April, 2014
E: news@keynshamvoice.co.uk
Since the long-awaited Easter break falls this month, I thought I would focus on the idea of home, in the hope that my loyal readers all get to enjoy some quality time at home (whatever that might mean for you) over the holiday period. Adult Fiction For One More Day by Mitch Albom By the author of the bestseller The Five People You Meet in Heaven, this novell similarly deals with a magical “what-if” situation. Charley Benetto is unfairly forced to choose between his mother and father at an early age. He chooses to follow the ways of his father and ends up being destroyed by alcohol, full of regret for the way his life has turned out. Things come to a head when he learns that his only daughter has refused to invite him to her wedding. He decides to end it all, but not before making a final trip home to the house where he was born. He is astonished to find his late mother there, who welcomes home her prodigal son. Charley is then granted what many of us must have wished for at one time or another: one last day to review the events of the past and try to make good. Can he get his life back on track or has he left it too late? Adult Non-Fiction Interiors by Nina Campbell In this coffee table book, the celebrated interior designer Nina Campbell displays eight of her most recent design
with Sarah Wookey from Keynsham Library projects. These include a city apartment, a bijou pied à terre, a country house, a Swiss chalet and a hotel. Although most of her projects are undoubtedly ambitious, there are plentyy of decorating and design ideas for those of us with rather less grandiose homes to work on. Her use of colour is remarkable able – at once soothing and striking – and she provides many workable solutions to common design problems. The perfect book to browse through over the bank holiday weekend (and without lifting a finger!). Adult Non-Fiction Nature’s Gardener: How to garden in the 21st century by Matthew Wilson The gardening style of Matthew Wilson (formerly of the RHS), “embraces low intervention techniques and has wildlife and biodiversity in mind”. His modern gardening book deals with issues such
Follow us on Twitter @keynshamvoice as soil improvement and maintenance, recycling and sustainability, wildlife attraction, planting techniques, the importance of trees, container gardening and garden design. There’s also a glossary and lists of further reading, RHS gardens and excellent websites to visit. A beautifully illustrated book, well worth poring over from the comfort of your armchair or garden this bank holiday weekend. Adult Non-Fiction Pâtisserie by Murielle Valette This sumptuously-illustrated book will make your mouth water and send you straight to the kitchen to start prepping! It’s a detailed, stepby-step guide to baking French pastries and desserts, covering delights such as almond tuiles, macaroons, madeleines, bavarois, floating islands, pains aux raisins and various other cakes, flans and tarts. Instructions are easy to follow and every recipe is accompanied by a photo of (hopefully) the finished result. Ummm…delicious! [Murielle Valette is head pastry chef at the Michelin-starred restaurant, Ockenden Manor Hotel.] Junior Fiction The Haunting of Charity Delafield by Ian Beck Charity Delafield lives in a huge, isolated mansion with an overbearing father who denies her any contact with the world beyond their imposing iron gates. He has told her that she suffers from a mysterious
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illness and must not over-exert or over-excite herself; there are even certain rooms in the house that, he warns, she must never enter. Her life is restricted beyond belief; her only friends are Nurse Rose and Mr Tompkins, the cat. Charity has a recurring dream in which she is in a dark corridor, somewhere within the house. One day she stumbles upon the very same corridor but in waking hours… A traditional read for children of 9+, with a very satisfying final twist.
Library News Library opening hours for the Easter period are as follows: Good Friday: CLOSED Easter Saturday: 9am-4.30pm Easter Day: CLOSED Easter Monday: CLOSED There will be a children’s Easter craft activity in the library on Saturday, April 19, from 10am-noon and 2-4pm. The library is currently displaying the contents of the 1964 time capsule. You can also suggest which objects you would like to see put in to the 2014 time capsule. The closing date for suggestions is Wednesday, April 30. The library will be hosting a Book Swap Coffee Morning on Tuesday, April 22, from 10amnoon. Bring along a book you’ve read and swap it for something another reader has enjoyed... or not! Meet fellow readers and enjoy a cup of coffee.
To advertise, contact Emma on 0117 908 2121 or 07715 770448. Got news? Call Joni on 07887 561567. Email: emma@keynshamvoice.co.uk