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Book Bites: 29 November 2015

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Good Hope RoadGood Hope Road
Sarita Mandanna (Orion)
****
Book Buff
1914: American French Foreign Legion volunteers James Stonebridge and Obadaiah Nelson are in the trenches of the Great War. In between their tale of mud, companionship and horror, is another story, set 14 years later. Here we meet 24-year-old Jim, son of James. When James joins the Bonus March to ​Washington DC, Jim follows, hoping to find greater understanding of a father who is damaged in ways no X-ray can detect. A damning account of war.
- Tiah Beautement @ms_tiahmarie

The Heart Goes LastThe Heart Goes Last
Margaret Atwood (Bloomsbury)
***
Book fiend
An odd mix of The Handmaid’s Tale and the Maddaddam trilogy, without the substance of either, the latest Atwood is still packed with observational brilliance. Stan and Charmaine, down on their luck, are offered a new life in the 1950s-style town of Consilience. Stan looks after chickens, Charmaine dishes out medication. Every other month, though, they are incarcerated in the town’s prison, Positron. It’s when humans get bored, or greedy, that they behave in surprising ways.
- Russell Clarke @russrussy

Notes From the Lost Property DepartmentNotes from the Lost Property Department
Bridget Pitt (Penguin Random House)
****
Book fling
When she was 11, a fall during a Drakensberg hike left Iris altered. After relearning who she is, she’s is haunted by a lingering rage: the Draken within her. When her mother has a stroke, Iris must assume control for the first time since her accident, and discovers that there was more to her meeting the Draken than she remembers – secrets that will forever change the way she sees her mother and herself. Bridget Pitt is a formidable storyteller.
- Samantha Gibb @samantha_gibb

Modern RomanceModern Romance
Aziz Ansari (Penguin Random House)
****
Book buff
In the digital age, the most meaningful relationships people have is with their smartphones. This is what comedian Aziz Ansari explores with sociologist Eric Klinenberg. They spent two years researching dating, via focus groups from New York to Qatar, data from websites Match.com and OkCupid, and interviews with anthropologists and other smart people. What emerges is a funny and entertaining book filled with nifty graphs. The conclusion? “Too much online, not enough dating.”
- Jennifer Platt @Jenniferdplatt

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