My Book. I don't think I would have finished it if it was now for the fact that we were going to review it. But I did and it was not too bad.
Product Description by Amazon
'Here we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything - even die' - Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, Karakoram mountains, Pakistan. In 1993, after a terrifying and disastrous attempt to climb K2, a mountaineer called Greg Mortenson drifted, cold and dehydrated, into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram Mountains. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. "Three Cups of Tea" is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty-five schools - especially for girls - in remote villages across the forbidding and breathtaking landscape of Pakistan and Afghanistan, just as the Taliban rose to power. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit.
About the Author
Greg Mortenson is the director of the Central Asia Institute, and he spends several months each year building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He lives in Montana with his wife and two children. David Oliver Relin is a globe-trotting journalist who has won more than forty national awards for his writing and editing. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
In the Place of Fallen Leaves - Tim Pears
We discussed this book on 15th February 2010
Kath's book. Another unusual story. We talked about this a lot.
Review From Amazon
'Highly atmospheric ... It had an intoxicating, magical quality which completely beguiled me' Jeremy Paxman, Independent 'Constantly delightful and constantly surprising ... This novel is something completely new and exciting ... Comic and wry and elegiac and shrewd and thoughtful all at once. Please read it' A. S. Byatt 'The writing is so genuine. Nothing is posturing or romanticised. The characters really touched me. There's so much talent here' Barbara Trapido 'A remarkable first novel, which renders domestic detail fascinating and makes it quite possible to believe in magic' Sunday Times
Product Description
This overwhelmingly hot summer everything seems to be slowing down in the tiny Devon village where Alison lives, as if the sun is pouring hot glue over it. 'This idn't nothin',' says Alison's grandmother, recalling a drought when the earth swallowed lambs, and the summer after the war when people got electric shocks off each other. But Alison knows her grandmother's memory is lying: this is far worse. She feels that time has stopped just as she wants to enter the real world of adulthood. In fact, in the cruel heat of summer, time is creeping towards her, and closing in around the valley.
From the Publisher
reviews
WINNER OF THE HAWTHORNDEN PRIZE AND THE RUTH HADDEN AWARD
'Constantly delightful and constantly surprising…This novel is something completely new and exciting…Comic and wry and elegiac and shrewd and thoughtful all at once. Please read it' A.S. BYATT, Daily Telegraph
'The writing is so genuine. Nothing is posturing or romanticised. The characters really touched me. There's so much talent here' BARBARA TRAPIDO
'Reminiscent of Faulkner and Garcia Marquez, the writing retains a very English scale…A triumph…Sensitive, heart-warming and hallucinatory' MAX RODENBECK, Financial Times
'It is most beautifully written, hypnotic as Proust, very funny and full of love that doesn't cloy…It is a dreamy, easy, wonderful read - and quite remarkable for a first novel' JANE GARDAM
'A remarkable first novel, which renders domestic detail fascinating and makes it quite possible to believe in magic' Sunday Times
'Highly atmospheric…It had an intoxicating, magical quality which completely beguiled me' JEREMY PAXMAN, Independent
'By turns elegiac, moving and extremely funny, Pears is also unafraid to muscle up his formidable powers of Proustian evocation. An extraordinarily promising debut' Time Out
'Long in abeyance, the English rural novel flourishes again in Tim Pears' story of a 13-year-old Devon farmgirl's confrontation with sex, death and the weather… an unusually welll-made novel which, through being less English than one would expect, produces a very English kind of magic' GILES FODEN, Independent on Sunday
'It is tricky coming across a novel you want to praise to the skies. Cool dispassionate criticism is much safer. But Tim Pears' "In The Place of Fallen Leaves" is more perfect than any first novel deserves to be' JENNIFER SELWAY, Observer
'An engaging, well-written and original novel. Pears could write about doing the washing up and make it interesting' PHILIP HENSHER, Guardian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
It is the hottest summer of the twentieth century. In a faraway Devon village hidden in a valley, the world has stopped turning and time is slipping backward. 'This idn't nothing' Alison's grandmother tells her, recalling the electric summer after the war when the earth swallowed lambs. But Alison knows her memory is lying: this is far worse. She thinks that time has stopped altogether, when all she wants is to enter the real world of adulthood. In fact, in the cruel heat of that summer, time is creeping towards her, closing in around the valley. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Tim Pears is the author of Wake Up (Bloomsbury, 2002), In a Land of Plenty (adapted into a major BBC TV series in 2001) and A Revolution of the Sun. He lives in Oxford with his wife and children.
