Stokes Valley Book Club
Really Long, Attention-grabbing, Zany Titles
May 2014
The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And
Disappeared / Jonas Jonasson
Sitting quietly in his room in a retirement home, Allan Karlsson is waiting for a party
he doesn’t want to begin. His one-hundredth birthday party to be precise. The
Mayor will be there. The press will be there. But, as it turns out, Allan will not.
Escaping (in his slippers) through his bedroom window, into the flowerbed, Allan
makes his getaway. And so begins his unlikely journey involving a suitcase full of
cash, a few thugs, a very friendly hot-dog stand operator, a few deaths, an
elephant and incompetent police.
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year / Sue Townsend
The day her gifted twins leave home for university, Eva climbs into bed and stays
there. For seventeen years she's wanted to yell at the world, 'Stop! I want to get
off'. Finally, this is her chance. Perhaps she will be able to think. Her husband Dr
Brian Beaver... is not happy. Who will cook dinner? .... But word of Eva's refusal to
get out of bed quickly spreads... And, though the world keeps intruding, it is from
the confines of her bed that Eva at last begins to understand freedom. "The
Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year" is a funny and touching novel about what
happens when someone stops being the person everyone wants them to be.
Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma /
Kerry Hudson
When Janie Ryan is born, she is just the latest in a long line of Ryan women,
Aberdeen fishwives to the marrow, always ready to fight. Her violet–eyed Grandma
had predicted she would be sly, while blowing Benson and Hedges smoke rings
over her Ma’s swollen belly. Set in the bleak council flats of Scotland, this is the
story of a dysfunctional family you can’t help but adore.
An Enormously English Monsoon Wedding / Christina Jones
Life simply could not be better for Erin Bentley. At twenty-seven, she is engaged to
the simply divine Jay Keskar, and every minute of her day currently revolves
around planning the wedding of her dreams. Until, that is, Jay’s parents announce
that they want to ‘get involved’ and Erin’s wedding heaven turns into her wedding
hell... As Indian parents, Tavish and Deena have very firm beliefs about the kind of
wedding their only son should have. As Bollywood comes to Berkshire, can East
eventually meet West in perfect harmony? And what will happen to Erin and Jay’s
dream wedding if they do not?
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time / Mark Haddon
This is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective is Christopher Boone.
Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger’s Syndrome. He knows a great deal about
maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He
hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further
than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour’s dog
murdered he begins a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside
down. Critically acclaimed by readers worldwide, this is a story about seeing life in
a different and surprising way.
Stokes Valley Book Club
Really Long, Attention-grabbing, Zany Titles
May 2014
If You’re Reading This, I’m Already Dead / Andrew Nicoll
Sitting in his caravan, drinking what is left of his coffee (dust), Otto has narrowly
escaped death at the hands of Allied bombs. Convinced his luck has run out and
he will not see morning, he decides to record the story of his life for the poor soul
who finds his body. And what a story it is. Years earlier, when he was in either
Buda or Pest, working at the circus, a newspaper article was bought to his
attention. Why? Because in it was a picture of a particular Turkish prince, called to
Albania to be their new king. And this picture just so happened to bear a striking
resemblance to Otto... A plan is formed. Albania will get a king it never expected.
The West Rand Jive Cats Boxing Club / Lauren Liebenberg
Goaded by the pulse of Elvis, Little Richard and the kwela kwela rhythms of the
black ghettos, best friends Tommy and Chris, twelve-year-olds growing up near
the mines of Johannesburg, look to prove their grit on the slum yard dance floors
of the West Rand Cons Mine and in the sweat-soaked ring of the boxing club. But
Tommy has a little sister Cecilia – sweet, whimsical and vulnerable. Unwittingly,
she will force the friends to choose between courage and cowardice, loyalty and
betrayal. This is a poignant, compelling story about coming of age in South Africa
at a time that was once bleak and cruel.
I Wish I Were Engulfed In Flames / Jeni Decker
Welcome to the down and dirty of one mother’s journey from Sex-Ed to Santa
Claus. Jeni Decker has two sons with autism on opposite ends of the spectrum
(Jake and Jaxon), a husband who prefers hunting to household chores, an
Australian shepherd named Sugar, and an albino frog named Humbert-Humbert.
This is her brash, personal, and sometimes shocking memoir of one woman’s
determination to raise two healthy kids with autism and keep her sanity in the
process. It’s not always easy. Between ‘poop’ incidents, temper tantrums, and
‘helpful’ advice on parenting from random strangers, Jeni is often at her wit’s end.
The Unreliable Life of Harry the Valet, The Great Victorian Jewel Thief
/ Duncan Hamilton
Harry the Valet began his criminal career out of grief, but became Europe’s most
notorious jewel thief out of love. This is the true story of a man who wore bespoke
suits and handmade shoes; who used a dozen pseudonyms to dust over his
tracks; who belonged to three smart London clubs and lived in the luxury of West
End hotels; whose staple diet was champagne and whisky; who was pursued by
London’s top detectives for five and half years and – by their own admission –
proved smarter than them; and who fell so much in love with a women that he
would lie and steal for her.
Stokes Valley Book Club
Really Long, Attention-grabbing, Zany Titles
May 2014
I Never Knew There Was A Word For It / Adam Jacot de Boinod
Ever experienced something you can’t quite put into words and thought, surely
there must be a succinct way of saying this? The languages of the world are full of
amazing, amusing and illuminating words and expressions that will improve
absolutely everybody’s quality of life. From ‘shotclog’, a Yorkshire term for a
companion only tolerated because he is paying for the drinks, to the Albanian
language having 29 words to describe different kinds of eyebrows, here are
expressions from every corner of the globe that describe any feeling, act, object,
animal or vegetable.
