Three Men in a Boat
by Jerome K Jerome
This is my favourite book. I can pretty much repeat the first page …chapter?... from memory at this point. I think I love it as it makes me laugh every time and smile at the jokes whenever I think about it. But also, it’s about people who are as human and ridiculous and kind and petty as we are now, though they lived a hundred years ago and would struggle to recognise our world today. Seriously, give it ago. You will know the people. Especially, Uncle Podger.
Louise
True Betrayals
by Nora Roberts
Everyone she loves has lied to her. Can she ever trust her heart again? A passionate novel of loss, betrayal and true love. Kelsey Byden, twenty-six, divorced always believed that her mother was dead. But now, after all this time, she has discovered the truth: Naomi Chadwick is still alive—after spending years in prison for the murder of her lover. During an extended visit to her mother's beautiful horse farm in Virginia, Kelsey begins to untangle a lifetime of deception. Who can she trust, when those she loves to have lied to her for so long? Kelsey is falling dangerously in love with Gabe Slater, Naomi's handsome and intriguing neighbour. But love and lies are a lethal combination. If Kelsey has any hope of a future with Gabe, she must first understand the terrible truth about her past.
Kamala
The Road
by Cormac McCarthy
McCarthy's prose is simple, fable like, yet also lyrical, like a minimalistic poet. The portrait he has painted is dark and foreboding, difficult and painful, yet he carries "the fire" throughout, a spark of hope and love that must be his central message to the reader. Mesmerising!
Rajul
Blessing in Disguise
by Danielle Steel
From the start the characters did not seem very believable to me and they are certainly set in a very privileged lifestyle. However, I loved the story line which is about an inspirational woman discovers the highs and lows of being a mother to three very different daughters it’s about her family. What she went through and tried to stay independent and raise her girls. when one final turn of fate brings a past secret to light, it bonds mother and daughters closer, turning a challenge into a blessing.
Jusnara
Anxious People
by Fredrik Backman
This is a wholesome and funny book. At first, it seems like a slow-going book and goes off on so many tangents (just like life) but it keeps you on your toes with its great use of cliff-hangers and satisfying ending. It is a story about how a very different group of people, anxious about failing in life find common ground and still choose to have hope to carry on. It is a book that is like a warm hug telling you “It’s going to be okay” and leaves you comforted with a smile on your face.
Nick
Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkein
The Lord of the Rings is monolithic singular book, marvelled by critics and fans alike. The magnitude, display of assortments of mythical, magical creatures transcends across the whole book, giving it a magical feeling of adventure and points of adrenaline for those who wish to be embezzled in a fortress of a realm of magic and fantasy. This book deserves a curious reader to devour the hours of stamina needed to enjoy each and every chapter of the ‘middle-earth’ and what will entail of the hobbit’s adventure. Will they manage to save the world from dark forces of evil?
Shipon
The Summer Villa
by Melissa Hill
I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it took me away to the bustling part of Italy on the Amalfi Coast. Six years ago, Kim, Collette, and Annie ran away from their lives and ended up in the same villa in Italy. They didn’t know each other and though they had different backgrounds and different reasons for wanting to escape their lives for a few weeks, they all connected that summer. Now it is six years later, and Kim is hosting a grand reopening of the same villa, which she has transformed into a wellness retreat. It seems like the perfect time for the three women to reunite, but they each bring their own personal problems back to Italy, where it all began. This story alternated perspectives between the women then and now. Things were slowly revealed in each timeline, but some details were held until the end, which built up the tension and surprise. I was shocked at some of the twists that I didn’t see coming. One thing that this story demonstrated is how things in life can change so quickly.
Lipi
We Are Attempting to Survive Our Time
by A.L. Kennedy
Kennedy is a superb writer and the canniness of her observation keeps you reading. Humour, fantasy, rage and despair both help and hinder the protagonists of these stories as they navigate changing circumstances, accumulating losses, moments of comprehension and tenderness. Here is the woman, hoping for a quiet day at the zoo, who finally snaps at a white man's racist tirade and vents years of fury; the micro-celebrity who practises lines for a chat show on which he'll never appear; and the woman who walks out of her honeymoon suite at midnight, perhaps for good. Unsparing in her close examination of human relationships, A. L. Kennedy proves once again why she is regarded as one of our great storytellers.
Syed