Gilbert, Elizabeth (2015) Big Magic: Creative Living beyond Fear. Riverhead Books. This is a book of empowerment and inspiration. Drawing on her own generative writing experience Elizabeth Gilbert shares her wisdom and unique take on creativity. This empathetic guide provides us with lessons on how to unleash creativity and lead a creative life under big chapter headings - Courage, Enchantment,… Continue reading May Picks
March-April Picks
Ferrante, Elena (2013) The Story of a New Name. Europa Editions. Book Two in Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, sequel to My Brilliant Friend, does not disappoint. Lila is now imprisoned in marriage, while Elena continues her studies beyond the stifling confines of the neighbourhood. Their bond is challenged by wilfulness, jealousy, family, freedom and loyalty. This sweeping epic… Continue reading March-April Picks
February Picks
Cleeves, Ann (2015) The Moth Catcher. Macmillan. In a quiet community in Northumberland there are three murders in rapid succession, with little evidence to connect them. DI Vera Stanhope and her team of detectives arrive on the scene shattering the retirement peace of a claustrophobic local country development. What deadly secrets are this cloistered community hiding? In… Continue reading February Picks
Jan’s Holiday Reads – January 2016
Aveyard, Victoria (2015) Red Queen. Orion Books. In a dystopian world divided by blood - red or silver, the magical Silver elite rule over the poor downtrodden Reds. Mare, a seventeen-year-old Red girl, and accomplished thief, is dragged into the Silver world by her own deadly ability, and betrothed to the Silver King's youngest son. Trapped, Mare… Continue reading Jan’s Holiday Reads – January 2016
December Picks
O'Brien, Anne (2014) The King's Sister. Harlequin Mira. Daughter of John of Gaunt, and sister to Henry IV, Plantagenet princess Elizabeth of Lancaster was brought up to be a royal pawn. In a time of political turmoil, allegiance to family is everything, yet Elizabeth rejects a strategic marriage and marries the ruthlessly charming Sir John Holland, half… Continue reading December Picks
Best Picks 2015
As an eclectic reader I read whatever takes my fancy. The following are my personal top 10 picks of 2015: 1. Wilder, Laura Ingalls (2014) Pioneer Girl: The annotated autobiography. South Dakota Historical Society Press. Pioneer Girl was the foundation for Wilder’s fictional world. This volume inclusive of primary sources provides new insights into Wilder’s life and times. Remarkable. March Picks 2015. 2. Tyler, Anne… Continue reading Best Picks 2015
November Picks
Xinran (2015) Buy me the Sky: The remarkable truth of China's one-child generation. Rider. The first generation of Chinese children raised under China's one-child policy has reached adulthood. In her interviews with young people Xinran found a generation adrift. Her observations paint a poignant portrait of one-and-onlies adjusting to independence and loneliness, cultural and political shift, western influence, and the dynamics of… Continue reading November Picks
September-October Picks
De Goldi, Kate (2015) From the Cutting Room of Barney Kettle. Longacre. 12-year-old Barney Kettle was a 'megalomaniac' when it came to filmmaking. Global fame was his ultimate goal. He had already made four 15-minute films, with his sister Ren, when one summer holidays he began a documentary of life in High Street, the street where he lived. The story is… Continue reading September-October Picks
August Picks
Barrows, Annie (2015) The Truth According to Us. Doubleday. Macedonia's sesquincentennial is to be celebrated with the publication of the town's history. In a hot summer in 1938 disinherited debutant, Miss Layla Beck, is given the task of recording the seemingly unremarkable story of the West Virginian town. Then Layla mets the eccentric and seductive Romeyns whose lives are bound up… Continue reading August Picks
July Picks
Fuller, Alexandra (2015) Leaving Before the Rains Come. Penguin. In this latest instalment of Alexandra Fuller's memoir she looks back to her African youth to understand the disintegration of her marriage. Alexandra recalls her courtship in Zambia as she struggles to come to terms with her life in Wyoming, and the pragmatism of her husband. She hankers for the fatalistic and… Continue reading July Picks
7:30 Bookclub 