\n David Mark, the mastermind behind the bestselling DS Aector McAvoy series, initially created the book club as a 30-week programme, which has since snowballed into a weekly meet-up for ‘book lovers.’\n<\/p>\n
\n Held at 10am every Friday at Hexham Library, the group explores new texts and genres every week, something that the former court reporter says, as well as ‘opening people’s eyes’ to new writers, is allowing readers to engage with a constant cycle of varying ‘perspectives,’ which helps to ‘push boundaries’ and foster ‘understanding.’\n<\/p>\n
\n “There’s nothing wrong with disliking something,” David said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “You can get to the end of a story and say, I hated all the characters in that, which is good, because that means you’ve had an emotional reaction to the text.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Over the past 20 years, we’ve witnessed the demise of empathy and that ability to view the world through somebody else’s eyes; so if I can serve up a story that allows you to glimpse through the lens of someone that you wouldn’t ordinarily engage with, you might not agree with them, but at least you can understand them.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Dark Winter – the first book in David’s DS McAvoy series – became one of Richard & Judy’s Book Club picks in 2012(Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n A typical session would see David reading a short story and a poem to attendees, before breaking out in discussion over the characters and symbolism in the texts.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The joy of this is that you can come to a book group and be read to without having to stay up until midnight the night before trying to read a chapter of a book. We’ll then have a chat about what works, what doesn’t work, whether it has connected with you, and what thoughts it provoked,” he added.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It’s not so much about me telling other people how to appreciate a story – it’s more collaborative than that. Some people see things that I’ve never noticed before, and I love it when that happens.”\n<\/p>\n
\n “I think the attendees are discovering whole new aspects of literature, so to be the gateway for that is rather a nice thing.”\n<\/p>\n