Kath's book. Another unusual story. We talked about this a lot.
Review From Amazon
'Highly atmospheric ... It had an intoxicating, magical quality which completely beguiled me' Jeremy Paxman, Independent 'Constantly delightful and constantly surprising ... This novel is something completely new and exciting ... Comic and wry and elegiac and shrewd and thoughtful all at once. Please read it' A. S. Byatt 'The writing is so genuine. Nothing is posturing or romanticised. The characters really touched me. There's so much talent here' Barbara Trapido 'A remarkable first novel, which renders domestic detail fascinating and makes it quite possible to believe in magic' Sunday Times
Product Description
This overwhelmingly hot summer everything seems to be slowing down in the tiny Devon village where Alison lives, as if the sun is pouring hot glue over it. 'This idn't nothin',' says Alison's grandmother, recalling a drought when the earth swallowed lambs, and the summer after the war when people got electric shocks off each other. But Alison knows her grandmother's memory is lying: this is far worse. She feels that time has stopped just as she wants to enter the real world of adulthood. In fact, in the cruel heat of summer, time is creeping towards her, and closing in around the valley.
From the Publisher
reviews
WINNER OF THE HAWTHORNDEN PRIZE AND THE RUTH HADDEN AWARD
'Constantly delightful and constantly surprising…This novel is something completely new and exciting…Comic and wry and elegiac and shrewd and thoughtful all at once. Please read it' A.S. BYATT, Daily Telegraph
'The writing is so genuine. Nothing is posturing or romanticised. The characters really touched me. There's so much talent here' BARBARA TRAPIDO
'Reminiscent of Faulkner and Garcia Marquez, the writing retains a very English scale…A triumph…Sensitive, heart-warming and hallucinatory' MAX RODENBECK, Financial Times
'It is most beautifully written, hypnotic as Proust, very funny and full of love that doesn't cloy…It is a dreamy, easy, wonderful read - and quite remarkable for a first novel' JANE GARDAM
'A remarkable first novel, which renders domestic detail fascinating and makes it quite possible to believe in magic' Sunday Times
'Highly atmospheric…It had an intoxicating, magical quality which completely beguiled me' JEREMY PAXMAN, Independent
'By turns elegiac, moving and extremely funny, Pears is also unafraid to muscle up his formidable powers of Proustian evocation. An extraordinarily promising debut' Time Out
'Long in abeyance, the English rural novel flourishes again in Tim Pears' story of a 13-year-old Devon farmgirl's confrontation with sex, death and the weather… an unusually welll-made novel which, through being less English than one would expect, produces a very English kind of magic' GILES FODEN, Independent on Sunday
'It is tricky coming across a novel you want to praise to the skies. Cool dispassionate criticism is much safer. But Tim Pears' "In The Place of Fallen Leaves" is more perfect than any first novel deserves to be' JENNIFER SELWAY, Observer
'An engaging, well-written and original novel. Pears could write about doing the washing up and make it interesting' PHILIP HENSHER, Guardian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
It is the hottest summer of the twentieth century. In a faraway Devon village hidden in a valley, the world has stopped turning and time is slipping backward. 'This idn't nothing' Alison's grandmother tells her, recalling the electric summer after the war when the earth swallowed lambs. But Alison knows her memory is lying: this is far worse. She thinks that time has stopped altogether, when all she wants is to enter the real world of adulthood. In fact, in the cruel heat of that summer, time is creeping towards her, closing in around the valley. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Tim Pears is the author of Wake Up (Bloomsbury, 2002), In a Land of Plenty (adapted into a major BBC TV series in 2001) and A Revolution of the Sun. He lives in Oxford with his wife and children.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Heretic's Daugher - Kathleen Kent
Pippa's Book. Good choice. We liked this one and it was very different to all the others we have read.
