The Reading Group meets on the second Monday of each month at 10.15 for 10.30. Our meetings are held in Bishop Auckland Town Hall in the bar on the first floor next to the Main Hall. There is a lift and you are welcome to bring a coffee up with you.
We are a small, friendly group, discussing a different book each month, covering a wide range of genres over the year. Books are chosen by the group from suggestions provided by our members. We do ask that you have personally read the book you are recommending. Discussion is amicable and we are happy to differ in our opinions. It is hoped individual members will volunteer to take a turn in providing a short write-up of our meeting for 'Link' magazine and 'host' the Reading group table for 20-30 minutes before the start of the monthly main meeting on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
New members are most welcome. If you are interested, visit our table at the monthly main u3a meeting, and/or contact either of the group leaders for more details or to attend a meeting.
Reading Programme January to December 2026
| January 12th I recommend........ (Members choice) | February 9th 'Little Boy Lost' Margahnita Laskey |
| March 9th 'Precipice' Robert Harris | April 13th 'Offshore' Penelope Fitzgerald |
| May 11th 'Saving Missy' Beth Morrey | June 8th 'The Artist' Lucy Steeds |
| July 13th 'One Day' David Nicoll | August 10th |
| September 14th | October 12th |
| November 9th | December 14th |
Reading Programme January to December 2025
| January 13th Cancelled | Feb 10th Just Sayin' Malorie Blackman | ||
| March 10th A Crime in the Neighborhood (sic) Suzanne Berne | April 14th My Animals and Other Animals Bill Bailey | ||
| May 12th Orbital Samantha Harvey | June 9th The Crocodile Hunter Gerald Seymour | ||
| July 14th The Women Kristin Hannah | August 11th The Bridges of Maddison County Robert James Waller | ||
| September 8th Olive Kitteridge Elizabeth Strout | October 13th Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte | ||
| November 10th Brooklyn Colin Toibin | December 8th The Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett |
Reading Suggestions for 2026-27
Please tell the group leaders of books you have read and can recommend for the group to discuss at a future meeting. All we need is the title, author and an indication of the nature of the book. e.g. biography, historical fiction, classic, modern fiction ..........
| 'The Silence of the Girls' Pat Barker | 'Random Harvest' James Hilton |
| 'Brown on Resolution' C. M. Forester | 'Small Things Like These' Claire Keegan |
| 'The Grapes of Wrath' John Steinbeck | 'Lords and Ladies' Terry Pratchett |
| 'A Single Thread' Tracy Chevalier | 'The Heart's Invisible Furies' John Boyne |
| 'The List of Suspicious Things' Jennie Godfrey | 'Me Before You' Jojo Moyes |
| Theme: Children's Literature agreed for January 2027 |
Additional Information
Television - Free to view
BBC iPlayer : Serial - Bleak House by Charles Dicken Film - Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy The Read - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde A one hour programme in which actor Luke Thompson reads from Wilde's only novel abridged by Anna Campbell
Channel 4, Fim 4, More 4 etc Serial - A Woman of Substance based on the novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford live and on catch up Film - Little Women by Louisa M Alcott
U Serial - North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Hexham Book Festival 2026 : April 24th - May3rd. An impressive programme featuring some well-known authors talking about their work and/or most recent publication. For details and the full programme visit their web site on https://www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk
Durham Book Festival 2026: October 9th-11th. No details as yet.
Please send information about any events that might be of interest to the Reading Group to Kath or Sue either at the meeting or by email. Films on TV or the cinema, readings and dramatisations on the radio, book festivals, stage plays ....... whatever you hear about
.
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