Fried Green Tomates at the Whistle Stop Cafe / Fannie Flagg
Fannie Flagg’ s enduring tale of the beloved folks who live in a small Alabama
town... connected by a place and a generosity of spirit grounded in family, good
friends, and good food. The story begins ... with the friendship between shy,
middle-aged Evelyn Couch, and Ninny Threadgoode, an eighty-seven-year-old
resident of ...a nursing home in Birmingham. Evelyn soaks up the older woman’ s
stories of Whistle Stop, Alabama, where Ninny’ s irrepressible sister-in-law Idgie
and Idgie’ s friend Ruth ran a cafe– the center of life in this small town. Indeed, it is
the story of wild, wonderful Idgie, and her big sense of humor and bigger heart,
that give Evelyn the courage to find her own happiness.
A cruel bird came to the nest and looked in / Magnus Mills
Far away, in the ancient Empire of Greater Fallowfields, things are falling apart.
The Imperial Orchestra is presided over by a conductor who has never played a
note, the clocks are changed constantly to ensure that the postmen can deliver in
daylight regardless of how that affects everyone else, and the Astronomer Royal is
only able to use the observatory telescope when he can find a sixpence to put in
its slot. But while the kingdom drifts, awaiting the return of the young emperor, ... a
sinister and unfamiliar enemy is getting closer and closer... A surreal portrait of a
world that ... contains rather too many similarities to our own ... not to become
brilliantly familiar and disturbingly close to home. It is comic writing at its best...
Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams / Jenny Colgan
Were you a sherbet lemon or chocolate lime fan? ... Rosie Hopkins thinks leaving
her busy London life, and her boyfriend Gerard, to sort out her elderly Aunt Lilian's
sweetshop in a small country village is going to be dull. Boy, is she wrong. Lilian
Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton's sweetshop, through wartime and family
feuds. As she struggles with the idea that it might finally be time to settle up, she
also wrestles with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully coloured
sweets. Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams, a novel, with recipes.
Stokes Valley Book Club
Really Long, Attention-grabbing, Zany Titles
May 2014
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society / Mary Ann Shaffer
(This is) the story of a small group of neighbors on the island of Guernsey off the
coast of England. A pig farmer, an elegant lady, a potion maker, a rag and bone
man, a footman posing as a lord: all survive the Nazi occupation in the Second
World War by gathering over humble potato peel pie to talk of Shakespeare,
Chaucer, and the great novels. With the war over, Juliet, an eager writer from
London, uncovers just how dramatic the lives of these islanders really were during
the war, and through them, discovers the drama in her own life... Gloriously
honest, moving, sweet and funny, a sheer delight from beginning to end, this is
truly a book to fall in love with."
Adventures with the Wife in Space : Living with Doctor Who /
Neil Perryman
In January 2011, Neil Perryman set out on an insane quest to make his wife Sue
watch every episode of the classic series of Doctor Who from the very beginning.
Even the ones that didn't exist any more. And so, over the next two and half years,
Sue gamely watched them all: William Hartnell (the Miserable Git); Patrick
Troughton (the Scruffy Drunk); Jon Pertwee (the Pompous Tory); Tom Baker (the
Mad One); Peter Davison (the Fit One); Colin Baker (the Court Jester); Sylvester
McCoy (the Crafty Sod) and Paul McGann (the One-Night Stand). The result was
a wildly successful and hilarious blog called Adventures with the Wife in Space.
The misplaced affections of Charlotte Fforbes / Catherine Robertson
When Charlotte Fforbes inadvertently falls in love with her boss, her usually cool
self-control is tested to its limit... Her first strategy is to ignore it, for one thing, boss
Patrick is a husband and father. Then Charlotte is given a clue that Patrick’s
marriage may not be as stable as believed, and that is enough to fan a spark of
hope into an infatuation-fuelled inferno. Transformed from efficient PA into a
woman whose reason has been muffled with duct-tape and locked in a cellar, she’ll
now do anything to find a way into Patrick’s heart... But Charlotte’s biggest test will
come when she is forced to question whether her affections have been entirely
misplaced, and, if so, was this her last ever chance to feel love like this again?
All the materials for a midnight feast, or, Zagira / Gary Dexter
October 2010. Nicholas, 47 year old orientalist, eccentric and eco-warrior is on an
overnight coach journey north to protest against a nuclear missile storage facility in
Scotland. His student fellow travellers remind him of his younger self in Hull in the
1980s a time spent under the twin clouds of unrequited love and apocalyptic terror.
As the bus rumbles through the night, the floodgates of memory open, and
Nicholas begins to scrawl episodes from his past life into a notebook. At first these
vignettes sometimes poignant, sometimes comic, and frequently involving Philip
Larkin seem almost random. In time, though, a picture emerges: of thwarted love
and a fragile, creative mind increasingly at sea in the world.
Stokes Valley Book Club
Really Long, Attention-grabbing, Zany Titles
More books with really long, attention-grabbing, often zany titles:
All Fun and Games Until Someone Looses an Eye / Christopher Brookmyre
My Father’s Ghost is Climbing in the Rain / Patricio Pron
Haggard Hawkins and Paltry Poltroons / Paul Anthony Jones
This is Your Song, Lola Rose / Donna Hay
The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam / Lauren Liebenberg
Every Contact Leaves A Trace / Elanor Dymott
The Shanghai Union of Industrial Mystics / Nury Vittachi
The Life and Death of Laura Friday and Pavarotti, her Parrot / David Murphy
The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth / Malcolm Pryce
Happiness is a Chemical in the Brain / Lucia Perillo
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian / Sherman Alexie
The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy / Douglas Adams
May 2014