Past library book club titles
Our May 2025 book club read was Under the Blue by Oana Aristide. We met to discuss this 2023 ASLE-UKI Book Prize shortlisted title on 7 May 2025. Read on for what one of our staff members, Gill Jones, thought about it:
"This book split the group with some not able to finish reading before the meeting. In truth it took some time for me to get to grips with the story as there are duplicate narratives taking place, only coming together towards the end.
A deadly and ancient virus, released from melting ice caps, has wiped out much of the human population. The novel follows some of the last remaining humans on the planet navigating their way towards safety. But what is their motive and why have they survived?
Meanwhile scientists are educating an advance AI program called Talos on the history of the human race feeding him data from the beginning of written history. Will this enable him to predict the future of the human race? More importantly will he think them worthy of saving.
All hypothetical questions. However as I write this there is a news item on the TV about a new scientific study looking at ice taken from the Arctic which is over a million years old. Lets’s hope they don’t find the virus! With the recent Covid scare and the rise of AI it does feel all too believable. It certainly gave rise to a very healthy debate for all those who had completed the book.
If the book sounds too much but you are interested in the themes raised, try watching 28 years later, a film with a very similar narrative, minus the AI."
Our latest book club read was The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste. We met to discuss this book on 4 Nov 2024. This is what one of our readers, Tahira Mumtaz, thought about it:
"It's a really inspiring book that discusses women's role during the war and how the history we read seldom acknowledges them. I saved quotes from the book. One that I remember and thought a little longer about after reading is part of a paragraph ...
There are ways the world must move in order to keep everything intact, and girls with scars must recognise their place amongst those who make scars."
To celebrate World Book Day we relaunched our staff/student library book club! We were reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton and met to discuss the book on 22 Apr 2024 in the library. 10 copies were made available to borrow in the library counter for book clubbers. One of our readers left the following review:
"I literally enjoyed everything reading this book. Each chapter was beautifully written, and the description and role of each character and the time change from past to present everything was portrayed amazingly. All the secrets and mystery got revealed by the end of the story along with the explanation of fairy tales."
Suma Mylam, April 2024