Ivanhoe Reading Circle first met in 1920 and has been meeting continuously ever since. It is the oldest, and longest running book club in Melbourne. On October 23, they celebrate their 100 years of Community Reading. This is a free online event for Reading Circle members, family, friends & fellow booklovers alike.
The first convenors of the Ivanhoe Reading Circle were avid record-keepers and the tradition of recording what books were read has continued. The Reading Circle thus has an archive that tracks a social history of the area.
The books that were chosen shows trends in tastes, availability of books and what types of issues and ideas people were interested in. These records can gain some insight into who lived in the regions of Ivanhoe and Heidelberg.
To attend the centenary event and for further information on the Ivanhoe Reading Circle, please book here.
Selected Reading Circle’s book list items:
A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens 1812-1870 (read in 1940)
Described by Dickens as 'the best story I have written', A Tale of Two Cities interweaves thrilling historical drama with heartbreaking personal tragedy. It vividly depicts a revolutionary Paris running red with blood, and a London where the poor starve. In the midst of the chaos two men - an exiled French aristocrat and a dissolute English lawyer - are both redeemed and condemned by their love for the same woman, as the shadow of La Guillotine draws closer...
The wind in the willows by Kenneth Grahame 1859-1932 (read in 1946)
The entertaining riverbank exploits of Mole, Water Rat, Badger and the incorrigible Toad.
When Mole goes boating with Ratty instead of doing his spring-cleaning, he discovers a whole new world. As well as adventures on the river and in the Wild Wood, there are high jinks on the open road with that reckless ruffian, Mr Toad of Toad Hall. Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad become the firmest of friends, but after Toad's latest escapade, can they join together and beat the wretched weasels once and for all?
My brilliant career by Miles Franklin 1879-1954 (read in 1981 and again in 2019)
Too much lip by Melissa Lucashenko 1967-2018 (read in 2020)
Too much lip, her old problem from way back. And the older she got, the harder it seemed to get to swallow her opinions. The avalanche of bullshit in the world would drown her if she let it; the least she could do was raise her voice in anger.
Wise-cracking Kerry Salter has spent a lifetime avoiding two things – her hometown and prison. But now her Pop is dying and she’s an inch away from the lockup, so she heads south on a stolen Harley.