Afternoon Book Club: The Uncommon Reader

What happens when Queen of England neglects her royal duties because she’s too busy reading?  That is the premise of the August selection for Winfield Public Library’s Afternoon Book Club.  All are welcome to join in the book discussion, to be held on Wednesday, August 24 at 2:30pm.  Copies of the selected book are available to check out at WPL’s front desk.

In Alan Bennett’s novella The Uncommon Reader, the monarch chances upon a mobile library near Buckingham Palace.  Her newfound obsession with reading leads to unexpected consequences throughout the palace and beyond. 

Selected to meet the August Reading Challenge of “a book less than 200 pages,” The Uncommon Reader is 120 pages long and has a 3.8 rating on goodreads.  From the publisher: 

Led by her yapping corgis to the Westminster traveling library outside Buckingham Palace, the Queen finds herself taking out novel by Ivy Compton-Burnett.  Duff read though it is, the following week her choice proves more enjoyable and awakens in Her Majesty a passion for reading so great that her public duties begin to suffer.  And so, as she devours work by everyone from Hardy to Brookner to Proust to Beckett, her equerries conspire to bring the Queen’s literary odyssey to a close.

WPL’s 2022 Reading Challenge encourages everyone, no matter what age, to read along with us.  Each month we will feature a theme and encourage you to select a book that fits.  Participate as much as you want – you are welcome to take on one, two, or all 12 challenges.  2022 Reading Challenge topics are:  January – the first book in a series; Feb – off the new shelf; March – a spin-off or retelling of a classic; April – a book about weather or climate; May – a Sci-Fi book; June – a book that involves water; July – a book set in a library or bookstore; August – a book less than 200 pages; September – a book that involves music; October – a mystery book; November – a book chosen for its cover; December – a book with “light” or “lite” in the title.