Search Results for: wonder down under

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The David Bowie Book Club

David Bowie’s son Duncan has just launched a book club in honour of his late father. Bowie’s list of top 100 books was first published at the time of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s exhibition in London a few years ago and, now, Duncan is making a book club out of the list. First up, Peter Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor. Read it by 1 February and join the discussion on Duncan’s Twitter account @ManMadeMoon. Predictably, the list spans a wide range of authors, genres and countries. Many well known titles here (Sarah Water’s Fingersmith,  Money by Martin Amis, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (of course!), Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, but also a whole lot of books I’ve never heard about before. Inspiring!

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What to read summer 2017?

Here’s our selection of books for the summer. Some light beach reads, some a bit more challenging, all excellent books. Click on the book titles for our full review. Happy summer from all of us at Bookstoker!

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Be consumed by a book this summer!

Hot tips for summer reading.

It’s almost upon us. Summer holidays and time to read. But what to choose? We have suggestions for you – from light beach reads, to epic tomes and literary classics. Take your pick and enjoy!

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Discover our favourite translated novels from the blog

Meteoric rise in the sales of translated fiction

Sales of translated fiction in the UK has sky-rocketed by an astonishing 96% over the past 15 years. Fantastic news in our opinion! We are celebrating by listing our favourite translated books from the blog. All translated novels can be found in the drop-down menu under ‘Reviews’ on the home page.

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Brain Boost Diet

Books to inspire pre-teens

With a Young Adult (YA) market that’s growing at an incredible pace, full of varied levels of depth, we have often been asked about recommendations that are less frivolous. Here is a list of some of the books we found particularly inspiring for our own children to take on a more substantial literary diet. They are our favourites, not only for introducing our younger teens to great literature or non-fiction, but also for opening the way to interesting discussions on politics, society and ethics, amongst others. Whether short or long, famous or obscure, these are accessible books that still stimulate the mind.

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To Kill a Mockingbird

Still good after all these years

There’s something wonderfully innocent and warm about this 1950s classic, despite its dead serious subject matter of racism. Life is simple; the goodies are good, the baddies are bad. Fundamentally, the book is about tolerance, for the lonely, weirdo neighbour, for the sick, angry, old lady down the road and, of course, for blacks, otherwise ostracised by 1930s Alabamian white society. I read this book 20 years ago and found it a joy to re-read, although my older more cynical self did think it a bit sentimental at times.

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Dept. of Speculation

Snapshots of a marriage

Jenny Offill’s little gem of a book Dept. of Speculation was on The New York Times’ list of 10 best books of 2014, and with good reason. It’s an unusual novel, written in snapshots, in much the same fragmented way our memory works. It’s the sum of those memories that create the narrative of our past or, in this case, the story of a relationship. In Dept. of Speculation, Offill tells an age-old tale in a refreshingly new way and creates something truly different.

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The Story of a New Name

Lenu and Lila grow up - the addiction continues...

The second of Ferrante’s four addictive books about close friends Lenu and Lila in 1950s Naples continues where she left off in My Brilliant Friend, with Lila’s disastrous marriage to Stefano Carracci at the tender age of sixteen.

 

 

SPOILER ALERT – if you think you might like to read these books, make sure you start with the review of the first, My Brilliant Friend, elsewhere on this blog.

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Books are for life, not just for Christmas

Ideas for Christmas shopping

Don’t you just love it when someone gives you a thoughtful book as a present? Perhaps a book that you have heard about but never got around to buying or an author you’ve never read before who turns out to be your new favourite?  I’ve been sifting through new releases and chosen some of my favourites reads from 2014 – fiction, non-fiction and children’s books. The books on this list are books I’ve read and reviewed (click on title for my review) and books I like the sound of that I’ll spend Christmas reading (click on title for newspaper reviews). There’s a lot of great reading out there waiting to be given away!

 

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Unforgettable classics

I’ve made a list (in no particular order) of seven books that come to mind every time I think of classics. Most of these I read a while ago and some of them I have read several times, but all of them are brilliant. There is a wide variety, from stories about love and betrayal to dark outposts and surreal transformations, from very long to very short. Take your pick and enjoy!

 

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