Product Description from Amazon.co.uk
Martha Carrier was hanged on August 19th 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, unyielding in her refusal to admit to being a witch, going to her death rather than joining the ranks of men and women who confessed and were thereby spared execution.
Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and wilful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. In this startling novel, she narrates the story of her early life in Andover, near Salem. Her father is a farmer, English in origin, quietly stoical but with a secret history. Her mother is a herbalist, tough but loving, and above all a good mother. Often at odds with each other, Sarah and her mother have a close but also cold relationship, yet it is clear that Martha understands her daughter like no other. When Martha is accused of witchcraft, and the whisperings in the community escalate, she makes her daughter promise not to stand up for her if the case is taken to court. As Sarah and her brothers are hauled into the prison themselves, the vicious cruelty of the trials is apparent, as the Carrier family, along with other innocents, are starved and deprived of any decency, battling their way through the hysteria with the sheer willpower their mother has taught them.
About the Author
Kathleen Kent is a direct descendant of Martha Carrier, and THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER is based on true family history. Kathleen has worked in commodity trading and for the US Department of Defence in Russia. She now lives in Dallas with her husband and son. THE HERETIC’S DAUGHTER is her first novel.
Product Description from Amazon.co.uk
Martha Carrier was hanged on August 19th 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, unyielding in her refusal to admit to being a witch, going to her death rather than joining the ranks of men and women who confessed and were thereby spared execution.
Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and wilful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. In this startling novel, she narrates the story of her early life in Andover, near Salem. Her father is a farmer, English in origin, quietly stoical but with a secret history. Her mother is a herbalist, tough but loving, and above all a good mother. Often at odds with each other, Sarah and her mother have a close but also cold relationship, yet it is clear that Martha understands her daughter like no other. When Martha is accused of witchcraft, and the whisperings in the community escalate, she makes her daughter promise not to stand up for her if the case is taken to court. As Sarah and her brothers are hauled into the prison themselves, the vicious cruelty of the trials is apparent, as the Carrier family, along with other innocents, are starved and deprived of any decency, battling their way through the hysteria with the sheer willpower their mother has taught them.
About the Author
Kathleen Kent is a direct descendant of Martha Carrier, and THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER is based on true family history. Kathleen has worked in commodity trading and for the US Department of Defence in Russia. She now lives in Dallas with her husband and son. THE HERETIC’S DAUGHTER is her first novel.
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Sarah's book. Another one we enjoyed but not a quick read. Good one. Will make you think.
Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1975, in an unidentified Indian city, Mrs Dina Dalal, a financially pressed Parsi widow in her early 40s sets up a sweatshop of sorts in her ramshackle apartment. Determined to remain financially independent and to avoid a second marriage, she takes in a boarder and two Hindu tailors to sew dresses for an export company. As the four share their stories, then meals, then living space, human kinship prevails and the four become a kind of family, despite the lines of caste, class and religion. When tragedy strikes, their cherished, newfound stability is threatened, and each character must face a difficult choice in trying to salvage their relationships. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"'One of India's finest living novelists.' Observer"
Product Description
Set in mid-1970s India, A Fine Balance is a subtle and compelling narrative about four unlikely characters who come together in circumstances no one could have foreseen soon after the government declares a 'State of Internal Emergency'. It is a breathtaking achievement: panoramic yet humane, intensely political yet rich with local delight; and, above all, compulsively readable.
About the Author
Rohinton Mistry was born in 1952 and grew up in Bombay, India, where he also attended university. In 1975 he emigrated to Canada, where he began a course in English and Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author of three novels and one collection of short stories. His debut novel, Such a Long Journey (1991), won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book and the Governor General's Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was made into an acclaimed feature film in 1998. His second novel, A Fine Balance (1995), won many prestigious awards, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction and the Giller Prize, as well as being shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize. His collection of short stories, Tales from Firozsha Baag, was published in 1987. In 2002 Faber published Mistry's third novel, Family Matters, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize as well as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. It won the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for Fiction and the Canadian Authors' Association Award. In translation, his work has been published in twenty-nine languages. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2010.
Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1975, in an unidentified Indian city, Mrs Dina Dalal, a financially pressed Parsi widow in her early 40s sets up a sweatshop of sorts in her ramshackle apartment. Determined to remain financially independent and to avoid a second marriage, she takes in a boarder and two Hindu tailors to sew dresses for an export company. As the four share their stories, then meals, then living space, human kinship prevails and the four become a kind of family, despite the lines of caste, class and religion. When tragedy strikes, their cherished, newfound stability is threatened, and each character must face a difficult choice in trying to salvage their relationships. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"'One of India's finest living novelists.' Observer"
Product Description
Set in mid-1970s India, A Fine Balance is a subtle and compelling narrative about four unlikely characters who come together in circumstances no one could have foreseen soon after the government declares a 'State of Internal Emergency'. It is a breathtaking achievement: panoramic yet humane, intensely political yet rich with local delight; and, above all, compulsively readable.
About the Author
Rohinton Mistry was born in 1952 and grew up in Bombay, India, where he also attended university. In 1975 he emigrated to Canada, where he began a course in English and Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author of three novels and one collection of short stories. His debut novel, Such a Long Journey (1991), won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book and the Governor General's Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was made into an acclaimed feature film in 1998. His second novel, A Fine Balance (1995), won many prestigious awards, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction and the Giller Prize, as well as being shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize. His collection of short stories, Tales from Firozsha Baag, was published in 1987. In 2002 Faber published Mistry's third novel, Family Matters, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize as well as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. It won the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for Fiction and the Canadian Authors' Association Award. In translation, his work has been published in twenty-nine languages. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2010.
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
This was Kate's choice. Difficult to understand in places but a good read with a twist.
Book Description by Amazon
Stunning new repackages to celebrate Ishiguro's popular baclikst titles.
Product Description
In one of the most acclaimed and strange novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewered version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.
About the Author
Kazuo Ishiguro is the author of six novels, A Pale View of Hills (1982, Winifred Holtby Prize), An Artist of the Floating World (1986, Whitbread Book of the Year Award, Primio Scanno, shortlisted for the Booker Prize), The Remains of the Day (1989, winner of the Booker Prize), The Unconsoled (1995, winner of the Cheltenham Prize), When We Were Orphans (2000, shortlisted for the Booker Prize) and Never Let Me Go (2005, shortlisted for the MAN Booker Prize). He received an OBE for Services to Literature in 1995, and the French decoration of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1998.
Book Description by Amazon
Stunning new repackages to celebrate Ishiguro's popular baclikst titles.
Product Description
In one of the most acclaimed and strange novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewered version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.
About the Author
Kazuo Ishiguro is the author of six novels, A Pale View of Hills (1982, Winifred Holtby Prize), An Artist of the Floating World (1986, Whitbread Book of the Year Award, Primio Scanno, shortlisted for the Booker Prize), The Remains of the Day (1989, winner of the Booker Prize), The Unconsoled (1995, winner of the Cheltenham Prize), When We Were Orphans (2000, shortlisted for the Booker Prize) and Never Let Me Go (2005, shortlisted for the MAN Booker Prize). He received an OBE for Services to Literature in 1995, and the French decoration of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1998.
The Return - Victoria Hislop
Kath chose this. Better than The Island I thought but I find her an irritating writer. The others liked it more.
Product Description by Amazon
Beneath the majestic towers of the Alhambra, Granada’s cobbled streets resonate with music and secrets. Sonia Cameron knows nothing of the city’s shocking past; she is here to dance. But in a quiet café, a chance conversation and an intriguing collection of old photographs draw her into the extraordinary tale of Spain’s devastating civil war.
Seventy years earlier, the café is home to the close-knit Ramírez family. In 1936, an army coup led by Franco shatters the country’s fragile peace, and in the heart of Granada the family witnesses the worst atrocities of conflict. Divided by politics and tragedy, everyone must take a side, fighting a personal battle as Spain rips itself apart.
About the Author
Victoria Hislop is a writer and journalist. She writes travel features for the Sunday Telegraph, the Mail on Sunday and Woman & Home. Victoria lives in Kent with her husband, Ian Hislop, and their two children.
