The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help

A fabulous read, highly recommended.

Notes from an Italian Garden by Joan Marble

I want to say this was a lovely read but it annoyed me.

The details and accompanying stories of Joan Marbles gardening adventures in Italy were really enjoyable and interesting. What I found grating was the frequent comments about 'the Italians' which included ranged from high praise to faintly disparaging gardening condemnation. Also, the couple at the centre of this adventure appear to have lots of money with which they created vast gardens at their holiday home. Man, the struggles they must have gone through.

Disappointing.

A Treasury of The Great Children's Book Illustrators

A well designed and thoughtful treasury by Susan E. Meyer rich, as you would expect, in illustrations by Meyer's favourite children's book illustrators.

Includes Edward Lear, John Tenniel, Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott, Kate Greenaway, Beatirx Potter, Ernest H. Shepherd, Arthur Rackman, Edmund Dulac, Kay Nielsen, Howard Pyle, N. C. Wyeth, W.W.Denslow.

Black Dogs by Ian McEwan

Black Dogs

"In 1946, a young couple set off on their honeymoon. Fired by their ideal and passion for one another, they plan an idyllic holiday, only to encounter an experience of darkness so terrifying it alters their lives for ever."

The book is much better than the blurb!

Barking by Tom Holt

Barking

Tom Holt makes me laugh. That is all.

If you have ever had a job you aren't exactly in love with you should have a look at Tom Holt books. They might make you laugh.

Kiss, Kiss by Roald Dahl

Secret by Philippe Grimbert

Buy on Green Metropolis

What the papers say:
* 'Secret is a spare, haunting, brilliantly poised evocation of the way experiences of war, pain, and shame, even when unspoken, percolate through the family to shape and distort new generations.'

Lisa Appignanesi

* 'A spare, remarkable novel that reads as easily as a children's tale, yet packs a grown-up punch.'

Independent

* 'A slim little book - quick, but heavy with terror.

'Secret is a marvel.'

Financial Times

Morgan's Passing by Anne Tyler

'You would say he was a man who had gone to pieces, or maybe he's always been in pieces: maybe he'd arrived unassembled. . .'

The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler

"Anyone in the neighbourhood could tell you how Michael and Pauline first met."

Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel

Fate takes many forms.

When Henry receives a letter from an elderly taxidermist, it poses a puzzle that he cannot resist. As he is pulled further into the world of this strange and calculating man, Henry becomes increasingly involved with the lives of a donkey and a howler monkey – named Beatrice and Virgil – and the epic journey they undertake together.

from http://www.beatriceandvirgil.com/uk/about-the-book/

The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi

The Buddha of Suburbia

Hanif Kureishi

Engleby by Sebastian Faulks

"My name is Mike Engleby, and I'm in my second year at an ancient university."

The Sisters Antipodes by Jane Alison

"In 1965, when I was four, my parents met another couple, got along well, and within a few months traded partners."

The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood

cover artwork by David Cutter

Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks

Knowing nothing about this book apart from the fact that I have really enjoyed other writing from Faulks I found myself increasingly irritated with the opening quarter of this book which whooshed through a rather unbelievable series of relationship formations. I stuck with it to see where he was taking them and finally found myself more engaged with the characters and Faulk's central study of the historical development of psychiatry. Interesting, even if the determination from the author to use every last scrap of his research was at the expense of plot and character development.

Life Before Man by Margaret Atwood

Marvellous Margaret Atwood.

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

I'm afraid I didn't really engage with either voice in this book finding them a little repetitive, although, making a living from stuff you collect from the beach you say? Interesting.

Kit's Wilderness by David Almond

Yes, I went back for more. I might even have to request titles that aren't there but am concerned the librarian might tell me I can bring my kids to the library and they can have a card of their own.

Ah sure, I can't be the only 'grown up' who loves David Almond.

Celestial Navigation by Anne Tyler

"One sad thing about this world is that the acts that take the most out of you are usually the ones people will never know about."

Anne Tyler in 'Celestial Navigation'

The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan

We joined the Library when we moved and on the first visit I came away with a good selection to read including Amy Tan's The Opposite of Fate. In hardback. For 50p.

I know, I know, libraries are supposed to allow you to enjoy reading without spending money or adding to the boxes of books which are still waiting for their new shelves to be built but it was 50p! And hardback!

A fascinating collection of writing it is too with articles, speeches and musings from Amy Tan reflecting on her life so far.