[ebooktalk] Re: BOOKS OF MY LIFE
- From: "Trish Talbot" <trish@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2013 14:02:11 +0100
Alison,
You've got some great choices there! Some of them were outsiders for my list.
I did consider "Room", which I found fascinating funny and totally gripping.
"Goodnight Mr. Tom" I absolutely love, and indeed, I've enjoyed all the
Michelle Magorian books I've read. "The Help" is a classic! It makes you
think about the racial inequality that was still going on in the sixties in the
deep south, and wonder how much things have really changed in the present day.
"A Thousand Splendid Suns" is amazing, a very thought-provoking book. Have you
read "The Kite Runner" by the same author? I think "Splendid Suns" is slightly
better, but "Kite runner" is still very good. "Ghost" is interesting, though
not one of my favourites. I just can't imagine whom Harris modelled his prime
minister character on, can you?
Trish.
----- Original Message -----
From: CJ & AA MAY
To: ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, July 01, 2013 1:10 PM
Subject: [ebooktalk] Re: BOOKS OF MY LIFE
It is amazing how many of my books reflect Elaine's own choices, so here I go:
Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian - not having lived through the war
myself, this book captures the atmosphere of that time and is indeed very
moving.
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I do enjoy historical fiction but her books are
amongst the few which portray Thomas Cromwell in a favourable light but as well
as the narrative, I really enjoyed the style of writing in both this and the
follow-up, Bring Up the Bodies.
The Ghost by Robert Harris. This was the first of this author's books which I
had read and I found it both refreshing but also liked the way it portrayed
modern-day politics.
Sea of poppies by Amitav Ghosh - fantastic book about the opium trade in
India in the 1800s, with interesting characters and well read.
Whiteout by Ken Follett - couldn't put this book down about a scientist's son
who steals a virus at Christmas.
But I could probably have chosen any of this author's books and said the same!
The gargoyle by Andrew Davidson; a brilliantly written book containing some
beautiful love stories about a porno star who is horrendously burnt in a car
accident whose life is transformed by a supposedly schizophrenic lady claiming
to have known him 700 years!
Room by Emma Donahue;I thoroughly enjoyed this story about a girl who is
abducted and kept prisoner in a 12 by 12 room where she raises her child and
the story of how they cope when they escape. Multiple readers and told through
the eyes of (and in the voice of) the 5-year-old - fascinating!
Beauty by Raphael Selbourne; Really enjoyed this book about a young girl
brought up in a strict muslim Bangladeshi family who runs away to escape a
forced marriage. She is befriended by a thug, who breeds pitbulls and an
inadequate middle class man who gets off on internet sex but by the time she
returns to her family, she has touched many lives for the better. Fascinating!
The Pet Cemetery by Stephen King - for me, probably one of his most scary
books.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by seini Khaled; One of my best reads last year. A
tale about a shoe-maker's 2 muslim wives in Carbul which gives a real insight
into the 30 years of violence in Afghanistan and the plight of women during
this period.
The Help by Catherine Stockett;An excellent book telling the story of black
maids in Jackson, Mississippi during the year that Martin Luther King and
Kennedy were assassinated.
The boy in the striped pyjamas by John Boyne; a thought-provoking book which
dealt with a very dark topic without needing to resort to explicit details.
Too many? Sorry, just couldn't cut any out!
Alison
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