As it’s vaguely coming up to Christmas many people are either groaning or grinning as they start to feel glum about or look forward to the prospect of sitting watching TV with families or friends trying to digest those sprouts. It might be a bit early to start doing some Christmas shopping, but perhaps it’s time to start mulling over what stocking-fillers you’re going to buy this year. Of course, Christmas isn’t all about giving, but everybody likes a thoughtful present and what is more thoughtful than a great book? There are thousands of good reads here at City Walls Books and Music, so here are a few picked by Sean, a placement student with the shop, who picked books that were either fun, exciting, enlightening or educational. Here are his choices:
The Lost Continent – Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson’s “The Lost Continent” is a brilliant description of his travels throughout America after he returned from living in England for around ten years. Bryson’s dry sense of humour is very eminent throughout this book with witty banter bouncing off a sense of the mournful at what he sees as a ‘foreign’ country due to greed, pollution, mobile phones and television. The reader sees Bryson harking back to his youth with his parents mentioned as added comedy. Bryson’s book reads as fiction but is an excellent anecdote into his past and also an insight into his views on America as a whole and how it has changed from when he left to his return and his encounter of his grandparent’s old home which had been reduced to a shack when he returned to visit it. It certainly isn’t a typical travel book as Bryson isn’t your typical travel writer, but it’s perhaps the most honest and indeed hilarious travel book on the shelves today.
Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White
One of the most well known children’s books of all time, “Charlotte’s Web” is the famous story of a little girl and a pig by the name of Wilbur who narrowly escapes death after birth but for Fern’s intervention. She raises him until he is sold to a local barn. When befriended by a spider named Charlotte, it sets the background for a story full of high jinks and suspense. White’s charming tale brings together old values of trust, friendship and loyalty into a gripping storyline, one of which has been told a thousand times over worldwide.
The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
The novel of the recent film sensation “The Hobbit” acts as the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Tolkien’s tale of a hobbit of the name of Bilbo Baggins who was a respectable person who preferred to keep himself to himself, until Gandalf arrives and whisks Bilbo away on an adventure to recover the treasure hoard of Smaug the dragon. Accompanied by a band of dwarves who had lost their homeland, Tolkien paints a vivid story of a thriller full of mystery and several twists throughout. This crucial stepping stone to the trilogy is a must read for anyone who has already seen the first Hobbit film and wants to read the book in further detail.
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
Imagine a world where society was perfect, where there were no wars or poverty, where everyone lived happy lives and thing s like sex and drugs were available recreationally; sounds perfect, apart from Bernard Marx who holds a desire to break free from the ‘perfect’ society. Huxley’s masterpiece is extremely thought provoking and challenges the reader’s own views on an ideal society with very surprising results. The story is centred around one of the last remaining Savage Reservations, where the previous way of life still exists, and this opens the door for Marx’s idiosyncrasies and he is left with very shocking results, and something that threatens to rupture the whole society that he lives in. Without a doubt, “A Brave New World” is one of the most important books to have been published since the war as it denounces both capitalism and communism in equal measure and questions the reader on how they view their own society and lives.
citywallsbooks 