Speed Read
Mondays at 5:39 pm on The Wrap (repeats Tuesdays at 1:40 pm)
Representatives from Switzerland’s leading English bookshops give us their picks for great reads.
Speed Read podcast feed
Speed Read: Suspense, a circus and one man's take on drugsMonday, 20 May, 2013A private investigator whose life is as dramatic as those he investigates…it’s the setting for one of the books we’re checking out today on the Speed Read with Matthew Wake from Books, Books, Books in Lausanne. But before we get to the book called Eight-Ball Boogie, we have The Night Circus:
Speed Read: Older authors writing great booksMonday, 13 May, 2013WRS’s Alex Helmick talks to Michael Yates from the Stauffacher English bookstore in Bern about “elder statesmen” who’ve written great books at an older age:
Speed Read: Getting into your business headMonday, 6 May, 2013Juan Canales from the Payout English bookshop in Geneva discusses three books for business, starting with the massive best seller, Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. We also hear about David Allen’s Getting Things Done and Roger Fisher & William Ury’s Getting to Yes:
Speed Read: Spreading the news about New YorkMonday, 29 April, 2013Schira Netser from the Orell Füssli English bookstore in Zurich takes a literary trip through modern day New York with her three recommendations :
- My First New York: Early Adventures in the Big City as Remembered by Actors, Artists, Athletes, Chefs, Comedians, Filmmakers, Mayors, Models, Moguls, Porn Stars, Rockers, Writers and Others from the editors of New York magazine
- Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
- J’aime New York by Alain Ducasse
Speed Read: Historical Paris as never seen beforeMonday, 22 April, 2013Helen Stubbs from the Off the Shelf English bookstore in Geneva reviews a couple of books that take you back, one to the literary salons of 18th century Paris, and another to :
- Wicked Company: The Forgotten Radicalism of the European Enlightenment by Philipp Blom
- Pure by Andrew Miller
Speed Read: A dark streak of American fictionMonday, 15 April, 2013Matthew Wake from Books, Books, Books in Lausanne recommends three upstanding North American fictions with different story lines but share a common dark thematic streak:
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay By Michael Chabon
- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
- Ablutions by Patrick DeWitt
Speed Read: Climbing every mountainMonday, 8 April, 2013Michael Yates from the Stauffacher English bookshop in Bern tackles mountaineering and the great stories that surround it:
- Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration by David Roberts
- The Last Hours on Everest: The Gripping Story of Mallory & Irvine’s Fatal Ascent by Graham Hoyland
- Everest 1953: The Epic Story of the First Ascent by Mick Conefrey
Speed Read: A little selection for your many sidesMonday, 25 March, 2013Laurence Mudry from the Payot English bookstore in Geneva picks out a selection of reads to tailor to your visual, suspenseful and teenaged adventure side:
- Swissted: Vintage Rock Posters Revisited and Reimagined by Mike Joyce (graphism)
- Cemetery Girl by David Bell
- Teenagent: World Challenge by Sarah Hathorn
Speed Read: Enriching books for young readersMonday, 18 March, 2013Schira Netser from the Orell Füssli English bookstore in Zurich sifts through some of her favourite books for children, guaranteed to enrich young readers:
- Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- The Incredible Book Eating Boy (the pop-up edition) by Oliver Jeffers
Speed Read: Old and new quality fictionsMonday, 11 March, 2013Helen Stubbs from the Off the Shelf English bookstore in Geneva digs deep into her book stack to pull out a couple of award-winning classics and one novel by Jordi Punti that is due out in April and making waves with critics:
- Kokoro by Natsume Soseki
- Uninvited Guest by Sadie Jones
- Lost Luggage by Jordi Punti