Summer holibobs reads

 The Snowman by Jo Nesbø (Vintage, 2010) *****

If you are into being scared out of you wits and biting off your fingernails while poring over a gripping paperback, then read this book. If you are not, then still read this book.

     The Snowman is the seventh out of eight all-engrossing books in the “Harry Hole” series created by Jo Nesbø. It doesn’t matter if you don't read them in order, as you pick up the necessary background info as you go.

     In this book the main character of the series, detective Harry Hole, investigates brutal murders sticking to a creepy snowman theme. Jo sets the scene beautifully on the first page and describes the snow covering the grass like a “down duvet”, which contrasts with the pace and suspense that takes off in the first chapter and carries the reader through to the totally riveting conclusion.

Well-worth packing in your/your partner’s/your parents’ suitcase.

 One Day by David Nicholls (Hodder & Stoughton, 2009)*****

This book is at the opposite end of the spectrum to The Snowman and one for those who like their reads to be a little more heart-warming, but with the possibility of laughter and/or tears along the way. David Nicholls absorbs the reader so skilfully and intently into the lives of the two main characters, Emma and Dexter, and their relationship with each other and others, that it is impossible not to feel like you have ridden a rollercoaster of emotion at the end.

     One Day provides the reader with a snapshot of one day each year - every 15th July from 1988 to nearly the present day - in the lives of Emma and Dexter. It is funny, frustrating and touching, a constant “will they/won’t they?” story of growing up and friendship.

Ideal for: anyone.

**NEWSFLASH** David Nicholls is talking about this incredible book in October http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/28/david-nicholls-book-club?CMP=twt_fd

 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Black Swan, 2007) *****

Another potentially teary one, this book starts a bit strangely, but once you persevere and get into the bulk of the story you find a truly moving and heart-rending story about Liesel, a young girl living in WWII Germany. Partly told through her eyes, partly through those of Death, and also through those of a Jewish man in hiding in the basement, it portrays life under Nazi rule in an uplifting and tragic story.

Keep the tissues handy.

 Room by Emma Donoghue (Picador, 2010) ***

Narrated by the innocent 5 year old Jack, this startling story of fiction portrays Jack’s complete unawareness of any other world outside the garden shed – Room - where he lives with his Ma. Very creepy, yet moving, you feel like you want to protect and help both Jack and Ma as they come to terms with Room and what lies beyond.

Make sure you and your sister read it.

 The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Virago Press, 2009) ****

A spooky old house in postwar Britain contains something or someone that doesn’t want the inhabiting family there anymore. The local somewhat dull doctor befriends the daughter of the family living in the house and it is from his disbelieving perspective that a strange series of occurrences take place within the house.

     The book is not only spooky and hauntingly mesmerising; it offers a view of a Britain transformed from the remnants of a rigid Victorian class system to a post war, reshuffled society.

Pack it for: you/your mum.

 Guernica by Dave Boling (Picador, 2009)

A love story intertwined with the pre WWII bombing of Guernica by the Germans, and Picasso’s movements to painting his famous piece of the same name.

One for: you/your brother/your partner.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Bloomsbury, 2007) *****

This tragic, beautifully-crafted story portrays the separate lives of Marian and Laila living in Afghanistan, that eventually entwine. It covers class, religion, sexual roles, child rearing, work, education, and community and at times you are willing the women to be OK and safe. I could not stop thinking about them and their harsh lives between reads. Prepare to be moved.

Good for: you/your mum/your sister.

 Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada (Penguin, 2010) ****

Another historical tale from Germany during the Second World War, this one tells the story of the lives of several characters in Berlin.

     One of the main characters, Otto Quangle, is so disillusioned with Nazism and Hitler after the death of his son in battle, that he stages a brave, yet calm and isolated and completely secret resistance to the Nazis, with the help of his wife. Their neighbours have interlinking stories that all play a part in the Quangle’s defiance.

One for: your dad.

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (Simon & Schuster, 2009) ***

Elizabeth Grey falls head over heels for King Edward and vice versa, they marry and have many children, but then the Cousin’s Wars ensue and the family is all but torn apart. Will Elizabeth’s two prince sons and heirs to the throne ever be restored to their family after the infamous plot to kill them in their beds supposedly happened?

Take it for you/your mum/your granny.