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Of Love and Shadows by Isabel Allende |
As soon as the links between the characters started to fall into place I found the book compulsive reading. A beautifully written story and a graphic account of man's inhumanity to man, and man's ability to triumph over evil, set in a modern South American dictatorship.
(bwl 14 July 2002) |
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Phylloxera by Christy Campbell |
Essential reading for anyone with more than a quaffing interest in wine, engaging for anyone interested in botany, entomology, and late 18th century French social history and a fascinating detective story. Impressive research by Christy Campbell, journalist and Sunday Telegraph feature writer, makes this account of the 30 year fight against phylloxera entertaining and very readable. A walk through the vineyards will never be quite the same again.
(bwl 29 April 2005) |
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The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts |
This is so much more than a book about pianos - it is a book about Siberia with pianos an excuse for a fascinating journey. Sophy Roberts has a very readable style as she takes us through a 19th and 20th century historical and geographical jigsaw against a backdrop of sometimes harrowing political events. The good maps and photographs help to make this a great read.
(bwl 104 Spring 2022) |
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Vesper Flights, New and Collected Essays by Helen Macdonald |
For me the word Essay is too formal for what is a series of deeply personal snapshots of the author's thoughts and experiences triggered by her deep love of nature, her powers of observation and her ability to make us feel that we are part of the natural world she so tellingly depicts. We are introduced to places she loves and to the people associated with those places. This book is a delight, as much about people as about nature, and it is both informative and often very moving.
(bwl 100 Spring 2021) |
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