Picaresque Books

12/10/2026

Book/ Author of the week:
The Summer Queen
by Elizabeth Chadwick

Young, vibrant, privileged, Eleanor's future is golden as the heiress ti wealthy Aquitain. But when her father dies in 1137, her childood ends abruptly. She is forced to marry Price Louis of France, shortly thereafter they become King and Queen of France. She is only 13.

05/10/2026

Book/Author of the week:
Homo Deus
by Yuval Noah Harari

This book sets out to examine possibilities of the future of humans. The premise outlines that during the 21st century, humanity is likely to make an attempt to gain happiness, immortality, and God like powers. Harari speculates various ways that this ambition might be realised in the future based on the past and present.

28/09/2026

Book/Author of the Week:

The Secret Garden
By Frances Hodgson Burnett

'In this atory of a small cross-patch of an orphan you follow in the children's footsteps through the enchanted summer of bringing back to life a walled-in garden that had been neglected and deserted for ten long years, and something of the spirit of rebirth, of eternal youth, flows back into one's own veins.'

21/09/2026

Book/Author of the week:
The Lord of The Rings,
by J. R. R. Tolkien

One ring to rule them all,
One ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all,
And in the darkness bind them.

A magical and perilous adventure consisting of Hobbits, Elves, and A Ring.

14/09/2026

Book/ Author of the week:
The Famous Five on Treasure Island
by Enid Blyton

Julian, Dick, George, Anne, and Timothy the dog,
The ruined castle...
The submerged wreck...
The storm...
Capture and Escape...
Buried treasure...
And much more on the famous fives first adventure.

07/09/2026

Book/Author of the week:
Jane Austen (a study guide)
by Robert P. Irvine

This book is an excellent study guide as it gives an introduction the contexts, perspectives, and interpretations of Austen's life and works.

04/09/2026

31/08/2026

Book/ Author of the week:
The School by the Ross and Cromarty heritage society

This book covers everything from the establishment and development of Maryburgh primary school to it's staff, former pupils, and extra curriculars, up to its closure in 2012

24/08/2026

Book/ Author of the week:
When the sky falls by Phil Earle

1941. War is raging. Beneath the buring skies of London, an unlikely friendship is forged between an angry, forgotten boy and a caged majestic gorilla.

17/08/2026

Book/ Author of the week:
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
by Lewis Carroll

A magical tale following a young girls adventure in a mystical world filled with talking animals, whimsical tea parties, and painting the roses red.