Book Group 2 met this month to discuss biographies and autobiographies. It was a change from our normal format of all reading the same book and then discussing it.

We all chose a biography or autobiography and then spoke about it for 5-10 minutes. It worked really well and there was a lot of discussion and interest about all of the chosen books.

There were 3 comedians chosen - Alan Davies, Billy Connolly and Victoria Wood. Their childhoods were all very sad - Alan and Billy were subject to abuse growing up and Victoria was so painfully shy and socially awkward. Despite their unhappy beginnings they obviously all went on to have successful careers.
Kate Adie was also chosen and her childhood was completely different and she has led an amazing adventurous life. The reader knew her at school and at university so it was very personal.

The Railway Man was chosen by a reader who had gone on the u3a trip to the National Memorial Arboretum and been affected by the Japanese memorials and felt she wanted to read more about that period.

Another biography was about Ann Welch, a pilot who received the Gold Medal from Federation Aeronautique Internationale for her contribution to the development of four air sports. She worked as a ferry pilot in the ATS during the Second World War. Again this was personal to the reader.

The final one was sort of autobiographical -" I am I am I am "by Maggie O’Farrell, based on 17 near death experiences by the author. A frank and astonishing memoir.

So all in all a very successful, enlightening and enjoyable book group session.

Ingrid Fox