Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

Synopsis: ‘You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.’ Bougainville. 1991. A small village [...]

Entre Nous: A Woman’s Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl by Debra Ollivier

Date of Publication: 2003, St. Martin’s
Number of Pages: 237
Synopsis: Provocative and practical, lively and intelligent, Entre Nous unlocks the mystery of the French girl and the secret of her self-possession. Why do French women always look inimitably stylish? How do they manage to sit in a café for a three-course lunch and a glass of [...]

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Synopsis (from Librivox):
Set in a time of oppressive colonisation, when large areas of the world were still unknown to Europe, and Africa was literally on maps and minds as a mysterious shadow, Heart of Darkness famously explores the rituals of civilisation and barbarism, and the frighteningly fine line between them.

We get the tale through [...]

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

Synopsis (from Amazon):
It is 1867, Canada: as winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Dove River, a man is brutally murdered and a 17-year old boy disappears. Tracks leaving the dead man’s cabin head north towards the forest and the tundra beyond. In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to [...]

The Island of Dr Moreau by H. G. Wells

Synopsis (from Amazon):
Adrift in a dinghy, Edward Prendick, the single survivor from the good ship Lady Vain, is rescued by a vessel carrying a profoundly unusual cargo a menagerie of savage animals. Tended to recovery by their keeper Montgomery, who gives him dark medicine that tastes of blood, Prendick soon finds himself stranded [...]

Chanel - A Woman of Her Own by Axel Madsen

Date of Publication: 1990, Henry Holt and Company
Number of Pages: 337
Synopsis: Chanel. The name alone evokes fashion and perfume, emancipation and allure. In this revealing, intimate biography, Axel Madsen brings to life Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, who was born an illegitimate pauper and rose to become the reigning queen of fashion, revolutionizing women’s style forever.
Madsen traces [...]

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

Date of Publication: 2003, Doubleday
Number of Pages: 360
Synopsis: Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job that “a million girls would die for.” Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every [...]

The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley

Synopsis (from Wikipedia):
The protagonist is Tom, a young chimney sweep, who falls into a river after encountering an upper-class girl named Ellie and being chased out of her house. There he dies and is transformed into a “water baby”, as he is told by a caddis fly — an insect that sheds its skin [...]

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Synopsis (from back of book):
As Monsiers Richard and Moncharmin prepare to take over as acting managers of the Opera House, they discover their predecessors have bequeathed them the “Opera Ghost”. A seperate memorandum-book has been set aside for his various whims, including extravagant financial needs. Heedless of the numerous warnings to comply with these strange [...]

Boy A by Jonathan Trigell

Synopsis: ‘A is for Apple. A bad apple.’ Jack has spent most of his life in juvenile institutions, to be released with a new name, new job, new life. At 24, he is utterly innocent of the world, yet guilty of a monstrous childhood crime. To his new friends, he is a good guy with [...]