BOOK OF THE WEEK with Linda Jennings. The Martian, Andy Weir, ISBN 978-1785031137 (Del Ray) BD4.500 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
‘I’m stranded on Mars. I have no way to communicate with Earth. I’m in a habitat designed to last 31 days. If the oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the water reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death …’
During a manned mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meagre supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.
READ IT NOW IN PAPERBACK
Ragged Rose, Dilly Court, ISBN 978-0008137359 (Harper) BD4 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members)
This heart-warming new novel from Dilly Court has been penned by the Sunday Times Top 10 bestselling author of The Beggar Maid.
With the fate of her family in her hands, Rose has to make a terrible choice. Be thrown onto the streets without a penny to her name, or watch her loved ones fall into ruin.
Rose is keeping a dreadful secret, and, too scared to ask her strict father for help, it’s down to her to keep her brother from the hangman’s noose – whatever it takes. Her innocent sister Cora is on a different road to ruin, bewitched by a handsome cad whose intentions are anything but gallant.
When Rose’s father discovers that his children have disgraced his name he turns them onto the street. Penniless, homeless and with the noose tightening, Rose must rescue her brother and keep her sister from the streets, even if it means putting herself in the most terrible danger.
My favourite read of the week
The Little Shop of Happy Ever After, Jenny Colgan, ISBN 978-0751553932 (Sphere) BD4.500 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
Given a back-room computer job when the beloved Birmingham library she works in turns into a downsized retail complex, Nina misses her old role terribly – dealing with people, greeting her regulars, making sure everyone gets the right books for their needs.
Then a new business nobody else wants catches her eye - owning a tiny little bookshop bus up in the Scottish highlands. No computers, shortages, out all hours in the freezing cold and driving with a tiny stock of books ... not to mention how the little community is going to take to her, particularly when she stalls the bus on a level crossing!
