MANNER culture Hannah's BOOK CLUB

WE JUST... CLICKED

Hi, I’m Hannah and I’m a biblioholic. My love of reading, and creative writing, is the result of three years spent at Oxford Brookes University where I studied for a degree in publishing. I love a good murder mystery book, but I also regularly read travel, health, action & adventure and science fiction titles.

***** KILLING COMMENDATORE

Haruki Murakami

Set in rural Japan, Killing Commendatore is the tale of a thirtysomething portrait painter who suddenly finds himself living in the house of the acclaimed painter Tomohiko Amada after separating from his wife. Whilst exploring the cabin home of the reclusive painter he comes across a strange painting that Amada was hiding from the world, resulting in a series of supernatural and surreal events that change his life forever. Killing Commendatore is a stunning work of imagination from a master storyteller.

***** EREBUS: THE STORY OF A SHIP

Michael Palin

The former Monty Python star has found a worthy topic for his love of history and travel in the tale of HMS Erebus. This carefully researched and well-crafted story charts her history from launch in 1826 to her discovery as a wreck in 2014 off the Canadian Arctic coast. He features the fantastic journeys undertaken to both the Antarctic and Arctic, and also profiles the Captains who took charge of the vessel, including the dashing James Clark Ross, who was responsible for discovering the Great Southern Barrier, and Sir John Franklin, who led her on the final, ill-fated attempt to navigate the Northwest Passage.

Returning home in 1974, Ernt Allbright has been a POW in Vietnam and damaged by the experience. After inheriting a small cabin and land from a dead soldier, he makes the decision to escape his nightmares by taking his wife, Leni, and 13-year-old daughter, Cora, to live in the wilderness of Alaska. Far from rehabilitating Ernt, the brutal winters and claustrophobic cabin life begin to take their toll on him. Whilst the girls adapt better and reach out to the small community for support and friendship, there is darkness and danger both inside and outside for them to overcome. A can’t-put-down novel about the fight for survival, love and loss, and the wildness of both man and nature.

***** BRIDGE OF CLAY

Markus Zusak

From the author of the phenomenal, global-bestseller The Book Thief comes the story of triumph over extraordinary adversity and the power of brotherhood. Bridge of Clay is Markus’ first novel in the 13 years since The Book Thief and stars five orphaned boys who bring each other up in a world run by their own rules. As the unruly Dunbar boys grow up and learn to live in an adult world, they discover the heartbreaking secret behind their father’s disappearance and seek redemption through the construction of a bridge to help reconnect their broken family. Zusak creates a sensitively accomplished tale of sorrow, guilt and forgiveness.