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Dorset Library Service
Supplement to Reading Group List 2014
This supplement may be used with the 2014 Reading Group List. Titles should be requested using the online form or the printed version
from the website:
http://www.dorsetforyou.com/libraries
Notes:
Information about stock holdings is correct at time of compilation.
Each Reading group set comprises 10 print copies. Any additional copies or formats may be requested individually from the library
catalogue as required.
Although reading groups cannot borrow DVD’s or Videos as part of a reading group set, individual members may request them in the
usual way and pay the associated hire charges.
Descriptions contained in this list do not reflect Dorset Libraries’ opinion of the book and we are unable to vouch for the content.
Genres:
Literary – author generally considered to be literary
Poetry – poetry collection
Anthology – short story collections
Sci-Fi/ Fantasy – Science fiction or fantasy theme
Humour – content described as humorous
Historical – fiction set before World War II
Non Fiction - general non fiction
Biography – includes autobiography
Prizewinner – Title has been shortlisted or has won a literary prize.
Classic – fiction commonly described as classic or used as set texts
Crime – crime fiction, murder mysteries, detective stories.
Thriller – fiction with an action or adventure theme
1
TITLE
The Affair of the Thirty-Nine
Cufflinks
And Thereby Hangs a Tale
Invisible
All the Nice Girls
The View from here
AUTHOR
Anderson, James
Archer, Jeffrey
Auster, Paul
Bakewell, Joan
CBE
Bakewell, Joan
CBE
SYNOPSIS
Lord Burford had some misgivings about hosting a house party at
Alderley, his beautiful country mansion. One of the guests claimed she
had knowledge that would ruin the others' reputations, but luckily
nobody took her seriously enough to take offence. At least, that's what
they thought up until her body was found and Chief Inspector Wilkins
arrives - again!
These fifteen tales from around the globe showcase Archer's talent
for capturing an unforgettable moment in time, whether tragic, comic,
or outrageous. Some of these stories will make you laugh while others
will bring you to tears but every one of them will demand that you keep
turning the page until you finally discover what happens to this
remarkable cast of characters.
Sinuously constructed in four interlocking parts, Invisible opens in New
York City in the spring of 1967 when twenty-year-old Adam Walker,
meets an enigmatic Frenchman and his silent and seductive girlfriend.
Three different narrators tell the story, as it travels in time from 1967 to
2007 and moves from New York to Paris and to a remote Caribbean
island in a story of unbridled sexual hunger and a relentless quest for
justice. Multi award winning author.
A debut novel that captures the danger and excitement of wartime
Britain. As part of the war effort the Ashworth Grammar School for
Girls signs up for the Merchant Navy's Ship Adoption Scheme. Then
Josh Percival, captain of the adopted ship, the SS Treverran, comes
with his men to visit Ashworth. The choices that follow will disrupt all
their lives, reverberating even to the next generation, when, decades
later, life and love are on the line again . . .
This is Bakewell's discerning and heartwarming account of life at 70
and beyond. A household name and a popular radio and TV
broadcaster, Bakewell is the ideal ambassador for challenging what
being 70 can mean for women today. All of life, including the taboos of
old age, are here - work, family, love, sex, body and death - written
about with humour, warmth, and her characteristic verve and
intelligence.
2
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
CD, LP
N
Crime
F
CD
N
Anthology
F
N
N
Literary
F
CD, LP
N
B/BAK
LP, CAS,
CD,
N
FILM
GENRE
Biography
TITLE
True Blue
The Marlowe Papers
The Killings on Jubilee Terrace
Awakening
A Bear Called Paddington
The Weed that Strings the
Hangman's Bag
AUTHOR
Baldacci, David
Barber
Barnard, Robert
Bolton, S. J.
Bond, Michael
OBE
Bradley, Alan
SYNOPSIS
Policeman's widow Hadley isn't looking for a husband and Drake, the
consumate cop, doesn't want a wife; but a medical emergency brings
them together. While Hadley recovers, Drake plays nanny to Hadley's
son and in return she agrees to pose as his date.
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
CD
N
Crime
F
N
N
Prizewinner
F
CD, LP,
CAS,
eBOOK
N
Prizewinner
F
LP, CD,
N
Crime
F
CD, MP3
N
Classic
F
LP, CD
N
Crime
FILM
GENRE
In 1593, a celebrated young playwright was killed in a tavern brawl in
London. That, at least, was the official version. Now let Christopher
Marlowe tell you the truth: that his 'death' was an elaborate ruse to
avoid his being hanged for heresy, and that he continued to write
plays and poetry, hiding as one William Shakespeare. Winner:
Author's Club first novel award, Desmond Elliot Prize,
Meet the cast of Jubilee Terrace, one of the most popular soap operas
on British television. But when a suspicious letter emerges raising
questions about a cast member's supposed 'natural death' and an
arson attack kills two more of the cast, it would appear something
more sinister is afoot. The script-writers are clearly not the only ones
capable of killing off characters.... Winner: Diamond Dagger Award.
