Classic Book Club

The Land Girls by Angela Huth

Jo — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:16:14 +0000

I really enjoyed this book. It is set in war time and follows three city girls who have volunteered to work on farms in order to replace the men fighting in the war. Prue, Ag, and Stella come from different parts of England and have to adapt to life in the countryside and hard physical labouring on a farm, yet they form strong relationships and learn a great deal during their time there. (more…)

The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

Jo — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 05:26:17 +0000

Review by Katriene

That book is very good, Ive read it, and it’s funny when all the little gnomes sit on stools and have a meeting and then someone runs to them and steals their money, and Frannie and the gang all run after him and give the gold back to the gnomes and they all thank them!

Light on Snow by Anita Shreve

Jo — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:05:36 +0000

I really enjoyed this book and raced through it, finding it difficult to put down. It is the story of 12 year old Nicky Dillon and her father, Robert, struggling to come to terms with bereavement and choosing to hide themselves away from the world in a remote house on the edge of woods. They go for a walk in the woods one evening and come across a new-born baby abandoned in the snow. The baby’s mother, Charlotte, while avoiding the police, becomes involved in the Dillons’ lives ending up with them all snowed in during extreme weather. Charlotte affects both father and daughter, becoming almost hero worshipped by Nicky, and helping Robert to realise that his grief is crippling him and he has to try and move forward.
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Slide by Saira Viola

Jo — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:00:23 +0000

Review supplied by Guy Adams

Slide propels at rocket speed and keeps spinning until the last page. Take a punch, read Slide, it screams cool and is a modern satire with guts and beauty, if anyone says different they’re not reading it right! Viola tells a story with her heart and creeps into your mind with her edgy one liners and sharp humour. Riveting to the end.
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With Bells on his Toes by Sacher Torte

Jo — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:35:21 +0000

Review by Gill Cooke

Just read the debut novel of Sacher Torte; With Bells on his Toes. Highly recommended. Loved it!

Second Time Around by Mary Higgins Clark

Jo — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 06:08:28 +0000

This story is about Nicholas Spencer, the head of Gen-Stone company, who has supposedly died in a plane crash – but was the plane sabotaged by his enemies, is he dead or did he actually escape and is hiding, or is the whole accident a scam engineered by Nicholas to enable him to disappear with huge sums of Gen-Stone money? The reader follows Carley, a journalist, as she investigates Nicholas and Gen-Stone.

Second Time Around is an enjoyable read, but I didn’t find it as gripping as her other books I have read. I think I prefer her dead-body-found-in-mysterious-circumstances type story where the reader has a list of suspects to ponder about, to this story about financial and medical crimes.

The Medici Curse by Matt Chamings

Jo — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 12:42:10 +0000

The book shifts between two time zones, present day and 1485, and is set in Florence. The historical parts of the novel tell the story of Arnaldo, a young artist, who is commissioned to paint a portrait of Alessandra, the beautiful daughter of a powerful Florence leader, Lorenzo Medici. Arnaldo and Alessandra fall in love with each other, but Alessandra’s father is determined that she will marry someone else and his word is always obeyed. The modern day part of the story features Maria and her family and their discovery of a very old painting of a beautiful girl. They begin to suspect that this painting has special powers and could possibly even be cursed, and Maria becomes determined to learn more about the girl in the painting.

This is an interesting book to read but it didn’t really grip me as much as I thought it would. I was left wondering if its target readership was perhaps more the teenager market.

Rebecca’s Tale by Sally Beauman

Jo — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:36:40 +0000

This is a book that aims to fill in the background story of the character Rebecca de Winter from Daphne du Maurier’s book ‘Rebecca’. I was initially unsure if I wanted to read this book as I usually don’t like books that aim to change, add to, or alter an original classic novel. I was pleasantly surprised, however, as Rebecca’s Tale is a good gripping read, very well written, and very true to all the original characters. The book is narrated by four different characters and I found this really interesting as all had different views of Maxim de Winter, Mrs Danvers, and Rebecca, and each narrator also had their own secrets and motivations which we are privy to.
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Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

Jo — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:55:38 +0000

This is a very powerful and thought-provoking book, and one that is absolutely fascinating. It is the diary of a drug user and details her first experience with drugs and subsequent addiction to them, her harrowing experiences and determination to leave them alone, and then, inevitably, to using them again.

