If you would like to place a reservation on any of these titles, or check their whereabouts and availability of any items, click onto the title and you will be taken to the Library catalogue.
Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
This excellent novel tells the story of Tambudzai, a young girl growing up in Zimbabwe (then known as Rhodesia) and her struggles to gain an education as a female in a patriarchal family beset by rural poverty and the premature death of her brother. When at school, her narrative interacts with that of her cousin Nyasha, initially raised in the UK and whose Western influences conflict with the traditions and disciplinarian values of her teacher father Babamukuru and threaten to tear the family apart.
Dangarembga expertly uses and transforms the formal techniques of the bildungsroman novel and applies them to a postcolonial environment. Nervous Conditions powerfully reveals the devastating effects that arise from the collision of two cultures and how these impact upon two young woman seeking to develop into adulthood while overcoming the pressures of academic achievement, eating disorders and parental turmoil.
Alan Housden
Tooth and Nail by Ian Rankin
Sometimes it's good to go to the library and try an early novel by someone now well-known. This isn't as multi-layered as the Rebus novels have now become, but it's good to see him as a fish out of water when offered up by his Chief to assist the Met police. Rankin's chatty introductions are always insightful. In this case, you can see how influenced he was by reading The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris whilst he was still finding his own way making a living as a writer. Nevertheless, to my mind, Anthony Hopkins is Hannibal Lechter and the film is better than that book, but no-one has yet to better Rebus and his world in novel form.
AM
Buried by Mark Billingham
A slight dip in form from the magnificent Mark Billingham. Once again, maverick copper ruffles feathers as he gets to the bottom of a kidnapping with no subsequent ransom demand. the author is always on top of the latest police gadgetry and investigative techniques, but it is the banter which endears Billingham's regular cast to you. However, if this author is still new to you, go for Sleepyhead or Scaredy Cat in preference to this one.
AM
The L-shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of books that have changed my life. I first read this 30 years ago and it has haunted me ever since. It tells the story of a single woman who is disowned by her father when she becomes pregnant. Jobless and homeless, she has to fend for herself living with strangers in 1950s London. The strangers offer temporary help, but it is eventually her own family who come to her rescue in a bitter-sweet ending.
It is important to remember that this book was written in 1960. The matter-of-fact way that Lynne Reid Banks writes about the prejudices of the time is shocking. It is a very true picture of how I remember London in my childhood.
This book is very easy to read. It follows the seasons and shows how a moment of madness on a summer’s night leads to a lonely autumn, a bleak Christmas and a spring of hope and renewal. On a deeper level, it acts as a warning about how quickly life can go wrong and why we should all count our blessings.
This is a book not to be read in one sitting, but to be read and savoured over time in the comfort of a warm room with the cold rain beating on the windows.
UOM
Traversa by Fran Sandham
It's great to relax and read about other exerting themselves. Fran Sandham is great company during his account of a three thousand mile solo walk west to east across the African continent. You'll really love the tales involving the mule from hell which Fran was conned into buying 'to help.'
AM
I Heard That Song Before by Mary Higgins Clark
If you’re a crime reader (and I am), this is brilliant. You're into the story from the first page and no you can't put it down. It's always a shame when you finish one of her books, but this, in my opinion is by far one of her best.
Karen
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The novel is the first by legendary Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe and was one of the earliest African novels to receive critical acclaim in the West. Published by Heinemann in 1959, the book is a jewel in the crown of the African Writers Series. It is also the first instalment in Achebe’s trilogy of books that deal with the effects of British colonialism upon Igbo civilisation from the late-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, which also includes No Longer At Ease and the masterful Arrow of God (both of which you should also read).
Things Fall Apart tells the story of the trials and tribulations in the life of Okonkwo, an Igbo tribesman who is famous in his community for being a successful wrestler and single-minded man. Yet a series of tragic events lead to Okonkwo’s banishment from his community for seven years. When he returns to discover chaos and confusion following the arrival of the British colonisers, Okonkwo decides he must take action to prevent the decimation of the values and civilisation of his people.
If you haven’t read this novel you should do. Now. Achebe brilliantly creates a compelling narrative that synthesises literary traditions of the Western novel with elements of traditional African storytelling. It’s an excellent read that deals sensitively and earnestly with the harsh realities of the devastation brought by colonialism and the similarly destructive force of intransigent machismo. It’s one of the finest examples from the genre of postcolonial literature.
AH
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Only a very short novella but full of emotion and feeling, and so atmospheric. How Ian McEwan achieves this in so few words is amazing. Another great story from a brilliant storyteller.
Jo Moulton
Affinity by Sarah Waters
Affinity is a chilling story of a well-to-do but recently disgraced upper class lady who makes charitable visits to a Victorian women's prison where she becomes entangled in the life of a spiritualist and confidence trickster. So many seemingly inexplicable things happen that even the reader is left trying to grasp what can and can't be true. It has one of the best endings I've ever read and is so chilling and spooky that when I lent it to my Mum she couldn't read it alone in the house at night!
Cathy Myers
The Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
The Twilight Watch is set in modern day Russia in the middle of a cold war between the forces of light and dark. Following the events of the two previous books (Night Watch and Day Watch) this is a book that I have awaited for many months. It has not failed to live up to my expectations, delivering the same mix of action and intrigue as the previous books. A must-read, but only after reading the prequels.
Robert
The Damned Utd by David Peace
I would recommend this book to anyone, regardless of whether or not they are interested in football. It is a sort of fictional biography, based on the career of Brian Clough, dealing specifically with his spells as manager at Derby County and Leeds United. His methods were unusual, especially when compared to the game today, and often very funny. Although Clough clearly had his demons, including drinking and paranoia, the book paints a very vivid picture of his struggle with preserving his ideals at the same time as feeding his desire for success.
RW