A reading group is a group of people getting together to talk about books. Most of the reading groups taking part meet weekly, or fortnightly, in schools and libraries across Manchester. Activites, food and drink are usually involved.
It is the reading groups who decide which books go through to the final six. Young people have their say and adults are not allowed to vote. This makes the Manchester Book Award special.
Be a part of the process – join a reading group today! Check out the list below to see if your school or local library is involved, then contact your reading group leader to find out more. Meet new people, read new books, talk about them and decide which are the best. It’s loads of fun!
There is no right way to talk about a book. Everyone’s opinions matter. Reading groups can be a spur to read more widely, try out new authors, and can lead you to books that you wouldn’t consider to be your kind of thing.
We’re hoping the whole of Manchester will become a community of readers, reading and discussing the books that the city loves best.
You can read the reading group resource pack by flipping through the book below (click it to go full screen), or by reading it on the Issuu website.
If you cannot see the book reader below, you can also download the Reading Group Resource Pack as a PDF document.
Please contact the Book Award Officer if you are interested in joining one of these groups or setting up a new group.
Most groups have about ten members – small enough for everyone to get a word in, yet big enough to cope with a few absentees per meeting. Each group has its own style; you can use your group as a way into debating a topic, talking about reading preferences, and / or improving knowledge of literature.
There is no right way to talk about a book. Everyone’s opinions matter, and the point is not to reach a consensus decision on whether the book was good or not. You may wish to run a ‘Lunchtime reads’ / ‘Read and feed’ session, or an after school reading group, whatever suits your readers.
Ask one reader to present the book each time. This person researches the author and their influences and kicks the evening off with a short introduction.
Ask members to read different books. Ask each person to review the book and explain the reasons behind their rating.
Run a debate with each person in the group taking turns to present the books and chair the discussion. You may want to bring reading groups together for a debate. An idea from the Carnegie Award is the balloon debate, where students have to debate which book deserves to be saved in a hot air balloon.
Was reading the book a positive experience? If the book made someone laugh or cry ask them to read an extract. Do the same things move the other members of the group?
If the reader read a book that they hated or found difficult. What turned them off it and where did they get stuck? Can anyone in the group convince them to stick at it?
Which book might be interesting to make into a film? Who would star in it? What location would you choose to shoot it? What is the ‘must have’ scene?
Do you picture exactly what the characters look like or just have a sense of them?
What voice do you hear in your head when you read?
Do you try to work out what’s going to happen or leave it to unfold? Suggest an alternative ending to a book.
How well do the characters in the books understand each other?
Which character would you most like as a friend?
Write a review of the book you are reading. Create your own review sheet. Display your book reviews in the library – make them fun and eye catching.
Post your reviews on the Manchester Book Award website and your school’s intranet site.
Draw out a section of the book as an illustrated graphic novel or cartoon.
Do you want to know what happens next once the book is finished? Write a follow on chapter.
Write to the author care of the publisher (the FAQ page shows you how to do that). Use magazines, books and the Internet to find out about the authors – check the links page to find authors websites.
Rewrite a section of the book for a younger reader, or for someone who is not as good a reader as yourself.
Create a display of your favourite book.
Write a poem about some of the feelings in the book.
Pen pal / buddy scheme: write to someone at another reading group telling them about the books you are reading on the list.
Do you judge a book by its cover? What do you think of the cover of the long listed titles? Design your own book cover.
Get creative – design bookmarks with sound bite reviews or quotes from the books.
