The Scarlet Letter
★★☆☆☆
In Puritan America, a young woman is accused of adultery, and is sentenced to wear the letter “A” on her outfit...
Life of Pi
★★★★☆
A grand novel blending several different concepts and themes; philosophy, religion, and, above all, the enduring human spirit in the face of adversity
Sea of Poppies
★★★★★
The first book of the Ibis trilogy, a delightful epic set in the 1830’s, telling the stories of several people whose lives intersect with the ocean-going vessel “Ibis”
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.
Never Let Me Go
★★★★☆
Kathy H, a carer for donors, reminisces about her time at Hailsham, a private institution where she spent her formative years, and her friends.
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 Haunting of Hill House
★★★★☆
A scientist studying the paranormal ropes in a few people to live in a "haunted" house. All is quiet, until the house starts acting up...
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
★★★★★
A deeply moving tale of a scientist forced to confront the ethical and moral implications of his research, and pay the price for disregarding those implications.
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.
Cloud Atlas
★★★★★
A thought-provoking tale spanning generations and eons, from the distant past to a post-apocalyptic far future, and examines how souls drift across time, and how the souls are interconnected