If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor

I read this April 2015
It was a Waterstones Book Club choice.
I was rather glad this was chosen as I read it some years ago and had really enjoyed it.
It is written in a very visual style, you can 'see' the whole thing.
It centers on one street and one day and the events leading up to the 'main event' you get to empathise with all the various characters, residents and visitors to the street.  You feel the heat of the day, the coming of the storm and the impending disaster...
I thoroughly enjoyed rereading this book
10/10

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

I read this March 2015

I picked this up when Borders in USA closed,so I have had it for quite a while
This is a biography of Deo a young man from Burundi,escaping the horrors of war an travelling through Rwanda.  He manages to get to New York.  He had previously been a medical student, but had to take the most menial jobs in the States.  He is befriended by a couple who pay for his medical education.  The author follows him back to Burundi and tells of all his family's troubles and Deo's attempts to build a medical centre.
I didn't really warm to this book at first but once I did and got into the style I was really captured by the story and enjoyed it.
9/10

The Watcher in the Shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I read this in March 2015
I had previously read The Shadow of the Wind.
A cross over book, suitable for lots of different ages. A toymaker lives a recluse in an old mansion surrounded by his puppets and autometa .  A powerful but easy to read novel

I really enjoyed this book
9/10

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys

I read this March 2015
It was on my 'guilty shelf ' for a long while!
I think it had been recommended by my friend Louise.

This was a complete surprise! I don't really know what it was about before I took it down off the shelf, but it's a Sci Fi Masterwork...

It's about a boy/man of low intelligence who has an operation which makes him super intelligent... what a journey.  Brilliant book
10/10

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

I read this February 2015
For Waterstones book Club
 Warning PLOT SPOILER ALERT
The story centres around a girl called Rosemary who is bought up for the first 5/6 years of her life alongside a chimp called Fern.  You don't find this out until about page 77.  It is a book of family dynamics and sibling rivalry.  When Fern kills a kitten she's sent away - the plot starts with Rosie looking back and trying to remember sequences of events.   The incident led to her brother Loweel leaving home and becoming an animal rights acitivist

I really enjoyed this

9/10

Love Over Scotland by Alexander McCall Smith

I read this February 2015

Another in the 44 Scotland Street series, much the same light easy reading a the others.  I never believe the characters but don't really care it's fiction and it's a good read for bedtime.

6/10

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

I read this February 2015
For Waterstones Book Club

A bitter sweet tail told through the eyes of an elderly woman in the first stages of Alzheimer's.  The Heroine's friend is 'missing' and her search intertwines with the disappearance of her sister when she was a teenager.
Funny, sad, intriguing
A good easy read
I enjoyed it
8/10