WELCOME to the International Student Book Club
Would you like to develop your skills in spoken English?
If so, this club is for you!
You will discover the pleasure of reading short books by well-known authors and share your ideas in a friendly, relaxed environment.
The club is free to join and you will be provided with all the books we discuss on a first-come first-served basis.
Sara Bosley organises the club as an informal social event. Membership is free of charge. The university has generously provided money to buy books for you to borrow.
The purpose of the club is to:
• help you to develop your skills in spoken English
• discover the pleasure of reading short books by well-known authors
• share your ideas in a friendly, relaxed environment
• meet people from other cultures
What will be read
The club has a small stock of books purchased with funds provided by the university. Most of these books are ‘Quick Reads’, which are short, easy-to-read and written by well–known authors. You can borrow a copy of the book we are reading, share with a friend or buy your own copy if you wish. Most of the books cost under £2 for hard copy or for a Kindle version. Have a look at Quick Reads to see where you can buy copies: http://www.quickreads.org.uk/buying-your-quick-reads/where-to-buy.
I have selected books for the first few meetings, but if the group decides to choose book that is not in our current collection, you will need to purchase your own copy.
Discussing the books
Discussion will be about things like:
• what you thought and felt about the book
• people – the main characters. What sort of people do you think they are? Can you relate to their experiences?
• plot – how clear is the storyline? What do you think of the ending?
• place – Where is the action set? Country/town, institution/home?
• themes – What ideas is the author is exploring? How do you relate to the ideas and opinions expressed in the book?
The idea is to give everyone a chance to speak, but you do not have to say anything if you prefer to listen.
We all read the same book so that we can share our experiences of reading it and our reactions to it with other members of the group. I want you to enjoy reading the book. If you don’t finish it or only read a few pages, please come to the meeting anyway.
Meetings
The club meet in Seminar Room 1 in the library from 5-6pm. Sara will bring refreshments to share, but you are welcome to bring some snacks popular in your own culture if you wish.
The club usually meet three times in the first and second terms. The dates for the first term and the books I suggest that we read are listed here:
Book club launch – 18th October 2016
Book title and author: Today Everything Changes by Andy McNab
Meeting date when the club will discuss the book: 15th November 2016
Abandoned as a baby, Andy McNab’s start in life was tough. Growing up in South London with foster parents, and surrounded by poverty, he attended seven schools in as many years, disillusioned and in remedial classes. It wasn’t long before his life descended into petty crime. By the age of sixteen, he was in juvenile detention.
Book title and author: Wrong Time, Wrong Place by Simon Kernick
Meeting date when the club will discuss the book: 13th December 2016
You are hiking in the Scottish highlands with three friends when you come across a girl. She is half-naked, has been badly beaten, and she can’t speak English. She is clearly running away from someone.
Do you stop to help her? Even if it means putting your friends’ lives – and your own – in terrible danger?
Borrowing and returning books
You can borrow the books from Sara at one meeting and return them to me at the next meeting. If you cannot attend a meeting, please return your book to the University Library information desk. Tell staff that you are a member of the international student book club and leave your name so that I know you have returned the book. Please do return books so that other students can borrow them later.
If you have any questions about the book club, please contact Sara Bosley at s.l.c.bosley@lboro.ac.uk or visit the club’s Facebook page. You can use Facebook to leave and read messages about the club. Please encourage your friends to join the club.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/319903914875688/
Other ideas for enjoying reading and sharing your ideas about books
• Borrow books from the Leisure Reading Collection area on the Level 4 of University Library.
• Join the public library. This is free of charge and gives you access to a wider range of leisure reading. Loughborough’s public library stocks some Quick Reads as well as many other books and some magazines http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/leisure_tourism/libraries/library_services
• Follow the Radio 4’s Book Club where readers talk to well-known authors about their work: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006s5sf and Open Book for discussions about modern and classic fiction http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qp6p
• If you want to read longer, more challenging books you might be interested in the general Student Book Club, which is open to all students. For more information, please contact Sharon Reid at the Library: S.D.Reid@lboro.ac.uk, ext. 222403 or why not join the Club’s Facebook page? https://www.facebook.com/Club790
