Stoke Book Chat - November
There is no set book or need to register, just come along to Stoke Library on the 3rd Wednesday of every month from 5:30pm and chat to others about what you've been reading lately!
Leave No Trace by Jo Callaghan (Cat and Lock Series; 2)
When the body of a man is found crucified at the top of Mount Judd, AIDE Lock the world's first AI Detective and DCS Kat Frank are thrust into the spotlight as they are given their first live case.
Our reader was fascinated by the relationship that developed between Cat and the hologram AIDE Lock (Artificial Intelligence Detective Entity), and with the background of the author – who following the death of her husband starting a writing course as a way of dealing with her loss. Suggest starting with book 1,
Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North by Rachel Joyce (Harold Fry Series; 3)
Maureen (wife of Harold Fry, from earlier books), embarks on a pilgrimage north to find Queenies Garden, where a tribute to her deceased son is located. The journey includes meeting all sorts of people along the way, and both the journey and finding the garden help Maureen to process her loss.
The Glorious Guinness Girls by Emily Hourican (Guinness Girls series, 1)
Although fiction, this book is based on actual events and people – namely the Guinness family. Set in 1920s Ireland with its civil war and the-then glamorous London, the story is based around Fliss who is sent to live with sisters Aileen, Maureen and Oonagh (Guiness Girls) in London. Despite the turmoil of the world around them, life for the Guinness Girls continues as normal until one evening when an unexpected event causes shockwaves throughout the entire household. Our reader found it enjoyable.
The Water’s Dead by Catherine Lea
Set north of Whangarei, in a land that’s difficult to farm, this NZ thriller’s plot centres on a woman who is found dead in a waterfall. The diabetic child the dead woman was supposed to be looking after is missing. DI Nyree Bradshaw is on the case.
Our reader found it a good thriller, but a bit depressing – life is hard in this remote part of New Zealand.
The Ones that Bit Me! : Camels, Cows & Other Young-vet Stories by Marcus Taylor
Amusing stories from a young New Zealand vet who has practised all over New Zealand, in southern England, and Newfoundland. A great yarn about the personalities of the pets and their owners.
Seeking Peace : Notes and Conversations along the Way by Johann Christoph Arnold
Arnold seeks to understand what peace is. The names of some of the chapters illustrate the deep-dive this book takes: Peace as an absence of war; Peace in the Bible; Peace as a social cause; Peace in personal life; The Peace of God, The Peace that Passes all Understanding. Paradoxes: Not peace but a sword; The violence of love, No life without death, The wisdom of fools, The strength of weakness.
Speaking a Silence by Christine Hunt Daniell
Using only a pencil and paper Hunt interviewed fifteen people (Characters) about their lives with an aim to collect views of New Zealand rural heritage. The interviewees included two Nelson boys who lived in an orphanage in the early 1900s, where they were so hungry that they regularly collected bird’s eggs to eat.
The Children’s Train by Viola Ardone, translated from the Italian by Clarissa Botsford.
This story is based on real-life experience of Italy’s ‘happiness trains’ – an initiative coordinated by a group of Communist women to transport children from the war-torn southern Italy to the north for a period of respite. The main character seven-year-old Amerigo Speranza tells his story in the first person, present tense. He is deeply affected by this time in the north, which gives him an introduction to the violin and thus changes his life.
In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume
Judy Blume drew on her own experience growing up in the 1950s when – a series of three aeroplane crashes occurred around Newark, New Jersey. This story looks at the impact of these events on the wider community.
As a teen devotee of Judy Blume our reader was attracted to this because – it’s ‘Judy Blume for adults’!
The Return of the Vampire by Caroline B. Cooney
Devnee makes a pact with a vampire, giving him whatever he wants in return for beauty.
The Dark by Linda Cargill
Bianca fears the dark, but for good reason – two years ago she witnessed a brutal murder that’s still unsolved. It was so traumatic that she lost all memory of it; she lives in fear of the killer returning.
The Dark 2 by Linda Cargill
Although the murderer is dead, Bianca is still afraid – someone seems to be watching her and the millionaire toddler she babysits.
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank D. Gilbreth
This semi-autobiographical novel published in 1948, draws on the life of Frank Bunker Gilbreth who grew up in a household of 12 children.
The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman (Thursday Murder Club Mystery Series: 3)
Enjoyable! A decade-old cold case, plus a new foe who is targeting Elizabeth, combine to make this another great read.
The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie
A series of Thirteen short stories featuring Miss Marple, as discussed by the Tuesday Club, which is comprised of six people who meet socially each Tuesday night to solve a mystery which a group member must relate.
The Book Woman’s Daughter : a novel, by Kim Michele Richardson (Book Woman of Troublesome Creek; 2)
In this second book, Honey daughter of the Packhorse Librarian, finds herself orphaned. She fights to stay in her hometown, and to support herself she applies and gets a library route. The snag is that she’s only fourteen, so technically she isn’t allowed to live alone and support herself, but she finds out about the ‘Declaration of emancipation’ – will this enable her to stay?
The Hidden Storyteller by Mandy Robotham
Set in Hamburg in 1946, just after the war, reporter Georgie Young is researching a feature about post-war Hamburg. During her research she befriends a street urchin and joins forces with local detective Harri Shroder who is trying to catch a killer targeting women on the city’s street. An exciting story, that provides a snapshot of life after the war - I hadn’t realized how difficult life was afterwards.
