Cammeray Bookshop’s Summer Bestsellers

Happy New Year and welcome to 2010!

We hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas break and, whether you are still on holiday or are back at work already, we want to make sure you get the most enjoyment possible out of your summer. And, since it seems we can’t count on the sun to shine every day this summer, we’d like to suggest ten novels guaranteed not to let you down.

Here are our Top Ten Bestselling novels so far this summer and you can find them all in store at Cammeray Bookshop:

1: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson

A classic word-of-mouth bestseller, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was one of the most exciting new crime novels of the decade. Published posthumously, this intelligent mystery has won legions of fans purely on the basis of its top class writing and absorbing plot. Few crime novels come more highly recommended.

2: Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel

The winner of the 2009 Booker Prize is remarkable for its ability to explore both the wider politics of Tudor England and the individual psychology of one of its most influential yet maligned reformers. Oliver Cromwell has long been painted the villain but Wolf Hall presents a fresh and compelling new look at this fascinating man.

3: The Lacuna – Barbara Kingsolver

The long-awaited second novel from the author of the spell-binding Poisonwood Bible. From the revolutionary household of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the paranoid hearings of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, The Lacuna is a sweeping, politically charged narrative that beguiles you with its beauty.

4: A Song in the Daylight – Paullina Simons

Paullina Simons has become a regular favourite for Australian readers and her latest book delivers the same emotionally intense ride we are used to. Larissa is an outwardly successful career woman, wife and mother but she still risks throwing it all away for the love of another man. Not your average affair novel by a long shot.

5: The Girl Who Played with Fire – Stieg Larsson

The scintillating sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo featuring the crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist and vengeful punk heroine Lisbeth Salander. Wanted by the police for the murder of two reporters, Lisbeth has disappeared. Mikael, convinced of Lisbeth’s innocence uncovers the truth about her disturbing past.

6: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest – Stieg Larsson

The stunning conclusion to the Millenium Trilogy. Lisbeth Salander lies in intesnive care and her personal vendetta against the men and the corrupt government institutions that destroyed her life hangs by a thread. If you haven’t already picked up the late Stieg Larsson’s incredible series you need to pay attention.

7: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer

Like Stieg Larsson, 70 year old retired librarian Mary Ann Shafer died just months before her debut novel became an international publishing phenomenon. Glorious and heart warming, it is a celebration of literature and the human spirit and an intriguing portrait of the Channel Isles under German Occupation.

8: A Week in December – Sebastian Faulks

A hugely ambitious novel from one of Britain’s greatest living novelists. A Week in December is a Dickensian satire on modern London, a brilliant state-of-the-nation thriller that brings together everyone from investment bankers, Tory MP’s and literary critics to radicalised Islamic youth,  stoners and tube drivers.

9: Truth – Peter Temple

Peter Temple’s stylistic follow-up novel to his stand out Australian crime novel The Broken Shore. Set in a noirish, corrupt Melbourne and a bush-fire wracked Victoria, Truth follows Inspector Steve Villani, head of the Victorian Police Homicide Squad as he investigates a series of gruesome murders.

10: Ordinary Thunderstorms – William Boyd

A twist of fate puts Adam Kindred in the wrong place at the wrong time as he becomes witness to a murder and goes on the run. But his pursuers have their hands on the levers of power and the only way to disappear in the 21st Century is to give up his identity and everything that makes him a modern citizen.