For ten years it has been my privilege to lead a book club in my Kenmore home for women who enjoy reading. We have been a cohesive group ranging in age from 30 to 55 years, from different backgrounds and careers. During this time we have shared a lot about issues and ideas in books, visited book shops and socialised for our Christmas get together. There have been 15 in attendance and some lively discussion. We also have numbers dropped to 3 which makes for cosy, intimate conversation.

As the organiser I have given the ladies a program with reading titles that vary from new books, recommended reads to prize- winning titles. I have chosen books from the newspaper, reviews, journals, word of mouth and book launches. The ladies also get to choose or discuss a preference. We usually start at 7.30pm and conclude about 9.30pm with coffee and supper provided in turns. Highlights have included trips to Riverbend Book shop and Avid reader, lists have included classic like Tess of the d’Urbervilles (Hardy) and Portrait in Sepia ( Isabel Allende) to short listed teenage fiction like The Running Man ( Michael Bauer).

Some of our titles for discussion are Underground (Andrew McGahon), Gilead (Marilyne Robinson), The Road (Catherine Jinks), Almost French (Sarah Turnbull) Memoirs of a Geisha ( Arthur Golden) To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper lee), Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult), Secret Life of Bees ( Sue Monk Kidd), The Lambing Flat (Nerida Newton) Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) and more!