Postal Book Group

Muriel has retired from this voluntary role after 18 years and we in NWR all thank her for her time, effort and input over those years. Luckily we have a new volunteer in the form of Catharine Woodliffe who will be the new Postal Book Group Co-ordinator from January 2012.

Catharine has been a member of NWR for 21 years. She decided to join NWR, as she wanted to meet a new network of friends. Also, at the time, she didn’t know how long she would be living in Boston, and wanted a quick way to get to know others quickly if they ever moved (they haven’t!!!).

Catharine originally joined Boston Group, but became an Individual Member in 2006 when work commitments prevented her from attending evening meetings. But she did not want to miss out on all the other opportunities which NWR brings – friendship, meeting others at conferences, quizzes etc. At that time she was in a Correspondence Magazine and a member of a Postal Book Group, and did not want to miss out on either of these. She has been a member of a Postal Book Group, possibly for about 10-15 years.

Catharine would like to thank her predecessor, Muriel, for all her hard work over the last 18 years in running the Book Groups.

Why Join a PBG?

If you have a desire to read and enjoy books you would enjoy belonging to a Postal Book Group. You would not need to purchase a book or visit your library unless you wanted to. A Postal Book Group gives you the opportunity to read a different book a month; the surprise of never knowing the title/author until the book arrives on your doorstep; the pleasure of reading other members' comments on the book and the knowledge that you may find a new author or style of writing to titillate your taste buds.

The postal book group began in 1986 and is open only to NWR members. There are several groups in operation and new groups are being formed continually as more members join. Each group consists of 12 members scattered around Britain who, instead of meeting on a regular basis to discuss the merits (or otherwise) of a particular book, write their observations in a notebook which is circulated with each book.

Each member selects a book from her own collection which she then posts to the next person on the list. In this way, she will receive 11 different books and her own book back at the end of twelve months. No restrictions are imposed on the selection of recommended books as the aim of the group is to introduce members to books they may not otherwise have considered reading, or authors they may not previously have encountered.

Looking Back eighteen years with the Postal Book Groups

In 1993, seven years on from its 1986 beginnings, Muriel Lloyd took over the postal book groups following the death of her friend, Angela Walker. Looking back over those eighteen years Muriel says that although things changed one thing remains the same: the enthusiasm of the NWR members for reading a 'good book'.There are currently still six groups numbering many original members among them. Over the years the genres of books has changed. In the 1990s most were by women and popular authors were Margaret Forster, Maeve Binchy, Joanna Trollope, Doris Lessing and some poetry from Wendy Cope.

As the new century began male authors equalled the women and included Nick Hornby, Ian McEwan, Sebastian Faulks, Robert Harris and Arthur Golden with his Memoirs of a Geisha. Competing with them for attention were women like Barbara Kingsolver, Joanne Harris, and E. Annie Proulx. Latterly more overseas writers have emerged and members have enjoyed work by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jhumpa Lahire, and, a great favourite with all groups, Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. Non-fiction also and books written for children have featured as well..In eighteen years the post office has lost very few books and, in spite of a few hiccoughs Muriel said it was fun and that she has made many new friends, read numerous fascinating books and wouldn't have missed any of it.

Contact us today to find out more!