Book Chat Recommends

There were a few familiar authors popping up at our January sessions of Book Chat. One author we’ve enjoyed many times is Tea Cooper, whose new historical novel is The Tangled Web. It’s 1892 when Viola loses her beloved brother Sebastian to a hereditary blood disease, an illness that has been managed by her stepfather, a well-known surgeon. A letter discovered in Sebastian’s favourite book sends Viola to Maitland, in the Hunter Valley to find a street urchin who had donated blood that alleviated Sebastian’s condition. But has their stepfather been using Sebastian’s illness to enhance his reputation? This was a dark, but ultimately satisfying read and very hard to put down.

Switching to Italy as World War Two appears on the horizon, we’re with Gabriella in Charlotte Bett’s novel, Stars Over Rome. Gabriellas leave England to visit Italy, where her mother came from. Wanting to be a journalist, she doesn’t expect to fall for Marco, the heir to a newspaper company. She’s always wanted a career rather than marriage, but now wonders if she can have both. Then there’s the war, Marco gets called up, and the newspaper is soon in strife. When she tries to help, no one takes her, a mere woman, seriously. Another great historical novel.

Ken Follett’s Circle of Days takes us right back to the building of Stonehenge. We are in the Salisbury Plains with three tribes of people: woodlanders, farmers and herders who don’t always see eye to eye. Seth is a talented flint miner who becomes involved in priestess Joia’s dream of a new monument, a stone circle to replace the wooden one. It will be a huge undertaking as drought threatens and mistrust between the tribes persists. Another brilliant novel from an author who can really sweep you back in time.

Among the contemporary reads was Keris Stainton’s novel, The Bad Mother’s Book Club. The story follows Emma when she moves with her family to the seaside for her husband’s job. But boredom and loneliness soon set in, and an invitation to join an elite book club by another school mother doesn’t go well. And what is the secret that lurks beneath the book group convenor’s perfect façade? A light, humorous but also very real and human novel.

Nicholas Sparks new novel, Remain, takes a different kind of path from his usual, and co-written with M Night Shyamalan (director of the movie, The Sixth Sense) you might see why. New York architect Tate Donovan is in Cape Cod to design a friend’s summer home. He’s been suffering from acute depression, and has lost his sister, who had a psychic ability. Staying at an historic B&B, he meets a beautiful woman who doesn’t seem quite real. An enjoyable, somewhat supernatural read.

In Twice, Mitch Albom tells the story of Alfie, who grows up knowing he can correct his mistakes by being able to do things a second time. Even if it’s something as ordinary as talking to a girl he likes. But when it seems you can do everything twice, there’s the problem you might have of losing what you’ve had all along. Albom’s novels have something of a religious message, as well as making you think about what’s really important in life.

Another charming, feel-good read is The Light a Candle Society by Ruth Hogan. It follows George who is recently widowed and a regular visitor to his late wife’s grave. It’s here that he comes across a public health funeral, a rather sad affair with no flowers or mourners. He is inspired to start the Light a Candle Society and soon recruits an assorted group of helpers who form unexpected connections. There’s humour, joy and wisdom as the new friends join together to celebrate forgotten lives.

 A couple of short story collections were well received a Book Chat. Having gone to school with the author, one reader was eager to pick up Jenny Lynch’s first book of fiction, The Humiliation of Millicent Salmond: tales of ambition, greed, love, and betrayal. The first story, Death by a Thousand Bites, describes a woman who plans to kill her husband by cooking him delicious cholesterol filled treats. There are twenty-one more stories, blending humour and wit and each with a sting in the tail.

Safe Enough: and other stories is a really enjoyable collection by Lee Child. Not all of them include his famous action man Jack Reacher, although they do feature plenty of action and suspense. There’s an assortment of criminals and crime fighters and never a dull moment with some nice twisty endings.

The twists continued in another Lee Child novel, The Affair, with our familiar Jack Reacher character investigating a murder in Mississippi. A woman has been left dead behind a bar, which is just down the road from an army base. Reacher is still a major in the military police and is sent undercover. This story takes us back to events just prior to the first ever Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor and a turning point in our action man’s career.

Jo Nesbo’s books are always a gripping read, and Killing Moon is no exception. Harry Hole is needed to stop a killer when a woman is found murdered, one of two who had disappeared from a real estate magnate’s party. But Harry is in LA, fired from the force in Oslo, a city that haunts him. Can he be enticed to return and solve the case?

A very easy read was the verdict for James Patterson’s crime thriller, Alex Cross, Run. Cross is a detective in Washington DC, a plastic surgeon he arrested now out of jail and with a new face. Then Cross investigates the murder of a woman who has recently given birth, the baby nowhere to be found. Two more bodies, and Cross doesn’t know if he’s looking for a serial killer, but he’s two busy to notice that someone is watching him with murderous intent. Never a dull moment with this one.

Another reader has continued to read more books by Rhys Dylan, and his detective stories following DCI Evan Warlow. The Bowman begins with a couple who are on a caravaning break in the Cambrian mountains when they discover a body. An enthralling mystery evolves but what is particularly appealing about this story is how Simon and Ally discuss the pronunciation of the Welsh language.

The cosy mystery of the day was The Austen Christmas Murders by Jessica Bull. Jane Austen is missing her siblings as Christmas approaches but is saved form boredom when she discovers a body. She learns about a missing bride who fled her wedding breakfast, never to be seen again. Could this be her? Unfortunately, our reader found the writing a bit too pedestrian, and while they finished the book, found it rather dull overall.

One reader recommends Sarah Barrie’s novels, particularly Blood Tree River, the first in the Calico Mountain trilogy. Indy is a policewoman sent to Tasmania to investigate missing girls at a remote cattle station. At the Calico Mountain Lodge, the owner is the chief suspect, but he’s a man of contradictions. Indy must work undercover, and the case will dig up dark events from her own past.

The next session of Flaxmere Library Book Chat is 3 February at 10:00 am. All welcome.

Posted by JAM

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