The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief

A book narrated by death, in Germany, during World War Two. An orphaned child, the dangers of not belonging to the Party, hiding a Jew in your basement. Starvation, terror and war. Sounds pretty grim, right? Wrong. This is a whimsical and intimate story, and if you’re like me, you’ll read 350 pages in a single sitting.

The book takes place entirely during the war. It doesn’t see out the end of the war, so there’s no notion of happily ever after (although there is a satisfying epilogue). The characters’ reality is finding enough food, making sure homework is done, and building air raid shelters only when they have to.

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Life by Keith Richards

Life by Keith Richards

Keith Richards. The Rolling Stones. There’s reverence in them there words. I’m the wrong generation to have grown up with them, but I was raised with their rhythms, riffs and lyrics in my ears (thanks Dad). They were (and still are) a thumping great band and man, have they had a rock’n’roll life. Life is Keith’s story.

There seem to be rules around writing an autobiography review. You give a timeline, crucial moments and important people. I’m more interested in a person’s character, as even someone with an exciting life can be an idiot.

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The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson

The Finkler Question

The Finkler Question won the Man Booker Prize for 2010. I relish a witty, well-educated, perceptive author as much as the next book lover, and Mr Jacobson is both well known and well regarded. The Finkler Question is thought provoking, funny and musical all at the same time.

The main characters are three men who have been friends for years; two Jewish men, Libor and Finkler; and Treslove. Treslove calls all Jewish people Finklers, after his friend.

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The book of the film of the story of my life by William Brandt

The Book of the film of the story of my life

Makulalanana. Ma-ku-lala-nana. The (fictional) island where Frederick Case resolves his life. He’s 42, divorced and thinning on top. He’s a bit of a loser, in a funny, feel-sorry-for-you kind of way. “The book of the film of the story of my life” won’t change your life, but if you’re looking for some holiday reading that will make you smile, this is not bad at all.

Frederick is a New Zealander living in London. His ex-wife, also a New Zealander, is now shacked up with a gorgeous Hollywood actor. She herself is an actress and she met the new stud working on a film with him. In the film, she gives him a real blow job, which creates all kinds of controversy of course, and guarantees the film’s success. A dirtier mind might make other connections but I’ll leave it there.

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This Charming Man by Marian Keyes

This Charming Man

Marian Keyes’ stories make me feel better. They make me want to sit down and have a cup of tea, and tell her all my fears, hopes and secrets.

This Charming Man”, like many of Keyes’ novels, has a dark heart but a hilarious, raw, heart-wrenching façade. I’ll be honest – the first time I read it, I had to struggle to get through the first 50 pages. I was disappointed, as I couldn’t figure out where it was going. But disappointment is about your own expectations, not about what you’re reading, so I persevered. I’m so glad I did.

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The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly

The Lizard Cage

I almost didn’t take this book out of the library. Then I read the first couple of pages and got hooked, as much by the writing style as the content. “The Lizard Cage” is about a Burmese political prisoner known as the Songbird, and the hope and horror that somehow co-exist in his world. It’s lyrical, whimsical and almost gentle, even when it describes the brutal realities of the Songbird’s life.

Several people form relationships with the Songbird, and the book tells how that relationship changes each of them. The Songbird becomes a catalyst for the stories of the other characters, rather than the main character himself.

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The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Angels Game

For passionate readers, a book about books is as good as it gets. You soak up words like a giant sponge, relishing the shared joy between reader and writer. When that book is also well written it’s like cold lemonade on a hot day. “The Angel’s Game” is a complex story about books and the power they can have. Layer upon layer of mystery, tragedy and beauty reveal and twist back on themselves as you read.

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Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Piccoult

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I’m a big Jodi Piccoult fan. I’ll say that up front.

Songs of the Humpback Whale is about a single child family going through a crisis. Within the first 20 pages, Jane and Oliver, mum and dad, argue. Jane and daughter Rebecca leg it to find Jane’s brother, Joel. Their journey across the United States, including Oliver’s attempts to find them, is actually a backdrop for the real story: how they became who they are.

It’s not a straight journey, starting on day one and finishing when they get there. Piccoult uses flashbacks and five different voices to get her story across, which I like, even if sometimes it’s annoying. I want to keep going with the first character and find out what happens!

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The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton

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If you’re from the generation that was wowed by Total Recall, Marathon Man and/or The Matrix, this book will appeal to you.

It was originally published in 1988, long before the internet, mobile phones and the general digitalisation of technology. Having said that, Michael Crichton is nothing if not imaginative and forward thinking. The Terminal Man is about a man who has a tiny computer implanted in his brain to try and control violent seizures.

The book is actually set in 1971. There are computers in the book, but one such machine is described as ‘a machine that sprayed the letters with a nozzle, rather than typed them out mechanically’ – what we now know as an inkjet printer.

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Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins

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We all know Jackie Collins. She’s up there with Jilly Cooper, and writes about the people who fascinate us: Hollywood celebrities. Ahh, celebrities – fascinating, mysterious and hailed as the leading lights of each successive generation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as taken in as the next person, but let’s be honest about it.

This is the original bestseller, not ‘The New Generation’ published in 2001. This one was published in 1983, pre-dating our modern celebrity culture, ambitions and expectations – well, I thought so anyway. I’m not sure if it’s reassuring or depressing to think attitudes 25 years ago are actually the same as now. We haven’t changed much at all.

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