When a man dies from what appears to be a random snake bite in a
quiet country village, the hospital seeks the expertize of wildlife vet
Clara Benning. But the post mortem reveals this was no freak
accident. Clara finds herself drawn into the hunt for a brutally inventive
killer, putting herself in grave danger.
The classic story of Paddington, the bear from Darkest Peru, who was
found lost on Paddington Station. He had travelled all the way from
Darkest Peru with only a jar of marmalade, a suitcase and his hat. The
Browns soon found that Paddington was a very unusual bear.
Ordinary things became quite extraordinary, if a bear called
Paddington was involved.
The plot, begins in Bishop's Lacey with a grisly murder during a
performance of Jack and the Beanstalk and reaches back to an earlier
crime centring on an ancient, rotting gibbet. For Flavia, undoing the
complex knot that ties these strands together will test her powers of
deduction to the limit - and provide a shocking insight into some of the
darker corners of the adult world.
3
TITLE
Oscar Wilde and the Ring of
Death
Testament of Youth
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
Oscar and Lucinda
Red Bones
AUTHOR
Brandreth, Giles
Brittain, Vera
Brunt, Carol Rifka
Carey, Peter
Cleeves, Ann
SYNOPSIS
Featuring Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle, a parlour game of
'Murder' has lethal consequences, when the 'victims' begin to die
mysteriously, one by one, and in the order in which their names were
drawn from the bag. In a race against time, Wilde will need all his
powers of deduction and knowledge of human behaviour before he,
himself, becomes the killer's next victim.
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
CD, CAS, LP
N
Crime
B/BRI
CAS,
DVD
Biography
F
LP
N
Prizewinner
F
LP, CAS,
DVD
Prizewinner
F
CD, LP
N
Crime
FILM
GENRE
One of the most famous autobiographies of the First World War, this is
Brittain's account of how she survived the Great War; how she lost the
man she loved; how she nursed the wounded and how she emerged
into an altered world. A passionate record of a lost generation, it made
Vera Brittain one of the best-loved writers of her time.
When June's beloved uncle dies young, of a mysterious illness, June's
world is turned upside down. At the funeral, she notices a strange man
lingering just beyond the crowd, and when she has the opportunity to
meet him, the two begin to spend time together. Tell the Wolves I'm
Home is a tender story of love lost and found, an unforgettable portrait
of the way compassion can make us whole again. Goodreads Choice
Awards Finalist
Oscar is a shy, gawky, Oxford-educated Church of England minister
with a tortured conscience; Lucinda is a willful, eccentric Australian
who sinks her family inheritance into a glass factory; and the basis for
the star-crossed love that develops between them is a shared passion
for gambling. Winner: Booker Prize, Miles Franklin Award. Shortlisted:
Best of the Booker.
When a young archaeologist studying on a Shetland site discovers a
set of human remains, the island settlers are intrigued. Is it an ancient
find - or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly woman is
shot in a tragic accident in the middle of the night. Shetland detective
Jimmy Perez is called in but finds himself out of his depth. Jimmy must
dig up old secrets to stop a new killer from striking again.
4
TITLE
Generation A
Tarnished
Scissors, Paper, Stone
Counting the Stars
Dancing for the Hangman
The Wild Things
AUTHOR
SYNOPSIS
Coupland, Douglas
In the near future bees are extinct - until five unconnected individuals,
in different parts of the world, are stung. Becoming 15-minutecelebrities in a world driven almost entirely by the internet, they endure
a barrage of unusual and highly 21st-century circumstances.
Generation A champions the act of reading and storytelling as one of
the few defences we still have against the constant bombardment of
the senses in a digital world.
Crouch, Julia
Peg's mother died when she was six, her father simply disappeared,
and she was brought up by her grandparents and her obese,
bedridden aunt. But when she meets Loz, who urges her to confront
her demons, the skeletons come tumbling out of the family closet and
the full horror of the past begins to reveal itself.
Day, Elizabeth
Dunmore, Helen
As Charles Redfern lies motionless in hospital, his wife Anne and
daughter Charlotte are forced to confront their relationships with him and with each other. As the full truth of Charles's hold over them is
brought to light, both women must reconcile themselves with the
choices they have made, the secrets they have kept, and the
uncertain future that now lies ahead of them. Winner: Betty Trask
Award.
Living at the heart of sophisticated, brittle and brutal Roman society,
Catullus is obsessed with Clodia, the Lesbia of his most passionate
poems. He is jealous of her husband, of her maid, even of her pet
sparrow. And Clodia? Catullus is 'her dear poet', but possibly not her
only interest . In love and in hate, their story exposes the beauty and
terrors of Roman life in the late Republic.
Edwards, Martin
Martin Edwards reopens the file on Crippen, one of the most notorious
and fascinating cases in crime history. Edwards merges imaginative
insight with detailed and extensive research to bring to life the
characters and events of 100 years ago.
