Book Chat's July Reading

Few authors bring history alive the way Alison Weir does, particularly the kings and queens of England. In Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen, Weir continues her series about the wives of Henry VIII, casting new light on the Henry's much mourned third wife who tragically died so very young. History often focuses on her brief time as queen, but this novel explores her much more.

The Lucky Galah by Tracy Sorenesen is set at the time of the first moon landing and how it impacted on a remote coastal town in Western Australia. Port Badminton is the site of a satellite dish that will relay the telecast spectacle. The comings and goings, the families caught up in it all, the drama and emotions are seen through the eyes of a pet parrot. An original and amusing look at small town life in the sixties.

The Little Italian Bakery by Valentina Cebeni is a love story, with adventure, family secrets and, best of all, recipes. Electra has to take over the family bakery when her mother falls ill, but struggles to enchant with her baking the way her mother does. Cue a visit to a village in Sardinia and the home of her mother’s recipes. Of course there is more to food than the ingredients – there are stories and passion, traditions and love.

Icelandic crime novels don’t come much better than The Reckoning by Yrsa Sigurdartottir. What links a ten year old time capsule, a string of macabre events, and a murderer determined to strike again? Police detective Huldar thinks he’s been given the case to keep him busy, but he’ll need the help of psychologist Freyja to figure out the purpose of the capsule’s message and stop the killer.

Promise Not to Tell is the new book by Jayne Ann Krentz. Virginia Troy is a gallery owner in Seattle who is concerned that the suicide of one of her artists isn’t what it seems. Virginia and Private I Cabot Sutter believe the death has something to do with a fire that swept through the premises of a cult, a tragedy that haunts both Virginia and Sutter years later. This is a superbly paced romantic thriller.

Posted by Flaxmere Library Book Chat