Withering Tights by Louise Rennison

What a hoot this book is. It may be aimed at teenagers but I enjoyed all Louise's other books and this one continued the theme of making me laugh out loud. Talullah is very different from Georgia but just as bonkers! Louise gets enormous humour out of the airy fairy performing arts college being set in Yorkshire and some of the comments from the locals are hysterical. I loved the description of Tallulah's first kiss.

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After the Party by Lisa Jewell

Anyone who read Ralph's party ten years ago will be as keen as I was to see what has happened to Ralph and Jem. You realise very early on that this relationship is not going well ten years and two children later. I won't spoil what happens but I am never disappointed with Lisa Jewell. She is a reliable good read but not predictable and it was good to catch up with the characters.

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The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Lindsay read this first and raved about it so much I just had to read it. Well, I wasn't sorry. It's a book about the relationship between black maids and their white mistresses in the deep south of America in the sixties.  It is shocking how recently segregation was still taking place and people were being robbed of their civil rights. Still this is not a depressing book although it has it's shocking moments. It is actually incredibly uplifting and the characters in it are so likeable you are rooting for them all the way. I think this could be a great book for book groups.

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I just re-read an old favourite and enjoyed it even more the third time. "Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver has some wonderfully complex characters, a hot steamy setting and teaches you about nature in a fascinating and subtle way. I loved Deanna and Lusa and Nannie so much that I didn't want the book to end and it makes me hope that Barbara might revisit them some day. I will also think twice about ever using pesticides in my garden (it's the first time I have read the book since I became interested in gardening and photography and I certainly got things out of it that passed me by the first time).

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I have just read 4 very good teenage books. Each very different but all thoroughly enjoyable. I would recommend them to adults and also older teenagers.

The Knife of Never Letting Go and the Ask and the Answer are by Patrick Ness and are parts 1 and 2 of a Trilogy. The action takes place on a planet where there are no women and the men can all hear each others thoughts and also the thoughts of animals. As far as we know all the women were wiped out by the same virus that caused the telepathy. Then we find out differently........ I don't know when I have been left breathless by a book but the chase in this one is non-stop and I was really blown away by the quality of the writing. The third part of the trilogy is out now and I am saving it as a treat!

The Shell House by Linda Newbury. Linda Newbury is a local writer and has written many very successful children's novels. I recently met her Mother and she encouraged me to read the Shell House. It was inspired by Copped Hall and features a young man called Greg who stumbles upon the beautiful ruins of a grand house and becomes intrigued about it's history and its destruction. We learn about Edmund, a previous inhabitant of the Hall and his experiences in the First World War. It's a delightful and moving read about love and sexuality.

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X Stork. this will be published in June and I was lucky enough to get a proof to read. Pancho is planning the murder of his sister's killer and DQ is on the brink of death. The 2 main characters are brought together one summer in New Mexico (you can feel the heat!) and end up helping each other with their situations in ways they could never have imagined. This is top quality writing, amazing characterisation, very moving in places. I will be recommending this one in June.

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The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

In this novel the unit is where you go when you are 50, if you are childless and don't have a job that the State deems productive. In the unit you will make friends, have an apartment and all your food and clothing paid for. In return you participate in medical experiments and donate your organs to those in the outside world who are leading "productive" lives.

Scary scenario, very well written, good characterisation, interesting plot turns. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

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61 hours by Lee Child

I read this on a plane and then kept reading when I got home....but Lee Child novels do this to you. The description of the cold had me shivering, Jack Reacher lived up to his hero status and there was a suitably scary villian. Classic Reacher, classic Child. Loved it!

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Small Wars by Sadie Jones

I read this at the weekend as I was going to a reading by Sadie and her sister Melissa. The writing is every bit as good as The Outcast (which all of us who work in the bookshop loved in 2008). The book is set mainly in Cyprus in the fifties and we share the lives of Hal, a soldier, and Clara his wife. Hal struggles with some of the actions he has to take against the locals who are fighting for union with Greece. He also feels let down by some of his comrades and struggles with his communications with Clara. I think Sadie has painted a very vivid picture of Cyprus in the fifties and has also captured the relationship issues that can arise between an army man and his wife. For me the subject matter was a little depressing though and whereas The Outcast had some very uplifting moments Small Wars didn't give you that lighter relief.

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Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving

I have now finished this novel having broken off to read the two other novels highlighted above. I greatly enjoyed the style of writing which is so uniquely his but I found the plot a little difficult to follow (not normally the case with his novels). It starts in 1954 when an anxious 12 year old boy mistakes the local constable's girlfriend for a bear. The boy and his father become fugitives and we follow them over the next 50 years. John Irving tells a story very well and in this case the main characters change their names, more than once and keep reflecting on their past even when the story has just jumped forward ten years,  making it a little hard to follow at times. Coming back to it after a break was good as I found I had missed the characters and I think I warmed to them more in the last third of the book. I know it is a book I will read again and probably enjoy more the second time. It had a happy ending, which pleased me. I do always enjoy his stories within stories, his repetition and his, at times, exquisite prose.

