Gulf Weekly Book Club

BOOK OF THE WEEK with Linda Jennings. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki And His Years Of Pilgrimage, Haruki Murakami, ISBN 9781846558337 (Vintage). BDBD11.200 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members

Growing up in the city of Nagoya, Tsukuru Tazaki had four best friends at school (two men and two women) who by coincidence all had names which included a colour. The two boys were called Akamatsu, meaning ‘red pine’, and Oumi, ‘blue sea’, while the girls’ names were Shirane, ‘white root’, and Kurono, ‘black field’.

Tazaki was the only surname with no colour in it and in moments of depression, Tsukuru wondered whether he was lacking in any brightness but carried on with his life leaving to study in Tokyo to fulfil his dreams of building railway stations whilst his four friends stayed behind to attend university in their home town.

One day, out of the blue, at the end of the first semester, Tsukuru’s friends announced that they didn’t want to see him, or talk to him, ever again. They offer no explanation and, although he is totally stunned by their decision, he has no choice but to accept the situation; floating through life, unable to form intimate connections with anyone.

But then, 16 years later, he meets the beautiful Sara and tells her about the abrupt end of his relationship with the other four friends and she tells him that the time has come to find out what happened all those years ago.

This is Murakami’s 13th novel and none disappoint, each new book launch being a major literary event. It comes as no surprise that The Observer calls him: ‘the best novelist on the planet’ and whilst this book is no departure from his normal style of writing, it does present more wonderful insights into his sometimes rather strange world; enter it and I promise you will be captivated.

*Read it now in paperback
Bones Of The Lost , Kathy Reichs, ISBN 9780099558064 (Random) BD3.400 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members.

This is the gripping new action-packed Temperance Brennan novel (number 13 in the series) from the world-class forensic anthropologist and Number 1 bestselling author Kathy Reichs.

The body of a teenage girl is discovered along a desolate highway on the outskirts of Charlotte. Inside her purse is the ID card of a local businessman who died in a fire months earlier.

Who was the girl? And was she murdered?

Dr Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist, must find the answers.

She soon learns that a Gulf War veteran stands accused of smuggling artifacts into the country. Could there be a connection between the two cases?

Convinced that the girl’s death was no accident, Temperance soon finds herself at the centre of a conspiracy that extends from South America to Afghanistan. But to find justice for the dead, she must be more courageous – and take more extreme action – than ever before.

* My favourite read-of-the-week
The Chambers Dictionary, 13th Edition, ISBN 9781473602250 (Chambers) BD22.500 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members.

Just looking at its beautiful ruby red cover fills me with delight; I have always loved browsing through a good dictionary (which just doesn’t work with the internet). It will soon be ‘back-to-school’ time and parents will be looking to buy the right age-appropriate dictionary for their children so here is the 2014 new edition of my favourite adult/family dictionary which will be a wonderful reference for many years to come.

The Chambers Dictionary is the most useful and diverting single-column word-hoard available full of unique quirky definitions and word origins. First published in 1872, it contains more words, phrases and meanings than any other single-volume English dictionary with over 1,000 new words alone and interesting sections, showing how English words and definitions have changed over the history of The Chambers Dictionary.

The UK’s number one selling hardback dictionary; Chambers is regarded as the ultimate choice for crossword setters and solvers, and is popular with players of word games such as Scrabble (being full of obscure words).