Looking for something to entertain yourself during your days at home? Check out our reviews by EL editors and readers.
The Giver of Stars
This book was fantastic! A story set in the US Depression era in Kentucky, it centres around the Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians. Although this is what would be classed as historical fiction, it’s based on the incredible mountain women who were a part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s travelling library programme. Simply put, this is about friendship, life struggles, perseverance and female empowerment. It reads like a beautiful love letter to those of us who respect and understand how important books are.
The story follows Alice Wright as she transitions from her “standardised” expectations of life, moving from England to Kentucky after she marries Kentuckian Bennett Van Cleve. But all does not pan out how she expects it to, and her life takes on a new purpose. The characters in the book are personable and they add colour and vibrancy to a story which, on the surface, may not interest all readers.
Everyone and their neighbour has read, or at least heard of, Jojo Moyes’ most famous book, Me Before You, and, although this is not the same, in my opinion it’s just as good. I devoured it in a matter of days and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, too.
– Alisha Leow
The Accidental Business Nomad
This book written by an American expat living in Singapore provides great advice for anyone leading, managing or working within cross-cultural teams. There are clear and practical tips given throughout, which are nicely summarised in an integrated approach at the end, along with a really useful global survival kit for improving your effectiveness at working “across a shrinking planet”. I particularly like the stories and anecdotes that Hegarty uses throughout to illustrate his own fascinating (and, quite often, hilarious) journey of discovery. A must read for every budding globally savvy executive.
– David Young
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
I devoured the Hunger Games trilogy. I loved each and every word of those books and almost went into mourning when I was finished with them. So when the prequel I pre-ordered months ago showed up at my doorstep last week, I was pumped (though not as excited as my daughter who likes the books even more than me!).
Instead of following our heroine, Katniss Everdeen, the book shows us just how President Snow came to be so ruthless. Sigh. I miss Katniss. Even so, I’m enjoying the read. It’s fun to be back in the middle of all the turmoil and to glean an understanding of how the Hunger Games came to be. It’s not quite the page turner the first three books were, but it’s pretty darn good.
– Melinda Murphy
Dark Emu
Many of us have been forced to take a hard look at ourselves in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, and I have certainly come to realise that I have a lot to learn not only about the issues faced in America, but the ongoing racial divide that exists back home in Australia.
Dark Emu is a deep dive into the agricultural practices, architecture, fire management, and democratic processes that existed for a hundred thousand years before white colonisation. The understanding of the land held by the First Nations people is unparalleled, yet colonisation has led us to completely disregard the tradition and effective forms of cultivation.
Indigenous groups around the country are referenced, but I particularly connected through the references to many Western Victorian sites of significance such as Lake Condah and Lake Bolac that are so close to where I grew up. Pascoe really highlights to me how “the belief that Aboriginal people were ‘mere’ hunter-gatherers has been used as a political tool to justify dispossession.”
This book is a wonderful place to start unlearning and relearning about the extraordinary knowledge and culture of the First Nations People of Australia.
– Catherine MacLean
My Dark Vanessa
Kate Elizabeth Russell has knocked it out of the park with this, her first novel. It’s the first book I’ve finished within a week. This story is about damage, not love. Reading this book and following Vanessa’s story from when she was only 15 years to when she becomes an adult and on to her mid 20’s is like being on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Vanessa tells a compelling story of how she experiences what she thinks is love with her 35-year old English teacher, Jacob Strane, but the truth is, what she is experiencing is grooming and child/teen abuse – she just doesn’t want to admit it. When reading this book, I felt all sorts of emotions towards the characters: sadness, guilt, anger, confusion and being annoyed with Vanessa lots of times because she simply is in denial. It’s a gripping story and certainly a page-turner.
– Susan Knudsen-Pickles
You’ve Been Volunteered
As a person who has been the class mom at least eight times (seriously), I totally related to this book written by a friend of mine, Laurie Gelman. It’s a follow up to her earlier book, Class Mom, and I finally got around to reading it during the Circuit Breaker. I wish I’d read it sooner because, once again, the story of Jen Dixon left me laughing out loud. Oh, the things that woman does and says! It’s perfect light reading and will make you miss school (or maybe be grateful that you haven’t been in school after all).
– Melinda Murphy
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
One would think that a book about death would be a downer, especially in times such as these. But this memoir by Doughty, also the host of YouTube channel Ask A Mortician, approaches the topic with a healthy dose of humour. She demystifies death without trivialising it and offers a peek behind the opaque curtain of the American funeral industry.
– Natasha Lee
11-Minute Face Yoga
One of the benefits of being mostly at home is that I can build yoga into my daily routine, which often doesn’t happen when I’m working. In this book, there are only 10 actual exercises. There’s deep breathing to start, and then a facial massage, and then it launches into such movements as: ‘Bye Bye, Turkey’ for that pesky double chin and saggy neck muscles; ‘Hungry Lizard’, which includes looking up and darting your eyes from side to side; and ‘Speedy Boat’ – a part of which involves saying “wow, wow, wow” as if you are facing into the wind on a speed boat. The ‘Tongue Twister’, meanwhile, has you running your tongue in a big circle between your teeth and closed lips, three times in each direction – it actually does use the muscles under your chin and around your mouth. Some instructions are a little vague, but the pictures help. Like after a yoga session, your muscles will feel a bit stimulated and active. I’ll definitely keep up the 11-minute ritual while at home and see what the results are over time – if nothing else, to entertain the kids! The book is available at thenordicglow.com.
