October Picks

Jan's been reading: Weir, Alison (2010) The Captive Queen; a novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Hutchinson.  It is the year 1152 and a beautiful woman of thirty, rides like the wind southwards through what is now France, leaving behind her crown, her two young daughters and a shattered marriage to King Louis of France.  This… Continue reading October Picks

September Picks

  Barb's been reading: Davies, Glyn & Kirstin Kennedy (2009) Medieval and Renaissance Art: People and Possessions. V&A Publishing.  This beautiful book accompanies the re-opening of the V&A's Medieval and Renaissance galleries. Presented thematically, it explores the social contexts responsible for some of the museum's most captivating objects, both commonplace and precious, to recover the… Continue reading September Picks

Watch List

Green, John, Levithan, David (2010). Will Grayson, Will Grayson.  Text Publishing. One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions.  Reviews are highly recommending.

May Picks

Raewyn's been reading: Hoeg, Peter (2007) The Quiet Girl.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux.  Kasper Klone is an internationally acclaimed clown wanted in a dozen countries for financial irregularity. Kasper's astounding gift is "his ability to access people's acoustic essence, especially children's", and to listen well beyond the normal aural spectrum. He discovers that nine-year-old KlaraMaria has… Continue reading May Picks

Barb Recommends (from London)

Rachman, Tom (2010)  The Imperfectionists. Text Publishers.  An English-language newspaper headquartered in Rome brings together a strongly imagined cast of characters. Rachman, a former editor for the International Herald Tribune, paints the characters’ small dramas and private disappointments with humanity and humor.  A first novel this book reads more like connected short stories than a novel.… Continue reading Barb Recommends (from London)