Time seems to have flown past since our last Light Prints discussion group in July. Several months have disappeared in a blur of holiday adventures and back-to-school preparations, but I couldn't let us reach our November event without sharing at least a few words about our last session.

 The House on Mango Street is a book that I loved reading. The author (Sandra Cisneros) is a poet at heart, whose surprising and playful combinations of words and imagery I found a real delight to encounter. I am aware, however, that not everyone finds poetry a joy to read and I was grateful to those people who attended our last discussion group having really struggled with the author's style and the challenges that it presented. It takes perseverance to step out of our comfort zones and tackle books that don't easily sit within our preferred  genres or styles of writing. However, it is often when embarking on uncharted territory (even if it is only between the pages of a book) that we discover most - about both ourselves and other ways of viewing the world. 

So thank you to all those who joined us for our last discussion session, with especial gratitude to those who were willing to step outside of their usual reading habits and try something a little different.

Earlier this week we held our first Light Prints event of 2016 – a book group session that took place at the fabulous Aardvark Books (www.aardvark-books.com) If you have never been to Aardvark Books, then I would thoroughly recommend a visit. Tucked away amid the Herefordshire fields, it is a booklover’s paradise - room after room packed floor to ceiling with new and second hand-books. A word of warning though: time does seem to disappear with extraordinary speed whenever I find myself browsing for treasure amongst the Aardvark shelves…

We are incredibly grateful to Sheridan, Sarah and the Aardvark’s team for providing the perfect setting for us to discuss a truly remarkable book – The Man Who Planted Trees, by Jean Giono. It is a deceptive tale, in that the apparently simple (and short) story contains a great many profound messages and themes. For those of you who are interested in the book, you can find a copyright-free translation online at: http://www.perso.ch/arboretum/Man_Tree.htm

The original was written in French and the author made it freely available without copyright restrictions, in order to encourage as many people as possible to engage with the messages that the story aims to convey.

The Man Who Planted Trees is, at its heart, a book about the potential opportunities that we all have to make a significant positive impact on the world around us. During our discussion group, we took some time to consider ‘real-life’ examples from across the globe, of small actions making big change possible. For an inspiring read, you can learn more about some of these projects at the following links:

•  How planting edible plants revitalised a Yorkshire town: http://orgprints.org/19523/1/Paull2011TodmordenFM.pdf
• Turning a deadly weed into a successful community business: https://www.ted.com/talks/achenyo_idachaba_how_i_turned_a_deadly_plant_into_a_thriving_business/transcript?language=en
• The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park: http://www.yellowstonepark.com/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem/

Reading Jean Giono’s beautiful story was particularly poignant, given that this week’s session represents another step in the growth of our own Light Prints project, which we hope will (in a small way) make a positive impact on our local community. We are aiming to hold our next Light Prints book group in July and we will be circulating further details as soon as we have them. In the meantime, you can keep up-to-date with all our Light Prints news via our website, Facebook page or Twitter account. We will also be publishing some suggested discussion notes for The Man Who Planted Trees on our new ‘Resources’ page in the not too distant future, for those of you who are inspired to read the book yourself or maybe even start your own book group.

Last night we held our very first Light Prints book group. After months of planning and brainstorming it was a wonderful (and somewhat surreal) experience to see our tiny seed of an idea starting to bear fruit. We are so grateful to all those who joined us for an evening of sharing ideas, experiences and life views. Some had attended book group meetings in the past, some hadn't; some people were avid readers, others weren't. But all came with open minds and a willingness to connect with others. We learned a huge amount last night and were delighted to receive some heart-felt and positive feedback from those who attended. 

It is always astounding and often moving to see how much can be achieved when people are willing to take a step out of their comfort zone to support someone else's passionate pursuit of a dream. So thank you once again to all those who took the time to support our dream. It is with great encouragement and excitement that we look forward to planning our next Light Prints event in the not so distant future.