Holiday reading ideas

December 4, 2009 · Posted in General 

Looking for ideas of what to read over the holidays?

Here’s a sample of what our library staff are reading at the moment

American Pastoral by Phillip Roth – You know you’re in for a fantastic dose of story telling in the first page or so especially when reference is made to the domestic social and political turmoil of the 1960s. Apparently it’s coming out in 2011 as a movie directed by Phillip Noyce – Margo

World Without End by Ken Follett (the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth). This novel takes you back to medieval Kingsbridge in1327, as the men, women and children of the city grapple with the devastating sweep of historical change – Barbara

reading emoticonMen of Rome series (No. 7), Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough. I am enjoying the epic tale and am in awe of McCullough’s grasp of history and historic detail. She tells a good yarn and creates characters that you can feel deeply about, whether you like them or not. I can’t put it down now – Marg

Lionel Shriver’s We need to talk about Kevin. A fictional book written from the viewpoint of the mother of a teenager responsible for a school shooting. It explores the factors in her son’s life that led up to the incident bringing up the age old question of nature vs nurture – Regina

Anita Shreve’s The Testimony – it’s an introspective look at a private school community blown apart by a scandalous incident – Fleur

Wendy Harmer’s Roadside Sisters. This is a tale of three women who were close in their youth who rediscover their personal alliances and differences on a journey in a large mobile home between Melbourne and Byron Bay. It has many amusing moments and observations on the lifestyles of contemporary Australian women – Lynette

Billy by Pamela Stephenson. I’m not a fan of Billy Connolly’s stand up comedy but this biography is very absorbing, especially the chapters on his childhood in Glasgow - Kellie

The Serpent in the Garden by Janet Gleeson is set in eighteenth-century London and its rural outskirts and follows renowned portraitist Joshua Pope.  What “grabs” me is that Janet brilliantly weaves historical fact with fiction and paints (pardon the pun) a rich glimpse of life in 18th century England both “upstairs and downstairs” – Dale

Search the library catalogue for these titles and more.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Holiday reading ideas”

  1. Julie on December 4th, 2009 1:00 pm

    I am reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. It won a Booker prize this year. It is an interesting look at Tudor England, around the time of Henry’s switcheroo from first wife to second, through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell. Not a bad read.

  2. Berenice on December 4th, 2009 3:04 pm

    Im not into literature but am 1/3 the way through 6 books all pure escapism – all crime and forensic crime. Caroll O Connell & Kathy Reichs are fav authors. I might have a go at Colleen McCullough’s ‘ Antony & Cleopatra’ – sounds interesting reading.