Bad weather and the impending Storm Ciaran deterred a lot of members from attending the last Bookclub meeting. Nevertheless, some hardy souls did make it and we enjoyed a few drinks and some book-based discussion, in a warm and friendly setting. Thanks to all those who came.

At our next meeting, on Wednesday 29 November, we will discuss the three books below and select some others for our session in December.

If you want to join us and be part of a thriving and inclusive book-based community made up of people from all walks of life, you will be made very welcome. Just read one of these books and come along with your views and some suggestions for future reads. We look forward to seeing you.

Please be aware of the slightly earlier start time for this month’s group – starting at 5pm.

‘The Passenger’ – Cormac McCarthy

It’s the depth of the darkness that spooks Bobby Western, the haunted man at the heart of this extraordinary novel. He works as a salvage diver in the Mexican Gulf, tending to sunken barges and stricken oil rigs. He’s kicking up clouds in the clay-coloured water and pressing further into the unknown. The Passenger is like a submerged ship, a gorgeous ruin in the shape of a hardboiled noir thriller. (432 pages) – Modern Fiction

‘The Boys in the Boat’ – Daniel James Brown

Joe and eight other working-class boys exchange Depression-hit America for the promise of Olympic rowing glory at the heart of Hitler’s Berlin. Narrative non-fiction of the first order, this is a personal story that rises above the grand sweep of history and captures what it means to be alive. You will read the last 50 pages with a pounding heart and tears in your eyes. (416 pages) – Sport – True Story

‘Shadow of the Wind’ – Carlos Ruis Zafom

Barcelona, 1945. Daniel Sempere, the son of a specialist book dealer suddenly discovers he can no longer remember the face of his dead mother. His father, as a kind of distraction, takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Daniel is told to select a book and that it will be his responsibility to ensure that it survives. He selects ‘The Shadow of the Wind’ by a long forgotten author, and that night he starts to read the book. (486 pages) – Fiction