Some More Book Club Reading

Flaxmere Library Book Chat meets fortnightly on Tuesday mornings. Here's a selection of what they particularly enjoyed over November. Click on the titles for more information from the catalogue.

The Brightest Star by Emma Harcourt
This book will make you feel for women born centuries before their time – intelligent women particularly, who lived when women were considered inferior to men in both mind and body. So it was for Leonarda Lunetta, who unmarriageable due to a limp, develops a keen interest in astronomy. It’s the late 1400s when she discovers her thoughts about the circling of the planets are in accord with the heretical thinker Copernicus. But Florence is a dangerous place to think outside the norm. A gripping historical read.

Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson
Abigail marries a Silicon Valley millionaire after a fairy-tale, whirlwind romance. But it all turns into a nightmare when she finds herself trapped on a honeymoon island resort with no cellular service. For also on the island is the man she had a fling with during her bachelorette party. This guy's become obsessed with Abigail. Can she handle her stalker on her own or should she tell her husband? Another book you just won’t be able to put down.

Hornet Flight by Ken Follett
Here's a war novel that takes us to Denmark 1941, where two brothers take different paths. Arne is drawn into the world of espionage through his connection with Hermia, an MI6 analyst. MI6 is trying to decipher an encrypted Luftwaffe radio signal about the new radar equipment. As the enemy closes in, an old Hornet Moth biplane becomes the only way to get a message to the British. Another really good read from this master storyteller.

The Paris Mystery by Kirsty Manning
This is the first in a series of mysteries featuring Charlie James, a 1930s journalist eager to make her name in a field dominated by men. It’s Paris 1938 and Charlie is a correspondent for The Times, desperate for a scoop. Lady Ashworth knows everybody and at her annual summer party, Charlie will meet them all. Amid the fireworks and jazz, dangerous secrets lurk and the party is rocked when an unscrupulous investor is found dead. The list of suspects will take Charlie into the heart of Parisian high society. Highly entertaining.

Knot series by Mary Marks
The nine books in Mary Marks’ Quilting Mysteries series include a quilting-themed pun in each title plus plenty of chuckles. Amateur sleuth, Martha Rose and her quilting friends are enjoying retirement until of course murder comes along. The humour is sharp and witty, the action pacey enough to keep you reading. Knot of This World has Martha surprised to find her friend Birdie and husband joining the Mystical Feather Society, a spiritualist commune. Martha’s suspicious mind has her keen to check it out but when she finds the cult leader murdered  the blame is pointing in Birdie’s direction.

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Emma Carey
In this memoir, Emma Carey describes the terrible sky-diving accident that left her paraplegic at the age of twenty. She tells of her slow rehabilitation to learn how to use her legs again, as well as the lengthy court case that followed. A book of courage, resilience and inspiration.

Did You See Melody? by Sophie Hannah
Cara stumbles on a secret when she escapes her home for a luxury hotel and discovers a girl who shouldn’t be alive. In prison for her murder are Cara’s parents, now serving life sentences. Cara’s already under a lot of pressure – can she believe the evidence of her own eyes and how can she prove it and not put her own life in danger? Another gripping thriller from this master of the genre.

The Homes by J B Mylet
This mystery novel deals with what society does with unwanted children and is based on the author’s own mother’s experience of growing up in an orphanage in the 1960s. Here in the Lowlands of Scotland, there are The Homes – a village of houses for a thousand homeless children. While there are some good people caring for them, there are bad ones as well, and things get even grimmer when a child is found murdered. Twelve-year-old Lesley and her friend Jonesy decide to investigate, not realising that they could be the murderer’s next targets. A compelling and moving story.

Outside by Ragnor Jonasson
Summer is the best time to read a book like this. Outside follows four friends who seek shelter in an abandoned hunting lodge during an Icelandic snowstorm. As they watch and wait for morning, old secrets bubble to the surface surrounding an old tragedy - the story following the narratives of each friend in turn. Meanwhile they are unaware they are being watched. This is a novel of revenge and intrigue that will keep you hooked.

Posted by Flaxmere Library Book Chat

7 December 2022

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