I seem to have become a bit of a book guru since my last post, with its suggestions of possible ideas for reading material on a cruise.

Friends and colleagues have not been backward in coming forward with suggested titles most, of which I look forward to getting to grips with myself!

The travel aspect of the selection means that unsurprisingly, Bill Bryson is a popular choice. Although he has forsaken his normal subject matter in the popular “A Short History Of Nearly Everything”. The Guardian talk about it as a “quirky, energetic and highly entertaining”, history of science written in his inimitable way. Whilst according to Mr Bryson himself it was penned because it dawned on him that “I didn’t know the first thing about the only planet I was ever going to live on”. Although there is nothing revolutionary new in its pages it is more a question of seeing everyday things in a completely new way.

Then a couple of female friends recommended, “Eat Pray Love” by Elisabeth Gilbert as they thoroughly enjoyed the journey of discovery both literal and spiritual through Italy India and Indonesia. The reviews say that it is intelligently written, with lots of humour and self-deprecation and which my friends call “sassy” and “relevant”. I understand that Julia Roberts is soon going to star in an impending film version.

One of the advantages of being a member of a book club is getting to read titles that normally you would have either ignored or avoided altogether. This is certainly true of one of the most thought provoking reads I have had. Perfume by Patrick Süskind is unusual and in some ways an unpleasant work that leads the reader almost unwittingly, through its sinister and sometimes quite gruesome pages. It is set in eighteenth century France and tells the tale of Grenouille, a man without a bodily scent and with an unusual ‘gift’, in that he experiences his life through his ability to pick up various smells. This proves to be both a tremendous asset and a monstrous burden.

It was shocking first encountering the twisted black humour and violence of Ian Banks’ first novel, The Wasp Factory. It certainly requires strong nerves to reach the denouement. The story is told in the first person in the voice of a strange and lonely, 16-year-old whose odd and tortuous existence in a remote part of Scotland is gradually explained. It’s expertly written but certainly not recommended for the faint hearted!

Restoration by Rose Tremain is a historical novel depicting in great detail the court during the reign of Charles 11. It is also the story of Robert Merivel and his personal demons many of, which relate totally to modern life, with a desire for wealth and power and the knowledge that pursing them, can lead to an empty existence. He needs to restore himself, in an honest appraisal of his own shortcomings. The narrative is set against both the fire of London and the horrors of the plague, which make the historical facts become effortlessly real, so that in common with all good books, Rose Tremain shows her ability to inform as well as enthral.

Lucy Daltroff

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