Booka Bookclub
Currently reading: Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick
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Here is a selection of our favourite reads of the moment (titles both old and new) together with our most recent book of the month
Book of the Month - April 2012
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Review: The Unlikely Pilgrimmage of Harold Fry is an exceptional book. Harold is an inhibited character who has (due to his past)found it difficult to show his feelings outwardly. His pilgrimmage allows him to come to terms with his past and enables him to start connecting with the world again. It is how he heals…
Read More »Book of the Month - March 2012
The Thoughts & Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals
Review A brilliant debut novel set in rural Wales which captures the complexities and frustrations of 1920′s society. It is both romantic and tragic with lead character Wilfred embroiled in a complicated love triangle and a web of expectation. A pleasure to read. Carrie
Read More »Book of the Month - February 2012
Pure
Review: The Costa Booka of the Year 2011. Set around a crumbling Parisian graveyard in the years leading up to the French Revolution, Andrew Miller paints a vivid picture of the era, the city and its people. A pitch perfect historical novel which makes for a compelling read. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to…
Read More »Book of the Month - January 2012
The Art of Fielding
Review: Set against the backdrop of an American college baseball season, The Art of Fielding is big, warm hearted, absorbing and a truly rewarding read. The five main characters are all strong, but each vulnerable in their own way. The spiral of relationships between the characters develops as the season unfolds. Importantly, no knowledge of baseball is…
Read More »Book of the Month - December 2011
The House of Silk: The New Sherlock Holmes Novel
Review: With devilish plotting and excellent characterisation, Anthony Horowitz delivers a first-rate Sherlock Holmes mystery for a modern readership whilst remaining utterly true to the spirit of the original Conan Doyle books. Sherlock Holmes is back with all the nuance, pace and powers of deduction that make him the world’s greatest and most celebrated detective….
Read More »Book of the Month - November 2011
The Sense of an Ending
Review: Winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2011. The Sense of an Ending is the story of one man coming to terms with the past, his friendships and relationships, although things aren’t quite how he’d remembered them. Short, perfectly formed and precisely written, this sublime book is thought provoking and demands re-reading….
Read More »Book of the Month - October 2011
The Marriage Plot
Review Set in the early 1980’s, as the three main characters graduate from college, Eugenides twists the classic Vicorian marriage plot of one woman, Madeleine, choosing between the competing love claims of the sexy but manic depressive Leonard and the conservative but reliable Mitchell. A thoroughly enjoyable contemporary read with well crafted characters from someone …
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The Hare with the Amber Eyes
Review 264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox: potter Edmund de Waal was entranced when he first encountered the collection in the Tokyo apartment of his great uncle Iggie. Later, when Edmund inherited the ‘netsuke’, they unlocked a story far larger than he could ever have imagined… A hugely rewarding…
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The Invisible Ones
Review A hugely enjoyable and satisfying crime novel, with a new slant on the usual dysfunctional detective. Good for fans of Kate Atkinson. Louisa
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The Tiny Wife
Review A magical short novel from the author of All My Friends are Superheroes. The Tiny Wife is a quirky modern day fable. It brings together imaginative storytelling and beautiful illustrations. Small, but perfectly formed, it will charm, delight and unnerve in equal measure. A perfect gift. We love it! Carrie, Jess, Louisa & Em
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