Friday 27 February 2015

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

I picked up Me Before You by Jojo Moyes with trepidation, after reading a review online which claimed this to be the most ‘cried aloud’ over book ever. It didn’t take me long before I too was drawn in.

Me Before You centres around the relationship between caregiver Lou Clark and wheelchair bound William Traynor. It doesn’t sound very glamorous, but actually it’s one of the most compelling love stories I’ve read for a long while. It’s a story about love, but not just romantic love – it’s about the complicated layers of love, and how much love counts (or indeed, is tested) in the face of adversity, and physical, emotional - and ultimately, existential - pain.

I was reminded of David Nicholls’ One Day when I read this, not just because they both create such relatable characters, and a vivid British setting, but because, although both write with a light touch, they are not afraid to delve into the deepest and most painful of human experience.

There were tears. Yes, I cried. A lot. And questioned some of my most deeply held beliefs. But often it's worth persevering with painful subjects because hopefully out of the other side of discomfort comes an increased empathy and understanding for the struggle of others. This book was well worth the journey – and the lessons have remained with me long after the tears dried up.

By the way, Jojo Moyes latest book The One Plus One is now available at Hastings District Libraries.

Posted by Bookish Betsy

Catalogue link: Me Before You

Catalogue link: The One Plus One

Monday 23 February 2015

The Facts of Life and Death by Belinda Bauer

The slightly clunky title is my only problem with this book by Bauer who is shaping up to be one of my favourite crime/thriller authors. The Facts of Life and Death has a huge amount going for it:

Engrossing plot told partly from the point of view of Bauer’s disturbed murderer. Check. Engaging child narrator who sees much but understands little. Check. Bumbling yet likeable young copper trying to impress smart, good-looking female DCI. Check. Atmospheric seaside town where the weather is unpredictable and adds to the unease of the events as they unfold. Check. A slow escalation of violence building towards a gripping and utterly exhausting ending. Double check.

Bauer is also one of the more original writers of the genre. Here she describes a criminal with a particular axe to grind which he takes out on his young female victims. The women he abducts are forced to phone their mothers who must then listen to their daughters’ terrifying deaths. Not nice.

And she’s really good with her characters, who have faults as well as good points, plus a talent for not noticing what’s going on under their very noses. This build up of what your English teacher might have called ‘dramatic irony’ makes for a particularly nail-biting read, and I found myself flicking towards the back of the book for reassurance - which wasn’t particularly forthcoming. This is one of those books where the pleasure of the ending is partly due to the relief you feel that it is all over. Which I guess is what the thriller genre is all about.

Posted by JAM


Friday 13 February 2015

Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen

‘Still Life with Bread Crumbs’ is the name of a much published photograph in Anna Quindlen’s similarly titled novel. It is a photograph that has earned protagonist Rebecca Winter a glowing reputation and ongoing royalties. But living in New York isn't cheap and Rebecca has rising expenses, including her mother’s nursing home to pay for. So at the age of fifty-nine, Rebecca up-stakes and heads for a cottage in the woods that she has leased off the Internet.

Yes, this is one of those ‘sea change’ novels and you can’t imagine a more striking change for Rebecca than forsaking the fashionable arty set of New York, to rub shoulders with the folk near her new home. First there’s Sarah, who never stops talking as she serves Rebecca breakfast at the Tea for Two café – the only place Rebecca can receive a phone and Internet connection.

Then there’s Jim the roofer who solves Rebecca’s raccoon problem. He’s strikingly good looking, though a bit young for Rebecca, yet the two become friends over a bird conservation programme. This could easily be a simple sort of ‘new life; new love’ story, but things get more complex when Rebecca discovers some unusual woodland shrines and decides to photograph them.

When a blizzard strikes, you realise how isolated you can be in a cabin in the woods and when the fragile infrastructure that keeps you connected to the world breaks down. Overall this a touchy-feely kind of story, but the writing is just witty enough to make this a fairly smart read, and the characters are interesting and diverse. A nice book to unwind with that will leave you in a happy place.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: Still Life with Bread Crumbs

Monday 9 February 2015

Sand by Hugh Howey

Sand describes another dystopian future created by the author who brought you Wool. This however is a completely different world - a world, not surprisingly, covered in sand. The story revolves around the sand-divers who dive for salvage - a concept Howey has made both interesting and believable.

The characters at the heart of Sand are a dysfunctional family whose father has deserted them before the story begins. He had been a powerful man in the community and his disappearance has thrown the family into chaos. His children are left to carry on the sand-diver tradition and to hunt for the mythical city of Danver, a quest that has the power to transform their lives.

Sand is very readable and relatively uncomplicated. Although the story came to a tidy ending I suspect there may be another book to fill in some more of the background of the how this world came to be. If you enjoyed the Wool trilogy, Sand is definitely a book you won’t want to miss.

Posted by R Meyers

Catalogue link: Sand