Eggers, Dave
Driven by a series of internal and external pressures, seven year-old
Max leaves home, jumps in a boat and sails across the oceans to a
strange island where the giant beasts reign - the 'wild things' from
Maurice Sendak's visionary classic.
5
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
eBOOK
N
F
LP
N
F
LP
N
Prizewinner
F
CD, CAS, LP
F
CD
N
Crime
F
MP3
N
FILM
GENRE
SCI-FI
TITLE
The Panoptican
The Good Children
Birdsong
Devil May Care
Human Traces
Walking in Pimlico
AUTHOR
Fagan, Jenni
SYNOPSIS
Anais Hendricks, fifteen, is in the back of a police car, headed for the
Panopticon, a home for chronic young offenders.She can't remember
the events that led her here, but across town a policewoman lies in a
coma and there is blood on Anais's school uniform. Shortlisted: The
James Tait Black Prize, Desmond Elliott Award, Dundee International
Book Prize.
Farooki, Roopa
Leaving Home is one thing. Surviving is quite another. 1940s
Pakistan, two brothers and their two younger sisters are brought up
and moulded in the traditional way, to be 'Good Children'. Desperate
to escape their beautiful but manipulative mother, the boys leave to be
educated abroad, abandoning their sisters to their mother and her
plans for them.
Faulkes, Sebastian
One of the most popular literary novels of its generation. Set mostly in
France spanning the years before and during the First World War, it
captures the drama and destruction of that era and is at times almost
unbearably too moving to read. A reading group classic.
Faulkes, Sebastian
Faulkes, Sebastian
Featherstone, Ann
Picking up from where Ian Fleming left off in 1966 with The Living
Daylights/ Ocotpussy, Faulks has written the perfect continuation of
the James Bond legacy. Devil May Care is set during the Cold War
and features glamour, thrills and excitement that one would expect
from any adventure involving Bond... James Bond. Winner: British
Book Awards Popular Fiction Award
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
N
N
F
N
N
F
CD, CAS,
LP, eBOOK
N
Literary
F
CD, CAS,
LP, eBOOK
N
Prizewinner
F
CAS
N
F
N
N
FILM
GENRE
Prizewinner
The story begins in Brittany where a young, poor boy somehow
passes his medical exams and goes to Paris, where he attends the
lectures of Charcot, the Parisian neurologist who set the world on its
head in the 1870s. With a friend, he sets up a clinic in the mysterious
mountain district of Carinthia in south-east Austria. As the concerns of
the old century fade, the two men's volatile relationship develops and
changes as Human Traces explores the question of what kind of
beings men and women really are.
Stumbling across Bessie Spooner's murdered body, comedian Corney
Sage is caught in a tangle of deception and lies. He flees from his
concert-room job in London's Whitechapel to a comfortable spa town,
and then to a circus and music hall. But try as he might, he cannot
elude the killer.
6
Crime
TITLE
Shades of Grey
Strange Music
Wanting
On her Majesty's Secret
Service
Quantum of Solace
From Russia with Love
AUTHOR
Fforde, Jasper
SYNOPSIS
No one could cheat the Colourman and the colour test. What you got
was what you were, forever. Your life, career and social standing
decided right there and then, and all life-uncertainties eradicated
forever. Eddie Russett lives comfortably in this world until he falls in
love with a Grey named Jane, and starts to question every aspect of
the Rulebook.
Fish, Laura
Elizabeth Barrett Browning is confined to bed, and writing poetry and
fretful letters; while at her family's Jamaican estate Creole
housekeeper Kaydian tries to protect her daughter Sheba, who
mourns the loss of her lover. As Elizabeth, a passionate abolitionist,
struggles to come to terms with the source of her wealth and privilege
both Sheba and Kaydia fight to escape a tragic past which seems ever
present.
Flannagan,
Richard
Linking apparently unrelated events and tragedies from the 19th
century, 'Wanting' transforms into a remarkable meditation on the
ways in which desire - and its denial - shape our lives. Booker Prize
winning author.
Fleming, Ian
Fleming, Ian
Fleming, Ian
The eleventh of Fleming's Bond thrillers sees Bond on the trail of his
nemesis high in the Alps. In his Alpine base, Enrst Blofeld, the head of
SPECTRE is conducting research that could threaten the safety of the
world. To thwart the evil genius, Bond must get himself and the vital
information he has gathered out of the base. Which may require the
help of someone who is both beautiful and a little reckless...
To celebrate the release of the new James Bond film, Quantum of
Solace, all Ian Fleming's short stories are being published in one
volume for the first time. Contains A View to a Kill, For Your Eyes
Only, Quantum of Solace, Risico, The Hildebrand Rarity, Octopussy,
The Living Daylights, The Property of a Lady and 007 in New York.
