Currently Browsing: Recommended Books
Jan 7, 2009
People of the Book – Geraldine Brooks
Geraldine Brooks is an Australian, Pulitzer-Prize winning author. I had read A Year of Wonders several years back and remember being struck not just by the singularity of the story idea but by how subtly and beautifully it was written. When my Mum recommended People of the Book it took me a little while before I realised it was by the same author. But the imagination and the style were unmistakable. The... read more
Dec 2, 2008
An Instance of the Fingerpost – Iain Pears
The last time I read An Instance of the Fingerpost I was on a plane back to Australia. I remember not being able to put it down – it lasted me most of the flight and stayed with me for a long time afterwards. I have just read it for a second time as a part of my reading group, and I am pleased to say I enjoyed it just as much, and gained even more out of it this time that I had last time. Set in... read more
Jul 22, 2008
The Demon-Haunted World – Carl Sagan
I am a podcast addict as any of you who know can attest. I listen to an awful lot of podcasts about an awful lot of things, but my particular favourites are podcasts dealing with science, scepticism (or skepticism depending on which side of the pond you are from), astronomy, rationalism, evolutionary biology and critical thinking. In all of them, I kept hearing mention one book – The Demon Haunted... read more
Jun 12, 2008
The Gone-Away World – Nick Harkaway
I was sent a proof copy of this book to review several weeks back, prior to its general release. When I was contacted I received a couple of paragraphs to whet my appetite. Without knowing what to expect, or what kind of book it was going to be, I allowed myself to be sold by the paragraphs – there was something within the intelligent turns of phrase that made me want to read more. The book arrived and... read more
Mar 25, 2008
The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd
I took a book off from World War I while I waited for my next Amazon delivery. I swear I keep Amazon in business. Even my postman has commented on the number of Amazon parcels that arrive at my door. In the meantime, I finished a book which had been chosen this month by my reading group which I had read before but was quite happy to revisit. The first time I read The Secret Life of Bees I was at a... read more
Mar 18, 2008
All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
I would hail this book as one of the most evocative accounts of the First World War ever written. I was almost speechless when I finished it. There were passages which I found myself reading a second and third time because of their beauty. The story itself is similar to so many others – a young man grows into an old man as he experiences the war. His comrades become his only family and by the end,... read more
Mar 13, 2008
Regeneration – Pat Barker
I studied World War I in my final year at school, and after finishing A Long Long Way, I wanted to continue my reading on it. Fortunately, my book club then selected Regeneration by Pat Barker which gave me another opportunity to read about the same war, from a different viewpoint and with a completely different atmosphere. Much has been written about this book. It is a novel based around fact – in... read more
Mar 8, 2008
A Long Long Way – Sebastian Barry
So many books written about World War I recount the misery, horror and subhuman conditions the soldiers were forced to endure on the Western Front. A Long Long Way continued this tradition, but despite having read a lot about the period, having visited the battlefields of Belgium and having studied the Great War at length, it never reduces the shock and sadness. This story is about a very ordinary Irish... read more
