Here are the titles, authors, and meeting dates from January to September 2026.
All meetings are held at Lower Shaw Farm, Old Shaw Lane, Shaw, West Swindon, SN5 5PJ
There is a charge of £2 per person per meeting, which includes hot drink if needed. If anything is not clear or there is anything else you need to know, please do not hesitate to get in touch on: matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk or 01793 771080.
7.30pm Tuesday 20th January – Orbital by Samantha Harvey.
Six women and men travel through space at more than 17,000 mph, experience sixteen sunrises and sunsets, and behold our ‘silent’ blue planet, with awe. Booker Prize winner!
7.30pm Tuesday 17th February – The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak.
Two teenagers meet, in secret, at a taverna on the island they both call home. A fig tree witnesses their happy meetings, and, years later, a clipping from it creates a new and special meaning.
7.30pm Tuesday 17th March – Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton.
A city-dwelling professional finds a newly born hare. She feels compelled to give it a chance at survival – despite being the least likely caregiver to this wild animal. A story of awe towards nature and wildlife.
7.30pm Tuesday 21st April – Some Kids I Taught, and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy.
The story of an idealistic attempt to improve the fortunes of children from different backgrounds, to help them find their voice and produce work of heartbreaking brilliance. According to Philip Pullman, ‘the best book on teachers, children, and writing.’
7.30pm Tuesday 19th May – Train Dreams by Denis Johnson.
One labourer’s life journey, felling trees that feed the railways, through the American West at the turn of the twentieth century. An elegy to the beauty of a lost landscape, and an indictment of the cost of ‘progress’.
7.30pm Tuesday 23rd June – Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham.
A memoir of an introverted, unusual young boy, isolated by his obsessions, who only felt at ease in the fields and woods around his suburban home. A search for freedom, meaning, and acceptance.
7.30pm Tuesday 21st July – Heartburn by Nora Ephron.
A pregnant wife, who by profession is a cookery writer, discovers that her husband is in love with another woman. Can the pains of a marriage, a story of love, betrayal, loss, and revenge, make a funny book?
7.30pm Tuesday 15th September – Plainsong by Kent Haruf.
A father struggles alone to bring up his two young sons, a school girl finds herself pregnant and homeless . . . – an exploration of the grace and hope of every human life and the infinite capacity for love.