Country Child's 5 Summer Reads

With the launch of the new Country Child website, we thought it might be nice to share some 'must read' book suggestions. 

As some of you will know, we religiously recommend books for children on the Bookworms page in our Country Child magazine, but the mums, sisters, uncles and fathers out there haven’t been considered…until now that is!  For starters, I’ve asked some bookish friends to recommend their best-ever books and, as a result, have compiled this ‘Country Child 5 Books for Summer’!!  If you’ve got a summer holiday planned, this could be just what you need.  Equally so, if you have some all-time favourites, please do get in touch - we'd love to hear them and share them here on the Country Child blog.  Anyway, without further ado, here are five page-turning summer suggestions for you!! 

“I literally couldn’t put this down.  I’ve recommended it to lots of my friends...and have had no complaints yet.” Jules, mum of two.

A brief synopsis of The State of Wonder to whet your appetite:  Among the tangled waterways and giant anacondas of the Brazilian Rio Negro, an enigmatic scientist is developing a drug that could alter the lives of women for ever. Dr Annick Swenson's work is shrouded in mystery; she refuses to report on her progress, especially to her investors, whose patience is fast running out. Anders Eckman, a mild-mannered lab researcher, is sent to investigate.
A curt letter reporting his untimely death is all that returns.

“You know when you’re so immersed in a book that you can’t think of anything else? Well, I Am Pilgrim is that book. A page-turner that keeps you awake into the early hours. A veritable tour de force; I promise you won't be disappointed!” Marcus, Perth, Australia.

A brief synopsis of I Am Pilgrim to whet your appetite: Can you commit the perfect crime?

Pilgrim is the codename for a man who doesn’t exist. The adopted son of a wealthy American family, he once headed up a secret espionage unit for US intelligence. Before he disappeared into anonymous retirement, he wrote the definitive book on forensic criminal investigation.

But that book will come back to haunt him. It will help NYPD detective Ben Bradley track him down. And it will take him to a rundown New York hotel room where the body of a woman is found facedown in a bath of acid, her features erased, her teeth missing, her fingerprints gone. It is a textbook murder – and Pilgrim wrote the book.

“One of the best books I’ve read in a long while.  Laugh out loud in places.  I have always been a fan of the NHS, but my admiration grew ten-fold after reading this book.” Jess, full-time mother of three little people.

A brief synopsis of This is Going to Hurt to whet your appetite: The often hilarious, at times horrifying and occasionally heartbreaking diaries of a former junior doctor, and the story of why he decided to hang up his stethoscope.

“I’m not sure what I was expecting when I picked this book up.  It’s moving, sad, funny, sensitive, heart-breaking and yet heart-warming at the same time.  I will definitely read it again and I urge anyone who is need of a book to read it too.  Believe the hype.” Heather, Grandmother.

A brief synopsis of Eleanor Elephant is Completely Fine to whet your appetite: Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive - but not how to live

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.

Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.
One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted - while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she's avoided all her life.
Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than... fine?
An astonishing story that powerfully depicts the loneliness of life, and the simple power of a little kindness

“Quite simply the most beautiful book I have ever read.  If you read one book this year, let it be this.” Sarah: mother, sister, wife.

A brief synopsis of All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr to whet your appetite: A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.