Books We Love... Our Team's All-Time Favourites
Our team is quite diverse, hailing from many different places, with varied interest, and an ecclectic mix of favourite authors and books. Here's a low down on us and some of our all-time favourites. Do check out our Recommended Reads table when in store :)
Shivaun
Shivaun is a Gemini and juggles a lot of plates in the air. Right now, these are: W&T, the last wrenching stages of a Phd, writing a script, staging said script, being an active partner, mother, grandmother, sister and friend. In her 'spare' time she likes movies, short walks with Fran and Matzo, reading, talking and the occasional massage. Currently addicted to The Good Wife and Homeland, also Nashville. Wandering Star (J.M.G. Le Clezio) The moving story of two women, one Jewish, one Palestianian, caught up in the turmoil of the Middle East, but who aspire for peace. The Art of Fielding (Chad Harbach) A gripping tale of baseball and college life from the American heartland. It's an old fashioned kind of novel which addresses universal themes of the tenderness of youth, the dangers of ambition, family, friendship and commitment to self and others. My favourite American novel this year. Snowdrops (A.D. Miller) Fast-paced thriller that unfolds during a beautiful but lethally cold Russian winter. Ostensibly a story of naive foreigners and cynical natives, the novel becomes something richer and darker: a tale of erotic obsession, self-deception and moral freefall. Short, succinct but packing a powerful punch. Other titles: You Are Not Like Other Mothers (Angelika Schrobsdorff) The Camerons (Robert Crichton) The Furies (Janet Hobhouse) The Mandarins (Simone de Beauvoir) |
Matzo
I enjoy long walks, lots of treats, dognaps, chewy rawhide, squeeky toys, the odd wet food out of a can... Here's what I think about some books that have four-legged characters in them:
A Dog's Life (Peter Mayle) Provence sounds wonderful; lot more sunny than London for sure. Plus I hear that the French don't mind dogs at all. Here, I'm relegated to waiting outside doors - at supermarkets, post offices, restaurants, cafes, pubs... quite unlike my compadres in Provence I'm sure. Animal Farm (George Orwell) Now, I don't totally agree with the depiction of Jessie the farm dog; I mean if someone took your puppies away, would you still be loyal? Nevertheless, what an intriguing read. Those pigs, you can't trust them. Call of the Wild and Wild Fang (Jack London) I bawled my eyes out when I read these novels. In COTW, When Buck returned to the wild and joined the wolves, I was like, Yeeeeeeees! But poor Thornton, his dying was tragic. Oh, sorry, am I not allowed to give the plot away? Black Beauty (Anna Sewell) I tell ya, that horse was half-dog. For sure, for sure. Aesop's Fables I abide by the lessons I learnt as a young pup reading these varied short stories. Animal wisdom and morality tales, what more can a canine ask for? Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame) That mole creeps me out. Everytime. 'Nuf said. |
Fran
Fran loves food. Like most Chinese, she'll eat anything with four legs - except the table. She also enjoys documentaries, movies with mindboggling SFX, and has a morbid fascination for US politics and true crime stories. The Choice (Bob Woodward) This fly-on-the-wall account of Clinton's bid for the presidency contains stuff that thrillers are made of. And it's true! Totto Chan (Tetsuko Kuroyanagi) Heartwarming story of childhood in war-torn Tokyo; lots of life lessons as seen through the eyes of a child. Madam Secretary (Madeleine Albright) Albright's memoir is inspirational; themes: migrant-done-good, woman-triumphs-in-a-man's-world, power-harnessed-for-civic responsibility, brains-over-brawn. R-E-S-PECT! Lady Precious Stream (S.I. Hsiung) Romance, tragedy, comedy, with battle scenes thrown in; this play reads like poetry. House of Mirth (Edith Wharton) We follow Lily Bart's fall from grace and social standing. A cautionary tale that's not out of place in these debt-ridden times. Other titles: Stiff (Mary Roach) Pinball 1973 and Wild Sheep Chase (Haruki Murakami) Tell Me No Lies (John Pilger) When A Crocodile Eats the Sun (Peter Godwin) Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle) Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck) The Forgotten Soldier (Guy Sajer) |
W&T's TOP 25
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Cui
Cui (pronounced "tsuei") grew up in Singapore and moved to London in 2007. She's passionate about the arts, anthropology, and social action, and can't live without books, music, coffee, and the Internet. (Goodreads profile: http://goodreads.com/tsuei)
Interested in: Southeast/east Asian literature; memory; pop sociology; migration & diaspora; social anthropology; transnationalism; identity; neoliberalism; space; religion; cities. Favourite authors: Haruki Murakami, Cyril Wong, Hermann Hesse, San Mao, George Orwell, Anton Chekhov, Albert Camus, Roald Dahl, Neil Gaiman. Favourite books: The Elephant Vanishes (Haruki Murakami) Underground (Haruki Murakami) Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami) Steppenwolf (Hermann Hesse) like a seed with its singular purpose (Cyril Wong) The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy) |
Melissa
Melissa grew up in North Italy and came to London in 2008. Currently she is studying a BA in English Literature.
As a child she developed a passion for telling stories with her aunt, who she regards as her role model. She started writing short stories when she was 8 years old. She has been writing ever since. Her family and her background constitute a great source of inspiration as a starting point for many of her stories written in both Italian and English. To read Melissa's work, go to her blog. Interested in: Languages, different cultures and books. Melissa also likes wandering about in her garden where she often finds strange objects and creatures. She is also a big fan of sweet and sour food, strawberry sweeties and sleeping. Favourite books: The Door (Magda Szabó) Nausea (Jean Paul Sartre) the clown (Heinrich Theodor Böll) The Lover (Marguerite Duras) The Land of Green Plums (Herta Muller) The Hearing Trumpet (Leonora Carrington) |
Scarlet
Scarlet grew up in Hong Kong. She moved to London in the summer of 2012 after living in Taipei for almost four years. Scarlet comes from a journalist background.
She has tried a bit of everything (writing poems, painting, playing the keyboard, singing, taking photographs…) in her attempt to commune with her inner self. She finds that the best way to understand herself is to care for and get involved with people around her. She has a genuine interest in listening to people’s stories. Favorite coffee: Caramel latte Favorite authors: Hermann Hesse, Haruki Murakami, Kazuo Ishiguro (and many never-heard-of-in-the-UK Chinese writers) Favorite books: Demian (Hermann Hesse) Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of the World (Haruki Murakami) Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro) The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Muriel Barbery) Life is Elsewhere (Milan Kundera) |
W&T's Top 10
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