The October/November book list

Here are the 4 books that  Ive chosen for my Oct/Nov book list (aka my reading suggestions and books I hope to read) -You can click on the title to read more about book:

1. The Night Circus - by Erin Morgenstern
2. I Don't Know How She Does It - by Allison Pearson
3. The Dovekeepers - by Alice Hoffman
4. One Day - by David Nicholls

Reading is...

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Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Reviewed by Bobby

Helen Hamilton has always known that she was different to the rest of the small town, Nantucket teens that surround her but has done her best to hide her strangeness for all her life. But when the Delos family move to town, things begin to change for her. The first time Helen lays eyes on the gorgeous Lucas Delos, she is overcome with the desire to kill him. The three weeping figures Helen sees when any of the Delos family are around do nothing to help her predicament. Once Helen shakes the wrath of the Three Furies she begins to learn about where she comes from and learns that what she always thought was myth and fantasy, is actually very much her reality. Helen also finds herself irrevocably in love with Lucas but quickly discovers why they can never be together…

This book should come with a disclaimer stating that you will be addicted. More often than I’d like, I find myself reading books just for the sake of finishing them and when a book comes along and casts a “can’t-put-it-down” spell, it’s just so wonderful. I adore Josephine Angelini’s beautiful, descriptive writing style and enjoyed the way she’s weaved a modern day story so rich in mythology. The love story (or none love story, whichever way you want to look at it) between Helen and Lucas was butterfly inducing and totally epic. The last page of the book left me utterly disappointed though, when the conflict in the story wasn’t revolved, so I quickly whipped out my laptop to discover that Starcrossed is the first part of a trilogy, which allowed me a sigh of relief (note: unfortunately, it seems like we have to wait until May next year for part two) 

Starcrossed fills the hole that Twilight left after Breaking Dawn, the novel, was released and I’m sensing we’ll see a movie coming along soon with a heck of a lot of hype (i.e. screaming teenage girls).

To read is to fly...

“To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries." - A C Grayling

Books I love... by Kelly

Written by Kelly, from It's a book Thing blog

Follow her on twitter: @QueenKelso

 1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

I would hold my breath each time I read this book.  The pages would crunch in that overheated classroom as the revolution took over!  It wasn’t the love story between Lucie Manette, Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay or the menacing knitting of Madame Defarge.  This story had everything from the brilliance of writing from Dickens to characters that I hold dear to my heart.  A mighty feat is this read, but one that should and will stay with you forever.

  

2. Atonement by Ian McEwan

This book will always be the first of many books I read as a bookseller and the one book that ended a bookclub between Tarryn and I in varsity.  Ian McEwan has a way of describing scenes so delicately that you the reader see the thin line in which Briony Tallis is about to cross.  A story of misunderstanding and blame that sets a ripple effect in motion, impacting and ruining lives, leaving Briony Tallis atoning for one event in her life…

3. Matilda by Roald Dahl

I am Matilda!  Matilda is my past and my future as I stalk bookshops and hang around libraries.  Dahl’s intricate manner of describing things so disgustingly and Eek-worthy leaves me cringing, even today.  Matilda, a book lover, tells us all that no matter the hardships you face books will always be your savior.

  

4. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Set in the revolution is the greatest adventure novel I have ever read.  This novel is peppered with mystery, love, beauty, grand masque parties, painted faces and a race against time to save lives.  What more could you want when lying in the bath with a bottle of wine…

Please note: "Books I love..." is a new series, where an awesome, book-loving ladies share a few of their favourite books with us.

The August/September book list

 

Here are the 4 books that  Ive chosen for my August/September book list (aka my reading suggestions) -You can click on the title to read more about book:

1. State of Wonder - by Ann Patchett

2. The Red Garden - by Alice Hoffman

3. Starcrossed - by Josephine Angelini (young adult)

4. This Way Up - by Paige Nick (Local)

Books I love... by Annika

Written by Annika

from AnysRoad blog

1.The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen

This book made me so happy when I read it and I laughed so much people stared at me when I was in a public place. It is part comic book, part family saga with an unlikely hero:

Meet T.S. Spivet - boy cartographer, award nominee, hobo. The story follows him on his journey to accept his award and ultimately to find peace with his silent, stone-faced cowboy father.

The layout is part of what makes this book so special as the square format literally holds the story together. Each chapter is accompanied by maps, graphs and observation by T.S. Notes about the human condition and life as we know it and sometimes just how it is in the eyes of a little boy.

2.Why do you kill? by Juergen Todenhoefer

Reading this broke my heart in a good way. It’s a bit difficult to explain as this book just confirmed for me what I suspected all along.

Juergen Todenhoefer, former German government member turned media mogul, travelled undercover to Iraq to speak with the local resistance. People fighting not only for their freedom from the Americans, but also from Al Qaida in their own country. He tells their story of how this is achieved by the highest standards of humanity and utter respect for the innocent human life.

In a nutshell he is a man who inspired me, telling a sad, true story that gives hope.

3.The Travel Book by Lonely Planet

I think technically this could be considered a coffee table book, but then again usually coffee table books are not meant to be read. I read in this book all the time. Two pages dedicated to each country there is in the world: pictures, map, things to do, best time to go, etc. Condensed to give an overview in the most beautiful and inspiring way possible. At one point mine was covered in two different coloured post-its from front to back – one colour for countries I have been to, one colour for countries I still want to go (quite a lot more of those unfortunately).

It’s quite big and heavy, but I love it so much that it has moved across oceans already twice with me. If I can’t travel, I will browse to feel away and better. It’s my mini-vacation vacation book.

4. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren

When I was little my cousin’s mother died and I just asked her if she was sad. She said no, because her mother was in Nangijala. Astrid Lindgren created Nangijala, an afterlife and a land in the “campfire and storytelling days”. That’s where the Brother Lionheart meet again after they both have died and where the story really starts. It’s simply the most amazing story of two very unlikely brothers, having adventures and conquering evil against all odds.

I always liked the idea about this kind of afterlife. It also stuck with me since childhood that a story can give someone such comfort and would have such beautiful power to change a grieving child’s world. My Dad gave me a new copy a few years ago and it travels with me; it has become my ‘Alchemist’ and my ‘Little Prince’, explaining the inexplicable things in life.
 
Please note: "Books I love..." is a new series. Each week an awesome, book-loving lady will share a few of her favourite books with us.