Mothering Sunday, celebrated in the UK and Ireland since the 16th century, was traditionally a day when children, mainly daughters, who had gone to work as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother and family.

Mothering Sunday is also the title of a slim gem of a novel (almost novella) by Graham Swift. It tells the story of Jane Fairchild, an orphan (with a name traditionally given to orphans) who works as a maid in the home of a couple who, just like so many friends and neighbors have lost their sons to World War I. The book centers on an illicit affair and the tragic end to one particular day, Mothering Sunday, March 30th, 1924 and layers revelations and memories over time while allowing us to carefully discover a woman who starts out as a domestic servant and goes on to become a famous author. 

Mothering Sunday is a romance, a story of class and education, and a picture of an England reeling from the Great War and a culture that is rapidly changing and disappearing.

"Once upon a time she'd arrived, the new maid, Jane Fairchild, at Beechwood just after a great gust of devastation. The family, like many others, had been whittled down, along with the household budget and the servants.”

Mothering Sunday has a magical quality; it is quiet, yet disruptive in so many ways, and the manner in which Swift reveals his characters to the reader makes them stay with you. You feel you know them, that you understand what has formed them and you long to know what happens to even the most peripheral person.

Finally, and perhaps most poignantly, Mothering Sunday is an ode to books, to words, and to finding your voice.

I read the book in a day, in the sun, feeling like someone had slowed the world down for a few hours allowing for a bit of time travel and reflection. 

Happy Reading!

RESERVE YOUR COPY OF Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift

I loved Melinda Gates’ ‘Moment of Lift’ and thus my expectations were pretty high given that this book would also touch upon the work of the Gates Foundation (and yes, the couple is getting divorced, but the foundation isn’t going anywhere:-)

So – is it full of dying polar bears and high waters across the globe? No, not at all. Nor is it a preachy book where Gates tells you to stop doing this or that, and he is smart enough to know that most people will not stop flying or eating meat. 

This is a book that accessibly lays out how farming/cows/meat are affecting the climate, and how we, i.e.  the world, need to invent technologies that can help us make these activities carbon neutral. He also makes it clear that we are headed for disaster if we don’t do anything and keep going as per usual.

Getting to zero greenhouse emissions won’t come for free, and Gates is good at looking at both the public and the private game. 

We need meetings like COP21 as they serve as a mechanism for pressing national governments to do their part, and especially invest heavily into R&D and innovation for solutions. 

The private game is what YOU (yes, you, the reader…) can do – like switching to LED lightning, insulating your windows, looking for a green pricing program whenever possible, etc. etc.

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster is a readable, friendly book that will help you think about the options and possibilities for changes. 

Gates also points to asking the right questions, like ‘how much power can we generate per square meter?’, and the economy playing out behind the climate disaster, so why not start talking much more about the Green Premiums that compare clean and dirty solutions. 

The book is full of hope and innovative ideas, and it’s a book that could easily be read twice a year to remind oneself of why this is so important. Gates wrote the book to spark more conversations, and hopefully he will succeed – you, me, and the rest of world, need to have more conversations about what to do.

Happy reading!

Lotte

RESERVE YOUR COPY OF How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates

If you are new to the thriller genre, like me, and want something that will keep you engaged and thinking, this is the book for you. I had only heard great things about this book and wanted to get into the genre, so I thought, why not let’s give it a go.

The book focuses on our main character Jess who is just a teenager going through the motions of high school and taking care of her sick sister. One day while walking to class, something shiny falls out of her friend’s backpack. It’s a cell phone. But it’s the 90’s. So what is a modern cell phone doing in the ’90s? Her friend brushes it off as if it were nothing but things only get weirder. Suddenly Anna’s on the run and trying to figure out a completely different world from the one she thought she knew. One thing leads to another, and Jess’ world gets flipped on its head.

Anna Carey lets the reader into Jess’ head, hearing her thoughts and worries and not having a single idea about what will happen next. Worried and scared, we walk through Jess’ experiences with her. 

I love this book and read it in two days, not being able to put it down. It was perfectly paced and made it easy to relate to Jess. Not that the average reader has gone through what she goes through in the book, but it is easy to understand her decisions and sympathize with her while gaining the same feelings about the same people.

I was pulled into Jess’ world and was enraptured, wanting to read it all at once, but at the same time loving it so much that I wanted to make it last. Anna Carey also perfectly sets up a sequel, and I hope it will be coming in the near future. 

Happy Reading!

Reviewed by Daniela S. Gram

RESERVE YOUR COPY OF This is not the Jess Show by Anna Carey

The Purple Bears of Berry Forest is a beautiful, and at times quite bittersweet story about the purple bears, who live on the berries they find in their forest. When they lose their home, they must journey to find somewhere new so they can survive. They travel far, meeting many other kinds of bears along the way and learning from them. Will they ever find a new home? 

This book explores the importance of home, and especially the homes of animals and how vital they are to their survival. However, this story is also an interesting starting point for discussions with younger children about climate change consequences, as well as issues about migration, acceptance, and integration. The illustrations throughout the book are truly artistic and wonderful full of detail and in a beautiful water-color style. 

The Last Bear is a whimsical story, perfect for any child who loves adventure and animals. It follows a young animal-loving girl named April, whose scientist father is sent to the Arctic for his job. April tags along and embarks on a journey to save a polar bear who has been separated from his home. This book also explores climate change in a way that is very accessible for younger readers to understand and is a great introduction into understanding climate change and collective responsibility. The language can at times be a bit advanced, but in a way that provides really great learning opportunities to expand comprehension skills and vocabulary. It is a really sweet story about love and respect of all living things, friendship, and courage, and will leave you hopeful and inspired.

Happy reading!

Emma

RESERVE YOUR COPY OF one or both 'bear' books