June 2013
Welcome to Fife’s libraries reader reviews newsletter. All books reviewed in this newsletter are available from Fife’s libraries. To find out which libraries have these books, to make a request or share a review, visit www.fifedirect.org.uk/readingroom
What’s New? Inferno And the Mountains Echoed Sweet Tooth A Passion for Baking
Books Reviewed this month Friday Night with the Girls
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Beneath the Bleeding Blood Tears The professor of Truth The Personal Shopper Exit Music An Exquisite Sense of what is Beautiful Mariana A Song of Ice and Fire
All editions of Right Guid Read are available on www.fifedirect.org.uk
Reader Reviews Friday Night with the Girls by Shari Low This is story of three women whose friendship survives the decades... as the saying goes.. boyfriends come and go, but friends are forever. Lou, Lizzy and Ginger have been through so much together so when their Friday nights become less frequent they decide on a weekend break in Glasgow for a good old fashioned girls weekend catch up. Friday night was always girls night out and over the course of the weekend the women recall the ups and downs of the last 20 years. This is a hilarious but touching read without a dull moment, highly recommended! Catch Shari Low at the new Kirkcaldy Galleries on Tuesday 11th June at 7.30 pm, tickets can be booked on 01592 583206
Beneath the Bleeding by Val McDermid Pick up a book by Val McDermid and you know you are in for an exciting, tense page-turner, Beneath The Bleeding certainly delivers on this score! This is another fantastic entry into the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan books! A popular footballer is murdered and Tony is in hospital after surviving a madman's axe blow to the knee and must work from there. If this isn't enough, an act of terrorism leaves dozens dead and DCI Carol Jordan at odds with the national terrorism unit in trying to solve the crime. This kept me riveted throughout and I hope the Tony Hill series keeps on rolling. Catch Val McDermid at the new Kirkcaldy Galleries on Friday 7th June at 7.30 pm, tickets can be booked on 01592 583206.
Blood Tears by Michael J Malone
This is dark crime fiction at its best. A story that will take you from the streets of Glasgow to the formidable Bethlehem House, with its equally formidable nuns. A killer who mutilates his bodies with the stigmata. And a cop who is as tormented as they come. This is a book that will horrify you, stimulate you and keep you guessing. But above all, it will keep you reading.
Reader Reviews The Professor of Truth by James Robertson Twenty-one years after his wife and daughter were murdered in the bombing of a plane over Scotland, Alan Tealing, a university lecturer, still does not know the truth of what really happened on that terrible night. Obsessed by the details of what he has come to call The Case, he is sure that the man convicted of the atrocity was not responsible, and that he himself has thus been deprived not only of justice but also of any chance of escape from his enduring grief. In The Professor of Truth James Robertson again proves himself to be one of Scotland’s best writers, a brilliant read. Hear more from James Robertson at the new Kirkcaldy Galleries on Saturday 8th June, 3.30 pm. Tickets can be bought on 01592 583206.
The Personal Shopper by Carmen Reid I've never read anything by Carmen Reid before, so I decided to check this out. Annie Valentine has the perfect job...she's a personal shopper and spends all day choosing clothes for people but its not all roses - Annie is a single mum with two stroppy teenagers, no man in her life and is unbelievably busy making every penny she can. A plucky girl looking for another Mr Right. Read this if you love Sophie Kinsella. Join Carmen for a Girls Night In at the new Kirkcaldy Galleries on Tuesday 11th June at 7.30 pm. Tickets can be bought on 01592 583206.
Exit Music by Ian Rankin DI Rebus is back for his final stint on the force and facing up to the expected difficult case – this one concerning a Russian poet who had been beaten to death. With all the Russian oligarchs in town doing deals with the council and local gangster, Cafferty, skulking around, it’s hard to know who to point the finger at... but of course, Rebus has his eye firmly placed on Cafferty’s neck – but is he right? A brilliant, brilliant book! See Ian Rankin with Jack Vettriano at the Old Kirk, Kirkcaldy on Saturday 8th June, 7.30 pm. Tickets can be bought on 01592 583302
Reader Reviews An Exquisite Sense of What is Beautiful by J. David Simons Having read J. David Simons previous two novels, I was so excited when I got my copy of his latest novel, An Exquisite Sense of What is Beautiful and it did not disappoint! A sweeping novel of East and West, love and war, truths and denials. An eminent British writer returns to the resort hotel in the Japanese mountains where he once spent a beautiful, snowed-in winter. It was there he fell in love and wrote his best-selling novel, The Waterwheel, As we learn more about his earlier life, we realise that he is in denial, trying to escape past events that are now rapidly catching up with him.
Mariana by Susanna Kearsley An engaging bittersweet time travel romance with a dash of reincarnation! When Julia Beckett first sets eyes on Greyweather, a 16th century English farmhouse in Exbury, she instantly falls in love with it. Years later, destiny calls her again to it's doorstep. Events take an unusual turn however, when Julia time slips into the past and experiences the life of a 17th century woman named Mariana, who used to live at Greyweather and whose ghost has been seen on many an occasion.
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
I loved these. If you like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, then this series is right up your alley. I particularly like the way they flip back and forth between narrators. You find yourself starting to empathize with characters who you'd least expect. Martin also has no qualms about killing off some of your favourites, which is shocking and sad because you really begin to care for certain characters. A great read, but one that requires commitment, there are 7 in total!
New Titles Inferno by Dan Brown 'Seek and ye shall find.' With these words echoing in his head, eminent Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon awakes in a hospital bed with no recollection of where he is or how he got there. Nor can he explain the origin of the macabre object that is found hidden in his belongings. A threat to his life will propel him and a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, into a breakneck chase across the city of Florence. Only Langdon's knowledge of hidden passageways and ancient secrets that lie behind its historic facade can save them from the clutches of their unknown pursuers.
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pari live with their father and stepmother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters. To Abdullah, Pari is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pari and Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart.
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan The year is 1972. The Cold War is far from over. Britain is being torn apart by industrial unrest and terrorism. Serena Frome, in her final year at Cambridge, is being groomed for MI5. Serena is sent on a secret mission - Operation Sweet Tooth - which brings her into the world of Tom Haley, a promising young writer. First she loves his stories, then she begins to love the man. Can she maintain the fiction of her undercover life? And who is inventing whom? To answer these questions, Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage - trust no one.
A Passion for Baking by Jo Wheatley Jo Wheatley was 2011's Great British Bake Off winner, delighting the judges with her raw talent, original ideas, and delicious baking each week. Now, in her first book, Jo shares the tips, tricks and family recipes which she has developed in her own kitchen. With the straightforwardness of a busy mother, but an eye for the pretty details which characterised her winning creations, Jo's love of baking shines through this collection of more than one hundred recipes. From the family bakes which Jo raised her three hungry boys on, to the Afternoon Tea treats for her friends, and the mouth watering savoury pies and tarts baked in her very own Aga, all of Jo's recipes will inspire you to develop your own passion for baking.