Book Club Sheffield

You can choose to read the book beforehand or just come along for tea and listen to the discussion! It's up to you. This is a relaxed group and you don’t have to have read the book to be able to come to the events. Just be mindful that you will hear all about the book. That may be a good thing. It may be a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

Please come prepared to pay at least £2 on the night for Book Aid International.

Book Club is on the first Thursday of the month, meeting at 5:30pm for tea and the book discussions start at 6:30pm.

Upcoming books are below. All prices are at Amazon (unless stated otherwise) and correct at 6 December 2018.

May

The Dry by Jane Harper

In the hushed aftermath of a total eclipse, Laura witnesses a brutal attack. She and her boyfriend Kit call the police, and in that moment, four lives change forever.

Fifteen years on, Laura and Kit live in fear.

And while Laura knows she was right to speak out, she also knows that you can never see the whole picture: something is always hidden . . . something she never could have guessed.

Kindle £4.99. Paperback £6.47 (£2.80 at World of Books).

June

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Brideshead Revisited is Evelyn Waugh's stunning novel of duty and desire set amongst the decadent, faded glory of the English aristocracy in the run-up to the Second World War.

The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian Flyte at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognise his spiritual and social distance from them.

Kindle £1.90. Paperback £3.99.

July

Why We Get the Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman

Politicians are consistently voted the least trusted professional group by the UK public. They've recently become embroiled in scandals concerning sexual harassment and expenses. Every year, they introduce new legislation that doesn't do what it sets out to achieve - often with terrible financial and human costs. But, with some notable exceptions, they are decent, hard-working people, doing a hugely difficult and demanding job.

In this searching examination of our political class, award-winning journalist Isabel Hardman tries to square this circle. She lifts the lid on the strange world of Westminster and asks why we end up with representatives with whom we are so unhappy. Filled with forensic analysis and revealing reportage, this landmark and accessible book is a must read for anyone who wants to see a future with better government.

Kindle £7.37. Paperback £8.79.

August

How to Be Happy by Eva Woods

Annie has been sad for so long that she's forgotten how to be any other way. Until she meets Polly.

Polly is everything that Annie is not. She's colourful, joyful, happy. Because if recent events have taught Polly anything, it's that your time is too short to waste a single day.

Polly has one hundred days to help Annie find happiness. Annie's convinced it's impossible, but so is saying no to Polly. And on an unforgettable journey, Annie begins to realise that maybe, just maybe, there's still colour to be found in the world.

But then it becomes clear that Polly's about to need her new friend more than ever...and Annie will have to decide once and for all whether letting others in is a risk worth taking.

Kindle £3.99. Paperback £6.47.

September

The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis

In 1989 THE SILVER PIGS introduced the world to laid-back first-century detective Marcus Didius Falco, his partner Helena Justina, his law and order pal Petronius, and his indomitable Mother - who became some of the most celebrated characters in historical fiction.

Now reissued in a special new edition to celebrate publication of Falco's twentieth investigation, THE SILVER PIGS sees Falco cynically eyeing up the new Roman emperor, Vespasian. Our hero, a private informer, rescues a young girl in trouble and is catapulted into a dangerous game involving stolen imperial ingots, a dark political plot and, most hazardous of all, a senator's daughter connected to the traitors Falco has sworn to expose ...

Kindle £4.99. Paperback £8.46.

October

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

Some doors are locked for a reason...

Newly married, newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge.

With her new servants resentful and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie only has her husband’s awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. For inside her new home lies a locked room, and beyond that door lies a two-hundred-year-old diary and a deeply unsettling painted wooden figure – a Silent Companion – that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself...

Kindle £3.17. Paperback £3.99.

November

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

“Armageddon only happens once, you know. They don’t let you go around again until you get it right.”

According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch – the world’s only totally reliable guide to the future, written in 1655, before she exploded – the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just after tea…

People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it’s only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. This time though, the armies of Good and Evil really do appear to be massing. The four Bikers of the Apocalypse are hitting the road. But both the angels and demons – well, one fast-living demon and a somewhat fussy angel – would quite like the Rapture not to happen.

And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist…

Kindle £4.99. Paperback £6.47.

December

Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin

An illegal immigrant is found murdered in an Edinburgh housing scheme. Rebus is drawn into the case, but has other problems: his old police station has closed for business, and his masters want him to retire. But Rebus is stubborn. As he investigates, he must visit an asylum seekers' detention centre, deal with the sleazy Edinburgh underworld, and maybe even fall in love...

Siobhan meanwhile has problems of her own. A teenager has disappeared and Siobhan must help the family, which means getting close to a convicted rapist. Then there's the small matter of the two skeletons found buried beneath a cellar floor in Fleshmarket Close. An elaborate stunt - but whose, and for what purpose? And how can it tie to the murder on the housing-scheme known as Knoxland?

Kindle £5.99. Paperback £6.48.