GEH Wellbeing Reading Group review of This Is Why We Lied by Karin Slaughter

On honeymoon at a remote, snowed-in mountain lodge, investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton are pulled into a murder investigation when the lodge’s manager, Mercy, is found dead. Trapped with a group of strangers (Mercy’s family, and fellow Read More …

SWFT Wellbeing Reading Group review of Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

The year is 1665. In a remote Pennines village a tailor receives a bundle of infected cloth. Anna Frith, an 18 year old widow, watches the disease devastating her community as desperate, the villagers turn to sorcery, herb lore, and Read More …

GEH Wellbeing Reading Group review of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

This Black History Month we chose to read The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. The novel explores identity, race, family, and what happens when hidden truths emerge. Light-skinned Black twin sisters, Desiree and Stella, run away from their small Louisiana Read More …

SWFT Wellbeing Reading Group review of And Away… by Bob Mortimer

‘The most life-affirming, joyful read of the year’ – Sunday Times Bob Mortimer’s funny, heartfelt and offbeat autobiography, shares stories from his life and career in his own particular style – but what did SWFT’s Wellbeing Reading Group make of it? Read More …

SWFT Wellbeing Reading Group review of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

This month’s choice was the classic Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. The famous tale follows the life of Jane, an orphan. It tells of how she overcomes her harsh childhood to become a governess, before falling in love with her Read More …

Joint SWFT and GEH Wellbeing read: Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

Described as ‘a gripping and deeply moving novel of bravery, friendship, and standing up against book banning’, reading Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books during Libraries Change Lives Week was always going to be interesting. Our copies were a Read More …

SWFT Review of Bernadine Evaristo’s Mr Loverman

Barrington (Barry) is a man leading two lives. Husband to Carmel, father of Donna and Maxine, and grandfather of Daniel, he is also in a secret relationship with Morris, his childhood friend. “Hilarious, poignant, clever, controversial and courageous in equal Read More …

SWFT Wellbeing Reading Group Review of The Templars: the Knights who made Britain

You may have heard of the Knights Templar – might even have seen them in films such as ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ or ‘The Da Vinci Code’ – but how accurate are these interpretations? There are many myths and legends about Read More …

SWFT Wellbeing Reading Group Review of The Woman on the Pier

Described as ‘a dark suspense thriller brimming with secrets and lies seeping across three generations’, The Woman on the Pier by BP Walter was October’s SWFT reading group choice, and the consensus was decidedly mixed! While a commendable number of Read More …