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Home>Services>For Book Lovers>Our Recommendations>Our Recommendations 2010>Our Recommendations March 2010
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 The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Wyatt by Garry Disher
The Secret River by Kate Grenville
700 Sundays by Billy Crystal
| The Road by Cormac McCarthy | | | This started out being another one of those books I had to read by a certain time for book club. (I’m always so far behind with book club books because I get distracted reading all the other good books that come across my desk.)
But of all the books I had to read last year for book club…this was the by far the best – outstanding – ten out of ten. I couldn’t put this book down! The Road is a post apocalyptic tale about a father and son’s struggle and fight for survival in a world destroyed by an unknown cataclysmic event. The landscape is bleak, the sun no longer shines through the smoky atmosphere, there are no animals alive and the struggle for food and shelter determines the father and son’s daily existence. Parts of the story are truly horrific.
Despite this bleak background, the story is about the father’s love for his son, his determination to survive and the power of hope.
McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize for The Road and it has just been released at the cinema.
Picked by Jenny (Library Headquarters)
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| Wyatt by Garry Disher | | | Wyatt, who has not been around for 10 years, is now back in town, and that is as much as anyone knows.
Wyatt is a career criminal who doesn’t like the new way of doing crime... too much technology!
An acquaintance offers Wyatt a stake in an old fashioned jewellery robbery, with much usable inside information. With all this planning things are looking good until the day of the job when everything goes pear shaped and too many loose ends appear.
An abrupt ending leaves you in suspense – or does it?
If you like this book try the Challis series also by Garry Disher.
Picked by Robyn (Hastings Library)
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| Little Altars Everywhere by Rebecca Wells | | | A Collection of fictional reminiscences on growing up in the Walder family of the small town Thornton, Louisiana. These stories come from every member of the family – wife, husband and children, (both young and grown) not to mention the servants, and they give the reader a full and rounded view of this family.
I especially enjoyed listening to this on tape as the reader’s accents bring to life the southern nature of these stories exquisitely. In fact it’s hard not to crave a sweet iced tea or maybe a mint julep while listening.
I found myself laughing out loud several times, even though the main matter of the stories can be quite grim, as when we hear about the husband being on the local draft board for the Vietnam war. But the story about the mother, Vivian Walker, trying to toe the line as a Girl Scouts leader is comic magnificence!
A most enjoyable book whether one is reading it or listening to it!
Picked by Larissa (Hasting Library)
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| The Secret River by Kate Grenville | | | You are on William Thornhill’s side from the start of this novel. After a tough upbringing in late 18th Century London, he makes good and is apprenticed to a river guide. After some bad luck Thornhill is transported to New South Wales where he makes a life for himself and his wife Sal using his boating skills.
Eking out an existence on Hawkesbury River, Thornhill has a dream, and we want to see that dream fulfilled and the only thing he sees that may take that dream away from him is the threat of the indigenous population. It is a testament to Grenville that she makes you empathise with Thornhill as aggressor, at the same time the reader is completely aware of the injustice that is about to take place.
A book every Australian school child should read. It highlights the issues of Australia’s colonial history from the most intimate level. This may be the only text book needed for the new national curriculum.
Picked by Vic (Library Headquarters)
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| 700 Sundays by Billy Crystal | | | You can almost hear Billy Crystal on stage as you read this book about his life with his father. It begins with a young Billy Crystal recalling the first new car his father purchased and goes on to describe growing up in New York as part of a family with many and varied connections to the entertainment industry.
Not only is it about a son’s relationship with his father, but also how a family can have so many disparate parts that still love and trust and work together.
I really enjoyed reading about the Crystal’s involvement in the music industry, especially early Jazz recordings – a wonderful insight into that time and place.
Some of the language is a little unorthodox and quite colourful – just as it would be if Billy Crystal was performing live.
A thoroughly enjoyable read!
Picked by Larissa (Hasting Library)
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