Book of the Week: ‘Black-Eyed Susans’
Black-Eyed Susans Julia Heaberlin 2015, 368 pages Fiction Tessa Cartwright was found, barely alive, in a Texas field at 16 among the bones of three other young women and a field of black-eyed susans. She could never remember what happened to her, but the supposed killer was caught and Tessa’s testimony put him on death row. Almost 20 years later, Tessa is terrified to discover a patch of freshly transplanted black-eyed susans blooming...
Book of the Week: ‘Body Respect’
Body Respect Lucy Aphramor and Linda Bacon 2014, 208 pages Fiction Body Respect starts by debunking established dietary advice. Fat? It’s not that bad for you after all. Dieting? It can actually make you fatter. Exercise? It won’t necessarily help you lose weight, even if it offers other benefits. What Aphramor and Bacon suggest instead of dieting and following a strict exercise regimen is – get this – listening to your body. They...
Book of the Week: ‘Romie Futch’
The New and Improved Romie Futch Julia Elliott 2015, 378 pages Fiction Romie Futch is a middle-aged taxidermist in South Carolina, obsessed with his ex-wife and deep in debt. Surfing the internet in a drunken haze, Romie sees an ad seeking participants for an “intelligence enhancement study” in Atlanta that promises $6,000. All he has to do is “undergo a series of pedagogical downloads via direct brain-computer interface.” At the...
Book of the Week: ‘The Hollow Land’
The Hollow Land Jane Gardam 2014, 158 pages Fiction The Hollow Land is a series of linked stories about Harry Bateman, who is a little boy the first time his family comes from London to stay in an old farmhouse called Light Trees owned by the Teesdale family. Harry and the Teesdales’ son Bell get into a number of scrapes, such as getting stuck in an old silver mine shaft (hence the hollowness of the land) and lost in a blizzard while...
Book of the Week: ‘Throne of Glass’
Throne of Glass Sarah J. Maas 2012, 406 pages Fiction Celaena Sardothien was a feared assassin until she was betrayed and imprisoned in the salt mines of Endovier. In a strange twist, she was taken from the salt mines by the Crown Prince to be entered into a competition to become the King’s Assassin. If she can defeat 23 other competitors in a series of tests and duels, she will earn the right to serve the king for four years and win...
