Swing Vote

In this drama/comedy, Kevin Costner plays Ernest ‘Bud’ Johnson, something of a lovable loser just trying to get through each day in Texico, New Mexico, where workers are losing their jobs, and there doesn’t seem to be much of a future.  Since his wife walked out, Bud has been bringing up their 12 year old [...]

Read Full Post »

‘Far Above Rubies’ by Anne-Marie Vukelic

Much is known of the celebrated novelist Charles Dickens – his books are loved throughout the world, and he had an ability to craft the most amazing and entralling stories.  However, very little is known of his wife Catherine Hogarth; Far Above Rubies is Catherine’s story – a fictionalised account of her life with Charles. [...]

Read Full Post »

‘A Girl Like You’ by Gemma Burgess

Abigail Wood has just come out of a long relationship, and at 27 is facing the uncertain world of singledom.  She has no idea how to navigate the dating scene, but fortunately her flatmate is London lothario Robert, who teaches her the unofficial rules (be brutal, be bulletproof, be cool and detached).  Soon Abigail is [...]

Read Full Post »

‘Monster Love’ by Carol Topolski

Brenda and Sherilyn never felt like they fitted in anywhere until they met each other.  They always believed that no-one cared about them, or barely even noticed them, but when they first see each other, a instant bond is formed which is so strong that nobody can come between them – not even their own [...]

Read Full Post »

‘Queen Of The Big Time’ by Adriana Trigiani

This book tells the story of Nella Castalluca, starting in the 1920s, with her childhood on the family farm in Delabole, where she lives with her parents and four sisters.  Nella harbours dreams of going to school in the nearby town of Roseto, and eventually becoming a teacher.  She does go to the school and [...]

Read Full Post »

‘Bleak House’ by Charles Dickens

This book – which is part satire on the British legal system – tells a huge sprawling story about the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, a matter which has been going on in court for over 60 years, which is mired and bureaucracy, and which seems to snare in it’s web the various people who [...]

Read Full Post »

‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

It’s 1946, and author Juliet Ashton is looking for a suitable subject for her next book.  Out of the blue she receives a letter from a man named Dawsey Adams from Guernsey, who has acquired a book which used to belong to Juliet (and which had her address in it).  He writes to her and [...]

Read Full Post »