What we read
We take on the literary greats, the ones we've all heard of, the white whales - in a friendly, chatty environment, possibly with a drink in hand.
We don't have a properly settled definiton of "great books" — though you can read more about what we mean by the term here. Instead we're relying on a great website, The Greatest Books, who have done a lot of work and used some clever techno-wizardry to combine lists of the greatest books into one massive list of really great books, ranked by how great they are!
We'll be reading both fiction and non-fiction (think memoirs, philosophy, history, etc.).
How meetings work
We meet monthly to discuss the selected book - places are limited, and you do need to book a ticket (£5) to attend. See the links in the footer to do so!
We start by anonymously putting our ratings into a hat, which are combined after the session to form our own group rankings. Then we discuss the book, stop for a brief break in the middle, go back in for some more discussion, and finally consider whether our anonymous ratings have changed over the course of the evening.
Who should join
Anyone who enjoys reading and talking about books in a thoughtful,
friendly atmosphere. No experience required.
Do I need a specific copy/edition/translation?
In short: no, absolutely not. We're not mandating editions, translations, or anything of that kind. If you've got a copy already, use that one.
If you would like to buy a new copy, we would recommend getting yours from Tunbridge Wells' independent book shop, our good friends at Station Books. We'd also recommend checking out their book clubs - as they inspired ours!
And you can read it as a book, on your phone, listen to it on audiobook - any way you like.
