Monthly Book Club
The four books for the month of October are hand picked by yours truly. From Physics, to abandonment- to revenge and theft, I believe there is a book to cover all basis’. Since I will be reading these this month along with you, I have left the blurbs of each down below. I hope you enjoy them as much as I hope to.
The Physics of Everyday Things
James Kakalios
‘Most of us are clueless when it comes to the physics that makes our modern world so convenient. What’s the simple science behind motion sensors, touch screens and toasters? How do we enter our offices using touch-on passes, find our way to new places using GPS or store data on the ‘cloud’? In The Physics of Everyday Things, James Kakalios turns an ordinary day into something spectacular as he takes us on a fascinating journey into the subatomic marvels that underlie so much of what we use and take for granted.
Breaking down the world of things into a single day, Kakalios engages our curiosity about how our fridges keep food cool, how a plane manages to stay airborne and how our wrist fitness monitors keep track of our steps. Each explanation is coupled with a story revealing the interplay of the astonishing invisible forces that surround us.
Through the ‘narrative physics’ The Physics of Everyday Things demonstrates that- far from the abstractions conjured by terms like the Higgs boson, black holes and gravity waves- sophisticated science is- above all, very practical. With his signature clarity and inventiveness, Kakalios ignites our imaginations and enthrals us with the physics that governs our lives.’
The Sunday Girl
Pip Drysdale
‘The Girl on the Train meets Before I Go to Sleep with a dash of Bridget Jones in this chilling tale of love gone horribly wrong…
Any woman who’s ever been involved with a bad, bad man and been dumped understands what it feels like to be broken, broken-hearted and bent on revenge.
Taylor Bishop is hurt, angry and determined to destroy Angus Hollingsworth in the way he destroyed her: ‘Insidiously. Irreparably. Like a puzzle he’d slowly dissembled… stolen a couple of pieces from, and then discarded, knowing that nobody would ever be able to put it back together ever again.’
So Taylor consults The Art of War and makes a plan. Then she takes the next irrevocable step, one that will change her life forever.
Things start to spiral out of her control- and The Sunday Girl becomes impossible to put down.’
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
Haruki Murakami
‘Tsukuru Tazaki had four best friends at school. By chance all of their names contained a color. The two boys were called Akamatsu, meaning ‘red pine’, and Oumi, ‘blue sea’, while the girl’s names were Shirane, ‘white root’, and Kurono, ‘black field’. Tazaki was the only last name with no color in it.
One day Tsukuru Tazaki’s friends announced that they didn’t want to see him, or talk to him, ever again.
Since that day Tsukuru has been floating through life, unable to form intimate connections with anyone. But then he meets Sara, who tells him that the time has come to find out what happened all those years ago.’
A Ladder to the Sky
John Boyne
‘If you look hard enough, you can find stories pretty much anywhere. They don’t even have to be your own. Or so would-be-writer Maurice Swift decides very early on in his career.
A chance encounter in a Berlin hotel with celebrated novelist Erich Ackerman gives him an opportunity to ingratiate himself with someone more powerful than him. For Erich is lonely, and he has a story to tell. Whether or not he should is another matter.
Once Maurice has made his name, he set’s off in pursuit of other people’s stories. He doesn’t care where he finds them- or to whom they belong- as long as they help him rise to the top. Stories will make him famous, but they will also make him beg, borrow and steal. They may even make him do worse.
A dark and twisted psychological drama, A Ladder to the Sky shows how easy it is to achieve the world if you are prepared to sacrifice your soul.’
Enjoy, xx