7:30 Bookclub

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 →

Julian Barnes has won the Man Booker Prize for his novel The Sense of an Ending, having been shortlisted on three previous occasions. Of Barnes's novel, Chairwoman, Dame Stella Rimington said it had "the makings of a classic of English literature".

7.30 bookclub - dymocks

Julie's been reading: Patchett, Ann (2011) State of Wonder. Bloomsbury. In the Brazilian Rio Negro, an enigmatic scientist is developing a drug that could alter the lives of women forever. Dr Annick Swenson's work is shrouded in mystery; she refuses to report on her progress.  Anders Eckman, a mild-mannered lab researcher, is sent to investigate.… Continue reading October Picks →

Roz's been reading: Waal, Edmund (2011) The Hare with the amber eyes.  Vintage.  Edmund inherited 264 Japanese wood and ivory carvings (netsuke) from his great uncle, and they unlocked a story far larger than he could ever have imagined... The Ephrussis came from Odessa, and at one time were the largest grain exporters in the… Continue reading September Picks →