Simply Books Book Club Choice

Simply Books 228 Moss Lane, Bramhall, Cheshire SK7 1BD 0161 439 1436 www.simplybooks.info Open Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 5.30pm

Andrew Cant

We’re often asked in the shop if we can recommend any funny/comic novels. It’s a tricky question – sense of humour is a very individual thing – but for me Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny is laugh-out-loud funny and the best ‘feel good’ novel I’ve read in a long time. Graham’s second wife, Audra, is an unrestrained force of good nature. She talks non-stop through childbirth, invites the doorman to move in and the eccentric members of their son’s Origami Club to Thanksgiving. When she decides to make friends with Elspeth – Graham’s first wife and Audra’s polar opposite – Graham starts to wonder: how can anyone love two such different women? An hilarious and spot-on portrayal of a marriage – told with warmth and intelligence; there are some heart-wrenching moments too which linger in the memory.

Meet Me At The Museum by Anne Youngson is a delightful debut novel told through an exchange of letters. When Tina Hopgood, housewife and mother, writes a letter of regret to a man she has never met, she doesn’t expect a reply. When Anders Larsen, a lonely museum curator, answers it, neither does he. So starts a correspondence of self-discovery, second chances and late love. Funny, poignant and truthful.

And for the children… The Day The Banana Went Bad is an hilarious new picture book by Michelle Robinson. When Banana is thrown into the ‘REJECT’ bin with other mis-shapen fruit and veg he decides ENOUGH IS ENOUGH – he may be a little bit bruised but that doesn’t mean he’s any less brilliant! A fantastically funny book about loving what makes you YOU! Michelle will be with us on Saturday 29 February to launch her book – details on our website www.simplybooks.info – she may even be disguised as a banana!