Product Description by Amazon
Beneath the majestic towers of the Alhambra, Granada’s cobbled streets resonate with music and secrets. Sonia Cameron knows nothing of the city’s shocking past; she is here to dance. But in a quiet café, a chance conversation and an intriguing collection of old photographs draw her into the extraordinary tale of Spain’s devastating civil war.
Seventy years earlier, the café is home to the close-knit Ramírez family. In 1936, an army coup led by Franco shatters the country’s fragile peace, and in the heart of Granada the family witnesses the worst atrocities of conflict. Divided by politics and tragedy, everyone must take a side, fighting a personal battle as Spain rips itself apart.
About the Author
Victoria Hislop is a writer and journalist. She writes travel features for the Sunday Telegraph, the Mail on Sunday and Woman & Home. Victoria lives in Kent with her husband, Ian Hislop, and their two children.
The knitting Circle - Ann Hood
Pippa's book. Quite a fantasy book but we all enjoyed reading it.
Product Description from Amazon
Review
Praise for The Knitting Circle 'Just like a woolly jumper, this book is cosy and perfect for long winter nights! ... truly heartwarming.' Closer Magazine Praise for Ann Hood: 'A heartbreaker' Vanity Fair 'An engrossing storyteller ! [This book] works its magic.' Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees 'What a gift for Ann Hood, who suffered a loss nearly identical to Mary Baxter's, to have made of her grief.' Newsday 'Memorably stirring and authentic.' Los Angeles Times Book Review 'Ann Hood writes with the ease of a born storyteller.' Chicago Tribune
Product Description
Come on in and join the knitting circle -- it might just save your life! Spinning yarns, weaving tales, mending lives! Every Wednesday a group of women gathers at Alice's Sit and Knit. Little do they know that they will learn so much more than patterns! Grieving Mary needs to fill the empty days after the death of her only child. Glamorous Scarlet is the life and soul of any party. But beneath her trademark red hair and beaming smile lurks heartache. Sculptor Lulu seems too cool to live in the suburbs. Why has she fled New York's bright lights? Model housewife Beth never has a hair out of place. But her perfect world is about to fall apart!. Irish-born Ellen wears the weight of the world on her shoulders but not her heart on her sleeve. What is she hiding? As the weeks go by, under mysterious Alice's watchful eye, an unlikely friendship forms. Secrets are revealed and pacts made. Then tragedy strikes, and each woman must learn to face her own past in order to move on!
From the Publisher
A beautifully-written, warm and poignant novel, perfect for fans of Cathy
Kelly, Maeve Binchy and Elizabeth Noble.
Product Description from Amazon
Review
Praise for The Knitting Circle 'Just like a woolly jumper, this book is cosy and perfect for long winter nights! ... truly heartwarming.' Closer Magazine Praise for Ann Hood: 'A heartbreaker' Vanity Fair 'An engrossing storyteller ! [This book] works its magic.' Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees 'What a gift for Ann Hood, who suffered a loss nearly identical to Mary Baxter's, to have made of her grief.' Newsday 'Memorably stirring and authentic.' Los Angeles Times Book Review 'Ann Hood writes with the ease of a born storyteller.' Chicago Tribune
Product Description
Come on in and join the knitting circle -- it might just save your life! Spinning yarns, weaving tales, mending lives! Every Wednesday a group of women gathers at Alice's Sit and Knit. Little do they know that they will learn so much more than patterns! Grieving Mary needs to fill the empty days after the death of her only child. Glamorous Scarlet is the life and soul of any party. But beneath her trademark red hair and beaming smile lurks heartache. Sculptor Lulu seems too cool to live in the suburbs. Why has she fled New York's bright lights? Model housewife Beth never has a hair out of place. But her perfect world is about to fall apart!. Irish-born Ellen wears the weight of the world on her shoulders but not her heart on her sleeve. What is she hiding? As the weeks go by, under mysterious Alice's watchful eye, an unlikely friendship forms. Secrets are revealed and pacts made. Then tragedy strikes, and each woman must learn to face her own past in order to move on!
From the Publisher
A beautifully-written, warm and poignant novel, perfect for fans of Cathy
Kelly, Maeve Binchy and Elizabeth Noble.
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