Book lubbers

I think of book clubs now as being more about the social club aspect but perhaps there is enjoyment in sharing opinions or insights over tea and cake.

I was in two book clubs: the first was formed by Graham Kershaw who has gone on to write two novels of his own and won some poetry prize. The second was a group of strangers who lived in the area. Both clubs were in Perth and must have been in the nineties as I remember Graham's one, the Black Skivvies, being held at Valentine avenue when it was my turn. I unwisely chose The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier based on my enjoying her short stories of the macabre or unusual or whatever those paperback collections were that I devoured. I got a drubbing and it got a drubbing with one clubber (though it seems wrong to call them that) opining with archness on the 'Bottle marked A and the bottle marked B'

The other was run by a woman named Deborah, and that's about all I can remember, and once had Kim Scott as a special guest and I must have been doing my weird twenties affectation because he commented on my reactions or whatever it was I was doing or not doing.

I'm really on one book at a time. Astrid has a comprehensive collection and I have several myself so there's few trips to the library. But, even with all my free time, I think I'd not want the pressure of reading a book not of your choice and taking notes for next book club meeting.

II

Book clubs tend to be based on communities for the convenience of travel though there would still need to be some common interests in literature or bestseller. It does provide a key topic to discuss without the conversation drifting off onto idle chat.

I imagine if you were going to specialise in a book club for readers of Louis L'Amour westerns you'd need to live in a populous area rather than the plains the stories inhabit. Jin Yong in Hong Kong.