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
CD, LP
N
SCI-FI
F
N
N
Literary
F
N
N
F
CD, CAS,
LP, eBOOK
N
Thriller
F
MP3
DVD
Anthology
F
N
FILM
GENRE
One of the most thrilling novels of the Cold War (and among President
Kennedy's favourite books), From Russia with Love was the work that
made Fleming's name, and James Bond an icon. Fiendish Colonel
Rosa Klebb and her top assassin lay a sting for Bond in Istanbul - and
they have the perfect bait in the irresistible Tatiana Romanova, whose
orders are to seduce 007 and leave the rest to her superiors.
7
Thriller
TITLE
Casino Royale
The Liar
The Ocean at the End of the
Lane
Moriarty
The Missing
Lord of Misrule
Sherlock Holmes in America
AUTHOR
Fleming, Ian
SYNOPSIS
At the casino in Deauville Bond's game is baccarat, for stakes that run
into millions of francs. But away from the discreet salons, it's 007
versus one of Russia's most powerful and ruthless agents.
Fry, Stephen
Fry's debut novel, by turns eccentric, shocking, brilliantly comic and
achingly romantic. Adrian Healey is magnificently unprepared for the
long littleness of life and wholly unprepared for the truth. A thrilling,
sophisticated and laugh out loud hilarious novel from a brilliantly
talented writer.
Gaiman, Neil
It began for our narrator 40 years ago when the family lodger stole
their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best
left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond the world are on the
loose and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive.
Winner: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Fantasy, Book of the Year
Award,
Gardner, John
Gautreaux, Tim
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
LP, CD,
MP3,
eBOOK,
DVD
Thriller
F
CAS
N
HUMOUR
F
LP
N
Prizewinner
F
CAS, LP
N
Crime
F
CD
N
Thriller
F
N
N
Prizewinner
F
N
FILM
GENRE
At the turn of the century, Moriarty is suddenly called back to London
where his vast criminal society has been overrun by the shadowy Sir
Jordan 'Mad Jack' de Levant - a supposed gentleman hoodlum who is
acting on behalf of well-known criminal elements in Europe. Moriarty
revolts against the upstart criminals who have attempted to oust him
from his rightful place as king of all criminal endeavour.
Louisiana is the setting for this riveting tale of a kidnapped child and
the man on her trail. Leaving his stalwart wife behind, Sam works his
passage on a pleasure steamer up the Mississippi, entering a wild
world of jazz, moonshine and lawlessness, leading Sam to confront
not only violent criminals but his own past, and to make some hard
decisions about the value of vengeance.
Gordon, Jaimy
Longlisted for the Orange Prize 2012. He planned to steal with these
horses, who were all better than they looked on paper. The trick was
to get in and get out fast. But could he really pull it off? Could he be
that sure, could he count on being that lucky? Winner: National Book
Award for Fiction.
Greenberg, M.
Sherlock Holmes makes his debut in this fascinating and extraordinary
collection of never-before-published crime and mystery stories by
bestselling American writers.
8
Anthology
TITLE
Ford County (Anthology)
A Spot of Bother
Silent Intruder
Just me
Scenes from Early Life
Just take my heart.
AUTHOR
Grisham, John
Haddon, Mark
Hammond, Gerald
Hancock, Sheila
SYNOPSIS
Gripping short stories from the No.1 bestselling author of the legal
thriller. Journey into the heart of America's Deep South with a
collection of stories connected by the life and crimes of Ford County: a
place of harsh beauty where broken dreams and final wishes
converge.
George Hall is convinced that he has skin cancer and, with death
apparently just round the corner, begins acting oddly. His wife, Jean,
has other things on her mind: their daughter Katie is marrying a man
they do not approve of, son Jamie is having problems committing
himself to his boyfriend Tony, while Jean is also having an affair.
Haddon's dysfunctional family drama is laugh-out-loud funny, achingly
poignant and deeply horrifying.
Who'd break in and leave the house untouched?- When Michael and
Hilda return from holiday to find two police officers awaiting them, a
chaotic series of events ensues. It becomes clear that someone was
living in the cottage while they were away, and may still be returning.
Soon, they decide to take action of their own, with devastating
consequences . . .
As John would say, "Put your money where your mouth is." Be a
depressed widow boring the arse off everyone, or get on with life. Your
choice.' Just Me is a book about moving on, but it is also about
looking back, and looking anew. In The Two of Us Sheila Hancock
relived her life with John Thaw, now she is a woman seizing the future
with wit, gusto and curiosity - on her own.
Hensher, Philip
Scenes from Early Life' is the story of one upper-middle-class Bengali
family, told in the form of a memoir. It is an autobiography, a novel
and, in part, a history of one of the most ferocious of 20th-century civil
wars.
Higgins Clark,
Mary
In her new thriller, the New York Times bestseller delves into a legal
battle over the guilt or innocence of a man accused of murdering his
wife
9
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
eBOOK
N
F
CD, CAS, LP
N
F
LP
N
Crime
B/HAN
CD, CAS,
LP, eBOOK
N
Biography
F
N
N
F
LP, CD,
N
FILM
GENRE
Anthology
Thriller
TITLE
This Boy
The Hundred-Year-Old Man
Who Climbed Out of the
Window and Disappeared
Zombie Apocolypse!
