NHFT virtual book club meeting #41 – These Silent Woods

 

After our Halloween spooky read of the most chilling and compelling ghost story of the year, Thin Air by Michelle Paver we are heading to another mountainous range, the remote Appalachians where a father and daughter live and must reckon with ghosts of their past in These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant.

No electricity, no family, no connection to the outside world.

For eight years, Cooper and his young daughter, Finch, have lived in isolation in a remote cabin in the northern Appalachian woods. And that's exactly the way Cooper wants it, because he's got a lot to hide. Finch has been raised on the books filling the cabin's shelves and the beautiful but brutal code of life in the wilderness. But she's starting to push back against the sheltered life Cooper has created for her-and he's still haunted by the painful truth of what it took to get them there.

The only people who know they exist are a mysterious local hermit named Scotland, and Cooper's old friend, Jake, who visits each winter to bring them food and supplies. But this year, Jake doesn't show up, setting off an irreversible chain of events that reveals just how precarious their situation really is. Suddenly, the boundaries of their safe haven have blurred-and when a stranger wanders into their woods, Finch's growing obsession with her could put them all in danger. After a shocking disappearance threatens to upend the only life Finch has ever known, Cooper is forced to decide whether to keep hiding-or finally face the sins of his past.

Vividly atmospheric and masterfully tense, These Silent Woods is a poignant story of survival, sacrifice, and how far a father will go when faced with losing it all.

 

"Your next must read". --Country Living

"Gorgeously written, taut and compelling". --John Hart, bestselling author of The Hush

 

We’ll be meeting on Thursday 28 November via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel.  You can find the link via the events calendar on the Staff Room.

 

We look forward to seeing you…

NHFT virtual book club meeting #39 - Dear Mrs Bird

Following our visit to Georgian London in the excellent historical crime thriller, Daughters of Night, we are (unusually for us) staying put, but moving forward in time in the shape of A.J. Pearce's Blitz set novel, Dear Mrs Bird.

London 1940, bombs are falling. Emmy Lake is Doing Her Bit for the war effort as a telephone operator with the Auxiliary Fire Services. When Emmy sees an advertisement for a job at the London Evening Chronicle, her dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent seem suddenly achievable. But the job turns out to be typist to the fierce and renowned advice columnist, Henrietta Bird. Emmy is disappointed, but gamely bucks up and buckles down.

Mrs Bird is very clear: Any letters containing Unpleasantness and definitely not those from the lovelorn, grief-stricken or morally conflicted,—must go straight in the bin. But when Emmy reads poignant letters from women who are lonely, may have Gone Too Far with the wrong men and found themselves in trouble, or who can’t bear to let their children be evacuated, she is unable to resist responding. As the German planes make their nightly raids, and London picks up the smouldering pieces each morning, Emmy secretly begins to write letters back to the women of all ages who have spilled out their troubles. After all, what harm could that possibly do?

‘Imagine Bridget Jones running amok in the wartime world of Mrs Miniver. AJ Pearce’s hoot of a debut … is a comic confection that is sweetly uplifting.' - The Sunday Times

‘Stiff upper lips all round: a comic novel about an agony aunt in wartime London proves hilarious as it is moving.'  - The Guardian

We'll be meeting on Thursday 26th of September via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there...

NHFT virtual book club meeting #38 - Daughters of Night

Returning from contemporary Japan via Durian Sukegawa's touching Sweet Bean Paste, we have arrived in Georgian London courtesy of Laura Shepherd-Robinson's Daughters of Night.

London, 1782. Desperate for her politician husband to return home from France, Caroline 'Caro' Corsham is already in a state of anxiety when she finds a well-dressed woman mortally wounded in the bowers of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. 

The Bow Street constables are swift to act, until they discover that the deceased woman was a highly-paid prostitute, at which point they cease to care entirely. But Caro has motives of her own for wanting to see justice done, and so sets out to solve the crime herself. 

Enlisting the help of thieftaker, Peregrine Child, their inquiry delves into the hidden corners of Georgian society, a world of artifice, deception and secret lives.

But with many gentlemen refusing to speak about their dealings with the dead woman, and Caro's own reputation under threat, finding the killer will be harder, and more treacherous than she can know . . .

‘Daughters of Night has everything a historical crime thriller needs – intrigue, attention to detail, suspense, colourful characters and heroines a plenty. A triumph in its field.’ – The Wee Review

‘I would gamble what’s left of my virtue on Daughters of Night being the best historical crime novel I will read this year.’ - Antonia Senior, The Times

We'll be meeting on Thursday 29th of August via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there...

NHFT virtual book club meeting #37 - Sweet Bean Paste

After our visit to Charon County, Virgina, via S.A. Cosby's searing mix of crime, religion and race in the superb gritty thriller All the Sinners Bleed, we are off to Japan for a rather different tale of friendship and social stigma in Durian Sukegawa's Sweet Bean Paste.

Sentaro has failed. He has a criminal record, drinks too much, and his dream of becoming a writer is just a distant memory. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste.

But everything is about to change.

Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. She begins to teach him her craft, but as their friendship flourishes, social pressures become impossible to escape and Tokue’s dark secret is revealed, with devastating consequences.

‘Simply delicious.’ – The Guardian 

‘An endearing, thoughtful tale about relationships and the everyday meaning of life....’ – Library Journal

‘A subtle, moving exploration of redemption in an unforgiving society... A book with deceptive heft and lingering resonance.’ - Japan Times

We'll be meeting on Thursday 25th of July via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there...

