Our reading group meets on the third Thursday of the month, taking breaks in December and August. That leaves us with 10 books to choose, largely from the list of books available to book groups by Hertfordshire libraries.

Members decide the books they wish to recommend, either because they have enjoyed them or heard of them from friends, or indeed were convinced by an introduction on 'Between the Covers' on BBC2. This last year, we have read authors as poles apart as Maggie O'Farrell, Robert Harris or Elif Shafak. We seldom agree on our appreciation of the book read but the discussions are always amiable …and we enjoy getting together. Individual scores out of 10 can vary as widely as 3 (a waste of time ) to 9 (a brilliant read and I want to try more titles by this author). This is a good way to pick up books you would not normally have read and also to make friends with the same interests.