Purple Coo Book Club Winter Read 2012

Once again I apologise if any of your suggestions haven't made the final seven, but there were so many brilliant suggestions this time.
Please make your first and second choices in the comments box below.
As soon as I've collated the votes, I'll announce the most popular on the Purple Coo main site and the most popular becomes our Purple Coo Book Club Winter Read 2012

 

Behind the Scenes at the  Museum by Kate Atkinson

The imaginative and thought provoking story of Ruby, this book explores complex family relationships, births, weddings, divorce, death, secrets and lies, all set under the old pebble-stone streets around York Minster.

 

My Policeman by Bethan Roberts

Set in the 1950s, this isn't just another period love triangle. A young woman falls for her best friend's brother, a hunky policeman, but when she marries him she finds out he's having   a relationship with the suave Patrick, who's a curator at the local museum.

 

The Earl's Bargain by Cheryl Bolen
The impossibly young, stunningly beautiful widow Louisa Phillips finds herself penniless upon the death of her no-good husband. What's a man-hating bluestocking to do? Enter the Earl of Wycliff, who offers her financial security for life. All she has to do is travel across England posing as his wife. They're both hiding secrets; not the least of which is their budding love for each other.

 

The Promise by Lesley Pearce

Another by the author of Belle. Set in London, 1914. Belle Reilly finally has the life she's dreamed of thanks to a devoted husband in Jimmy and the hat shop she's wanted to own since she was a child. But as the storm clouds of World War One begin to gather, Belle's already turbulent life is to change in ways she never imagined possible.

The Richard Burton Diaries by Richard Burton

The surviving diaries of Richard Burton are now published in their entirety for the first time. 

 

The Woman who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend

A fun Christmas read. The woman in question takes to her bed on the day her grown up children leave home and she stays there, and from her bed begins to see herself and the world very differently.

 

Two Brothers by Ben Elton

At times bleakly humorous, at others bleakly thought provoking, look at the life and troubles of  a Jewish family with an adopted non-Jewish son, in inter-war Germany.

 

Purple Coo Book Club - Autumn Read 2012

Hi Everyone
my apologies if your favourite didn't make it into the final seven, but so many excellent books were suggested this time I had to be quite brutal in whittling them down.
Please make your 1st and 2nd choices in the comments box below. As soon as everyone has voted, I'll collate the votes and announce the most popular book on the Purple Coo main site. That book then becomes the Purple Coo Autumn Read 2012 .
 

Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantell

Her much talked about sequel to Wolf Hall

Narrow Boat to Carcassonne by Terry Darlington

A book for armchair travellers with a sense of adventure, combined with a sense of humour, a love whippets and narrow boats. The first of a trilogy about Terry, his wife Monica, their whippet Jim and their retirement antics trip across the channel and down through France aboard their narrowboat, The Phyllis May.

Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell

Hailed as a lyrical masterpiece when first in print, it’s the true story of Gavin Maxwell’s relationship with an otter cub he brought back from Iraq, and his life with her in a magical place he called Camusfearna, in reality Sandaig on the West Coast of Scotland. (info courtesy of Fairy Nuff, who was lucky enough to be a visitor there just recently) 

The Heart Broke in by James Meek

The latest by James Meek. The main characters are a TV producer and his remarkable sister, but don’t let that fool you. This book is as wide ranging as of all Meek’s work. It starts off humorously enough when the married TV producer realises the mobile phone he uses to call his teenage girlfriend, has become lost in the long grass at the family home, and is likely to be found by his children.  

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean

It’s all about a former curator of the Hermitage Museum who’s lived through the siege only to succumb to Alzheimer’s in old age. Apparently it’s a study of Alzheimer’s and the comfort of Art. 

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

A Sunday Times Bestseller. An unforgettable, heart-wrenching, captivating, profoundly moving story of love, loss and life in wartime. 

