Meet the community - Joe Fullerton

A little introduction:

Hi, I’m Joe Fullerton. I’m a retired lawyer and a Dad. I am very proud of the fact that I brought up my son on my own. For the last six years or so, I have filled my life with reading and helping to run my book club, Gloucester Book Club. After my son went off to university, the loneliness of empty-nest syndrome set in, so I looked for a way of building an interest outside work and a social life with people with similar interests to me: and my book club has delivered in spades! I am a firm believer in the role of book clubs in helping to alleviate the epidemic of loneliness and other similar mental health problems, particularly during life in the time of Corona!  

What made you fall in love with books?

I have always been a passionate reader. I was born with a disability which meant I couldn’t take part in the rough-and-tumble, sporty activities of my peers, and so I sought escapism and vicarious adventure in reading, in those days it would have been mostly warrior-fiction like Hornblower and Biggles.

Which genres do you prefer to read?

Paradoxically, now I’m older and (hopefully) wiser, I have wider and more modern tastes. I particularly enjoy contemporary fiction, books that engage my emotions and affect the way I feel about myself or the world around me. Though, occasionally I’ll go for a historical fiction, a memoir or a non-fiction that piques my interest sufficiently. This is why reading with a book club is such a great thing, it means you’re encouraged to read outside your “comfort zone” and try books you would normally pass on by. 

What are your favourite books you've read so far and why? 

Fiction books that stand out are Tin Man by Sarah Winman, The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne, Days Without End by Sebastian Barry and Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo. Each one touched me emotionally and will stay with me a long time – what more can you ask of a novelist? For non-fiction, I’d go for The Brain by David Eagleman, explaining how our brains develop, alter, and work basically; extremely accessible and thought-provoking.  

What characters have you most loved in the books you've read to date and why?

For me, the stand-out has to be Cyril Avery, the protagonist in The Heart’s Invisible Furies, for the tragi-comic portrayal of a man who leads such an eventful life, which is ultimately happy and fulfilled, despite his being “on the outside looking-in” for most of it; something that chimes with me.

What made you decide to become a part of our little book based community?

I am very grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Feed my Reads community, for the opportunity to keep up with developments in the book world, see others’ opinions on the books and book-related issues of the day. The stock-in-trade of a book lover!

What do you love most about the book community?

I guess the book community is like a large version of individual book clubs. Hopefully one will encounter all the good things one would hope to have in society as a whole: goodwill, mutual respect for different opinions and likes/dislikes. Also, enthusiastic support for writers and the numerous prize competitions like the Booker, the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Costa.

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