Thursday, 22 November 2018
Travels With Epicurus: Meditations From A Greek Island On The Pleasures Of Old Age by Daniel Klein
Paperback: It is not the young man who should be considered fortunate but the old man who has lived well, because the young man in his prime wanders much by chance, vacillating in his beliefs, while the old man has docked in the harbour, having safeguarded his true happiness. - Epicurus
Our society worships at the fountain of youth. Each year, we try to delay the arrival of old age, using everything at our disposal, from extreme exercise and botox to pilates and cosmetic dentistry.
But in the process, are we missing out on a distinct and extraordinarily valuable stage of life?
Asking whether it is better to be forever young or to grin toothlessly and live an authentic old age, bestselling author Daniel Klein journeys to the Greek island of Hydra.
There, he draws on the lives of octogenarian Greek locals, as well as philosophers ranging from Epicurus to Sartre, to discover the secrets of ageing happily.
An escapist travel memoir, a droll meditation, and an optimistic guide to living well, Travels With Epicurus: Mediations From A Greek Island On The Pleasures Of Old Age (2014) is a delightful jaunt through the terrain of old age, led by a witty and uniquely perceptive modern-day sage.
Genre: Philosophy/Travel
Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Protected By The Shadows (Inspector Huss Series) by Helene Tursten
Hardback: In this final instalment of the internationally bestselling Irene Huss investigations, the Organized Crimes Unit pairs with the Violent Crimes Unit to help defuse the escalating tension between rival gangs in Göteborg, Sweden.
But could there be a mole on the force who is thwarting their efforts?
The gang warfare that has been brewing in Göteborg is about to explode. A member of a notorious biker gang has been set on fire - alive. Even in a culture where ritual killings are common, this brutal assault attracts the attention of both Irene’s unit and the Organized Crimes Unit. Anticipating a counterattack, the two units team up to patrol the lavish party of a rival gang, but that does not stop another murder from occurring just outside the event hall.
And that is not the only thing going up in flames. Someone has planted a bomb under Irene’s husband’s car. Fearing for her family’s safety, Irene sends her husband and daughters into hiding and takes up residence at a colleague’s apartment. Still, she can’t shake the feeling that she is being stalked. Somehow, the gangs are always one step ahead of the police. Someone is leaking information.
But who? Irene’s life depends on discovering the answer.
Protected By The Shadows (2017) is the tenth and final instalment in the truly satisfying and well-written Inspector Huss series set in Sweden. It is translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy.
A new series and a new lady detective, 28-year-old Detective Inspector Embla Nyström, will be hitting bookshops on 13 February 2019 so do watch out for the debut.
About the author: Helene Tursten (born in Göteborg in 1954) is a Swedish writer of crime fiction. The main character in her stories is Detective Inspector Irene Huss. Before becoming an author, Tursten worked as a nurse and then a dentist, but was forced to leave due to illness. During her illness she worked as a translator of medical articles.
Rating: 5/5
Tuesday, 20 November 2018
Sunday, 18 November 2018
The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the IMDB Exposé Investigated and Reported By Clare Rewcastle Brown
Paperback: The Sarawak Report (2018) is the stranger-than-fiction tale of how one woman uncovered the world's biggest theft which, in 2018, brought down the Malaysian government.
Investigating the deforestation of Sarawak, Borneo, and the dispossession of its people, journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown followed a trail of corruption that led her to the heart of Malaysian politics and to Prime Minister Najib Razak himself.
Determined that the public should know the truth, she started a blog, which became Malaysia's go-to news outlet for information that the government was trying to suppress - and whistleblowers wanted to get out. She was soon running a radio station too.
To nail down absolute proof, Rewcastle Brown criss-crossed the globe and, defying danger, pieced together the evidence of the 1MDB scandal - the theft of billions from the country's sovereign wealth fund.
Her reporting - exposing the shady dealings of international politicians, finance powerhouses, prominent PR firms and Hollywood glitterati - convulsed Malaysian politics and reverberated around the world. The US government made its largest ever kleptocracy asset seizure, while banks and bankers fell.
Sweeping in scope, The Sarawak Report provides a jaw-dropping behind-the-scenes narrative of Malaysia's recent turbulent political struggles, revealing, as never before, how government-funded cyber-warfare and fake news operate, and in an era of threadbare mainstream media, demonstrating that epoch-changing investigative journalism is still possible.
The Sarawak Report is an urgent account of the reality of globalisation - and the astonishing story of how one person made a difference.
"The Sarawak Report is not just a morality tale about corruption in high places. It is a morality tale about how the economic jungle of modern globalisation costs ordinary citizens. At last, thanks to Clare's detailed research, the truth is coming out." - The Right Honourable Gordon Brown, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
About the author: Clare Rewcastle Brown is a British investigative journalist. Born in the former British Crown Colony of Sarawak (now part of Malaysia), she is the founder of The Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak which are openly critical of the Barisan Nasional-led state government of Sarawak. Her work in Radio Free Sarawak won her the One World Media Special Award from CNN in 2015. These days, she writes about Malaysia and global corruption.
