Every month our knowledgable and friendly staff pick their favourite new book, ranging in topic from children's books to biography,
adventure to personal development.
Relax in the evening with a good book after a fun filled day in the spectactular Canadian Rockies.
July 2010
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Jocey's Pick:
Secret Daughter
by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Kavita, a young woman in India gives birth to her first child, a tiny beautiful baby girl. Before the sun rises though, the baby will be taken ‘away’ by the hands of Kavita’s husband who had hoped only for a son. Barely a year later, Kavita will give birth again, only to realize that she has a terrible decision to make when she looks in her newborn daughter’s eyes. Across the globe, another young woman’s life is about to change by the events unfolding in India. Somer and her husband have just received heartbreaking news that she cannot have children. Fans who enjoyed Sarah’s Key will love the familiar format as the narrative switches back and forth between the two women’s storylines, leaving you hanging at the end of each chapter. Filled with beautiful scenes of Indian culture, tradition and imagery, this book kept us up reading until the early morning hours!
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Joy's Pick:
The Lady in the Palazzo - an Umbrian Love story.
by Marflena de Blasi
Marlena de blasi , chef and writer - tells us a story of a place and its people . A story gathered over years of waiting to make Orvieto , an ancient city set on a hill in Umbria, her home. This wonderful old city lies in an area less travelled by strangers and De Blasi thrills us with her rich and colorful description of the town and its aloof inhabitants - she weaves her story around our senses with ease and transports us to a place we are reluctant to leave. In parts funny, romantic and almost sensual she takes us into the lives of the local people who gradually accept her into their midst. She describes mouth watering menus and moonlit dinners that make you wish there was a shepherd hut that served such delights just across the fields. But amongst the food and wine is the frustrating and almost impossible task of trying to purchase and renovate a dilapidated medieval palazzo ballroom into a new home. She produced yet another reason I want to go to Italy!
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Charlie's Pick:
Freakonomics
by Steven D. Levitt
Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist - which makes this book an interesting read for even those of us who do not have brains that are wired for the usual complicated representation of economics .Levitt and Dubner tell us true life tales of financial intrigue and open up the fascinating premise of why and how things work at the base level. It deals with how honesty and morality can affect outcomes in a way we would never have imagined. Basically,economics, at its root, is related to incentives, but it is amazing that what actually makes the difference is not what we would be lead to believe. Enjoy the illuminating facts this book has to offer and discover how children played a major role in bringing down the Ku Klux Klan and how the drop in the crime rate in the US had little to do with all the extra policing and laws but may have come down to one single legal battle by a woman called Norma McCorvey.
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Nina's Pick:
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
by Alexander McCall Smith
As ever, the author has created a wonderful and diverse set of characters. From poor down trodden Bertie to Cyril the mischievous pooch, McCall-Smith has the ability to make you believe wholeheartedly in this quirky bunch. The chapters swing from character to character but far from being confusing this gives you tantalizing little snippets of what’s happening in their lives and leaves you curious as to what can possibly happen next.This is a fun, entertaining and light-hearted read, utterly engaging, and leaves you with a big
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Rebecca's Pick:
The Forgotten Garden
by Kate Morton
A small girl sits on her suitcase on the ship waiting for the lady she knows only as the authoress, it is 1913. The Lady never arrives. Cared for by a family on board she reaches Australia with nothing to identify her, her only possession a suitcase with a book of fairytales and some clothes. Years later her granddaughter inherits the book and a cottage with a secret garden within the grounds of Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast, originally the home of the tragic Mountrachet family. Not aware of her grandmother’s strange past she decides to go to Cornwall to find her inheritance and here the sad and tragic story unfolds and seems to fill in the missing part of the darkest fairytale in the book.
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