Bestsellers for June 2010
1 Hand that First Held Mine Maggie O'Farrell Hachette $32.99
We were all excited to read the new Maggie O’Farrell, as “the Disappearance of Esme Lennox” was such a delight. Luckily, her new book does not disappoint! From the very first page we are drawn into the life of Lexie Sinclair – sitting in her garden on the border of Devon and Cornwall in the 1950s and waiting for life to begin. Luckily for her, she is whisked off to London and the delights of a Bohemian lifestyle.
Fifty years later, European artist, Elina has just had a traumatic birth and is struggling to come to terms with motherhood. Her partner, Ted, finds himself disturbed by recollections of a childhood that doesn’t tie in with his parent’s version of events. Can Elina help him find the truth and discover how his childhood is linked to Lexie’s story? This is the sort of book that makes you want to start it all over again once you have reached the end!
2 Hearts and Minds Amanda Craig Little Brown $32.99
This novel, set in contemporary London, has one of the most appealing sets of characters to be found in a novel for some time. All five of the main characters are immigrants from different parts of the globe and are all trying to survive in the concrete jungle of modern London. They are all bound by a web of connections, gradually revealed during the course of the novel. Polly Noble’s au pair has been found dead in a pond in a park in North London and the girl’s death triggers a series of events which will bring the other characters into contact with each other. With the pace of a thriller and the humanity of a novel, this is a book to make you think about the way we force people to live in order to achieve our own goals.
3 Beatrice and Virgil Yann Martel Text Publishing $32.95
Martel has spent many years writing this book – long-awaited after the huge success of “Life of Pi”. As can be expected, it is very hard to write a second book to match “Pi” and the first part of the book seems to be semi-autobiographical in that it tells the story of Henry, a writer trying to write a second book after a major best-seller. Henry has decided to write a book about the Holocaust, but his publisher isn’t keen and so he feels dejected and tries to distract himself with other interests. A strange taxidermist contacts him and asks him to read through a play that he has been writing about a donkey and a monkey. What follows is a thought-provoking and disturbing series of events that is sure to provide many a Bookclub with a great discussion!
4 Gate at the Stairs Lorrie Moore Faber & Faber $22.99
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize, this wonderful novel follows the story of an American couples attempt to adopt a child. The story is told through the unusual and feisty voice of the couple's nanny.
5 Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel Fourth Estate $32.99
England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolseys clerk, and later his successor. Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events. Ruthless in pursuit of his own interests, he is as ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.
From one of our finest living writers, WOLF HALL that very rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage.
6 So Much for That Lionel Shriver Harper Collins $32.99
Lionel Shriver is back on form with this incisive look into the American Health system. Shep Knacker is all set to embark on his Afterlife – he has saved up a million dollars to escape the rat-race and start a new life on the tropical island of his choice. But unfortunately, on the very day that he buys the tickets, his wife announces that she is seriously ill and they will need all the health insurance that they can get… so poor Shep has to carry on working. This is a masterful expose of what happens when people are stuck in a system with no flexibility or humanity. Full of irony and feisty characters, this is a very memorable read and an ideal Bookclub choice.
7 Solar Ian McEwan Random House $32.95
Climate change is the background theme to McEwan’s latest novel. However, despite the scientific backdrop, this book is anything but serious and is a largely a romp through the life of the middle-aged, Nobel prize-winning physicist, Michael Beard, a man who has got through 5 wives and has spent the last two decades living off the work he did in his youth. Now Beard thinks nothing of stealing the ground-breaking work that his present wife’s young lover is working upon and as such embodies everything that has brought about the current climate change crisis – greed, heedlessness and a wilful refusal to think about consequences. McEwan provides us with a satirical and often hilarious look at a serious subject.
8 Island Beneath the Sea Isabel Allende Harper Collins $32.99
Isabel Allende is a master story teller and she pulls out all the stops in this absorbing epic, based on the island that was later to become Haiti. Opening in the late eighteenth century and covering forty years, it follows the story of a French sugarcane plantation owner, Valmorain and his slave concubine Tete. Their entwined stories take them Haiti to New Orleans, during the tumultuous years of the slave mutiny and beyond. Allende’s heroines are always worth getting to know and Tete is no exception. This book is just perfect for a winter weekend curled up on your favourite couch!
9 Good to a Fault Marina Endicott Allen & Unwin $27.99
Marina Endicott won the Canadian and Caribbean section of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for 2009 for this clever and insightful novel. Clara Purdy, a middle-aged middle class lady is popping out to the bank in her lunch-hour, when she accidentally hits another car. The family in the other car are taken to hospital and it is discovered that the young mother has a serious illness and needs to be kept in for treatment. As the rest of the family are homeless (they have been living in their car), Clara is riddled with guilt and decides to help them. She decides on the extreme remedy of letting them stay at her home. What ensues is a roller-coaster ride of emotions - guilt, blame, revulsion, love and ultimately we are left wondering about the motives behind trying to “be good”.
10 Winter of our Disconnect Susan Maushart Random House Australia $34.95
The subtitle says it all – “How three totally wired teenagers (and a mother who slept with her iPhone) pulled the plug on their technology and lived to tell the tale”. This book will sound a chord with every mother of teenaged children (Susan’s are aged 14, 15 and 18) and anyone who finds their life dominated by buttons and ring tones! Susan Maushart is a journalist, specialising in social science and her personal story is augmented with interesting research, which takes the book into the realms of social commentary. Guaranteed to provoke discussion and possibly even radical change in your life!
11 Reading by Moonlight Brenda Walker Penguin $29.95
Really this is every woman’s fear: being diagnosed with breast cancer and working out the best means of coping. Brenda Walker turns to books. At each stage of her treatment, outlined in her book, she surrounds herself with past novels. For her, as for many of us, each book is like re-reading a diary entry. Brenda can recall what she was doing and feeling at the time of her first encounter. The chosen books offer her an opportunity for self-regard and for hope. This is a poignant book about a woman heading into the unfamiliar, holding on to what she does understand. Given that Brenda is the Associate Professor in English and Cultural Studies at UWA, she does know her writers. Reading by Moonlight also offers insights into an impressive line-up of writers from Dickens to Dante. This would make a great gift for any women reader.
Previous Bestsellers Lists
View the previous bestsellers lists by selecting the date of the list you'd like to view
3 September 2010
3 August 2010
4 July 2010
3 June 2010
5 May 2010
6 April 2010
3 March 2010
2 February 2010
28 October 2009
29 September 2009
3 September 2009
30 July 2009
Book of the Month
September 2010
Freedom
by
Jonathan Franzen