Saturday, 17 November 2018
The Gospel of Mary: A Month with the Mother of God by Gabriel Amorth, SSP
Paperback: "Mary..., the Mother of Fairest Love, will be for Christians on the way to the Great Jubilee of the Third Millennium the Star which safely guides their steps to the Lord. May the unassuming Young Woman of Nazareth, who two thousand years ago offered to the world the Incarnate Word, lead the men and women of the new millennium towards the One who is 'the true light that enlightens every man'. (Jn 1:9)"
Taking up the invitation of the Holy Father, the author develops a Marian itinerary in thirty-one reflections in which he covers all the evangelical events in the life of the Virgin Mother, explains and enlarges on the meaning of the Marian dogmas, and throws light on her liturgical feasts and popular devotions.
The Gospel of Mary (2000) is a book of sound doctrine and easy reading and will be a treasure to those who are looking to deepen their own spiritual life and love for her who is Mother of the Church and Mother of us all.
About the author: Gabriel Amorth, SSP, was born in Modena, Italy in 1925. After having received a degree in Jurisprudence, he entered the Society of St Paul where he was ordained a priest in 1954. In these years, he has acquired a certain amount of fame as an exorcist, but his true specialization has always been in the field of Mariology. The author of four books on the Madonna, he was for many years the editor of the Italian monthly magazine Madre di Dio (Mother of God). The promoter of many Marian initiatives, among them the consecration of Italy to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1959, he was a member of the Pontifical International Marian Academy and the Salesian Marian Academy. Amorth died at the age of 91 on 16 September 2016.
Friday, 16 November 2018
The Colours Of All The Cattle (The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency) by Alexander McCall Smith
Hardback: If you punish somebody harshly, then you are simply inflicting more pain on the world. You are also punishing not only that person, but his family and the people who love him. You are punishing yourself, really, because we are all brothers and sisters in this world, whether we know it or not; we are all citizens of the same village. - Mma Ramotswe
The Colours of All The Cattle (2018) is the new Botswana book from bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith and Mma Ramotswe's nineteenth and latest gloriously delightful adventure, where she finds herself running for office - much to her dismay.
When Mma Potokwane suggests to Mma Ramotswe that she run for a seat on the Gaborone City Council, Mma Ramotswe is at first reluctant. But when she learns that developers plan to build the flashy Big Fun Hotel next to a graveyard, she allows herself to be persuaded. Her opponent is none other than Mma Makutsi’s old nemesis, Violet Sephotho, who is in the pocket of the hotel developers. Although Violet is intent on using every trick in the book to secure her election, Mma Ramotswe refuses to guarantee anything beyond what she can deliver; hence her slogan: “I can’t promise anything but I shall do my best.”
Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe has acquired a new client: one of her late father’s old friends, who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. Charlie volunteers to be the lead investigator in the case to prove he’s ready to be more than an apprentice, as well as to impress a new girlfriend.
With Charlie’s inquiries landing him in hot water and Election Day fast approaching, Mma Ramotswe will have to call upon her good humour and generosity of spirit to help the community navigate these thorny issues, and to prove that honesty and compassion will always carry the day.
About the author: Alexander McCall Smith is the author of over eighty books on a wide array of subjects, including the award-winning The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. He is also the author of the Isabel Dalhousie novels and the world's longest-running serial novel, 44 Scotland Street. His books have been translated into forty-six languages. Alexander McCall Smith is Professor Emeritus of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and holds honorary doctorates from thirteen universities.
Rating: 5/5
Tuesday, 13 November 2018
The Reckoning by John Grisham
Hardback: October 1946, Clanton, Mississippi.
Pete Banning was Clanton, Mississippi’s favorite son - a decorated World War II hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Then one cool October morning he rose early, drove into town, and committed a shocking crime.
Pete’s only statement about it to the sheriff, to his lawyers, to the judge, to the jury, and to his family was: “I have nothing to say.”
He was not afraid of death and was willing to take his motive to the grave. And so the murder of the esteemed Reverend Bell became the most mysterious and unforgettable crime Ford County had ever known.
In a major novel unlike anything he has written before, John Grisham takes us on an incredible journey, from the Jim Crow South to the jungles of the Philippines during World War II; from an insane asylum filled with secrets to the Clanton courtroom where Pete’s defense attorney tries desperately to save him.
Reminiscent of the finest tradition of Southern Gothic storytelling, The Reckoning (2018) would not be complete without Grisham’s signature layers of legal suspense, and he delivers on every page.
About the author: John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. One day, Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her assailants. Getting up at 5am every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987.