It sounds a very depressing read and it is depressing in parts, but Alice is such an interesting person, very literate and intelligent and moral, she is close to her family and regrets the pain she is causing them, she is funny and can see her own faults and weaknesses, and she is very positive at times and grateful for the love and kindness shown to her. Reading the book of a diary, I find, is one of the most fascinating things to read as you see someone’s innermost thoughts, there is far less of a front put on, people are more honest and revealing – and it is therefore addictive to read.
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The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

Jo — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 10:32:48 +0000

I felt certain I wouldn’t enjoy this book as it is about the Holocaust and (as I’ve mentioned in previous book reviews) I don’t generally choose such potentially upsetting subjects for my reading pleasure. But the book was strongly recommended to me, and, in turn, I am strongly recommending it to everyone else! It is one of the most incredible and powerful books I have ever read and one that I think will stay with me for a long time.

It is the story of nine year old Bruno, whose father is an important man in Hitler’s government and is sent to manage Auschwitz concentration camp resulting in the family having to leave their comfortable life and home in Berlin and move to live near Auschwitz. Bruno is not aware of what is happening in the world at this time, or of his country’s part in these momentous events, or of the terrible cruelties being inflicted upon the Jewish people, and he becomes friends with one of the camp’s inmates, a boy called Shmuel.
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The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra

Jo — Sat, 22 May 2010 11:36:07 +0000

This book tells the story of two couples struggling through the hardships of life in Afghanistan during the reign of the Taliban, and of how their lives become intertwined. I found the story hard going and quite disturbing and distressing as the traumas that the characters witness and face were difficult to read. Their world seems so far removed from my own and so very dangerous and threatening – and I found it sobering to think that when I am reading about these fictional characters, these types of harrowing situations are actually happening to real people.
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The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Jo — Sat, 08 May 2010 15:20:42 +0000

I found the brief description of this book in the flyleaf fascinating and couldn’t wait to start reading it. It is the story of a girl’s introduction into the mysterious and dangerous history of Dracula. Her experiences begin when she finds a tantalising letter in her father’s papers beginning with the words, “My dear and unfortunate successor.” What a great start to a book - how more imagination-grabbing could you get?
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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Jo — Mon, 03 May 2010 11:27:10 +0000

This was a very interesting book and one that really stayed in my mind and made me think about a lot of the themes. I didn’t particularly enjoy reading it but I can see it is a powerful book and was impressed by it. The story is set in the future where new ideas and knowledge are stifled and people are encouraged to conform rather than to challenge. The reader follows the life of Montag who is a fireman employed to burn books and the houses containing them (rather than to put out fires as we are used to firemen doing) as books are considered dangerous. Montag begins to question the values and restrictions of the world he lives in and attempts to hide books in his home rather than destroy them, resulting in him having to run away to avoid arrest and to save his life.
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The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Jo — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 07:08:54 +0000

This is one of the most interesting, fascinating and thought provoking books I’ve read in quite a while. I still don’t feel I fully understand it all and am sure there are many subtle meanings in it that I have missed. It is a complex book with many odd things and mysterious happenings and lots of sub plots, many of which don’t seem to be fully explained, and I found it difficult to keep track of everything, but thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and was loath to put the book down. I am left with the impression that it is a very clever and involved book, part supernatural, part thriller, part detective story, and several other parts too.

