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What's Hot ...with BDS readers

Read feedback on books in the BDS catalogue by BDS readers. We welcome any comment on the titles in the catalogue, as it helps us to make sure the catalogue contains something for everyone.

Note: Group comments are not always quoted in full owing to requirements of space.

                         What's Hot - February 2012



Season of the Jew

Maurice Shadbolt       1986            NZ Interest/Fiction                   489pp

Synopsis: Historical novel set in Hawkes Bay based on Te Kooti, the 19th-century Maori leader.

Categories: Fiction - New Zealand, Historical, Maori, Political

Group Comments:

“Loved the book – great insights into our history – land issues especially.” Timaru 013

“We felt it was a very well researched and written book. The characters were superb. A very palpable way to learn the history of our people.” Hamilton 024

Enjoyed by all members. Now to read the other two books in the series.” Whanganui 004

“This book should be read by all NZers. A special book too as Maurice Shadbolt lived in Te Kuiti for awhile. Te Kooti has connections too.”Te Kuiti 002

“Most of the group thought this was an exceptionally good book – beautifully constructed and crafted…Had a good discussion on the Treaty of Waitangi and the Tribunal.” Tairua 001

 
Unquiet Mind

Kay Jamison Redfield            1996       Non-fiction              219pp

Synopsis: A candid account of a psychiatrist's first-hand experience of manic depression. Examines the illness from the dual perspective of the healer and the healed.

Categories: Non fiction, Biography, Medical/Health, Psychology

Group Comments:

We had a member who led our discussion with personal insight into the condition. Very interesting and worthwhile. Peel Forest 001

“Lots of discussion on this one. Most of the group had some contact with people who had mental illness - at places of work, within the family and friends. We admired [the author’s] honesty, sense of optimism for the future. She wrote beautifully with a poet’s intensity and colours.”  Lower Hutt 004

“The discussion lasted so long! We drew on our own experiences with people we knew. A must read.” Hamilton 022

“Found this book totally satisfying. The combination of non-emotional reporting and poetic writing style makes for a very good book for the lay person. It certainly gave a valuable insight into the pleasures and hell of the condition.” Wellington 058

 
Readers' Choices

Is your reading group struggling to find books that everyone enjoys?

The titles below are ones that are most loved by BDS bookgroups. They may assist you with book choices for 2012 enrolment.

Fiction

The Book Thief – Mark Zusak

Cannery Row – John Steinbeck

Cellist of Sarajevo – Steven Galloway

The Coroner's Lunch – Colin Cotterill

Crossing to Safety – Wallace Stegner

Crow Lake - Mary Lawson

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon

The Family Tree – Carole Cadwaller

Girl with a Pearl Earring – Tracy Chevalier

The Good Earth – Pearl S. Buck

Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer

Half of a Yellow Sun – Chimamandi Ngozi Adiche

The Help – Kathryn Stockett

The Industry of Souls – Martin Booth

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

The Laying on of Hands – Alan Bennett

Lottery – Patricia Wood

The Madonnas of Leningrad – Debra Dean

Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter – Kim Edwards

My Sister's Keeper – Jodi Picoult

Old Filth – Jane Gardam

The Other Side of the Bridge – Mary Lawson

The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver

Purple Hibiscus – Chimamandi Ngozi Adichie

Restless – William Boyd

Run – Ann Patchett

The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian – Marina Lewycka

Slumdog Millionaire – Vikas Swarup

Suite Francaise – Irene Nemirovsky 

The Thing Around Your Neck – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (short stories)

The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield

A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini 

Water for Elephants  – Sara Gruen

Winter in Madrid  –  CJ Sansom

 

New Zealand Fiction

10 PM Question, The - Kate de Goldi

As the Earth Turns Silver - Alison Wong

Ask the Posts of the House  [short stories] - Witi Ihimaera

Bulibasha - Witi Ihimaera

Captive Wife, The - Fiona Kidman

Edwin & Matilda - Laurence Fearnley

How to Stop a Heart from Beating - Jackie Ballantyne

Landings - Jenny Pattrick

Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs - Linda Olsson

Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones

Remember Me - Derek Hansen

 

Non Fiction

Born on a Blue Day - Daniel Tammet

Bright Star – Beatrice Hill Tinsley - Christine Cole Catley  [a big read]

Child of Tibet - Soname Yangchien

Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The - Jean Dominique Bauby

Down Under - Bill Bryson

Dreams From My Father - Barak Obama

Family that Couldn’t Sleep, The - DT Max

Glass Castle, The – Jeanette Walls

House by the Dvina – Eugenie Fraser

House of Stone – Christine Lamb

Infidel: My Life – Ali Ayaan Hirsi

Life is So Good - George Dawson

Little Daughter - Zoya Phan

Mao’s Last Dancer – Li Cunxin

Nancy Wake - Peter FitzSimmons

Nazi Officer’s Wife, The – Edith Hahn Beer

 

 

 

 

 


 

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