Kreis 6 English book club
- Adrienne Hughes
- Dec 2
- 4 min read
Find out about our upcoming books and remind yourself of some of the things we learned in book club. Not sure what to read? How about getting some inspiration from this article recommending 15 short novels only one of which we've read so far.
2025 Dates
Wednesday 21 January
Wednesday 18 March
Thursday 21 May
Wednesday 8 July
Possible books
As usual we'll decide together which book we want to read next. Here are some ideas.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (379 pages)
James by Percival Everett (320 pages)
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy (187 pages)
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy (233 pages)
Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo (307 pages)
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (240 pages)
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (386 pages)
Hamnett by Maggie O'Farell (384 pages)
More by Molly Roden Winter (304 pages)
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (389 pages)
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (160 pages)
Hotel Silence by Audur Ava Olafsdottir
We have always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta
The First Bad Man by Miranda July
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
2026
Wednesday 21 January
We'll vote on the book
For the first session in 2026, I'd like you to bring along the following:
one word you've learned
one quote you liked
one question about the book
The 2025 sessions
Wednesday 19 November
Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
We all liked this one but some of us wondered whether the messages was a bit too conservative. However, the generally positive consensus on the book meant that we didn't have quite as much to discuss as we sometimes do.
The idiom quiz at the end proved tricky. The expression that really got up people's noses (it was annoying) was 'mutton dressed as lamb'. A ram is a male sheep, mutton is the meat that comes from an old sheep.
Wednesday 27 August
After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
It seems that the stories were not particularly memorable and yet we mostly enjoyed reading them. I think this is a book that needs to be read more than once.
Tuesday 24 June
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Our favourite word to describe the book was 'fascinating'. It seems we were all fascinated by the lives of the fictitious astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the ISS. It was a truly thought-provoking book. Actually my favourite part of the discussion was when we started talking about art and whether it is possible to appreciate it if you haven't had the 'appropriate' education. I'll send you an Instagram reel on this theme.
Wednesday 14 May
The Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee - PH Zurich
This book kept us talking for almost 90 minutes so was definitely a successful choice in that regard. We talked about the emotion in the book. Did we feel sad at the life being led? We also discussed perspectives - how much do we really know about what Michael K is thinking, how do the people he meets respond to him - and the themes - is it about war or more about society? How much of the book is about fate? Finally we thought we had detected some hope in the end of the book as he plans to set off on his journey again but this time with slightly different plans.
Tuesday 4 March
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel - PH Zurich
Less of a mixed bag this time. From what I remember no-one particularly enjoyed this book. Some of us had stronger feelings about it.
Monday 6 January
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney - Kontrast, Josefstrasse
This was a mixed bag. A few of us really enjoyed the book but others didn't like it at all. Some of us kind of liked it but didn't really approve of the ending.
What we've read
The books are in order with our most recent ones at the top of the list.
Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
The Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
Baumgartner by Paul Auster
You are Here by David Nicholls
Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Appliance by J O Morgan
Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks
On Connection by Kae Tempest
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Vesper Flights by Helen McDonald
Stories I Forgot to Tell you by Dorothy Gallagher
Mrs Caliban by Rachel Ingalls
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
A Life's Work by Rachel Cusk
Whatever Happened to Interracial Love by Kathleen Collins
We are Attempting to Survive our Time by A L Kennedy
My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay
Euphoria by Lily King
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
Cold Spring Harbor by Richard Yates
The Weekend by Charlotte Wood
Milkman by Anna Burns
Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
Will you Please be Quiet, Please by Raymond Carver
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Normal People by Sally Rooney
The Beacon by Susan Hill
Animal Farm by George Orwell
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
Q&A by Vikas Swarup
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The Children Act by Ian McEwan
Let me be like Water by S.K. Perry
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Black Faces, White Faces by Jane Gardam
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Thing around your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Dear Life by Alice Munro
An Education by Nick Hornby
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