Author: 730bookclub

Jan's been reading: Mantel, Hilary (2012) Bring up the bodies. Fourth Estate. Sequel to Man Booker Prize winning Wolf Hall.  By 1535 Thomas Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry VIII, his fortunes have risen with those of Anne Boelyn.  But Anne has failed in her promise to bear a son to secure the Tudor line.… Continue reading July Picks →

Jan's been reading: Morgenstern, Erin (2011) The Night Circus. Doubleday.  The circus arrives without warning. It is a unique and magical circus called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. The circus is the stage for a fierce competition - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained… Continue reading June Picks →

Carol's been reading: Scott, Robert Falcon (2012) The last expedition; introduction by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Vintage. Captain Scott's expedition pitted him and his team not only against the elements, but also against the Norwegian explorer, Amundsen. Ultimately, Scott was beaten by both. This title provides an account of his expedition to the South Pole in 1910-12.  A… Continue reading May Picks →

Julie's been reading: Moorehead, Caroline (2011) A train in winter.  Chatto & Windus.  A Train in Winter is the story of the female French political resisters rounded up and taken by train to Auschwitz - the only train, in the four years of German occupation, to take women of the resistance to a death camp.  Of the 230… Continue reading April Picks →

Judith Recommends: Green, Jonathan (2010) Murder in the high Himalayas. Public Affairs.  Award-winning author and journalist accounts the politics of high-altitude guiding, through the story of the brutal killing of Kelsang Namtso, a seventeen-year-old Tibetan nun fleeing to India, by Chinese border guards. Witnessed by dozens of Western climbers, Kelsang’s death sparked an international debate… Continue reading Visitor Recommendations →

Julie's been reading: Hoffman, Alice (2011) The Dovekeepers.  Simon & Schuster. The lives of four women intersect in the year 70AD, when nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Rome on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert.  The ancient historian Josephus claimed that two women and five children survived. Based on this… Continue reading March Picks →

Debbie and Jan have been reading: Isaacson, Walter (2011) Steve Jobs.  Little Brown.  Based on 40 exclusive interviews with Steve Jobs , and more than a 100 interviews with friends, family, colleagues, adversaries, and competitors, this book chronicles Steve's life and passion  for perfection and his manic drive to control and revolutionize digital technologies and  product… Continue reading February Picks →

        Waal, Edmund (2011) The Hare with the amber eyes.  Vintage.  September Picks. Recommended by Lynn and Roz. Nicholls, David (2009) One Day. Hodder & Stoughton. February Picks. Recommended by Roz and Jan. Brooks, Geraldine (2011) Caleb’s Crossing.  Fourth Estate.  June Picks.  Recommended by Jenny and Jan. Grimshaw, Charlotte (2011) Singularity. Random. July Picks.  Recommended by… Continue reading 2011 Most Highly Recommended Reads →

Jan's been reading: Serba, Anne (2011) That woman: The life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor.  Weidenfeld & Nicolson.  Anne Sebba attempts to understand this fascinating and enigmatic American divorcee who nearly became Queen of England.  Referred to as 'That woman' by the Queen Mother, and accused of being  a spy, a witch, and a whore, she has… Continue reading December Picks →

Jenny's been reading: Evans, Patrick (2010) Gifted. Victoria UP.  One day in 1955 the 'father of New Zealand fiction' finds a young woman on his doorstep. A writer herself, she has recently emerged from a lengthy spell in hospital and is looking for somewhere safe to live and write. Somewhat to his own surprise, not… Continue reading November Picks →