A NEW book club is keeping spirits up for readers during lockdown.

Kathryn Hollingworth, from Middleleaze, has started the get-together online but is hoping to meet members in person when Covid restrictions ease. 
She said: “I run a pop-up book shop so I wanted to start a book club. It gives people the chance to talk with someone else despite another lockdown.

“People are on their own, so I thought I would do this club. I put a post on Facebook and I was overwhelmed by the number of responses. The books will be young adult fiction, which I understand might not be everyone’s cup of tea.”

Kathryn has had 20 people sign up so far. She is keeping the cost under £7 to cover a hard copy of the book and will deliver them.

The mum-of-two added: “I’m hoping to start it in mid-January virtually.

Each book will take about four to six weeks as I know people read at different paces but hopefully it will be light relief. We will have our first book group discussion and hopefully it will be successful. Then, at some point hopefully we can meet up in a pub as people can get lonely on their own.

Kathryn, who recently moved to Swindon, works for Thames Water but is an organiser for Usborne Publishing on the side.

She added: “It’s quite hard to get that community feeling. I like to find like-minded people who might be lonely, struggling to make friends or they might have had the same group of friends most of their life and looking to make new ones.

“In school I was never an avid reader, it would take me a month to read one while my friends would read hundreds. Some people are saying ‘I love reading so I’m really excited’ and others are saying ‘I never really thought about a book club’.  

“When I started it, I hadn’t picked up a book for me for a really long time. I have two young boys so it gives me a wider range of the curriculum. But the reason for doing it, is to read something for me not for them.”

“I like to support independent businesses so put books back into the industry. Hopefully we can help small businesses, like coffee shops, if we meet one evening a month.”

The first book the club will be reading and discussing is What’s a Girl Gotta Do from The Spinster Club series by author Holly Bourne.

“It’s aimed at teens but all her books have a strong underlying message of sexuality or gender,” Kathryn added.

“Mental health has deteriorated and so a book club might improve this. I’ve had all ladies sign-up so far, but we can come together despite all our different commitments to have a chat. 

“It’s about the community coming together. I’ve been able to have contact with a lot of people I wouldn’t have had because of this. It will hopefully help them through a difficult time or day-to-day struggle whether it’s Covid-related or not.”