Staff Book Group

The 2024 Booker Prize winner

Festive Staff Book Group, and Santa had been busy, delivering lots of books to very happy staff members. 

Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald

Happy Staff Book Group today and all are looking forward to lots of holiday reading. 

This was an exciting Staff Book Group meeting on 26 November: brilliant book chat, choosing new reads AND drawing Secret Santa names!  All of Santa's gifts will be books. Lucky Team EA staff .  

Giggles? At Staff Book Group? Yes and lots of them.

There was a good discussion and sharing of recent reads during the September meetig.

Welcome too, to Mrs Ross (on the left), recent Team EA recruit, to the group. 

Late one evening towards the end of March, a teenager picked up a double-barrelled shotgun, walked into the forest, put the gun to someone else's forehead and pulled the trigger. This is the story of how we got there. 

This novel sees a researcher of ancient algae make a discovery which will propel her on a journey across the universe. Our first science fiction choice in a while and the first book of the new term.

The final meeting of the term was a BYODish lunch and lots of book chat. Especially about this literry thriller, based ona  true story.

The book in the spotlight was this dark, twisty crime thriller 

All enjoyed this 21st century version of David Copperfield: this powerful reimagining of David Copperfield follows one boy’s struggle to survive amid America’s opioid crisis.

Snakes Alive! Our March Staff Book Group meeting was all about the gorgeous gorgon Medusa.

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes was the book in the spotlight.

 Gods, men and monsters! 

February 2024: So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

Our first book of 2024 and there was lots to discuss.

Secret Santa and holiday reading were also shared in the group.

Delicious food and Secret Santa

It was exciting to be discussing this absolute cracker: the stunning Yoto Carnegies 23 winner ! All loved the writing and there was lot sof discussion about the characters; the mutated animals, the driving towards a nuclear power station and... were Dylan and his mum unreliable narrators? But, decided they were, indeed, reliable. All agreed: powerful and memorable. 

One book was stuck in the North Pole. To be delivered soon.

Powerful and gripping.

August 2023: Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

The staff enjoyed discussing this psychological thriller, filled with secrets and set in a village in the Highlands, not far from us. Who recognised landmarks and references? Or, worked out whodunnit & why? 

Some did!

This story digs into the history of the tunnel beneath the 'death strip' and marks 60 years of the Berlin Wall.

The chat about this true tale of an extraordinary escape was excellent!

Set in the wake of the Battle of Culloden, Iain MacGillivray was left for dead – years later, he lives a quiet life as a bookseller in Inverness. But that quiet can only last for so long, with a body being found dead by his shop. 

The book is full of fascinating characters living in turbulent times and is set just up the road from Elgin! 

Trust no one.

Tell no one

Spies are everywhere. 

This is the first time the Staff Book Group has chosen a YA novel.

The opinion was unanimous: all loved this historical thriller.

On the Yoto Carnegie Shortlist 2023.

What would you change if you could go back in time? In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a cafe which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time. But the journey into the past does not come without risks. 

January 2023: When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo.

Secret Santa was busy and thought about absent members of staff too!

December 2022: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan.

There was good discussion on 29 November, as well as selecting Secret Santa names for gift books!

All agreed this was great read.

An extra bit of fun during the October meeting was some of the book group were podcasted!

Sharing life and times in the EA Staff Book Group. Chat and giggles on air.

Our new Plugged into EA Podcast series will be shared soon.

Members of the Staff Book Group were asked how the book group has helped them in their teaching.

Mrs Lee: I am not afraid to try new things. It has helped to build confidence and shows that different opinions matter. It has helped to engage withthe curriculum in lots of ways.

Mrs Sproate: It is great to be able to meet staff like this and not talk about work. 

Ms MacDonald: We try books we might not have chosen for ourselves and we can share them with others, which is great.

Listen here.

All in the group LOVED this book so much. Huge fans of both Elizabeth Zott and her dog Six-Thirty!  

Our final Staff Book Group of term on 28 June was a BYO Dish and Discuss the Book.

Great fun and great food - esp the homemade muffins and homemade sausage rolls - All felt treated! 

Great chat too, all about How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie. 

Lots to talk about in May's meeting, discussing O Caledonia, including Enid Blyton!

April 2022:The Magician by Colm Tóibín.

Everyone had lots to say about this book!

All agreed that our February book was fantastique.

It is witty, sparkling, full of charm and mystery and all about the power of books. With a wonderful denouement too 

January 2022: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin.

Secret Santa was busy again this year and filled our gift box to the brim. With books, of course!

Our Santa, aka Mr Mone, one of our janitors, delivered the books to all in the Staff Book Group on Tuesday 21 December. He definitely brought smiles!

December 2021: Mr Wilder & Me by Jonathan Coe.

Mrs Stewart in the Modern Languages department brought Hans, the German language assistant along  to the meeting and it was lovely to meet and chat to him. 

November 2021: Trio by William Boyd.

Mediums, misfits and murder during the meeting on 26 October and everyone enjoyed good Gothic chat!

September 2021: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.

Our first Staff Book Group meeting of this session was on Tuesday 31 August and we had two wonderful books to discuss.

It was lovely that our Staff Book Group met at the start of term, albeit over staggered lunchtimes, but we did it!  

A game of two halves.

The Blunderer by Patricia Highsmith. 

June 2021

Our Staff Book Group enjoyed a lovely last meeting of term on 22 June. It was lovely to meet up, catch up and talk about books!

This is a twisty, addictive book, filled with so many secrets and lies.  Suspense and crime and gripping atmosphere throughout!

Staff Book Group read Such A Fun Age in April

All agreed, it was such a good read! 

Staff enjoyed discussion of The Midnight Library and the celebration of Nora's life during their meeting on 22 March.

In this book... the librarian is very wise, as librarians tend to be. She explains to Nora that every book on the shelves is a doorway into a different life.

This was the final meeting of term and perhaps the final meeting on Teams. 

Staff shared some of the books they have been reading during February. There was lots of book chat and good recommendations.

Staff gave The Thursday Murder Club an unanimous thumbs-up during their meeting on 16 February.

January 2021.

"I was a girl once, but not anymore". 

This portrayal of the young women abducted by Boko Haram was our Staff Book Group's January book for online discussion on Teams.

The final and festive Staff Book Group of term was on Tuesday 15 December. Staff enjoyed discussing this chilling gothic thriller by Francine Toon.

It is set in the dead of winter, in the Highlands... a deep forest and an empty house... all spookily atmospheric.

It was just as well that Secret Santa was busy sneaking around and was able to warm things up for everyone!

November's Staff Book Group meeting was all about the unforgettable Patience Portefeux in The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre. 

Winner of European Crime Fiction Prize and the French Grand Prix De Litérature Policière, there was a huge thumbs up for The Godmother by  the Staff Book Group on 24 November. Everyone loved Patience and her sharp, witty and irreverent take on life.

The Secret Santa box was there too. Books from Santa are the hope for everyone at the festive meeting.

The first Staff Book Group of the new term was on 27 October and the book of choice was Akin by Emma O'Donoghue. 

All enjoyed A Book and A Bite and A Blether. 

September's meeting for the Socially Distanced Staff Book Group was on Tuesday 8 September. Discussing 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak.

August 2020

August 2020

Our Staff Book Group met regularly on Teams last term.

On 11 August, during our in-service day, a new First: a socially distanced meeting in the library at lunchtime.

Discussing our two chosen books and sharing summer reads. 

Festive Fun December 2019.

Secret Santa Decemer 2019.

Happy with books! December 2019.