Pigeon English
Dark Times in the City
AUTHOR
Johnson, Alan
Jonasson, Jonas
Jones, Stephen
Kelman, Stephen
Kerrigan, Gene
SYNOPSIS
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
B/JOH
N
N
Biography
F
eBOOK
N
Prizewinner
F
N
N
SCI-FI
F
LP
N
Prizewinner
F
LP
N
Crime
FILM
GENRE
Alan Johnson's childhood was not so much difficult as unusual,
particularly for a man who was destined to become Home Secretary.
This Boy is one man's story, but it is also a story of England and the
West London slums which are so hard to imagine in the capital today.
No matter how harsh the details, Alan Johnson writes with a spirit of
generous acceptance, of humour and openness which makes his book
anything but a grim catalogue of miseries.
On his 100th birthday, slowly but surely Allan climbs out of his
bedroom window, into the flowerbed (in his slippers) and makes his
getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving
criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent
police. Winner: Iris Ljudbokspris award
Written by some of the biggest and best-known names in horror and
science fiction, these interconnected narratives create a unique vision
of the End of the World brought about by a plague that may have its
origins in both science and the occult.
Newly arrived from Ghana with family, eleven-year-old Harrison
Opoku lives on the ninth floor of a block of flats on an inner-city
housing estate. Harri absorbs the strange elements of life in England,
learning the tricks of urban survival. But when a boy is knifed to death
on the high street, Harri decides to start a murder investigation of his
own. Pigeon English is a spellbinding portrayal of a boy balancing on
the edge of manhood and of the forces around him that try to shape
the way he falls. Shortlisted: Guardian First Book Award, Man Booker .
Danny Callaghan is having a quiet drink in a Dublin pub when two
men with guns walk in. They're here to take care of a minor problem petty criminal Walter Bennett. On impulse, Callaghan intervenes to
save Walter's life. Soon, his own survival is in question. With a
troubled past and an uncertain future, Danny finds himself drawn into
a vicious scheme of revenge. Nominated: CWA Gold Dagger
10
TITLE
The Shining
Carrie
Different Seasons
Something to Tell You
Alfred and Emily
The Cleft
AUTHOR
King, Stephen
King, Stephen
King, Stephen
SYNOPSIS
This tale of a troubled man hired to care for a remote mountain resort
over the winter slowly but steadily unfolds as secrets from the
Overlook Hotel's past are revealed, and the hotel itself attempts to
claim the very souls of the Torrence family. King's novel stands as a
cultural icon of modern horror, a searing study of a family torn apart,
and a nightmarish glimpse into the dark recesses of human weakness
and dementia.
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
LP
DVD
Horror
F
LP
DVD
Horror
F
N
N
Anthology
F
CD, CAS
N
F
CD, CAS, LP
N
FILM
GENRE
Carrie White is no ordinary girl. Carrie White has the gift of telekinesis.
To be invited to the Prom by Tommy Ross is a dream come true, and
a step towards social acceptance by her high school peers. But events
take a macabre turn on that horrifying and endless night.
Four stories, each markedly different in tone and subject: Rita
Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption is a tale of an innocent man
who devises an escape from prison; The Apt Pupil is the story of a
golden schoolboy and an old man with a hideous past ; in The Body ,
four young boys venture into the woods and find life, death and the
end of innocence and The Breathing Method is a macabre story of a
woman determined to give birth...no matter what.
Kureishi, Hanif
Jamal is a successful psychoanalyst haunted by his first love and a
brutal act of violence from which he can never escape. Looking back
to his coming of age in the 1970s forms a vivid backdrop to the drama
that develops thirty years later, as he and his friends face an
encroaching middle age with the traumas of their youth still
unresolved.
Lessing, Doris
Lessing explores the lives of her parents, irrevocably damaged by the
Great War. She imagines the lives her parents might have made for
themselves, followed by a piercing examination of their lives as they
actually came to be. Nobel Prize winner.
Lessing, Doris
Doris Lessing, one of England's finest novelists, invites us to imagine
a mythical society free from sexual intrigue, free from jealousy, free
from petty rivalries: a society free from men. Nobel Prize Winner.
11
F
Prizewinner
Prizewinner
TITLE
The Rental Heart
The Sister
Border Songs
Halfhead
The Bride That Time Forgot.
AUTHOR
Logan, Kirsty
Lupton, Rosamund
Lynch, Jim
MacBride, Stuart
Magrs, Paul
SYNOPSIS
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
N
N
Anthology
F
CD
N
Thriller
F
LP
N
Prizewinner
F
CD
N
SCI-FI
F
LP
N
Fantasy
FILM
GENRE
Twenty tales of lust and loss. These stories feature clockwork hearts,
lascivious queens, paper men, island circuses and a flooded world;
some are radical retellings of classic stories, some are modern-day
fables, but all explore substitutions for love. Award-winning writer
Kirsty Logan presents an unforgettable collection that promises stories
of lust and loss with dreamy, dark language and vivid imagery.
