JANUARY, 2024 SANTA SACK - BOOKS WE READ OVER THE FESTIVE SEASON

 

JUDY DE:  THE LABYRINTH OF THE SPIRITS BY CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON

This is the final volume of novels set in the Universal Cemetery of Forgotten Books.  Zafon is a master storyteller.  This is a mystery set in Barcelona.  It’s full of drama, intrigue and passion.  In this story he introduces a sexy new heroine whose investigation shines a light on the dark history of Franco’s Spain.  Judy read three books, but this was her favourite.  She said it was well written and easy to read.

JUDY J:  LOLA IN THE MIRROR BY TRENT DALTON

This was published in 2023.  It’s sometimes hard to read, other times hard to put down but always compelling.  His descriptions and his eye for detail are amazing.  A girl and her mother have been on the run for sixteen years from the police and the monster they left in the kitchen with a knife in his throat.  The girl does not know her name and only knows her mother as mum.  Home is in an orange Toyota van parked by the Brisbane River.  They are just 2 of the 100,000 Australian sleeping rough every night.

The girl dreams of becoming an artist.  The mother becomes involved with an underworld drug queen to make money.  When the mother dies her daughter takes over her position as a courier.  It’s a love story and a story of victims of domestic violence.  There is black humour, touching moments, drug culture, violence and the ruin of people’s lives.  If you read Boy Swallows  Universe you should read this book.

BEV:  THE RAGING STORM BY ANNE CLEEVES

This is the third instalment in the Matthew Venn series, a new detective.  The story is set in Greystone, Devon. – a small remote coastal village. When Jem Rosco, a local legend arrives in town, the community are happy to see him. Not long after he  disappears and his body is found in a lifeboat off Sully Cove, a place with secrets. This is an uncomfortable case for D.I. Venn as he went there as a child.  Most of the community are Barum Brethren.  Venn left the sect when he was 18 and now he is not welcome.  When another body is found at Scully Cove, Venn’s judgement is clouded.   The village is cut off by a storm, putting his team in danger. Bev gave it a 5/5.

JUDY A:  THE FROZEN RIVER BY ARIEL LAWHON

The author writes, what she calls, biographical fiction.  She takes an historical figure and sets a narrative around them.  The figure she uses in this novel is Martha Ballard, born in 1735 and died in 1812.  She was a midwife and healer who birthed over 1,000 babies.  She kept a daily diary which is now considered a valuable historical document of the times. A man’s body is pulled from the frozen river – Martha is called on to examine the body.  She judges him to have been bashed and hung before being thrown into the river.  He had been accused of raping the pastor’s wife.  A local physician undermines Martha’s conclusion and declares the death an accident.  Martha is forced to investigate the death on her own.  Judy really enjoyed the way Lawhon weaves facts into a book that is historical fiction, mystery and romance all rolled into one.  She gave it 5/5.

 We welcome our new member, Teresa and hope to see her next month.

TERESA:  DICTIONARY OF LOST WORDS BY PIP WILLIAMS

This book was recommended highly but but Teresa felt it wasn’t what she expected.  It was a bit slow at first. She thought it would focus more on the words rather than on women and their rights.

JOAN:  THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL BY BARONESS ORCZY (Pub 1905)

This is historical and adventure fiction.  It is set in 1792 during the French Revolution following the double life of English aristocrat, Sir Percy Blakeney, the swashbuckling rescuer of French aristocrats.  Joan said it was an exciting, mysterious and action-packed story. It was a very good read.

JOHN:  LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY BY BONNIE GARMUS

The story is set in 1950’s.  Elizabeth Zott wants to be a chemical engineer, but she ends us being on television doing a cooking show.  The management don’t like the way she uses chemical names etc. but the audience love her.  Her personality is well portrayed by the author.  John said he loved the story. He said it was a wonderful book, well written and thoroughly readable.

VAL:  BEST WISHES BY RICHARD GLOVER

It’s about his 365 wishes covering all manner of subjects.  Val found it a bit irritating after a while.  It is humorous, but when it’s a serious subject, he has a strong view.  The humorous parts are quite good.

PRUE:  IMPLACABLE (THE LOST FLEET): BOOK 3 IN THE OUTLANDS SERIES BY JACK CAMPBELL

This series is about the military space adventures of Black Jack Geary – a space pilot revived from an escape pod 100 years on and his current adventures in commanding a fleet into alien spaces to set up negotiations with them.  Prue loves these stories.  This is book 17 in the Lost Fleet set of related stories.  She said they are exciting, easy to read, out of reality entertainment.

SHEILA:  DANNY DUNN BY BRYCE COURTENAY

Sheila loves Bryce Courtenay.  He writes about the experiences of actual people.  This is the story of a family in the aftermath of the Great Depression.  Danny’s family run the local pub.  He signs up to go to war.  The soldiers are caught in Singapore.  His face is destroyed in the prison camp.  He retains integrity and the care of his men.  It’s the story of his life and family in Balmain.  Sheila would highly recommend this book and said it was a very easy read.

