Monday 11 October 2021

Library Loans - 9th October 2021

 It seems to have been a while since I visited the library and during my journey there I really noticed how autumnal it suddenly feels. Last time I visited I was wearing short sleeves; this time I needed a jacket.

As always, the library shelves were well stocked and I enjoyed browsing. I have come to the conclusion that my local library is one of my favourite places. It excites me when I see people bustling around town with a pile of books under their arm; either on the way to or from the library. I always wonder which books they have chosen and are they ones that I would like to read. The anticipation surrounding the starting a new book never goes stale for me.

I borrowed five books this week from various genres. Have you read any of them?


No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

This is a story about a life lived in two halves.

It's about what happens when real life collides with the world accessed through a screen.

It's about where we go when existential threats loom and high-stakes reality claims us back.

It's about living in world that contains both an abundance of proof that there is goodness, empathy, and justice in the universe, and a deluge of evidence to the contrary.

Irreverent and sincere, poignant and delightfully profane, No One Is Talking About This is a meditation on love, language and human connection from one of the most original voices of our time.


A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam

It begins with a message: a telephone call informing Krishan that his grandmother''s former care-giver, Rani, has died in unexpected circumstances, at the bottom of a well in her village in the north, her neck broken by the fall. The news arrives on the heels of an email from Anjum, an activist he fell in love with four years earlier while living in Delhi, bringing with it the stirring of distant memories and desires. 

As Krishan makes the long journey by train from Colombo into the war-torn Northern Province for the funeral, so begins a passage into the soul of an island devastated by violence. Written with precision and grace, A Passage North is a poignant memorial for the missing and the dead, and a luminous meditation on time, consciousness, and the lasting imprint of the connections we make with others.


Pocketful of Dreams by Jean Fullerton

It's 1939, and as the country is preparing for the challenging times ahead, the Brogan family of London's East End is trying to keep their spirits up. But things don't seem so rosy when rationing, evacuation and air-raids start to put this larger-than-life family to the test.

When a mysterious young man arrives in the local community, he provides just the dazzling distraction they need - and for eldest daughter Mattie, the promise of more than she'd ever wished for. But as the pair fall deeper in love, they are drawn into secret dangers, rife on the very London streets they call home. As the young couple race to protect the East End, can their dreams survive the darkening backdrop of wartime...?


How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

In Baxter's Beach, Barbados, Lala's grandmother Wilma tells the story of the one-armed sister, a cautionary tale about what happens to girls who disobey their mothers.

For Wilma, it's the story of a wilful adventurer, who ignores the warnings of those around her, and suffers as a result.

When Lala grows up, she sees it offers hope - of life after losing a baby in the most terrible of circumstances and marrying the wrong man.

And Mira Whalen? It's about keeping alive, trying to make sense of the fact that her husband has been murdered, and she didn't get the chance to tell him that she loved him after all.


The Winter Garden by Heidi Swain

Freya Fuller is living her dream, working as a live-in gardener on a beautiful Suffolk estate. But when the owner dies, Freya finds herself forced out of her job and her home with nowhere to go. However, with luck on her side, she’s soon moving to Nightingale Square and helping to create a beautiful winter garden that will be open to the public in time for Christmas.
 
There’s a warm welcome from all in Nightingale Square, except from local artist Finn. No matter how hard the pair try, they just can’t get along, and working together to bring the winter garden to life quickly becomes a struggle for them both.
 
Will Freya and Finn be able to put their differences aside in time for Christmas? Or will the arrival of a face from Freya’s past send them all spiralling?


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