Spice Book Club - Solihull

We have 2 thriving Book Clubs in Spice. One in Sutton that serves the north of our area and one in Solihull that serves the south of the West Midlands. This event is run by our member Alex Ajao as a volunteer from a lovely café in Olton The Venue: Spice have rented this The Happy Heart Café in Olton for 2 hours each moth.

There will be an opportunity to buy drinks from 7pm to 7.15pm after which the staff will leave us alone for the night. The venue is not licensed but you are allowed to bring your own alcoholic drinks to consume there. The Format: is that each month we discuss a set book that we have read in preparation.

The conversation will be led by our volunteer, Alex Ajao, but is very informal. A voluntary collection is taken each month which we will send to Book Aid International who send books to schools and libraries in third world countries and are endorsed by celebrity writers such as Michael Palin and their patron is The Duke of Edinburgh.

It costs just £2 to send one book to readers in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond so every penny we raise can make a difference. (Our modest collections each month really add up and so far have resulted in enough money being raised for Bookaid International for over 1000 books to have been sent in our name to schools and libraries in Sub Saharan Africa). Preparation: You will need to have read each book beforehand (hence the advance notice). We often are able to choose books that are on offer at WH Smith and www.amazon.com or try your local library. The Books: (the month given is the month of the evening when we will be meeting to discuss the book). Some months we will be using the same book as the Spice Book Club in Sutton Coldfield, but on some months we will choose a different title, so please check the list.

May - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years.

 Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.

June - The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse

Carcassonne 1562: Nineteen-year-old Minou Joubert receives an anonymous letter at her father’s bookshop. Sealed with a distinctive family crest, it contains just five words: SHE KNOWS THAT YOU LIVE.

"For fans of juicy historical fiction, this one might just develop into their next obsession."

July - Becoming by Michelle Obama

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African-American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms.

September - Middle England by Jonathan Coe

Set in the Midlands and London over the last eight years, Jonathan Coe follows a brilliantly vivid cast of characters through a time of immense change and disruption in Britain.As acutely alert to the absurdity of the political classes as he is compassionate about those who have been left behind, this is a novel Jonathan Coe was born to write.