When Beatrice gets a frantic call to say that her younger sister is
missing, she boards the first flight to London. But she actually knows
little of her sister's life - and is unprepared for the terrifying truth.. The
police, her fiance and even their mother accept they have lost Tess
but Beatrice refuses to give up. So she embarks on a dangerous
journey to discover the truth, no matter the cost. NYT Bestseller.
Six-foot-eight and dyslexic, Brandon Vanderkool is not an obvious
candidate for the Border Patrol, which polices the frontier between the
United States and Canada, but somehow, he seems to stumble upon
every illegal immigrant and drug trafficker in the area. An extraordinary
love story and a gently satirical celebration of the coincidental and the
miraculous. Winner: Washington State Book Award for Fiction.
Finalist: American Booksellers Association Best Novel,
Glasgow, not too far in the future. A new punishment has been
devised for the perpetrators of serious crimes. The process is known
as halfheading: the offender's lower jaw is removed & they are
lobotomized. They are then put to work as cleaners in municipal areas
like hospitals, where they serve as a warning to all that crime doesn't
pay.
Something is biting people on the streets of Whitby. In an ordinary
town, this would be worrying. Here, it's disastrous, and only Brenda
has guessed why. She's also trying to prepare for a packed festive
break at her B and B. But when unexpected help from the shadows of
the past arrives to illuminate the dangers awaiting them all, Brenda
realises that unless she can find a way to save Effie, the
consequences may be eternal.
12
TITLE
The Glass Room
The Quiet War
A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing.
The Illusion of Murder
The Land of Decoration
AUTHOR
Mawer, Simon
McAuley, Paul J
McBride, Eimear
McCleary, Carol
McCleen, Grace
SYNOPSIS
High on a Czechoslovak hill, the Landauer House shines as a wonder
of steel and glass and onyx built specially for newlyweds Viktor and
Liesel Landauer. But as the storm clouds of WW2 gather, eventually
the family must flee. The house's story is far from over, and as it
passes from hand to hand, both the best and the worst of the history
of Eastern Europe becomes somehow embodied within it, until events
become full-circle. Shortlist: Man Booker Prize
Twenty-third century Earth, ravaged by climate change, looks
backwards to the holy ideal of a pre-industrial Eden. Political power
has been grabbed by a few powerful families and their green saints.
Amid campaigns for peace and reconciliation, political machinations,
crude displays of military might, and espionage by cunningly wrought
agents, two branches of humanity edge towards war. Clarke Award
nominee
Eimear McBride's novel tells the story of a young woman's relationship
with her brother after a tumour leaves him severely brain-damaged.
Not so much a stream of consciousness, as an unconscious railing
against a life that makes little sense, and a shocking and intimate
insight into the thoughts, feelings and sensual urges of a vulnerable
and isolated protagonist. Winner: Goldsmiths Prize, Baileys Women's
Prize for Fiction.
In the bustling harbour city of Port Said, Nellie witnesses a mysterious
death and this involves her in international intrigue. On a journey to
the exotic Orient, Nellie meets the most famous magicians in the
world. As they conjure the fantasy and a spiritualist raises the dead,
Nellie discovers that the deadly plot begun in Egypt has tentacles
around the world.
Bullied at school, 10 year old Judith finds comfort in creating a
miniature world in her bedroom which she calls The Land of
Decoration. Perhaps, she thinks, if she makes it snow, then there will
be no school on Monday. Sure enough, when Judith opens her
curtains the next day, the world beyond her window has turned white.
And that's when her troubles begin. Winner: Desmond Elliott Prize,
Betty Trask Award.
13
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
CD,
N
Prizewinner
F
CAS,LP
DVD
SCI-FI
F
N
N
Prizewinner
F
N
N
Fantasy
F
CD, LP
N
Prizewinner
FILM
GENRE
TITLE
Atonement
The Lighthouse
War Horse
Too much happiness,
Little Bird of Heaven
AUTHOR
McEwan, Ian
Moore, Alison
Morpurgo, Michael
Munro, Alice
Oates, Joyce Carol
SYNOPSIS
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
CD, CAS, LP
Y
Prizewinner
F
LP
N
Prizewinner
F
CD, CAS,
LP, MP3,
eBOOK,
DVD
F
N
N
Anthology
F
N
N
Prizewinner
FILM
GENRE
In the summer of 1934, Robbie and Cecilia cross a boundary they had
not even imagined at its start, and become victims of a younger girl,
Briony's imagination. Hence Briony becomes a witness to mysteries,
and commits a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying
to atone. Shortlisted: Man Booker, James Tait Black Memorial Prize,
Whitbread Novel Award. Winner: Los Angeles Times Book Prize for
Fiction, National Book Critics Circle Award, WH Smith Literary Award,
Boeke Prize, Santiago Prize.