His next novel, The Firm, spent 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and became the bestselling novel of 1991. Since then, he has written one novel a year, including The Client, The Pelican Brief, The Rainmaker and The Runaway Jury. Today, Grisham has written a collection of stories, a work of nonfiction, three sports novels, four kids' books, and many legal thrillers. His work has been translated into 42 languages. He lives near Charlottesville, Virginia.
Rating: 5/5
Saturday, 10 November 2018
The Librarian by Salley Vickers
Hardback: In 1958, Sylvia Blackwell, fresh from one of the new post-war Library Schools, takes up a job as children's librarian in a run down library in the market town of East Mole.
Her mission is to fire the enthusiasm of the children of East Mole for reading.
But her love affair with the local married GP, and her befriending of his precious daughter, her neighbour's son and her landlady's neglected grandchild, ignite the prejudices of the town, threatening her job and the very existence of the library with dramatic consequences for them all.
The Librarian (2018) is a moving testament to the joy of reading and the power of books to change and inspire us all.
About the author: Salley Vickers is the author of many acclaimed novels including the best-selling Miss Garnet's Angel, Mr Golightly's Holiday, The Other Side of You and The Cleaner of Chartres (2012) and two short story collections, the latest The Boy Who Could See Death (2015). She has worked as a cleaner, a dancer, a teacher of children with special needs, a university lecturer and a psychoanalyst. She now writes and lectures full time.
Find out more at www.salleyvickers.com or @SalleyVickers.
Rating: 4/5
Friday, 9 November 2018
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
Hardback: Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? In Liane Moriarty’s latest page-turner, nine perfect strangers are about to find out.
Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they cannot even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work.
But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be.
Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She is immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them do not look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer - or should she run while she still can?
It is not long before every guest at Tranquillum House is asking exactly the same question.
Combining all of the hallmarks that have made her writing a go-to for anyone looking for wickedly smart, page-turning fiction that will make you laugh and gasp, Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers (2018) once again shows why she is a master of her craft.
About the author: Liane Moriarty is the bestselling author of eight novels: Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist's Love Story, The Husband's Secret, Big Little Lies, Truly Madly Guilty and Nine Perfect Strangers. The Husband's Secret is a worldwide bestseller which has sold more than three million copies and been translated into over forty languages. Big Little Lies is now an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series, produced by and starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. Liane lives in Sydney with her husband, son and daughter.
Rating: 3/5
Monday, 5 November 2018
Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty
Paperback: Sixteen years on from his last novel, Bernard MacLaverty reminds us why he is regarded as one of the greatest living Irish writers.
A retired couple, Gerry and Stella Gilmore, fly from their home in Scotland to Amsterdam for a long weekend - a holiday to refresh the senses, to do some sightseeing, and generally to take stock of what remains of their lives. Their relationship seems safe, easy, familiar.
But over the course of the four days we discover the deep uncertainties that exist between them.
Gerry, once an architect, is forgetful and set in his ways. Stella is tired of his lifestyle, worried about their marriage, and angry at his constant undermining of her religious faith. Things are not helped by memories that have begun to resurface of a troubled time in their native Ireland.
As their midwinter break comes to an end, we understand how far apart they are - and can only watch as they struggle to save themselves.
MacLaverty is a master storyteller, and Midwinter Break (2017) is the essential MacLaverty novel: accurate, compassionate observation; effortlessly elegant writing; and a tender, intimate, heartrending story. Yet it is also a profound examination of human love and how we live together, a chamber piece of real resonance and power. Forty years after his first book, MacLaverty has written his masterpiece.
About the author: Bernard MacLaverty was born in Belfast and lived there until 1975 when he moved to Scotland with his wife, Madeline, and four children. He has been a Medical Laboratory Technician, a mature student, a teacher of English and, for two years in the mid eighties, Writer-in-Residence at the University of Aberdeen. After living for a time in Edinburgh and the Isle of Islay he now lives in Glasgow. He is a member of Aosdana in Ireland and is Visiting Writer/Professor at the University of Strathclyde.
Currently he is employed as a teacher of creative writing on a postgraduate course in prose fiction run by the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen.
He has published five collections of short stories and four novels. He has written versions of his fiction for other media - radio plays, television plays, screenplays. Recently he wrote and directed a short film 'Bye-Child'.
Rating: 5/5
Saturday, 3 November 2018
Conclave by Robert Harris
Paperback: Oh Lord, he still has so much to do, whereas all my useful work in Your service is completed. He is beloved, while I am forgotten. Spare him, lord. Spare him. Take me instead.
The Pope is dead.
Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world's most secretive election.
They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals.
Over the next seventy-two hours one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on earth.
About the author: Robert Harris is the author of nine best-selling novels: Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, Imperium, The Ghost Writer, Conspirata, The Fear Index, and An Officer and a Spy. Several of his books have been adapted to film, most recently The Ghost Writer, directed by Roman Polanski. His work has been translated into thirty-seven languages. He lives in the village of Kintbury, England, with his wife, Gill Hornby.
Rating: 5/5
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