Read the Round-Up! - March 2026 Stoke Bookchat
Katrina Nannestad's All the Beautiful Things
Anna's little sister, Eva, is frail and needs time to learn new things. She has a huge heart and a gift for loving, but Hitler doesn't value such riches. And so she's hidden away. Safe for now, but with the threat of discovery always near. Anna does her best to bring joy and light to Eva's small life. But soon, more children need hiding. Risks are taken -- by Anna, by her best friend Udo, by a Nazi seamstress and feisty Brunhilde. Until Anna wonders if any of them will make it through the war.” (From the cover) Our reader described part of the story where Anna and Udo are out walking and they visit Hitler’s summer retreat, which is located near where they live. Eva Braum welcomes them and there are some spectacles on a windowsill of the house; Eva explains that they are Hitler’s but he doesn’t like to be photographed wearing them as he doesn’t want anyone to know he has any weaknesses.
John Steinbeck's The Pearl
A poor fisherman finds a pearl and believes it will bring comfort and wealth to his family, but instead he discovers that the rare gem is a conveyor of greed, envy, and ultimately, death."--Publisher.
Our reader explained that they think one of the characteristics of a classic is robust technique. They found that Steinbeck’s descriptions were ‘out of this world’, and that he immediately puts the reader in the book – that you can’t read it as an outsider.
Dominic Hoey's 1985
Hoey’s book 1985 is set in New Zealand, just after the bombing of Rainbow Warrior. Eleven-year-old Obi’s parents are loving but neglectful. His father is a poet, his Mum is dying (probably of AIDS), and his sister is hanging out with the wrong people. Home is a rundown old villa in multi-cultural Greylyn. With all the problems he’s surrounded by Obi decides that he’ll fix the family by winning a video game competition with its $500 prize. When Obi and his friend Al find a treasure map amongst Obi’s uncle’s possessions, they set off to find the treasure. The story is told through 11-year-old Obi’s eyes, and is a mix of ‘Boy’ and ‘Once were Warriors’. Our reader loved it, and it was reminiscent of their childhood in the 1980s.
M.C. Beaton's Dishing the Dirt (Agatha Raisin Mystery #26)
Agatha lives in Carsely in the Cotswolds and runs a detective agency. A new therapist, Jill Devent moves to Carsely and starts spreading rumours about Agatha’s unsavoury past, things that Agatha would rather the other villagers didn’t know. When Agatha finds out from a chance encounter that Jill has hired a private detective to investigate her past, she storms round to Jill’s and confronts her ‘How dear you hire a detective to probe into my life!” Leave me alone or I’ll kill you.’ A particularly nosy neighbour overhears the exchange. The next day Jill Devent is found dead, and Agatha becomes the prime suspect!
This is a classic cosy murder mystery, easy to read, light and fun.
Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian's Burn for Burn trilogy
This young adult trilogy focuses on three girls – Lillia, Kat, and Mary, who form an alliance to seek revenge against those who have wronged them on Jar Island, a holiday venue of the wealthy. The series shows three perspectives and blends high school drama with revenge plots and the supernatural.
Our reader thought the ending was a bit lacking but enjoyed it overall.
Deb Spera's Call Your Daughter Home
It's 1924. South Carolina and the surroudning region are still recovering from the infamous boll weevil infestation that devastated the land and the economy. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters from starvation or die at the hands of an abusive husband. Retta is navigating a harsh world as a first-generation freed slave, still employed by the Coles, influential plantation proprietors who once owned her family. Annie is the matriarch of the Coles family and must come to terms with the terrible truth that has ripped her family apart. These three women seemingly have nothing in common, yet as they unite to stand up to the terrible injustices that have long plagued the small town, they find strength in the bond that ties women together."--Publisher's description.
Ben Brooks's The Greatest Possible Good
Set in a rich, but dysfunctional family, where no one pays attention to each other, the father of the family falls down a mine shaft one day while our walking. As he’s broken bones, and has no way to get out alone, he self-medicates with his son’s drug stash that is hidden within the mine shaft, and the bottle of Bordeaux that he was carrying when he fell. He reads a book on ‘effective altruism’, that was also stashed in the mine shaft. When he is eventually saved, he has become a changed man, but his family has not changed!
Our reader thought the book wasn’t brilliant, but the concept was interesting.
Dr Timoti Te Moke's The Unlikely Doctor: From Gang Life and Prison to Becoming a Doctor at 56
A remarkable story of a man who became a doctor at 56 years of age. This memoir tells a story of injustice, redemption and amazing perseverance that turned trauma into hope. As a young child Timoti lived on the North Island’s East Coast with his grandparents, and life was stable and enjoyable until his mother took him away to Auckland and introduced him to gang life and he experienced abuse at the hands of a stepfather. After a youth spent with gangs in New Zealand and Australia, it seemed Timoti didn’t really stand a chance. Then one day in Australia the majestic scenery inspired Timoti to seek a better way to live, and hence he began his journey of study.
This is the second time a reader from our group has shared about this amazing book.
Bruce Ansley's Down South
In Down South, writer Bruce Ansley goes on a journey of rediscovery, back to his beloved South Island. From Curio Bay in Southland to Totaranui in Golden Bay, this is both a provocative history and a vast expedition across the land once known as Middle Island, as Ansley visits the places and people who hold the clues to the South's famous character."--Publisher.
Our reader explained that Ansley talks to people in the community about the difference between small towns and big cities and environmental change and its impact on small places.
Amanda Vail's Love Me Little
Love me Little is the story of a privileged 15-year-old living in Long Island New York and the summer she and her friends decide that they’re going to ‘grow up’ and experience life, and possibly sex. Because the book was published in the 1950s it provides a window into the world of that era, and consequently the language is quaint.
Our reader enjoyed going back to the 1950s and found it a fun read.
Satoshi Yagisawa's Days at the Torunka Cafe
Translated by Eric Ozawa.
This book comprises three stories about three customers of the Torunka Café. The first story, ‘Sunday Ballerinas’, is about Café assistant, and University student, Shuichi who is visited at the cafe by a young woman (Megumi) claiming to have known him in a past life – during the French revolution. With the encouragement of the daughter of the café owner, Megumi continues to visit the café and Shuichi each Sunday, which is her day off from work. Despite his studies and his part-time job, Shuichi is a little lost and unmotivated – perhaps depressed. Over the months a sort of friendship develops between Megumi and Shuichi, which eventually helps Shuichi to overcome his inertia. There is a bit of a surprise during the story – turns out the two have met in a past life, even if it wasn’t during the French revolution.
This is the second book by Yagisawa that our reader has read – the earlier one being the Morisaki Bookshop, and they love the down to earth ‘ordinary’ way the stories reveal their secrets – they are so ordinary, yet also extraordinary.
