A Good Read
Sophie’s Bakery for the Broken Hearted Lolly Winston
36-year-old Sophie has just lost her husband, Ethan, to cancer. She had only been married a few years and is devastated. Lolly Winston takes us on a journey through the emotional rollercoaster of bereavement and its diff erent stages, from denial to acceptance.
At fi rst Sophie is a wreck, someone who sleeps all day and guzzles cartons of ice cream for breakfast. When she shows up for work, distraught in her bathrobe and bunny slippers, she fi nds she’s not only lost her husband but her job in a Silicon Valley PR fi rm. Distraught, Sophie leaves California for Ashland, Oregon and through the fog of her grief starts to rebuild her life.
She discovers a previously hidden talent and opens the bakery of
the title. Along the way she has to deal with her mother-in-law and also collects a rag-taggle bunch of new friends who variously try to seduce her, support her and burn her house down. As she juggles her business with her new life, Sophie proves that with enough humour and bravado it is possible to rebuild a life after a devastating loss. And who’s to say she can’t fi nd love again in the process...
Lolly Winston knows how to tug the heart strings. Sophie’s grief is present throughout the book, and heartbreakingly raw, yet the book is funny, touching and uplifting by turn. Even at her lowest, Sophie maintains a wry sense of humour: on an application which asks who to contact in case of emergency, she fi nds that she has no name to enter so writes “George Clooney”.
Keep the Kleenex handy - this novel will have even the hardest-hearted reader in tears.
The Magic Paintbrush Julia Donaldson and Joel Stewart
Julia Donaldson is peerless as a writer for 3-6 year-olds yet her story themes appeal to adults too, which means they don’t mind reading them again and again. She’s as much a master of ‘distilling language’ as any poet, making every word count. In addition she uses the natural rhythm of the spoken voice – which is what makes her stories ideal for reading aloud.
The Magic Paint Brush is an immensely charming tale and the illustrations are quite beautiful and appropriately Chinese in style. Shen is a little girl who is given the gift of a magic brush which makes everything she paints come to life. But with this power comes great responsibility. How will this smart little girl deal with a greedy emperor who wants her to help make him even richer? The results are delightful, beautiful and poetic.
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