2024
January was one of the several months that we will be skipping due to our declining numbers.
The History of Polden Book Group: Our book discussion group was started by Jane Baker and Susie Roberts a few years ago, August 2005 maybe? Friends from Greinton were joined by people from other nearby villages as the local libraries passed on information about the group. When we had vacancies, people who were members brought others who were interested in joining. Currently members come from Greinton, Somerton, Aller, and Compton Dundon. Now that we're ageing, we are seeing some decline in the number of members attending the group in any given months. Grandchildren, health and memory problems, other commitments… life goes on. But there is a core of members who are still reading, if not exactly going strong.
The hostess for each meeting provides coffee, tea, and store-bought biscuits. Home-baking is not allowed!
The group generally meets on the first Monday of the month at 10:30. Our discussions range widely and we usually wrap up around noon. We take a vacation from meetings in the summer. We generally have a luncheon together in December.
Our reading list is derived from suggestions from members. Usually the person who has selected a book for the list will lead the discussion of it and host the meeting when we discuss their book. We try to include a mix of different books, current and classic, to stretch our reading horizons. The corresponding secretary of the group (Celia Kozlowski) sends out a reminder about meetings each month.
Don't ever apologize to an author for buying something in paperback, or taking it out from a library... Don't apologize ...for buying books second hand... or borrowing a friend's copy. What's important to me is that people read the books and enjoy them, and that, at some point in there, the book was bought by someone. And that people who like things, tell other people. The most important thing is that people read...” ― Neil Gaiman
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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. -- Groucho Marx
