VPL Staff Picks - January, 2014Like this list

23 items

• The Voyage

  Bail, Murray, 1941-

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  Told in shifting time frames during a voyage back to Australia, Bail’s novel follows Frank Delage who has designed a new piano he hopes will revolutionized the instrument. He opts to showcase his new piano in the conservative, musical capital of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Paris Architect

  a Novel

  Belfoure, Charles, 1954-

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  Set during the Nazi occupation of Paris, Lucien Bernard is portrayed as a conflicted architect with anti-Semitic tendencies who has been asked to create secret hiding places for the city’s Jews. Intrigued by the possibilities of outwitting the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• HHhH

  Binet, Laurent

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  Those who enjoy books dealing with the process of writing will be intrigued by Laurent Binet’s take on historical fiction. The book is an account of the preparation for, the execution of, and the aftermath of Reinhard Heydrich’s assassination. Other…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Gods of Guilt

  a Novel

  Connelly, Michael, 1956-

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  In the fifth volume of Connelly’s Mickey Haller series, Haller is drawn into a murder case only to discover that the victim is a former client he thought he had rescued from a life of prostitution. As his investigation continues, he considers his…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Orchardist

  a Novel

  Coplin, Amanda

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  Set at the turn of the 19th Century, this end-of-the-west novel tells the story of a solitary orchardist named Talmadage. He befriends two homeless girls he finds stealing his fruit. A bond of trust gradually grows between them. But the shelter he…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Questions of Travel

  a Novel

  De Kretser, Michelle

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  De Kretser’s thoughtful examination of “travel” is the 2013 winner of Australia’s Miles Franklin Award. She presents two main narratives. Travel represents pleasure, business and privilege for Laura a Sydney-based publisher of travel guides. For Sri…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Thousand Pardons

  a Novel

  Dee, Jonathan

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  The platitudes of a marriage counselor could not save Ben and Sarah Armstead’s marriage. On her own, Sarah discovers a hidden talent in the field of personal crisis management. Her standard advice to celebrities whose lives run afoul of public…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Jeeves and the Wedding Bells

  An Homage to P. G. Wodehouse

  Faulks, Sebastian

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  This frothy confection is a tribute to P.G. Wodehouse and his beloved characters Bertie Wooster and his manservant Jeeves. “Delicious complications shall ensue,” as Lucia Lucas might have put it. Recommended.

• The All-girl Filling Station's Last Reunion

  a Novel

  Flagg, Fannie

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  Surprise plot twists, humour, social history, and family secrets unfold in Fannie Flagg's latest novel. Sookie Pool's research into her mother's life in the 1940's, leads her to discover the story of the All-Girl Filling Station.

• Infidelity

  Fowles, Stacey May

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  In Fowles examination of relationships in the modern world where definitions and moral judgements have shifted enormously over the years, the reader meets a young woman named Ronnie, a hairdresser leading a routine life, and an award-winning writer…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Havisham

  a Novel

  Frame, Ronald

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  Readers of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations will be familiar with his “grande grotesque” Miss Havisham. What Dickens didn’t provide was Miss Havisham’s backstory. Enter Ronald Frame who recreates the life of Catherine Havisham. He presents her…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Flight Behavior

  a Novel

  Kingsolver, Barbara

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  After becoming pregnant at 17, Dellarobia Turnbow settled into an unfulfilling life on a failing Appalachian farm. One day she witnesses a miracle. She discovers a spectacular host of Monarch butterflies far from their seasonal home. She thinks of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Give Me Everything You Have

  on Being Stalked

  Lasdun, James

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  This true story is about an obsessive love affair that eventually turns to hate. A teacher, James Lasdun, is stalked by a former student out to ruin his life. This was selected by Lynn Coady as one of her favourite books of 2013.

• Adventures on the Wine Route

  a Wine Buyer's Tour of France

  Lynch, Kermit

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  Lynch offers an engaging tour of Europe’s major wine-producing regions (and cellars) in this updated edition of the author’s Veuve Clicquot Wine Book of the Year Award winner.

• The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon

  McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-

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  The latest in McCall Smith’s amiable detective series features a contentious legacy, a vindictive campaign against the owner of a beauty salon, and a welcome addition to the Radophuti household. Inevitably, when guilt is being assigned, fingers…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Prayer Journal

  O'Connor, Flannery

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  When she was a young college woman living far from home in 1946, O’Connor kept a private journal in which she reflected on the nature of art, life, and the spirit. This newly discovered work is sure to fascinate fans O’Connor’s writing.

• The Dream Maker

  Rufin, Jean-Christophe, 1952-

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  The novel is based on the life of Jacques Coeur who was appointed Master of the Mint by Charles VII of France. Coeur was critical of the Crusades and used his influence to establish trade agreements between France and the Middle East. Political…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Prisoner of Heaven

  a Novel

  Ruiz Zafón, Carlos, 1964-2020

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  As the third book in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series opens, Daniel is married with a family and Fermin is engaged. A mysterious stranger appears and adds a dedication to an expensive volume of The Count of Monte Cristo and leaves it for…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Queen Anne

  the Politics of Passion : a Biography

  Somerset, Anne, 1955-

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  This Biography, one of the best in recent years, has critics comparing Somerset to Antonia Fraser and Amanda Foreman. The subject is fascinating: Anne became queen by deposing her father, suffered the miscarriage or early deaths of 17 children,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The City of Devi

  Suri, Manil

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  Despite winning the 2013 Bad Sex in Fiction Prize, Suri’s novel offers an intriguing, dystopian vision of Mumbai under threat of nuclear annihilation. Roving gangs add menace and violence to the mix. The story follows Sarita, a young woman searching…Read moreRead more of this annotation