NHFT virtual book club meeting #36 - All the Sinners Bleed

Following on from the mind-expanding visit to the multiverse in Blake Crouch's excellent ode to the many worlds interpretation of quantum physics, Dark Matter, we are off to southeast Virginia with S.A Cosby's gritty thriller, All the Sinners Bleed.

Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, no one knows better than Titus that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.

But a year to the day after Titus's election, a schoolteacher is killed by a former student. The student is then fatally shot by Titus's deputies.

As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes, and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer's possible connections to a local church and the town's harrowing history weighing on him, Titus tries to project confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town's Confederate history.

Charon is Titus's home and his heart. But where faith and violence meet, there will be a reckoning.

“One of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction” The Washington Post

'A crackling good police procedural....fresh and exhilarating' Stephen King

"To read a book like this is to learn about lives that may be outside of our own—and to discover something(s) about ourselves in the process. This one comes with my highest recommendation." Criminal Element

We'll be meeting on Thursday 27th of June via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there...

NHFT virtual book club meeting #35 - Dark Matter

Following on from time spent in Wales in Orla Owen's excellent dark, twisty story of envy, materialism and toxicity, Christ on a Bike, we are boldly going into the multiverse in our first science fiction read (picked by the group), Blake Crouch's Dark Matter.

Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

"Are you happy with your life?"

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason's never met smiles down at him and says, "Welcome back, my friend."

In this world he's woken up to, Jason's life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that's the dream?

And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could've imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

'It's been a long time since a novel sucked me in and kept me turning pages the way this one did. Exceptional' - Andy Weir (author of The Martian)

'A mind-blowing sci-fi/suspense/love-story mash-up' - Entertainment Weekly

We'll be meeting on Thursday 30th of May via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there...

NHFT virtual book club meeting #34 - Christ on a Bike

After our visit to Warwickshire and the company of an AI detective in the excellent In the Blink of an Eye, we are off to Wales with Orla Owen's off-beat, twisty psychological story of envy, materialism and toxicity, Christ on a Bike. 

When Cerys Jones, a middle-aged office-worker, comes into an unexpected inheritance, her life is appears to be getting an upgrade. Leaving the drudgery of her London life behind for a designer place on the Welsh coast, with nothing to do but relax and enjoy a luxury lifestyle.

Of course it isn't that simple and there are rules. Three simple rules that have to be followed at all times.

She cannot share her wealth with anyone and visitors may stay for no longer than three days at a time. All financial aspects of her life will be scrutinised by the inheritance lawyers.

Her younger sister is jealous, Cerys is starting to feel pretty uncomfortable in her rural luxury, and just who is the bearded figure in a red cagoule that seems to be peering at her from behind every tree?

‘Black Mirror meets Tales of The Unexpected with shades of Shirley Jackson.’ - Nina Pottell

‘So fresh and quirky and unlike anything I’ve read before. I really urge you to give it a try.’ Laura Pearson

We'll be meeting on Thursday 25th of April via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there...

Isebrook Library late opening 13th March

Isebrook Library will be opening a bit later than normal on Wednesday 13th March at 11.30am due to staffing constraints.

We apologise for any inconvenience if you were looking to use the library during this time. If you need any help email us or contact one of our other libraries:

berrywoodlibrary@nhft.nhs.uk 03000 271585

Isebrooklibrary@nhft.nhs.uk 03000 272095

richmondlibrary@nhft.nhs.uk 01604 545929

Isebrook Library - late opening

 On Monday 4th March Isebrook Library will not be opening until 11.30 a.m. We apologise if you were hoping to use the library that morning.

NHFT virtual book club meeting #33 - In the Blink of an Eye

After our visit to the Sowell Bay Aquarium with Tova, Cameron, and Marcellus, the giant Pacific octopus in Remarkably Bright Creatures, we are off to Warwickshire with Jo Callaghan's up to the minute/just over the horizon crime novel, In the Blink of an Eye. 

In the UK, someone is reported missing every 90 seconds.

Just gone. Vanished. In the blink of an eye.

DCS Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, Kat's instincts come up against Lock's logic. But when the two missing person's cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal.

AI versus human experience.

Logic versus instinct.

With lives on the line can the pair work together before someone else becomes another statistic?

‘Terrifyingly timely and provocative' Val McDermid

‘The moral dilemmas created by artificial intelligence are brilliantly explored in this altogether very human novel’ Sunday Times

‘In the Blink of an Eye is fresh, innovative and very, very clever. Flawlessly paced, plotted and researched, it’s laugh out loud, heart-achingly sad and doesn’t have a dull moment. I raced through it. Simply sensational’ M.W. Craven

Jo Callaghan works full time as a senior strategist, carrying out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce.

We'll be meeting on Thursday 28th of March via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there...

Tuesday 13th Feb - libraries closed in morning

 Due to staff training on Tuesday 13th February Berrywood and Isebrook libraries will be closed until 1.00pm. Richmond Library at NGH will be unstaffed but members will be able to swipe in to use.

We are sorry for any inconvenience.

NHFT virtual book club meeting #32 - Remarkably Bright Creatures

After our visit to Pine Cove, California in our Christmas book The Stupidest Angel, we are embarking on a rather different read, Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night cleaner shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago keeping busy has helped her cope. 

One night she meets Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium who sees everything but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors – until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late...

'Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures.'

‘Filled with a quirky unconventional charm, I’ll be smiling every time I think of this story. A story that embraces the idea of love and connection across borders in every sense, and a story of family lost and found.’ Goodreads Reviewer

We'll be meeting on Thursday 22nd of February via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there...