Books To Find Under The Christmas Tree- Parts 4 and 5

One day to go until Santa arrives on his sleigh...and we have the last bumper blog post on books our staff would love to find under the Christmas Tree this Christmas. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas full of fantastic reads!

After Rain – William Trevor
(Penguin; 1997)

“I’d like a collection of William Trevor’s short stories “After Rain” under the tree.  I use his stories a lot in my reading groups; think he’s a great short story writer so know there would be stories here I could enjoy and use in groups.  The collection was recommended to me by someone who also loves William Trevor and said “There’s not a dud among them.””

(Valerie Nobbs, Get Into Reading London Project Worker)

Dear Life – Alice Munro
(Chatto & Windus; 2012)

A book I hope to find under my tree is Dear Life by Alice Munro.  Her short stories are about ordinary men and women, leading everyday lives but there is nothing mundane about them. An Alice Munro story is complex, tough and true and I can’t wait to get my hands on this new collection.”

(Angela Macmillan, Co Editor of The Reader/Editor of A Little, Aloud & A Little, Aloud for Children)

The Sisters Brothers – Patrick DeWitt
(Granta Books; 2012)

“Under the tree I would like to find The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt.  It was Man Booker shortlisted in 2011 and several people have recommended it to me.  Apparently it’s the story two brothers in the 1850s Wild West.”

(Amanda Brown, Criminal Justice Projects Manager)

Bleak House - Charles Dickens
(Penguin Classics; 2012)

I’ve asked for a couple of Dickens titles this year, after attending the wonderful event Dickens: A Writer’s Contemporary at St. Georges Hall last week, and of course TRO’s own Penny Readings! My dad has long been recommending Bleak House to me, and telling me his fond stories of reading it in secondary school. Then last week, Frank Cottrell Boyce chose the opening pages of the novel as his favourite pick at the writer’s event, and after hearing TRO’s own Mary Weston read it so sublimely I thought, this is a book I need to read! I hope to be curling up with it, a warm drink, and a duvet in January!

(Charlotte Weber, Reader-in-Residence, Liverpool Hope University)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all here at The Reader Organisation!