The Seaside Library

Author: Abbi Waxman Acquired in: April 2021 I feel I have finally met my book persona in Nina Hill, the namesake of Abbi Waxman’s utterly satisfying book. Apart from the flaming red hair, I would say that I just met a probable adult version of me. If I'm going to end up like Nina, I beg your pardon while I wipe away a happy tear or two.  Rather than giving an impersonal review of this book, I would like to give you an insight into how the story resonated with me. From her partiality to beautiful book covers to “She enjoyed people—she really did—she just needed to take them in homoeopathic doses; a little of the poison was the cure”- this is the closest likeness you will ever find of me. There might be hundreds of people out there who felt the same after reading this book and I feel at peace thinking that there are others like me. Her love story with books is maybe how it is with readers everywhere. Not obsessive, but a happy friendship; something steady to draw strength from. Nina’...

Author: Umberto Eco Acquired in: October 2020 Umberto Eco was a professor at the University of Milan, specialising in semiotics or the study of signs and their interactions with circumstances. As he dabbled in writing, he introduced his rather obscure subject in his first book. His publisher had her hopes low for his book dealing with 14th century Christianity, apocalyptic biblical symbolism and a Poirotesque monk. Well, lucky for us, the book was a roaring success and even got a screen reprisal starring Sean Connery in the lead role. Eco’s debut novel is a murder mystery set in 1327, in a Benedictine abbey renowned as a centre of learning. The bizarre death of a young monk gives rise to speculation of malevolent spirits or worse at play, plunging all the other monks into fear. To quell the hubbub and resolve matters before an important papal delegation headed by a notorious inquisitor arrives, the abbot sends for Brother William of Baskerville, an English Benedictine monk with ideas r...

Author: Robert Galbraith Read in: December 2018 I was surprised when I learnt that JK Rowling didn’t stop writing with Harry Potter, but went on to write books like The Casual Vacancy. Then imagine my even greater surprise when I read a crime fiction by an unbelievably talented writer who turns out to be Rowling herself!  For a die-hard fan of Harry Potter (a shoutout to those who felt like their world ended along with the last page of Deathly Hallows), it was an awesome experience reading a mind-blowing book of a genre I never associated Rowling with. I am eternally grateful to a classmate of mine who recommended The Cuckoo’s Calling to me just because she knew somebody liked it. I vividly remember pulling out this long-forgotten book in the last row of a corner shelf and looking at the cover dubiously. The rest, as they say, is history. With the dedications and credits done, let’s get to the heart of the matter. The first thing anybody feels when they set eyes on Cormoran Strike ...

Author: Markus Zusak Acquired in: April 2018 A little girl once caught Death's attention. Since he liked how her story went, he decided to share it with us.  And when Death tells a story, you really have to listen.  9-year-old Liesel and her brother Werner travel to Munich with their mother, to meet their new foster parents. Their mother would soon leave them, just like how Father did long ago, because of 'Kommunist', a word she doesn't know the meaning of and is too afraid to ask. Aboard the cold train, the ill little boy dies. With Werner's soul in his arms, Death watches Liesel pick up a black book forgotten by a gravedigger and hold it close, something to remind her of her brother. At that moment, the Book Thief is born. In Liesel's life, the appearance of books is often followed by death, though she doesn't notice this sinister pattern, because well, it's World War 2. The Book Thief is the second book about the Holocaust and WW2 I've read writte...