Futh, recently separated from his wife, heads to Germany for a
restorative walking holiday. He is entirely unaware of the events
unfolding back in Hellhaus, in the small family-run hotel where he
spent his first night, and on his return he discovers it is no longer the
sanctuary he once considered it to be. Shortlisted: Man Booker Prize,
National Book Awards. Winner: McKitterick Prize.
A stunning wartime classic. In the deadly chaos of the First World
War, one horse witnesses the reality of battle from both sides of the
trenches. Bombarded by artillery, with bullets knocking riders from his
back, Joey tells a powerful story of the truest friendships surviving in
terrible times.
A wife and mother, whose spirit has been crushed, finds release from
her extraordinary pain in the most unlikely place. The young victim of a
humiliating seduction finds an unusual way to get her own back and
an older woman, dying of cancer, weaves a poisonous story to save
her life. Lit with sparks of danger and underlying menace, this is a
dazzling collection of stories that surprise and amaze.
Set in the mythical city of Sparta, New York, this vividly rendered
exploration of the mysterious conjunction of erotic romance and tragic
violence in late 20th-century America returns to the emotional and
geographical terrain of Joyce Carol Oates's previous bestsellers.
Shortlisted: International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
14
TITLE
The Birthday Present
The Buddha in the Attic
Starting Over
The Beautiful Mystery
The Alchemist in the Shadows
AUTHOR
Oldfield, Pamela
Otsuka, Julie
Parsons, Tony
Penny, Louise
Pevel, Pierre
SYNOPSIS
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
CD, LP
N
Historical
F
N
N
Prizewinner
F
N
N
F
CD
N
Prizewinner
F
N
N
Fantasy
FILM
GENRE
Rose Paton doesn't think she'll be singing at a second-rate pub for
much longer. After all, she's got good looks, youth, and talent. But
when mysterious stranger Marcus Bennley asks her to be his birthday
present to his sister Marie by singing at her party, she accepts. Is
Rose making a mistake entangling herself with the Bennleys?
Between the wars a group of young, non-English-speaking Japanese
women travelled by boat to America. They were picture brides,
clutching photos of husbands-to-be whom they had yet to meet. Julie
Otsuka tells their extraordinary, heartbreaking story in this spellbinding
and poetic account of strangers lost and alone in a new and deeply
foreign land.Winner of the Pen Faulkner Award for Fiction
2012National Book Award
After suffering a heart attack at the age of 42, George is given the
heart of a 19-year-old - and suddenly everything changes... He is a
friend to his teenage son and daughter. He makes love to his wife all
night long. And suddenly he wants to change the world. But George
discovers that being young again is not all it is cracked up to be - and
what he actually wants is to have his old life back.
Hidden deep in the wilderness are the cloisters of two dozen monks men of prayer and music, famous the world over for their glorious
voices. But a brutal death throws the monastery doors open to the
world. And through them walks the only man who can shine light upon
the dark deeds within: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache who finds
clues in the divine, the human, and the cracks in between. Ingenious,
gripping, and powerful.
Welcome to Paris, in 1633, where dragons menace the realm.
Cardinal Richelieu, is on his guard. He knows France is under threat,
and that a secret society known as the Black Claw is conspiring
against him. Richelieu has put his most trusted men into play: the
Cardinal's Blades, led by Captain la Fargue. And now a beautiful spy
can name their enemy, an exceptionally dangerous adversary: the
Alchemist in the shadows . . .
15
TITLE
The Kabul Beauty School
The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul
The Psychopath Test
The Casual Vacancy
Tenth of December
AUTHOR
SYNOPSIS
Rodriguez,
Deborah
In a little beauty school in the war zone of Kabul, a community of
women comes together, all with stories to tell. As the burqas are
removed in class, curls are coiffed and make-up is applied, Debbie's
students share with her their stories - and their hearts. In the Kabul
Beauty School, these women and many others find a safe haven and
the seeds of their future independence.
Rodriguez,
Deborah
In a little coffee shop in one of the most dangerous places on earth,
five very different women come together. As these five women
discover there's more to one another than meets the eye, they form a
unique bond that will for ever change their lives and the lives of many
others.
Ronson, Jon
Rowling, J. K
Saunders, George
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
N
N
F
N
N
N
N
Non-Fiction
F
CD, LP
N
Prizewinner
F
N
N
Prizewinner, Anthology
Combining Jon's trademark humour, charm and investigative incision,
The Psychopath Test is both entertaining and honest, unearthing
dangerous truths and asking serious questions about how we define
normality in a world where we are increasingly judged by our maddest
edges.
When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is
left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, but what lies
behind the pretty facade is a town at war. And the empty seat left by
Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest
war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with
passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations? Winner: Best Fiction,
Goodreads Choice Awards.
