Team Reads: Sarah

What book are you reading right now?

Quite a few!  I'm currently midway through Munich by Robert Harris, have just started Flack's Last Shift by Alex Wade, 99 Red Balloons by Libby Carpenter and I'm also re-reading The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde by Eve Chase.

What are you enjoying about the books?

Munich is fast paced and classic Robert Harris!  I love 20th Century War history so any fiction written around the second world war is always a winner for me.  I love crime fiction so 99 Red Balloons is right up my street.  I like the fact that it's leaving me guessing and can't wait to get home to read the next instalment!

I originally read The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde before our event with Eve Chase in the summer.  However, I felt at the time that I had rushed reading it so wanted to take my time as I re-read it.  I really enjoy the dual timeframes in the book and how they interact.  It's extremely well written and you start to really feel for the characters as the book progresses. 

Flack's last shift is still a bit too early to tell as I've only just started it but so far, so good!

What book(s) that have arrived into the shop this week are you looking forward to reading and why?

Oh my goodness, there are so many!!!  A Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Every Day is a gorgeous book containing details of a piece of classical music for every day of the year.  I love to listen to classical music when I work so that one is definitely for me!

I'm also really excited about The Diary of Bookseller by Shaun Bythell which are the true diaries of Shaun's experiences in the book trade and Adventures of a Young Naturalist by David Attenborough. 

Team Reads: Cat

What book are you reading right now?

The Wardrobe Mistress by Patrick McGrath. 

What are you enjoying about the book?

Set in and around London's West End in the aftermath of the Second World War, there's a sense that victory has come at a huge cost. Instead of a country ready to rebuild and embrace happier times, the author conveys a grey, gloomy and bitterly cold London with skeletal bombed-out buildings and people struggling to get by on meagre rations. 

I'm enjoying the author's skill at describing the city and evoking historical details. London provides a wonderful backdrop to the sinister events of the plot, dangerous political ideologies, and secrets harboured by the main characters. The book is creepy and unsettling, full of haunting echoes of the past and raw grief, perfect for reading on an Autumn evening.

What book(s) that have arrived into the shop this week are you looking forward to reading and why?

I'm a fan of Robert Harris, and enjoyed Conclave earlier in the year so I've had my eye on the lovely signed hardback copies of Munich that came in this week. I'm also interested in reading The Growing Season by Helen Sedgwick after hearing her discuss her novel with such enthusiasm on Radio 4's Open Book.