we cannot accept any new members at present.
July 6 - The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett
This dramatic novel is a terrific tale of high endeavour and polar peril as 40 year old Erasmus Wells sets out on a journey of discovery. It is a portrait of a Victorian society obsessed with mapping and classifying everything, but it also sheds light on modern dilemmas such as the exploitation of the wilderness and native peoples.
Group two - second Thursday of the month 2.00 - 3.00pm - Killer-Thrillers @ Coppice
Davyhulme Library
Telephone: 0161 912 2880
Third Monday of the month 6.00-7.00 pm - Davyhulme Crime and Mystery Reading Group.
July 20 - The Olive Farm by Carol Drinkwater
Experience the highs and lows of life on an olive farm in Provence. The first of a trilogy which captures the dreamy atmosphere of the south of France and its people.
Hale Library
Telephone: 0161 912 5966
First Monday of the month 2 - 3.30pm
July 6 - Cold Cream, My Early Life by Ferdinand Mount
Ferdinand Mount's parents belonged to what came to be called 'Hobohemia', 'a raffish subdivision of the upper class which, like some rare blue butterfly, was to be found only on the Wiltshire Downs'. His uncle was Anthony Powell, and this sparkling memoir has irresistible echoes of A Dance to the Music of Time. It is thronged with characters and anecdotes of every shade and hue. Among the beautifully turned recollections is sadness too: the loss of his grandfather, termed 'one of the Paladins of Gallipoli' by Churchill, and the unbearable slow and lonely death of his mother. Cold Cream is a portrait of a generation as well as a pitch-perfect anthology of experience, where every sentence is a joy to read.
Old Trafford Library
Telephone: 0161 912 4650
Third Thursday of the month 10am
Partington Library
Telephone: 0161 912 5450
A junior reading group is held in the school holidays 2.00 - 3.00pm
Sale Library
Telephone: 0161 912 3008
Second Monday of the month 6.00 - 7.00pm.
July 13 - The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Road by Cormac McCarthy is an unflinching depiction of the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation. This unforgettable novel is a haunting tale set in a post apocalyptic North America. Following the travels of a father and son, the reader is exposed to the savage wasteland that remains of their charred world. The elements tear at them as the ashes fall like grey snow around them on a journey to an unknown coast in the hopes of a second chance at survival. With a few scavenged provisions, the two embark on an expedition with no more than the clothes on their backs and the hope of some semblance of a life at the end of their long road. Along the way, the atrocities they experience show the true savagery of what has become of a world gone to pieces, but perhaps salvation lies at the end of the road?
Stretford Library
Telephone: 0161 912 5150
Group one - third Wednesday of the month at 2pm.
July 8 - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
At the staid Marcia Blaine School for Girls in Edinburgh, teacher extraordinaire Miss Jean Brodie is unmistakably, and outspokenly in her prime. She is passionate in the application of unorthodox teaching methods; in her attraction to the married art master, Teddy Lloyd; in her affair with the bachelor music master, Gordon Lowther; and, most important, in her dedication to 'her girls', the students she selects to be her creme de la creme. Fanatically devoted, each member of the Brodie set - Eunice, Jenny, Mary, Monica, Rose and Sandy - is 'famous for something' and Miss Brodie strives to bring out the best in each one. Determined to install in them independence, passion and ambition, Miss Brodie advises her girls, 'Safety does not come first. Goodness, Truth and Beauty come first. Follow me.' And they do. But one of them will betray her.
Group two - fourth Thursday of the month at 6pm.
July 23 - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
At the staid Marcia Blaine School for Girls in Edinburgh, teacher extraordinaire Miss Jean Brodie is unmistakably, and outspokenly in her prime. She is passionate in the application of unorthodox teaching methods; in her attraction to the married art master, Teddy Lloyd; in her affair with the bachelor music master, Gordon Lowther; and, most important, in her dedication to 'her girls', the students she selects to be her creme de la creme. Fanatically devoted, each member of the Brodie set - Eunice, Jenny, Mary, Monica, Rose and Sandy - is 'famous for something' and Miss Brodie strives to bring out the best in each one. Determined to install in them independence, passion and ambition, Miss Brodie advises her girls, 'Safety does not come first. Goodness, Truth and Beauty come first. Follow me.' And they do. But one of them will betray her.
Timperley Library
Telephone: 0161 912 5600
First Monday of the month 2.30 - 3.30pm
July 6 - Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfield
Experienced readers of crime and thrillers tend to stifle a yawn these days when they encounter a mountain of hype about a new book or author. But the fevered word of mouth that has been generated by Jed Rubenfield's The Interpretation of Murder is, for once, justified. This is a remarkably ambitious book, taking on a powerful suspenseful narrative, assiduously researched historical detail and a brilliant evocation of time and character.
Urmston Library
Telephone: 0161 912 2727
Group one - First Thursday of the month 2.00 - 3.00pm
Group two - Last Friday of the month 7.00 - 8.00pm
Woodsend Library
Telephone: 0161 912 2919
Third Monday of the month 2.00 - 3.30pm
July 20 - The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The novel's narrator, Stevens, is a perfect English butler who tries to give his narrow existence form and meaning through the self-effacing, almost mystical practice of his profession. In a career that spans the Second World War, Stevens is oblivious of the real life that goes on around him - oblivious, for instance, of the fact that his aristocratic employer is a Nazi sympathizer. Still, there are even larger matters at stake, namely Steven's own ability to allow some bit of life affirming love into his tightly repressed existence.
Who to contact
Email: libraries@trafford.gov.uk
This page was last reviewed on 1 July 2009
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