616.89
FILM
GENRE
From the undisputed master of the short story, a disturbing new
collection. His most wryly hilarious work to date, Tenth of December
illuminates human experience and explores figures lost in a labyrinth
of troubling preoccupations. .With dark visions of the future riffing
against ghosts of the past and the ever-settling present, Tenth of
December sings with astonishing charm and intensity, and re-affirms
Saunders as one of our greatest living storytellers. Winner: Folio Prize.
16
TITLE
Dream Angus
The Harrowing
The Killer of Little Shepherds:
the case of the French Ripper
and the birth of forensic
science
Anathem
Noah's Compass
AUTHOR
Smith, McCall,
Alexander
Sokoloff,
Alexandra
Starr, Douglas,
Stephenson, Neal.
Tyler, Anne
SYNOPSIS
Divine Angus, the Celtic God of Dreams is trapped by his own
romantic games, doomed to seek an unattainable woman forever. In
20th century Scotland, Angus's troubled alter ego searches for his true
family; with a psychotherapist who helps people understand their
dreams. Weaving together the tales of the Celtic god and the Scottish
scientist, McCall Smith unites dream and reality, leaving us to wonder:
what is life, but the pursuit of our dreams?
Baird College's Mendenhall echoes with the footsteps of students
heading home for Thanksgiving and Robin Stone, who won't be going
home, swears she can feel the creepy, 100-year-old hall breathe a
sigh of relief for its long-awaited solitude. As a massive storm
approaches, four other lonely students reveal themselves to Robin.
Nominated: Bram Stoker, Anthony Award.
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
LP
N
F
LP
N
Horror/Suspense
B/VAC
N
N
Non Fiction
F
eBOOK
N
Prizewinner
F
LP
N
General Fiction
FILM
GENRE
At the end of the nineteenth century, serial murderer Joseph Vacher
terrorized the French countryside. With high drama and stunning
detail, Douglas Starr recounts the infamous crime and punishment of
Vacher, interweaving the story of how forensics developed as we
know it. The groundbreaking forensic investigation ranks among the
greatest of all time. An important contribution to the history of medicine
and criminal justice, impressively researched and thrillingly told.
Three times violence has devastated the cloistered community of the
Concent, a sanctuary for scientists, and philosophers. Now they
prepare to open the Concent's gates to the outside world once again,
in celebration of a once-a-decade rite. Suddenly, Erasmas finds
himself a major player as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that
will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the
planet. Winner: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
Liam Pennywell has spent most of his life dodging issues and skirting
adventure when suddenly something happens that leaves him with a
frightening gap in his memory. In trying to piece together what took
place, Liam finds instead an unusual woman with secrets of her own,
and a late-flowering love that brings its own set of thorny problems.
Pulitzer Prize winning author.
17
TITLE
The Widows of Eastwick
The Philosopher Prince
Act of Peace
Climbing the Bookshelves
Belzhar
The Hidden Dance
AUTHOR
SYNOPSIS
Updike, John
Delightful, ominous sequel toThe Witches of Eastwick and the three
divorcees - Alexandra, Jane and Sukie - have left town, remarried, and
become widows. But enchantment remains in the familiar streets and
scenery of the village. Why not go back to Eastwick for the summer?
How will they cope with the lingering traces of their evil deeds, the
shocks of a mysterious counterspell and the advancing inroads of old
age?
Waters, Paul.
355AD: the late-Roman world is one of ambitious bureaucrats and
power-hungry courtiers. Two young members of the British nobility,
Drusus and Marcellus, have fallen foul of the emperor's authority. In a
life-or-death struggle that takes them across the empire, they set
themselves against forces determined to crush them.
Widdecombe, Ann
Klaus-Pierre never knew his father, a senior German officer, who was
killed before he was born, and his French mother was rejected by her
family of patriots and resistance workers. Cared for by his German
family, Klaus-Pierre is loved and happy; but as he grows up, he tries to
make his own "Act of Peace". The result is a horrifying confrontation
between the two families when they meet in Provence.
Williams, Shirley
Shirley Williams was born to politics. As well as being influenced by
her mother, Vera Brittian, her father George Caitlin, a leading political
scientist, encouraged his daughter to have high ambitions for herself.
This is an autobiography of her life.
Wolitzer, Meg
Woolridge, Susan
A group of emotionally fragile, highly intelligent teenagers are
mysteriously picked for special topics English, tasked with studying
Sylvia Plath's 'The Bell Jar' and keeping a journal. Each time the teens
write in it they are transported to a miraculous other world called
Belzhar - a world where they are no longer haunted by their trauma
and grief.
March 1933. The luxury liner SS Etoile sets sail from Southampton to
New York and on board is Lily Sutton - a fragile but determined
woman who is seeking to escape the brutality of her failed marriage,
and begin life anew in the glittering American city. Winner: Best Red
Read for Best Debut Novel.
18
CLASS
NO.
OTHER
FORMAT
F
CD, CAS, LP
N
General Fiction
F
N
N
Historical
F
CD, CAS, LP
N
B/WIL
N
N
F
N
N
F
CD, CAS,
LP, eBOOK
N
FILM
GENRE
Biography
Prizewinner