Leaving
Time, by Jodi Picoult
1.
My favourite fiction writer of the moment has produced yet
another thought-provoking story which captured my heart as well as my
imagination. The plight of elephants in Africa has been well documented, but to
read about it whilst being thoroughly entertained by a story which embraces the
paranormal, detective work and broken human relationships is a rare experience.
Highly recommended.
The Business of the 21st Century, by Robert T.
Kiyosaki
I rarely read business books ('Who moved my Cheese?' being
the last one, a decade or so ago), but this one, and his famous Rich Dad, Poor
Dad, had me fascinated. Robert Kiyosaki's theory that working hard at school to
get a good job, then working hard for our money, earning our old age pension,
saving up to have cash to invest in financial products, etc. is completely the
wrong way to live our lives...this was, for me, a revelation. If we want to be
rich, he says, we need to learn how to make our money work for us, not the
other way round.
Whatever happened to Billy Parks, by Gareth Roberts
Funny, heart breaking, and insightful. I love watching
football and have often wondered what it must feel like to score a goal (having
been inept in all matters sporty throughout my entire life).
In this book, Gareth Roberts does just that: he describes
the elation so well that I actually felt it myself. A thoroughly enjoyable read
for everyone, regardless of whether or not a fan of the game.
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
Mesmerising, challenging, and absorbing. The way the author
weaves the threads of this story together is exceptional. I guess that's why it
won the Pulitzer Prize! It's a beautiful work of art that explores aspects of
alienation and despair, not just in the plot, but in its very structure. It was
a joy and a privilege to be present to such skill; long live literary fiction!
Cutting for Stone, by
Abraham Verghese
Expect to be swept along by the drama of this roller-coaster
of a novel. Over five hundred pages of beauty, horror, poignancy, tragedy and
charm.
Verghese takes us from India to Ethiopia and the USA,
revealing intricate details of surgery, rebellion, war, passion, faith and
love. It is not often that a book can
lift your spirit to new heights, and this one is right up there with the likes
of Shantaram and similar great novels.
An unforgettable read
Maureen Moss
The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein
Quite simply a
fabulous book. The story is narrated by a dog, a dog with more insight into
being human than many of our own species could hope for.
This book has
everything: humour, heartbreak, philosophy, excitement, and most of all, love.
And for me, a bonus: I had never realised just how demanding car racing could
be!
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by
Rachel Joyce
Why does such an
unlikely story work so well? I found myself asking this question over and over again
as I accompanied Harold on his strange pilgrimage.
What is the book
about? In short, a middle aged man sets off to post a letter and ends up
walking without money, proper shoes, map, or food, for nearly 90 days, towards
a destination over 600 miles away whose exact location he doesn’t even know. His
mission: to save a life.
After several of the
early pages wondering where on earth this story was going, I found myself drawn
towards Harold, his wife, and the terminally ill woman he has decided to visit.
Curiosity got the better of me and before long I was turning pages avidly,
needing to know the outcome. Would he make it in time? What damage had he done
to his marriage? What was the mystery surrounding his estranged son?
And it gradually
dawned on me that this story is about living an extraordinary life, about
having the courage to live in the unknown, to commit, and to take action, no
matter how ‘dull and ordinary’ one’s circumstances are.
Harold is joined and
subsequently deserted by a motley crew of well-wishers and fame seekers. Even
Dog, who had, as Harold said, ‘chosen to walk with Harold for a while, and then
it had chosen to stop, and walk instead with the young girl. Life was like
that.’
To quote Alfred
Hickling in The Guardian, Rachel Joyce successfully conveys ‘profound emotions
in simple, unaffected language’.
And for me,
therein lies both its charm and its success.
A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki
As you know, I have
been fascinated by quantum physics for the last sixteen years, throughout which
both family and friends have laughed at me for my bizarre ideas and the whacky
theories I have shared. So to read a book by a well-respected author (Ruth
Ozeki has won two literary awards) which explores in a fiction the ideas of
eminent physicists such as Schroedinger, Heisenberg and Niels Bohr, as well as
the thoughts of Zen masters, was sheer bliss.
I guess by now many of
you will have already switched off. Yes, this is literary fiction. It won’t
keep you awake at night turning pages to find out who dunnit, though you will definitely
want to know what happened next. It is a truly human, warm and tender story
which weaves its way through two distinct cultures and time zones. The two
protagonists are Nao and Ruth (the author? Well, the husband has the same name
as her husband). Nao is a depressed and bewildered teenage Japanese girl and
Ruth a Canadian novelist, whose day to day life is interrupted when she finds a
bag on the beach containing the diary of Nao, presumably swept away in the
tsunami of 2011.
The story itself enters
and leaves real life, as historical references are interspersed with ghosts and
Zen sayings, and brings us to question the very nature of reality, of time and
of the universe (or multiverse?) in which we exist.
Truly intriguing,
inspiring and touching.
That Immortal Jukebox Sensation, by Gareth
Roberts
Looking for an
entertaining holiday read? This will keep you laughing from the minute you pick
it up.
The brilliant Gareth
Roberts has created characters we can all relate to. His hero Richie Strafe
wants to achieve immortality by killing his one-time rival (who just happens to
be a world famous rock star), but he becomes embroiled in the unlikeliest of
legal assignments, leading him to encounter both psychopaths and strippers, to
doubt his humanity and fear for his own life. Well, sort of. Grab some refreshments,
get comfortable, and enjoy! You’re in for a treat……
