Poor Things
★★★★☆
A retelling of the Frankenstein mythos, with the beautiful young Bella Baxter brought back to life with the brain of an infant
Lessons in Chemistry
★☆☆☆☆
Elizabeth Zott is a serious, no-nonsense chemist and a single mother. But she finds herself hosting a cooking show on daytime television, a show where she galvanizes the oft-downtrodden American housewives into self-respect.
Where The Crawdads Sing
★★★★★
Marsh girl Kya Clark has been left to fend for herself in a rundown shack outside Barkley Cove. Most of the village treats her as an outcast and pariah, while she grows up all alone into a young woman, and a sensitive, artistic naturalist. When rich kid Chase Andrews is found dead in the marsh, the locals immediately suspect Kya.
A Gentleman in Moscow
★★★★★
A Russian nobleman is sentenced to life imprisonment in a luxurious hotel in Moscow. But the indomitable Count takes his circumstances in his stride, never losing his spirit or deep humanity.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
★★★★★
A delightful and charming story set in the aftermath of WW2, presented as a collection of correspondences between Juliet Ashton, an author, and the residents of the Channel island of Guernsey
Girl with a Pearl Earring
★★★★★
An imagining of the story behind the enigmatic eponymous girl from Vermeer's painting, the dutch Mona Lisa.
MASH: A Novel about Three Army Doctors
★★★★★
A collection of stories from the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH), during the Korean war, in the early 50's.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
★★★★☆
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born in the slums of 18th-century France, with an extraordinary gift of smell. Working as a perfumer, he starts the grisly task of bottling up.. the essence of women.
An Artist of the Floating World
★★★★☆
Set in post-war Japan, the story explores the rapid modernization of the country and the resentment held against the older generation for thrusting the country into a needless war.
The Guns of Navarone
★★★★☆
Several attempts have been made to silence the guns of Navarone, but all have failed. A small team of experienced mountaineers and saboteurs make one last attempt... the lives of 1200 men are at stake.
All Quiet on the Western Front
★★★★★
A young soldier in WW1 recounts his moving story of horror and disillusionment of life in the trenches.
Slaughterhouse-Five
★★★★★
Centering on the infamous firebombing of Dresden, the story follows the life of Billy Pilgrim. as he reflects on the events of his life across time and space.
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
★★★★★
The story of labour-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, it graphically describes his struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. An unforgettable portrait of the entire world of Stalin's gulags.
The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas
★☆☆☆☆
Auschwitz as seen by a child... a very deluded and self-involved child.
Memoirs of a Geisha
★★★★☆
A world where women's artistry is to entice the most powerful men; where their virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder, and where love is scorned...