Valence Library, book club. Ann Cross, and Stella Stagg

»“The discussions do sometimes get a bit heated. But so far no one’s walked out”, laughs Stella Stagg, 87.

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Stella is a member of the Valence Daytime Book Group, which meets once a month at Valence Library, in Becontree Avenue, Dagenham.

The members are all passionate about books of all genres.

“We enjoy reading a bit of everything; modern fiction, classics, science fiction, historical novels, biographies,” says Zara Baleem, 37.

“That’s one of the great things about a book club, everyone can suggest books, which means you end up reading stuff you might not normally and often you’ll be surprised by how great it is.”

The group, which has six members, chooses one book each month and after discussing it at their meeting each member gives a star rating.

Asked which book has picked up the most stars, Irene Parkins, 64, says: “One of the best scoring books was Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin. Everyone agreed it was a fantastic read.”

And the most unpopular?

“Probably Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolfe – no one really enjoyed that. And a biography on Judi Dench, which was a bit bland. But we like most of the books we read and when we don’t no-one grumbles.”

Stella says she struggled to find anyone to share her thoughts on the books she read before joining the group.

“Its great to know now that when I finish a book, there will be others I can talk to about it. And sometimes what they say will make me look at a book in a completely new way, which is brilliant.”

Does the conversation ever stray off into non-book related topics?

“It does happen that we’ll talk about other things, but we’re quite good at keeping the discussion to the book”, says Zara. “We usually go for a coffee afterwards, which gives us a chance to talk about non-book stuff – always an enjoyable part of the session too.”

n The group, which meets at 10.30am on Thursdays, is on the look out for new members. For more, call Valence library on 020 8270 6864. The next meeting is on May 5.