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Death on the Ice by Robert Ryan

I have always been fascinated by explorers who take great risks and venture where no-one else has ventured. Death on the Ice is the story of Scott and his journey in 1912 to the South Pole. It is a novelisation of the expedition story and the author has obviously kept to the well known facts but has added likely conversations and more personality to the characters involved. The first half of the book alternates chapters between Scott and his earlier expedition in 1902 and Oates (who servec in the Boer War). The second half of the book looks in detail at the preparation for the big push to the Pole in 1912 and is a fascinating account of man against the elements. This was a really great read.

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The Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly

I have been waiting 2 years for this continuation of "The Six Sacred Stones", Matthew's books are an action rollercoaster. Jack West is like James Bond and Bourne rolled into one and then some! If you like your action fast and furious and you are happy to suspend logic and add in a bit of supernatural then you will love this series of books! One thing....Jack West has one real arm and one titanium arm but the guy on the jacket has two real arms even though it is clearly meant to be Jack. Why do they make these mistakes!!!

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Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler

I am a big fan of Anne Tyler's writing and the style and pace of the writing did not disappoint but the subject matter was a little depressing. Noah has retired and is down-sizing his life when he is attacked on the first night in his new apartment. He loses his memory of the attack and becomes obsessed with finding out what happened. There were some very light moments of farce as Noah interacts with his family however his obsession annoyed me a little. Nevertheless there was a twist in this that I did not expect and it did me me more cogniscent of the difficulties faced by someone retiring as their interactions with the outside world become less.

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Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne

This is a fascinating story set in Sri Lanka and London. The author is a painter as well as a wonderful storyteller and the colours and textures of both Sri Lanka and England are described beautifully. Sita and her daughter Alice are the main characters over 2 generations and we experience their highs and their lows of which there are many and they are significant. I look forward to reading more of this authors work.

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Gentleman's Relish by Patrick Gale

Regular visitors to the shop will know that those of us who work there are big Patrick Gale fans. This is a collection of short stories and it doesn't disappoint. Or when it does, it is only because one is enjoying the story so much you would like to have read more!I felt the touch of Roald Dahl at times (thinking back to Kiss Kiss and Switch Bitch). A lovely present for anyone who likes the short story genre.

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Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo by Julia Stuart

Harper Collins were kind enough to give me a proof of this novel. I love a book that teaches me and I learned lots about the Tower of London and lots about London Transport Lost Property Office. Balthazar Jones is a Beefeater at the Tower and Hebe, his wife works at the Lost Property Office. They have suffered a great loss three years previously when their son died and the book is about their lives (particularly as they change when the Queen decides to move animals from the Zoo to the Tower), their relationship, their coping with grief and their memories of their son. It has a lot of humour in it and I found myself smiling a lot, it also has moments of sadness but it is not overpowering. The book is published in March and I will be recommending it to customers who have enjoyed A Short History of Tractors In Ukranian and The Behaviour of Moths.

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Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

I read this over Christmas and greatly enjoyed it. It won the Pulitzer in 2003 and I had occasionally looked at the cover and thought it looked a bit heavy and boring (never judge a book by it's cover!) Nothing could have been further from the truth. I found the story telling compulsive and I was very glad I was off work and could pick it up during the day to read for half an hour as well as reading at night. It tells the story of Calliope, of Greek descent, a hemaphrodite who is born a girl in 1960 and then as a boy in 1974. The first half of the book covers her grandparents flight from Greece (1922 Greek/Turkish war) their move to America and semi-integration into Detroit life, then we learn more about Calliope and her feelings and emotions as she grows towards puberty and the changes that will change her life more than most teenagers.

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Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow

A few of my customers read this historical series so I decided to give it a go. Well, I learned a lot about the set up of a Roman Legion! Macro the Roman Centurion is a great character and being part of the Legion is certainly hard work. I like the way it is written in modern lingo, the plot was pretty good and a few characters emerged that I get the feeling will appear in future books. The descriptions of the battle scenes were detailed and I could really clearly visualise them. This one would make a great film.  I have passed this on to my niece's husband and have ordered book 2 in the series for me! (Update 9/5 ....I have now read books 2-5 and have thoroughly enjoyed them all!)

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1932 - A Caravan Holiday by Len Smith

We featured Len's wonderful first hand account of WWI trench life during the Woodford Festival and Len's great-nephew introduced me to his other book detailing a caravan holiday he took in 1932 with his wife and two friends and his dog Rags. It is a charming book, his drawings providing the colour to support his descriptive dialogue. He starts the journey leaving Woodford and then describes all the lovely places he stays, Lyme Regis, Western Super Mare, Cheddar Gorge and Symmonds Yat are all featured. This would make a great little present for anyone into caravan trips or who would enjoy the lovely art.

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