The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri

The first of the Detective Montalbano series. He’s a Sicilian detective . Good characters and plots but this recommendation comes with the warning that once you’ve read the first one, there are 19 more to go. (I’m rather impressed with Luca Zingaretti, the guy who plays Montalbano in the TV series. Who cares if it’s subtitled, like Robert de Nero in the old Bananarama song, he’s ‘talking Italian.”)

The picture is a print by the wonderful Angie Lewin

 

Purple Coo Book Club Summer Read 2012

Hi Everyone
please read the list below and make your 1st and 2nd choices in the comments box below. As soon as everyone has voted, I'll collate the votes and announce the most popular choice for the Purple Coo Spring Read on the Purple Coo main site.

Every Eye by Isobel English

A 1956 novel about a girl growing up to what could have been unhappiness but for her marriage to a carefree young(er) man. As she travels south by train to Ibiza she surveys her past life and unravels a mystery.

Apparently John Betjeman wrote about this novel - 'Sometimes, but not often, a novel comes along which makes the rest of what one has to review seem commonplace. Such a novel is Every Eye'.

Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
An 11year old boy, living on an inner London housing estate, decides to turn detective when one of his older friends is killed - tragic, gritty and surprisingly funny.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

A girl lives in an out of the way town in America for 19 yrs, so poor she cannot afford a magazine, then she gets a scholarship to college and wins prize and suddenly the world opens up to her- but also leads to her downfall.

The Glass Painter's Daughter by Rachel Hore

An intriguing story stretching over 120 years through the medium to the present day and a Victorian Journal, with a touch of romance.

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Muddie’s youngest recommends this. It’s about a mother trying to come to terms with the fact her son Kevin is a mass murderer

Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd

An exciting spy thriller by a writer that never disappoints (I know this was on our previous list, but Fennie is really keen to include it again - so how could I refuse?)

When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

A wonderful coming of age story for a brother & sister, about childhood and growing up, friendships, families, triumph and tragedy- love in many different forms.

(The painting is Still Life with Lacquer Screen by FCB Cadell)

Purple Coo Book Club Spring Read 2012

Hi Everyone
please read the list below and make your 1st and 2nd choices in the comments box below. As soon as everyone has voted, I'll collate the votes and announce the most popular choice for the Purple Coo Spring Read on the Purple Coo main site.

Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk

Classic New York City drama - passion, love and desire - written in the 1950s. An idealistic young woman, with dreams of becoming an actress, pursues this dream but finally is forced to give it up and become a suburban ‘good wife and mother.’

Pillion Riders by Elizabeth Russel

A battle between heart and head, passion and morality. A sensitive young woman, married to an older successful business man, lives an encapsulated life of luxury in London. But this all changes when she visits Paris and falls in love with a young French composer of scant means and morals.

Room by Emma Donoghue

It's Jack's 5th birthday and he's excited ... he lives with his ma in Room, which has a locked door and skylight and measures 11' by 11'. He loves watching TV and the cartoon characters are his friends, but he knows nothing on screen is truly real- only him, ma and things in Room. Until the day Ma tells him there is a world outside. Very moving account from child's point of view of a very harrowing existence. 

Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Man Booker prize winner 201. A middle aged man coming to terms with inconsistent memories about the past. A novel about secrets withheld or suppressed. An unexpected bequest that leads to a search through a past times, a place where things are unexpectedly murky. 

The Soldier’s Wife by Joanna Trollop

Does marrying a soldier mean marrying the Army? The usual Trollop knack of capturing the snags and frustrations of family life, the tensions and the dangerous pressure points of a relationship in difficulties.

Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd

His latest book. It begins in Vienna, 1913. A young English actor starts a passionate love affair with an unusual woman he meets in the waiting room of his psychiatrist.
He moves to a world of sex, scandal and spies, where truth and deception blur and Britain is in Danger ...  If you loved Any Human Heart (I did) then this is the book for you.

(The painting is by James Nairn)