Now past its tenth year the Crow Book Group has grown into a regular social event. With rare exceptions such as bank holidays, the book group meets on the first Wednesday of every month at 7.30pm. The title to be read and discussed is sign-posted and on sale for the whole of the previous month (with a discount for those who make it known they intend to come) and everybody is welcome, whether first-timer, part-timer or regular-timer. You don’t even have to have had read the book. Each month the discussion is lively and unpretentious, with naughty snacks and plenty to drink. Feel free to bring a bottle. Sometimes we get quite a crowd..

Too good to be true? The catch is that the bookshop gets to choose what the book group reads. This is non-negotiable. But to keep ourselves on our toes, we have a rule that author gender is alternated, girl-boy-girl-boy, and the continents always rotated (with occasional glitches). Sometimes the novels chosen are new, often they are from the backlist and occasionally re-issued from way back. We always try to make them relevant and refreshing – the kind of stuff you won’t get at a run-of-the-mill book group in somebody’s lounge but perhaps the sort of thing you might need a nudge to have a look at.

The Crow Book Group is on Facebook too