Great Reads

Brought to you by Nicole and the team at Great Escape Books

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

My new personal favourite read, from the author of ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’, The Lincoln Highway beautifully captures the fresh open innocence of youth and the moral and ethical challenges that life throws up as boys move to adulthood. Emmett has just emerged from a juvenile work farm where he served 15 months detention for involuntary manslaughter. The farm repossessed, his father dead and his mother long gone, he is nevertheless hopeful, and he immediately heads back to his childhood home to pick up his beloved younger brother Billy. He is fiercely determined to turn both their lives around and plans to head to California to start what he hopes is a golden new life. This is 1950s America, and unbeknown to Emmett or the kindly prison warden driving the car back to the farm, two fellow inmates have stowed away in the trunk. They too want to start a new life, but have very different ideas to that of Emmett. Brimming with charm, this novel feels so young and fresh with life. T he Lincoln Highway will make you smile and wish you were on this great epic road trip across America with Emmett and Billy and his two wayward, but hugely likeable friends, Duchess and Wooly. Fabulous! Review by Nicole @ Great Escape Books

Shackleton by Ranulph Fiennes Biographical books and documentaries on the life of Sir Ernest Shackleton are not uncommon, however rarely are they written from such a perspective that fellow polar explorer Ranulph Fiennes has produced. Fiennes is an excellent storyteller, which Shackleton was famous for, and this kindred spirit has produced a highly readable book that retells the Shackleton story with a realistic and engaging narrative. For those who have a fascination for the great exploration era of the early 20th century, this is a great refresher that highlights the many struggles and flaws and ultimate triumphs of the enigmatic Ernest Shackleton and his contemporaries from an age that will never be seen again. Review by Marty @ Great Escape Books

Devotion by Hannah Kent Opening in a remote village on the edge of a forested woodland in Prussia 1836, Devotion immediately sweeps you into the sensory world of Hanne, a young girl ill at ease with the rigid rules and tedious religious practices of the strict Lutheran hamlet, but perfectly at one with the natural world. Hanne is on the cusp of womanhood but feels deeply unloved and rejected by her beautiful mother and stern father. Misunderstood, she is content to retreat into the wildness of the natural world, when one day another young family with a daughter move into their community. Their warmth and humanity completely shake the foundations of her world. As with Burial Rites and T he Good People, Hannah Kent’s masterful research of the plight of evangelical Lutherans fleeing religious persecution in Prussia is effortlessly woven into this complex love story. Devotion explores many types of love … the potential love (and its absence) between a mother and daughter, the unconditional love between brother and sister, and most tellingly the absolute love and trust between two young women, Hanne and Thea – which in the early 1850s is absolutely taboo. A rare and beautiful story that will resonate for the longest time. Review by Nicole @ Great Escape Books

If Not Us by Mark Smith - Signed editions available Mark Smith’s new stand-alone novel If Not Us is a shout from the youth of today to take action. Hesse loves to surf. He lives in a coastal town, busy with weekenders from the city and quiet mid-week. He lost his dad at an early age and now it’s just him and his mum. His biggest problem is finding a great wave and coping with the local bruising bully in the water … until he overhears about the dirty politics and illnesses plaguing the township when he sits in on one of his mum’s environmental action group evenings. He meets Fenna, an international exchange student, and his eyes are opened to mounting global issues outside of his small sphere of friends and school. A call to action, but also a joyous story of youth and change, and of course a homage to the wonder and might of the sea. It moves with Mark’s trademark breakneck pace, and will delight his large fellowship of readers. Great for any age, but perfect for 14 to adult. Review by Nicole @ Great Escape Books

By Chris Dos HIGH COURT FACEBOOK CASE

A few months ago the High Court made a decision that could have a profound impact on social media users. In a landmark defamation case, it ruled that publishers of comments on platforms like Twitter and Facebook are legally responsible for them.

I’d take it for granted that the barely coherent insults coming from my own page would be my responsibility, but it also means that if you are the administrator of a larger group, you are the publisher and therefore liable and can be sued for any slanderous comments aired.

It can take up a lot of time being the Admin of a Facebook group and given the explosion in popularity of community based ones over the last 18 months or so, there’ll be many who decide it’s all a bit much and throw in the towel rather than expose themselves to this serious legal jeopardy.

At any rate, I’m sure it will calm down some of the more malicious gossip in my chess club group (‘Knights of Pawn’). The year in review

In other highlights of the year, Apple made tracking your loved ones (and others) affordable to all by virtue of their AirTag.

Families found a way to add more anxiety to their lives by investing in Cryptocurrencies.

The second richest man on the planet (second is pretty good too, you know!) inspired us all by blasting into space in a vehicle seemingly designed in a Dr Evil/Austin Powers collaboration, only to touch down wearing a ridiculous hat that certainly got him noticed.

And more recently, the extremely human-like Mark Zuckerberg announced a rebranding of his fleet of social experiments. It’s called ‘Meta’ and aims to make more compliant consumers of us all, shielding us from reality from the day we are born until the moment we get deleted.

All of which makes me yearn for a less Orwellian time like, ummm … 1984.