Top 5 Books for June 2011
- Voices From Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich
The word Chernobyl is synonymous with that fateful day in 1986 when a nuclear reactor exploded and the lives of everyone in Belarus changed forever. Twenty-five years later and life here is yet to return to normal, and many tales are yet to be told. That’s what this book by Journalist Svetlana Alexievich focuses on. The first hand reportage relays everything from the soldiers sent to their death replacing the Russian flags dissolved by the radiation on top of the reactor as a point of national pride, to the farmers who were given the go ahead to trade polluted products outside of the contamination zone, far too soon. It’s a poignant but essential documentary of a legacy that won’t be going away anytime soon.
Voices From Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich is published by Picador USA. It is also available through amazon.com and all good booksellers.
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
This book is also set in 1986 but subject is very different. This is the tale of The Panama Hotel, an old and abandoned Seattle landmark that’s hiding a rather big secret. The new owner discovers this when he unlocks the basement to discover a stash of personal belongings stored away by Japanese families who were shipped off to interment camps during World War Two. With a crowd gathering outside eager to see into this snapshot of history, hotel owner Henry Lee takes some time to explore the links to his own childhood and family.
The more he explores, the more we come to understand his tragic past and the sacrifices he made for a girl he loved, and his country. It’s a best seller for a reason and you won’t be disappointed if you pick up a copy. - Two Wheels Over Catalonia by Richard Guise
You can read a free chunk of this title in the June E-zine Book Extract but for the skim readers out there this is a tale of one man who decided to make the most of the unexplored roads, alleys and shorelines in his adopted home of Catalonia. Like all good travel books based on an itinerary, every stop delves into the local history and in this Spanish setting, the fierce independence of the area. There’s a good variety of topics involved here too so if you like everything from cynical locals to nudist beaches, you’re going to like Two Wheels Over Catalonia. Better yet the descriptions of the sparkling shorelines and the towering beauty of the Pyrenees might just encourage you to take a bike ride of your own.
Two Wheels Over Catalonia by Richard Guise is published by Summersdale (paperback; £8.99). It is also available through amazon.com and all good booksellers.
- Twilight, True Love and You by Louise Deacon
The Twlight books and their romance loving creator Stephanie Meyer have a lot to answer for – whether it’s hours and hours lost reading the inexplicably addictive series or the generation of vampire worshipping folk who really should know better. In this book however psychologist Louise Deaacon deals with the dangers brought about by the super-high romantic standards set in the storytelling. Deacon cleverly lets some of the air out of the over inflated band-wagon tires and explains how it is possible to find the virtues of love conveyed in Twilight, without a supernatural lover.
Twilight, True Love and You by Louise Deacon is published by Summersdale (paperback; £8.99). It is also available through amazon.com and all good booksellers.
- Happyslapped by a Jellyfish: The Words of Karl Pilkington
You probably recognise Karl Pilkington’s name from his work with Ricky Gervais on what became the world’s most successful podcast. Packed off around the world by Gervais to collect observations from some of the world’s worst tourist areas, Pilkington always returned with some rather astute and always comic observations of just how disgusting, and disappointing the human condition can be! If cynicism mixed with just a drop of hope for betterment if your cup of tea, then you’ll love the anecdotes, diary entries, poems, true facts and cartoons in this collection. Expect dry British comedy through and through with this one.
Happyslapped by a Jellyfish: The words of Karl Pilkington is published by Dorling Kindersley (paperback; £8.99). It is also available through amazon.com and all good booksellers.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford is published by ALLISON & BUSBY (hardback; £12.99). It is also available through amazon.com and all good booksellers.
- Robert Savage
