I read quite a lot, but the majority of  it has been Marvel Comics and Science Fiction books. When I first joined my book club, (which is mainly populated by female teachers), I didn’t think they would like such a ‘boys only’ genre, so I picked other books for the group to read.

My first choice was I thought fairly ‘safe’. “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey. This was also a great film with Jack Nicholson. The book however gives terrifying descriptions of probably the most evil monster in fiction: Nurse Ratched.

I’m glad to say the whole group really enjoyed the book. Next, I picked a children’s/adult crossover novel, “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. Again the whole group liked the book. I was on a roll now, and gaining confidence, so I decided to introduce them to Science Fiction.

I obviously picked one I thought they would like, and chose “Fahrenheit 451″ by Ray Bradbury.  I was on fairly safe ground here as the novel is all about the joys of reading! Once again the group enjoyed the book, and even commented on how well it was written, (something I was unaware of)!

I had picked a few fun books, so I thought I had better introduce an “intellectual” novel, and chose “The Magus” by John Fowles. What a disaster! No-one liked the book. They thought it was pretentious, adolescent rubbish………I thought it was far too long, because I still haven’t finished it!

I’m sticking with what I know next time – So it’s back to Science Fiction! 

John McNally