Dec
04
by Anita Amirrezvani
(4/5)
Fiction
First Published in 2007
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Set in: 17th Century Persia
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Book Synopsis:
In 17th Century Persia, a father dies suddenly, leaving a fourteen year old girl and her mother to fend for themselves. With no male protector and no dowry with which to marry, they have to make the long journey to Isfahan, to live with the girl’s uncle, a rug designer to the King.
The girls imagination and interest is aroused by the carpets and she hungrily learns the craft, becoming a talented rug maker. But as time goes by, her chances to marry diminish and she is given no choice but to marry a rich man in secret. Will she stay in this unhappy marriage, or does she have the strength and courage to weave a new life for herself? Read more... (349 words, 7 images, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews 17th Century Fiction Islam Persia Women
Dec
02
By Richard Bach
Photographs by Russell Munson
(5/5)
Fiction / Inspirational
First Published in 1970
Publisher: Harper Element
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Book Synopsis:
Seagulls fly to find to food. Seagulls eat. Seagulls survive. This is seagull law. But Jonathan Livingston Seagull has discovered the sheer joy and pleasure of flying and swooping and diving. Because of this, Jonathan is banished by the seagull elders. But Jonathan still continues to fly, expanding his horizons and searching for his higher purpose.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a fable about seizing life by the horns, and following your dreams, even if it means going against the norms of the flock.
A story that will inspire you to follow your dreams, so that you can soar too. Read more... (350 words, 8 images, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, Gifts, Inspirational / Spiritual Dreams Fiction Freedom Genius Gift inspirational stories Novella
Dec
02
by Jhumpa Lahiri
(4/5) 
Fiction / Short Stories
First Published in 1999
Publisher: Flamingo
Set in: Various countries: USA, India, London
Won The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2000
Won the Hemingway Foundation / PEN Award 2000
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Book Synopsis:
9 short stories that reveal the lives of Indians living at home, or abroad, but nevertheless isolated, steering their way through the murky path between tradition and the new world that has evolved around them. These stories which are eloquently and subtlety told by Indian-American writer Jhumpa Lahiri, will speak to anyone who has experienced the longings of exile, or the isolated confusion of an outsider.
Read more... (321 words, 7 images, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews contemporary fiction Fiction Immigrants India Love Story short stories
Nov
30
by Shel Silverstein
(5/5)
Children’s Fiction
Ages 6-10
First Published in 1964
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
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Book Cover Synopsis:
“Once there was a tree…and she loved a little boy. So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein.
Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk…and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree and the tree gave and gave.
This is a tender story, touched with sadness, aglow with consolation. Shel Silverstein has created a moving parable for readers of all ages that offers an affecting interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another’s capacity to love in return. Read more... (309 words, 7 images, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)
Posted in Book Reviews, Children's Fiction, My Favourite Books Ages 6-10 children's book environment Fiction Gift Love Story teacher's resource
Nov
30
by Helen Fielding
(5/5)
Fiction
First Published in 1996
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Set in: London, present day
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Book Cover Synopsis:
Bridget Jones wants to have it all – and once she’s given up smoking and got down to 8st 7lbs, she will. Bridget Jones’s Diary is about a year in the life of a single girl on an optimistic but doomed quest for self-improvement. A dazzling urban satire of modern human relations? An ironic, tragic insight into the demise of the nuclear family? Or the confused ramblings of a pissed thirty-something? Bridget Jones is everyone’s favourite Londoner. This is your chance to reacquaint yourself with the funniest, most heart-warming young lady ever to grace the pages of a Picador book. Read more... (384 words, 8 images, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, Gifts, Light Reading, My Favourite Books Chick Lit contemporary fiction feel good Fiction Gift Humour Light Reading Love Story
Nov
29
by Audrey Niffenegger
(2/5)
Fiction
First Published in 2009
Publisher: Random House
Set in: London, present day
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Book Cover Synopsis:
Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers – normal at least for identical ‘mirror’ twins who have no interest in college or jobs or possibly anything outside their cosy suburban home. But everything changes when they receive notice that an aunt whom they didn’t know existed has died and left them her flat in an apartment block overlooking Highgate Cemetary in London. They feel that at last their own lives can begin… but have no idea they have been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives below them, and even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the twin’s mother – and who cant even seem to quite leave her flat… Read more... (735 words, 8 images, estimated 2:56 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews contemporary fiction Fiction Ghost London Twins
Nov
29
by Stephenie Meyer
(4/5)
Fiction
First Published from 2005-2008
Publisher: Little Brown and company
Set in: Forks, Washington, USA. Present day.
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Book cover Synopsis:
When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret.
What Bella doesn’t realize is the closer she gets to him, the more she is putting herself and those around her at risk. And, it might be too late to turn back. . . .
Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight will have readers riveted right until the very last page is turned. Read more... (405 words, 7 images, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Teenage Fiction books for teens contemporary fiction Fiction Love Story Teenage Thriller USA Vampire
Nov
29
by Harper Lee
(4/5)
Fiction
First Published in 1960
Publisher: J. B. Lippincott & Co.
Set in: Maycomb, Alabama, USA. 1930s
Won the Pulitzer Prize 1961
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Book synopsis:
”Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember, it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
A lawyer’s advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of this enchanting classic – a black man charged with the rape of a white girl.
Thorough the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties.
The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man’s struggle for justice.
But the weight of history will only tolerate so much…
Read more... (737 words, 7 images, estimated 2:57 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews 1930s Classic Novel Fiction Morality Racism USA
Nov
28
by Christina Schwarz
(5/5)
Fiction
First Published in 2000
Publisher: Doubleday Publishing
Set in: Wisconsin, USA.
Part of Oprah’s Book Club
International Bestseller
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Book cover Synopsis:
At the close of World War One, Amanda Starkey leaves the city and travels to her family farm in rural Wisconsin to recover from a traumatic love affair. Instead, she is caught up in a tragedy that will take her beloved sister’s life, and leave Amanda to raise her niece Ruth. What happened the terrible night when Mattie died? Why does Ruth say she can remember drowning? For years the consequences of the tragedy reverberate; the truth, when it is revealed, is both dramatic and extraordinarily moving. Read more... (412 words, 7 images, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, My Favourite Books Fiction USA
Nov
27
by Khaled Hosseini
(5/5)
Fiction
First Published in 2003
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Set in: Afghanistan, USA
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Book Cover Synopsis:
Over five years on the New York Times bestseller list, and published in 42 different languages.
Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant, is a Hazara, a member of the ethnically shunned minority. Their intwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave behind the memory of Hassan behind him. Read more... (369 words, 7 images, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, My Favourite Books Afghanistan contemporary fiction Fiction Gift
Nov
27
by Khaled Hosseini
(5/5)
Fiction
First Published in 2007
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Set in: Afghanistan
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Book cover synopsis:
After more than 189 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list for The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today. Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love. Read more... (352 words, 7 images, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, My Favourite Books Afghanistan Fiction
