Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë was published in 1847, originally under the pen name of Ellis Bell, and is the author’s only novel. A dark and stormy novel set on the Yorkshire moors, Wuthering Heights tells the story of Cathy and Heathcliff and their respective families.

The action is related through narrators; the principal narrator is Mr Lockwood, a tenant of Heathcliff who is told the story of Heathcliff’s past by the housekeeper Ellen (Nelly) Dean, who was involved in all the events. Much of the novel, therefore, is set in the past. In the present day, many of the characters are dead, and Heathcliff has possession of Wuthering Heights and the nearby Thrushcross Grange, where Mr Lockwood is staying.

Emily Brontë

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Jane Austen is an author who many people love or hate. Her detractors will say she is dull and formulaic, her fans will say she wrote beautifully. Personally, I’m somewhere in the middle.

Pride and Prejudice is perhaps her best known novel. Set in Hertfordshire, it is about the Bennet family, Mr & Mrs Bennet and their five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine (Kitty) and Lydia. Mrs Bennet’s main goal in life is securing advantageous marriages for her daughters, and so chases after every eligible man who enters the county. The main character is Elizabeth, from whose point of view we see much of the story.

Jane Austen

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The Mabinogion are a collection of eleven prose stories that have a very large presence in Welsh literature. Drawing on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, folklore, and early medieval traditions, each of these tales is the product of a longstanding Welsh narrative tradition, and has been widely influential, especially since their translation into English. At the heart of the Mabinogion – the name given to this collection, as compiled and translated in English in the 19th century by Lady Charlotte Guest – is the four branches of heroic tales that make up the Mabinogi proper. The fourth branch, Math Fab Mathonwy (Math, son of Mathonwy) is the tale that has been re-imagined in Gwyneth Lewis’ The Meat Tree, one of Seren Books’ new stories from the Mabinogion collection.

Gwyneth Lewis, Myths

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My daughters and I have read quite a few of Debi Gliori’s books together and I always like the way that each one is a bit different. We have just read ‘Where did that baby come from?’ and really enjoyed it as it is both funny and thought provoking.

The story features a family of black and white striped cats and this family has just had a baby. Obviously the baby gets a lot of attention much to the consternation of its older brother or sister (not sure which!).

Debi Gliori, picture book

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India’s north east has never really been part of the country. Journalist B Verghese spoke of how people in the north east had been discriminated against for centuries simply because they were a mostly slant eyed people who spoke their own languages and worshipped animistic gods. When the Hindus and later the Muslims over ran those parts, they formed their own communities, raised their temples and mosques and ignored the local population as far as they could. With time and for various reasons, insurgency raised its head in the north east. Naga tribes spilled over into Manipur, Bangladeshis crossed non existent borders and set up shop and whole area became a pot that was constantly boiling over.

Sidhartha Sarma, a journalist by profession, born in Assam, set out in the spring of 2008 to walk through the troubled north east and take a look at life there.

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Pankaj is a young man with a plan and all the attributes he needs to achieve his goals. Admittedly he’s poor but he has a lot going for him despite the barriers of class, caste and poverty. From an early age he’s ambitious beyond measure, fiercely intelligent and has the true entrepreneur spirit. With absolute determination to win a place at India’s finest Institute – the IIT – he’s not going to let anything stand in his way. What could possibly go wrong?

Sure enough the only thing he couldn’t plan for comes to pass and through no fault of his own he misses the exam, ensuring the Zero Percentile score of the books title.

Neeraj Chhiba

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It might seem a strange combination, but a bagpiping Cat, a Squirrel with a banjo and a small singing Duck live together, seemingly in harmony, in a little house in a wood. We first see them through the window, have great fun together.

Their diet consists mainly of pumpkin soup – homemade, of course. Each has a particular task in the process: Cat slices the pumpkin, Squirrel stirs in the water and Duck tips in just enough salt. This never changes.

Helen Cooper, picture book

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Winston the Book Wolf is a fabulous book for any small book loving children out there. It is written by Marni McGee and illustrated by Ian Beck and tells the tale of a much misunderstood wolf who truly loves books. The only problem is that rather than reading them he tends to want to eat them – that is until one little girl shows him the error of his ways!

The wolf in question is called Winston and at the start of the story we see him attempting to enter the local library past the ‘No Wolves Allowed’ sign that he actually eats in the process.

Ian Beck, Marni McGee, picture book

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This is a guest post from our book blogging friend Lovely Treez. The original post can be found on her site  Lovely Treez Reads.

This is quite an unusal book, hard to categorise, given that it covers everything from schoolboy fantasies to complex scientific theories. However, somehow this eclectic mix works and what emerges is a masterly tale of life, love, past versus present – a veritable saga.

As the title states, Daniel “Skippy” Juster does indeed die and the prologue details his untimely demise. What follows is a tale of epic proportions divided into three separate books, Hopeland, Heartland and Ghostland. Most of the novel is set in and around Seabrook College, a prestigious Dublin school run by the Paraclete order who are keen to maintain the school’s excellent reputation. Greg Costigan, the first acting lay principal, is keen to move the school into the 21st century and one senses the tension between the old and new orders.

Paul Murray

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Everyone’s heard of the boss from hell – and the most notable one in fiction was The Devil Wears Prada’s version of Anna Wintour. Now Indian fiction has come a long way with its chick lit avatars and quite obviously the story of the boss from hell in a fashionable environment was inevitable. After her book on bringing up her son Vasu, Parul Sharma has moved on to the world of glitz, glamour bitching and fashion models.

The story starts with Mini Shukla and her friend Tanya on their first day at JR Enterprises.

Parul Sharma

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The Squeeze: Oil, Money and Greed in the 21st Century by Tom Bower is detailed account of the activities of the oil industry, with particular focus on the oil majors, during the later part of the 20th century, and into the 21st century. With unprecedented access to sources within Big Oil and around the industry, Bower has constructed a detailed and action packed account of a necessary but disliked industry.

The Squeeze has a heavy focus on the oil majors, such as BP, Exxon, Shell, Chevron and Mobil, but also looks at the smaller companies, service companies trader which surround the oil majors, generally known as Big Oil.

Tom Bower

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