VILLAGE BOOKS EZINE January 2011

TOP 10 Crime Fiction

TOP 10 Crime Fiction

1. Never Look Away
by Linwood Barclay
2. You’re Next
by Greg Hurwitz
3. Three Stations
by Martin Cruz Smith
4. Eye of the Red Tsar
by Sam Eastland
5. The Red Coffin
by Sam Eastland
6. The Leopard
by Jo Nesbo
7. Nearest Exit
by Olen Steinauer
8. The Town
By Chuck Hogan
9. 1222
by Anne Holt
10. Secrets of the Grave
by Tami Hoeg

TOP 10 NEW FICTION

TOP 10 NEW FICTION

1. Crooked Letter, crooked letter
by Tom Franklin
2. The Book of Negroes
by Lawrence Hill
3. Purge
by Sofi Oksanen
4. True Deceiver
by Tove Jansson
5. Room
by Emma Donoghue
6. Sunset Park
by Paul Auster
7. The Crying Tree
by Naseem Rakha
8. No and Me
By Delphine De Vigan
9. Caribou Island
by David Vann
10. The Long Song
by Andrea Levy

Interesting review of Caribou Island

Eileen Battersby has an interesting review of "Caribou Island" by David Vann in today's Irish Times. Here is the link: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0129/1224288498006.html

check out our blogs new makeover!

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Abducted from her West African village at the age of eleven and sold as a slave in the American South, Aminata Diallo thinks only of freedom - and of finding her way home again. After escaping the plantation, torn from her husband and child, she passes through Manhattan in the chaos of the Revolutionary War, is shipped to Nova Scotia, and then joins a group of freed slaves on a harrowing return odyssey to Africa. Based on a true story, Lawrence Hill's epic novel spans three continents and six decades to bring to life a dark and shameful chapter in our history through the story of one brave and resourceful woman.

No and Me by Delphine de Vigan

Lou Bertignac has an IQ of 160 and a good friend called Lucas who gets her through the school day. At home her father cries in secret in the bathroom and her mother hasn't been out of the house properly for years. But Lou is about to change her life - and that of her parents - for good, all because of a school project she decides to do about the homeless. Through the project Lou meets No, a teenage girl living on the streets. As their friendship grows, Lou cannot bear that No is still on the streets when she goes back home - even if it is to a home that is saddened and desolate. So she asks her parents if No can come to live with them. To her astonishment, her parents - eventually - agree. No's presence forces Lou and her parents to finally face the sadness that has enveloped them. But No has disruptive as well as positive effects.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Amos, Mississippi, is a quiet town. Silas Jones is its sole law enforcement officer. The last excitement here was nearly twenty years ago, when a teenage girl disappeared on a date with Larry Ott, Silas' one-time boyhood friend.

The law couldn't prove Larry guilty, but the whole town has shunned him ever since. Then the town's peace is shattered when someone tries to kill the reclusive Ott, another young woman goes missing, and the town's drug dealer is murdered. Woven through the tautly written murder story is the unspoken secret that hangs over the lives of two men - one black, one white.
This novel kept me up last night, I just had to finish it. It is a rich Southern novel full of interesting characters with a brooding ominous atmosphere. This is more than a murder story it is a novel thats examines the relationships in a small town when tragedy occurs.

"Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter" is a masterful  novel, sizzling with deep Southern menace, and distinguished by brilliant plotting and unforgettable characters.

Village Books recommendations for 2011

Junior Book Clubs Reminder

Group 1 of the Junior Book Club will meet tomorrow at 4.30pm.  Looking forward to seeing  you all there to discuss the books,  Age 14, Dragon Rider, and Kensuke's Kingdom. At present the book clubs are full but if you contact us by email villageb@iol.ie or phone at 018455073 we can add your name to the waiting list.

This month the book club is reading "True Deceiver" by Tove Jansson

This month the book club is reading "True Deceiver" by Tove Jansson. The group is meeting on the 8th of February at 6.30. At present the book club is full (bursting at the seams) but if you would like to join email us your details and we will add you to the waiting list.

Book club reads "My Name is Asher Lev"

The first meeting of the new year took place last week. The book was "My Name is Asher Lev" by Chaim Potok. The group found the book very interesting, in particular the descriptions of Hasidic Jewish life in Brooklyn in the 1960s. The group noted many parallels between the conservatism of Irish Catholic life and Orthodox Judaism during the 50s and 60s. Asher Lev is a Jewish artist, this a contradiction in itself as Hasidic Jews are opposed to art.

Maggie O Farrell wins the Costa Prize

Maggie O Farrell an Irish born writer won the Costa Prize this week for her novel "The Hand that First Held Mine". Read further on The Irish Times

This is a prestigious prize won previously by Colm Toibin and JK Rowling.