It is about David Martin who lives in an old abandoned house writing books, and who is intrigued by the past occupant of his house. Strange things begin to happen to him, seemingly orchestrated by a mysterious man called Corelli, and he visits places that he later learns have been long destroyed, and people that thwart him seem to suddenly and conveniently end up dead soon after. David then realises he is in danger himself, but is unsure of where the danger comes from.
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A Rare Interest in Corpses by Ann Granger

Jo — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:54:28 +0000

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It reminded me very much of an Agatha Christie novel, particularly because the story is set in an older time, the mid 1800s, with large rambling houses complete with servants and butlers and paid companions. The novel tells the story of Lizzie Martin and her arrival in London from Derbyshire to be a paid companion to Mrs Parry. She discovers that her predecessor, Madeleine Hexham, has mysteriously disappeared and is then found murdered. Lizzie feels a connection to Madeleine and is keen to discover the truth of what has happened to her, with the help of Inspector Ross. Obviously the murderer does not want Lizzie to succeed in this mission so there are plenty of dangerous situations and suspicious circumstances that she comes across. Lizzie is a great character; quite a determined, independent and outspoken young woman living in a time when these traits were not expected from women.
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The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

Jo — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:57:24 +0000

I really enjoyed this book, it was a great read. It was a little unusual - a little bit fantasy, a little bit family drama, a little bit mystery. The story is about Tamara and the massive changes in her life after her father commits suicide due to money problems, their home is repossessed and she and her mother have to go and live with relatives, relocating from busy Dublin to a countryside village. Tamara struggles to adjust to her new life, and meanwhile her relatives, Aunt Rosaleen and Uncle Arthur, who seem initially friendly and welcoming, begin to become more secretive and Tamara suspects they are hiding something. Tamara also picks up a strange book, a diary, that seems to tell her the future.
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A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Jo — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:47:46 +0000

Amazingly, this is the first Sherlock Holmes story I have read – I don’t know how I have gone through life without reading one of these books but somehow I have. I have a whole volume now though, so have plenty to work my way through and enjoy.

This particular story revolves around the discovery of a dead body in an abandoned house with a look of horror etched on his face and with a mysterious word written on the wall in blood! You couldn’t ask for a more fascinating and gripping beginning to a detective story, could you? The police are completely baffled as to the method of his death, where he has come from, or who has killed him. The story goes all the way to the Mormons in America, and seemed an extremely obscure solution – but, of course, Holmes has it all worked out.
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Spies by Michael Frayn

Jo — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:16:28 +0000

I enjoyed this book. It feels like just a gentle read and quite charming on the surface, but it has quite sinister undertones. It is very cleverly written.

The story is told from the viewpoint of two young boys through their games of make-believe and pretend, one such game being tracking a supposed German spy. The boys are both quite ordinary boys living in an ordinary neighbourhood. The war doesn’t seem to have touched them much, there are no reports of rationing or bombing. They are just two normal boys, quite excited by the prospect of war and determined to have their own adventures. But they gradually come to realise that real life has its own dramas and secrets, most of which they end up wishing they had never discovered and become involved in.
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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Jo — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:57:19 +0000

I found this a very memorable and clever book. It is the story of Liesel, a German girl living through the Second World War. She has had a difficult start in life as she has been sent away to live with foster parents. Liesel struggles to cope with the awful events happening around her and finds comfort in words and books, and therefore takes the opportunity to steal books she finds.

However, the narrator of the story is Death itself (quite a kindly empathetic character, it seems!), and I found this aspect really interesting and very different and extremely clever.
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Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

Jo — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:42:08 +0000

I found this a bit of a strange book from Bryson as I expected a funny book full of amusing stories, and this is more of a text book. But it is really, really good. I loved it. The book is all about the history, formation, meanings, and apparent inconsistencies (charmingly) of the English language.

I was lent the book by a friend and when I realised it wasn’t his usual thing, I thought I’d read the first couple of chapters out of politeness to my friend and return it to her, but I wasn’t able to stop reading it. He writes in such an interesting and absorbing way. Every single line and sentence is fascinating, there are no ‘fillers’ to pad it out. And he is obviously so passionate about the subject, which made the book very entertaining. Considering it is more of a text book, it is a great read.
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