– Vivii Avellan
#FlushableFashion
I don’t know about you, but I just need a book to make me smile, and this photo book did the trick. One of the world’s largest Barbie collectors lives right here in Singapore. Stuck in a hotel room one day, he started making truly stunning gowns for his Barbies out of – ready for it? – toilet paper! Granted, with the state of toilet paper in the world today, this book may seem a little wasteful, but the book was at print before COVID-19 made its debut! The dresses would make Vera Wang swoon.
– Melinda Murphy
Less
Again, I wanted something funny to read because, let’s face it, there’s not much funny about life right now. Rarely does a humorous book win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, but Less did just that in 2018. It’s the story of a struggling writer who gets an invite to his ex’s wedding. He doesn’t want to go because it’d be weird, but saying no would look like he’s avoiding the thing. So instead, he accepts invitations to everything else which takes him on a hilarious journey around the globe. It’s a great laugh and also satisfied that the side of me yearning to travel again.
– Melinda Murphy
BOOKS FOR KIDS
Miguel Builds a New House
Miguel was happy in the beginning, even if his house was really small and made out of wood and scraps, but when the storm came and his house fell apart, he was very sad. They had lots of friends and neighbours who they helped after the storm, then the neighbours helped them to rebuild the house and it was stronger because they rebuilt it together. It teaches a real lesson as we need to help other people who cannot afford to build a brick house.
– Edwin Davies (6)
Princess Incognito: Nightmare at the Museum
Well, I really liked this book – it’s about an undercover princess that gets trained in kaito, which is a Japanese martial arts. And she’s mastered it! She goes to the National Museum in Singapore; I like how the book is based in Singapore and so is the author too. My favourite part is when she goes in full kaito mode and she totally breaks a boy’s arm – and the boy had a crush on her. The whole thing of the book is that she has to keep her secret identity from her friends – she’s really a princess. There’s a chapter in the museum that has a statue of her as a princess so she has to figure out how to stop it. Another really funny bit is where, on their last field trip, a girl went to get some pork from live pigs to put in her sandwich. At the end of her day, the people found her and she said that it was her best day ever. It’s really good. Read it!
– Hudson Hiemstra (9)
Dolphin Island Book Series
This book series comprises six books that are about three children, Fleur, Alfie and Mia, and their parents. The family is shipwrecked during a typhoon and are rescued by a friendly pod of dolphins. They are brought to safety to a tropical island that they name “Dolphin Island”. The children and the dolphins become good friends and have amazing adventures. No one in the outside world knows if the family are alive. The family survive many difficulties, understanding how to live with nature and bond together. I recommend this book because it’s full of excitement, dolphins, adventure, wildlife and survival, and I love how even in the worst of times the family sticks together. I chose this book because I really love dolphins. In today’s world where everyone is worried about social distancing, it shows how families can stay close. I think this book will be best for ages seven to 12, but my mum also liked it. I hope that everyone enjoys it!
– Lara Herzhoff (11)
How to Train Your Hooman
This is an extremely funny book about a dog’s tips on adopting a human. Being a pet owner myself, I can really connect with Leia (the narrator) when she talks about certain aspects of training us hoomans. The technique used to write this book is almost like reverse psychology, in the way that Leia recommends walking your hooman regularly and making sure that they are trained well. These tips made my brother and I laugh out loud because we think the same thing about our dog Holly. Furthermore, I thought that the illustrations were beautifully bright and colourful. I also loved how at the end of the book there is a page all about Leia’s life before adopting her hooman and a page about all the other dogs that make appearances in the book.
My brother’s and my favourite page is the one about picking out your hooman as Leia talks about the different types, and our different needs. This was very funny because it was almost like we were being compared to different breeds of dogs! I also loved the detail in the illustrations; it really tied the whole thing together. We thought that this is a beautiful book and it made us smile as we read it. Overall, I would really recommend this book to families with children and pets or just anyone with a dog looking for some comical training tips! I love it!
– Phoebe McPhail (12)
Shelter
My parents love Harlan Coben. They have loads of his books that I can’t read, but then he made books for teens that were amazing. He published a new Mickey Bolitar series and it’s like the best thing ever. (It’s recommended for kids slightly older than me – not for me; so ask your parents first!) Shelter is like a cliffhanger and a page turner. Now he is my favourite author. At the beginning of the book, it already got me interested and I never stopped in the first chapter. It’s so good. It started with a spooky bit that got me amazed.
– Hudson Hiemstra (9)
Also … how to explain coronavirus to young readers
COVID-19 for Kids is a lovely picture book by Singapore based author Catherine Cheung, and a great way to help explain the current situation to kids. The storyline is about children figuring out how to help their grandpa stay safe. Profits from Singapore sales will be donated to The Courage Fund in Singapore to help those impacted by COVID-19. Profits from outside Singapore will go to a fund to support the WHO’s efforts against the virus. They’re also donating 1,000 copies to preschools in Singapore. Want your own copy? Buy it online at covid19kidsbook.com/about-the-book.
For more great reading, head to our Living in Singapore section.
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