Friday 23 November 2012

Something for the weekend '5 books.. No4'

Something for the weekend '5 books that changed your life' No 4.

In this weeks '5 Books that changed your life' Robyn, who works in our Humanities department, tells us why she loves these books & why you should give them a try.. You can find all our Booksellers '5 books..' recommendations in our new display next week!*

The Handmaids Tale - Margaret Atwood
This novel was my first encounter with Atwood, and the gradual slippage of a society into a paranoid theocracy is brilliantly and terrifyingly portrayed. It leaves you questioning the systems of control that exist in your own life.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Narrated by Death, and a very different Death to the character found in Pratchett, The Book Thief is a beautifully constructed story about the flaws within human beings and how we can overcome them.

Lizzie Dripping - Helen Cresswell
Although technically a children’s book, I used to read these to my Grandma when I was little and I’m sure she enjoyed them just as much as I did. Brilliant tales involving a little girl and a witch who sits on gravestones.

I wrote my dissertation on Hobbes, so I may be a little biased, but this text deals with everything from kings, to the innate nature of men, to the proper length a sentence should be. Quite dark in places, it’s a seventeenth century philosophy text that remains relevant today.

I have a suspicion that this may be the best book ever written. Completely beautiful and devastating throughout, Roy reveals the lives of one family and their community across thirty years in Kerala, India.

Robyn.


*all being well.

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