Alan Titchmarsh "Rosie"

Nick Robertson thought he’d got used to his grandmother Rosie’s dotty behavior. At 87-years-old she is determined that before life passes her by she will live a little or preferably a lot. It wouldn’t be so bad if Nick had nothing else to do. But with a living to make on the Isle of Wight, two warring parents on the mainland to cope with and a love life in terminal decline, he would prefer his grandmother to get on with things a little more quietly.

But there is no time like the present, Rosie insists. Life is to be enjoyed to the full and to hell with the consequences. She will help Nick find the soul mate he clearly lacks and he can help her find out more about her past. It seems a simple task, but it turns out to involve rather more skullduggery than Nick had anticipated…
Alan Titchmarsh’s sparkling novel is a delicious blend of humor and romance – and a resounding affirmation that there is no such thing as the generation gap.
Max       

Chuck Palahniuk “Fight Club”

 “Fight Club” is one of the most original and provocative novels, was published in 1996.

There are so many wonderful quotable quotes:
“If you don't know what you want," the doorman said, "you end up with a lot you don't.”
“I let go. Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.”
“The lower you fall, the higher you'll fly.”
“It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.”
“This is your life and its ending one moment at a time.”
“You know how they say you only hurt the ones you love? Well, it works both ways.”
“I don't want to die without any scars.”
“The things you own end up owning you. It's only after you lose everything that you're free to do anything.”
"We don't have a great war in our generation, or a great depression, but we do, we have a great war of the spirit. We have a great revolution against the culture. The great depression is our lives. We have a spiritual depression."

Story about a man searching for his life purpose. Looking for something to fulfill his life, his desire, someone he wanted to be. I enjoyed it from start to finish and i found it really memorable, dynamic and powerful.

 A must read.

Olga

Arabella Weir "Stupid Cupid"

Why do we always want something even more when we can’t have it? Hat Grant is getting married. She is having a proper, big wedding. That is until something goes wrong. Six weeks before the day her fiancé Jimmy Mack dumps her. Hat is devastated. It can’t be happening. This is her special day. She can’t cancel everything – what about the flowers, her dress, the photographer, the caterers, her ghastly mother? So, she doesn’t. She decides to go ahead with the wedding plans come what may. Can anything stop Hat from her descent into madness or is she spiraling towards the world’s first solo wedding ceremony? Stupid Cupid is a wicked , laugh-out-loud comedy about denial, blind hope and wanting something you can’t have.

Sara    

Louisa May Alcott "Little Women"

Grown-up Meg, tomboyish Jo, timid Beth and precocious Amy – the four March sisters couldn’t be more different. But with their father away at war and their mother working to support the family, they have to rely on each other. Whether they’re putting on a play, forming a secret society or celebrating Christmas, there’s one thing they can’t help wondering. Will father return home safely?

Ann  

Sally Spedding "Wringland"

Abbie Parker has just started her new job as sales negotiator for a prestige housing development in sinister and vaporous Black Fen – rumoured to be the most haunted corner of England. One morning she arrives to find her office door ajar and a strangely dressed woman waiting inside, intent on laying claim to just one particular plot.


As the days go by Abbie has further strange experiences both on the building site itself and in the surrounding wet-lands. Not only must she cope with the unwelcome attentions of a weird local clergyman and the erratic behaviour of her visiting boyfriend Simon but also with a hazy sense that she is now somehow in conflict with the vengeful spirit of a woman betrayed over a century earlier.

After the terror of risking her life by befriending the cleric’s disturbed little daughter, Abbie finally enjoys a brief period of happiness with Simon. But can their mere human love and courage prove sufficient – as both are drawn deeper into the profoundest evil?
Uncle Bens

Paul Brodeur "The Stunt Man"

To a seedy New England resort comes Robert Cameron, a fugitive soldier who is tricked into taking a job as a stunt man with a movie company on location. The movie, improvised from day to day, becomes a startling mirror of Cameron’s own situation. Pursued by the Army and local police, held spellbound by the enigmatic leading lady and the magic of the movies, Cameron is pushed by the flamboyant, autocratic director into death defying stunts, each more terrifying than the last. And as he is led further away from the real world and deeper into the unreality of the film, life itself becomes the most intricate stunt of all…

Eric

Gregory David Roberts “Shantaram”

 Absolutely marvelous! This is an incredible adventure story that takes the reader from the slums of Bombay to mafia life to the war in Afghanistan.  It was based on a real life situation.  David Roberts knows how to keep you interest by conducting a tour not only a picturesque corners of India, introduces its people, culture and life, but also carries on his experiences, feelings and his inner "I". The book is rich in philosophical sayings, speaks simple about the complex things. I'm sure that book will not leave anyone indifferent, everyone can find something new, interesting and incredible in it! I was completely captivated by this book. I have read hundreds of books, but few have held my attention as well as “Shantaram”.

Ann

Dan Brown "Deception Point"

When a NASA satellite discovers an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory – a victory with profound implications for NASA policy and the impending presidential election. To verify the authenticity of the find, the White House calls upon the skills of intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic scholar Michael Tolland, Rachel travels to the Arctic and uncovers the unthinkable: evidence of scientific trickery – a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy. But before she can warn the president, Rachel and Michael are ambushed by a team of assassins. Fleeing for their lives across a desolate and lethal landscape, their only hope for survival is to discover who is behind this masterful plot. The truth, they will learn, is the most shocking deception of all.

Ken

Laura Hillenbrand "Seabiscuit"

He was a cultural icon. A world-class athlete. A champion who triumphed over terrible handicaps to become a legend of the racetrack. No other racehorse has rivaled Seabiscuit’s fame or his sway over the nation’s imagination. Now Laura Hillenbrand unfolds the spellbinding story of this marvelous animal, the world he lived in, and the men who staked their lives and fortunes on his dazzling career. A riveting tale of grit, grace, luck and an underdog’s stubborn determination, Seabiscuit is an American classic.


Ronald

Ernest Hemingway "The Nick Adams Stories"

I recently read Ernest Hemingway's "The Nick Adams Stories".  It is a series of short stories about Nick Adams, from boy to man, living in different parts of the worlds.  Some stories are but a few pages long while others like "The Last Good Country" are over 40 pages long. As with most collections of short stories, some are intriguing while others are uninspiring. Some benefits to reading this book, and others of its era, is I constantly learned how the English language was commonly used. In reading older books, you are introduced to words that have little use in today's modern vernacular which can help improve your English.  Even for me, a native English speaker, there where five words on one page I did not know! I could understand them in the context of the sentence, but could not define them. In some stories he goes through painstaking detail about the art of fishing, and other topics, which might bore some readers.  For me these parts, although I understand that Hemingway was trying to build the character, were difficult to read. "The Killers" was the most entertaining read for me.  While you may not like every short story in the book, I think for advanced readers this is an a worthwhile book to build English vocabulary while improving your knowledge of who Hemingway really is.

David.