Friday, March 18, 2011

WBD Survey 17

We're coming to the end of book recommendations from our World Book Day 2011 survey, but there are still a few more after this post.

Liam C : The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
Beautifully written with excellently drawn characters. It opens up a place and a perspective in WW2 Europe that is an unusual one. Reading this is a strongly visual experience but all the other senses are also challenged to grasp the sense of space and light integral to this place. What is even more interesting is that is a building that exists as a national architectural treasure to this day on the edge of the city of Brno. 


(below, an earlier Audioboo review of the book)
Listen!

debzanne: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
It's part romance, part science fiction, part drama, and part adventure, with a little humor thrown in.  When my book club read it, I stayed up the night before the meeting to finish it, and began crying around 2am because the characters were just so beautiful.  This is a novel when, truly, the little moments are the most touching; the author does a nice job of writing them without calling attention to them.  In recent years, I've convinced two men and one woman to read it, and they've all loved it.  Gorgeous book.

Anonymous: The Curative by Charlotte Randall

This book takes place in a cell in Bedlam, and reveals, eventually, why the narrator/protagonist is there. It is a snapshot too, of the 'medical' practices of the time and is beautifully written. My only niggle is at the end- the main character is incarcerated in chains in damp conditions for a long time, yet he walks... I don't buy that bit, but was absorbed by the rest.

Anonymous: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Haunting, imaginative, and full of truth about one of the darkest periods in human history.  I could not stop reading it.

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