Hello Bookwurms !

[Pampered]

Originally posted by Icecub
who are they?? give the details please...

Frankie and Stanky, by Barbara Trapido....

In Frankie and Stankie, Barbara Trapido continues a trend for dark subject material, first glimpsed in The Travelling Horn Player.

This is the story of Dinah, growing up in South Africa in the 1950s and 1960s. Living with liberal parents, she experiences apartheid with growing disgust, but nevertheless does not allow it to interfere with the importance of a first boyfriend, doing well in exams and finding best friends.

Frankie and Stankie is a marvellous book. Trapido's trademark light touch is wonderfully on display as characters, both average and extraordinary are brought to life beautifully. But underlying her usual vignettes is the history of South Africa. For those who know little about the country this is a fantastic introduction to exactly what the Boer War was, to the way in which the British and Afrikaans battled for supremacy, and the attempts to undermine the regime of apartheid.

Frankie and Stankie draws no simple conclusions, and does not lay all blame solely at one person's door. It attempts to document a past (albeit from a clear personal standpoint), and does so excellently.

This is a wonderful book, and I would heartily recommend it.

[Icecub]

thanks :thumbs:

[dudette]

I'm busy reading "Can you keep a secret?" by Sophie Kinsella (of Shopaholic fame). Looks good.

The synopsis is (paraphrased); keeps secrets from her friend, her parents, her boyfriend, but one day on an aeroplane flight she blurts out all her secrets to a perfect stranger. It turns out this stranger is actually her new boss!

The first few chapters are good, and am lookign forward to the rest.

[Icecub]

Originally posted by dudette
I'm busy reading "Can you keep a secret?" by Sophie Kinsella (of Shopaholic fame). Looks good.

The synopsis is (paraphrased); keeps secrets from her friend, her parents, her boyfriend, but one day on an aeroplane flight she blurts out all her secrets to a perfect stranger. It turns out this stranger is actually her new boss!

The first few chapters are good, and am lookign forward to the rest.

hmm..thought about reading it....but i am not in the mood for chicklet books..i want to read good indepth novels at the moment....suppose it is my mood hey?? :p

[dudette]

That's right Earlier on in the year I was there too.

[nikkinaz]

Books are certainly about the moods, I sometimes take a whole stack of different genres out the library and during the course of the loan, I read then as and when I "feel" like a certain book.

Still debating which one I should read, got too many - like the look of some of the ones you have suggested under the new books. Like Lilla's Feast and the Garman Sisters...will look out at the library later on in Sept !

[Icecub]

Originally posted by nikkinaz
Books are certainly about the moods, I sometimes take a whole stack of different genres out the library and during the course of the loan, I read then as and when I "feel" like a certain book.

Still debating which one I should read, got too many - like the look of some of the ones you have suggested under the new books. Like Lilla's Feast and the Garman Sisters...will look out at the library later on in Sept !

I still got more i wanna add....just to find the time to do it..will do tomorrow when i am not being hassled for snacks or something to drink...kids!!

[nikkinaz]

Well do add them and I will write them up on my ever growing lists. Always like a book that is different.

{I am also thinking of starting a thread or a book club on (MT) cause there are a whole of folks who read there too who might not come on here....! Afterall always wanted to try and run a club. So if we duplicate - no worries...someone is bound to see something new for themselves.}

[Pampered]

I got the very latest book by Alexander McCall Smith....It is called "In the Company of Cheerful Ladies" and I will start it soon....

[nikkinaz]

Originally posted by Pam M
I got the very latest book by Alexander McCall Smith....It is called "In the Company of Cheerful Ladies" and I will start it soon....

Oooh his Books are EXCELLENT ! Enjoy and let me know what this one is like !

(A friend of mine in SA has met him and spoken to him, as he goes all over the world - he is so popular, she said he is such a lovely person).