PAMELA:  SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE BY KURT VONNEGUT

The first 22 pages are non-fiction.  The rest is about Billy Pilgrim who survived with others from Dresden.  He was a POW in Dresden. Pamela said it’s not her favourite book.  It is a difficult book but not as depressing as she thought.  It is set in New York, Germany and a planet. Billy has become a time traveller. He travels uncontrollably back and forth in time and place.  It’s not chronological.   The central theme is the horror of the Dresden bombing and the futility of war.  Pamela says it’s a strange book, humorous at times.

KRIS:  ONE ITALIAN SUMMER BY PIP WILLIAMS (2017)

Before Pip Williams had written her celebrated novels The Dictionary of the Lost Words and the Bookbinder of Jericho, she and her husband Shannon had dreamed of the good life on the land.  They wanted to slow down their busy lives, grow their own food and spend more time with their children, family and friends.  They quit their jobs and went to Italy for a summer to work as woofers on various organic farms.  It’s a wonderful heartwarming and funny story about their experiences.

Kris

 

FEBRUARY:   We will be reading books with the theme COLD LANDSCAPES,  Choose your own title

DECEMBER 2023 --- BEST BOOK WE READ THIS YEAR BUT NOT FOR BOOKCLUB

 

At the final meeting of the Third Thursday Book Club we decided, as individuals, to review the best book (not one read for Book Club) we had read over the past year and briefly present it to the group. Such variety!

We also bade cheery farewells to Connie, a very special long term member of our group. Whilst we may not have Connies happy presence anymore at our meetings, every time we feel the need to look at a map or follow a journey we will think fondly of Connie.

HELEN - WE DON'T KNOW OURSELVES - Finton O'Toole. A personal history of modern Ireland written by journalist Finton O'Toole examining the political influences, the Catholic Church, myths and long held beliefs, changing World events etc that have all led to present day Ireland.

DIANN FORD - THE GOLDMINERS SISTER - Alison Stuart. A perfect blend of romance, mystery, action and history.  Diann really enjoyed the fictional story, the thrills and tension, set in gold fields of Australia. A winner.

JO - SOMETHING WICKED - Jennifer Rowe. A dead body, a secluded landscape, domestic violence and a cult. A very involved storyline that Jo thoroughly enjoyed.

JOHN - TACTICS - THE ART AND SCIENCE OF SUCCESS. Edward De Bono. Examines over 50 successful individuals and considers how their thinking styles led to their successes.

ROSEMARY - DAMASCUS - Christos Tsiolkas. The events surrounding the beginning of Christianity using the letters of the Disciple Paul and the interactions of other apostles. Well researched, it keeps you wondering. Mind blowing history!

JOAN - HALF A LONG LIFE ROMANCE - Eileen Chang. 1930's Shanghai a young man falls in love, against his family's wishes. The family stops the romance. The story resumes later, it's fast,  disturbing and complex how the characters are used, influenced, exert their powers, with traditions and expectations in play. Shows what China during the 1930's and 1940's was like.

CONNIE - LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY - Bonnie Garmus. Main character, Elizabeth Zott, extremely bright scientist, difficult to be accepted/taken seriously in a man's world in the 1960's. Many troubles with the system, the male hierarchy and her intelligence. Finally finds love, he dies and she's pregnant.  Elizabeth needs work - begins a cooking show on afternoon TV. But - she fills it with scientific facts and information. It's a huge hit with women, not so with the TV executives who want a traditional 'women's' cooking show. Connie really enjoyed the book.

TAMARA - ANN CLEEVES - Ann Cleeves. Tam just really enjoys the books of Ann Cleeves so her favourite reads this year have been any she's read of .....Ann Cleeves.

PAT - THE DRESSMAKERS SECRET - Lorna Cook. Historical fiction set 2 time frames, WW2 and present day. Chloe's grandmother, Adele, worked for Coco Chanel, she lived at the Ritz Hotel Paris (during German occupation). Many Nazi's also lived there. Chloe - present day discovers the history of her grandmothers involvement with Coco, of Coco's involvement with the Nazi's, her secret work sending information to the Allies, her assistance in helping Jews escape. A really good story.

JUDY A - SLOUGH HOUSE - Mick Herron. A series of books - the 1st is called SLOW HORSES. Washed up spies all want to return to MI5, all have disgraced themselves but want back in the action. Jackson Lamb is the head of the house. 8 Books in the series. Clever writing, sly humour that bubbles all through the books.

BEV - VIOLET KELLY AND THE JADE OWL - Fiona Britain. Set in a brothel in Paddington during the 1930's, an orphan - Violet - runs away from home and ends up living at the brothel. A girl arrives, chained, abused, about to be killed and Violet makes it her mission to save her. The book improved the more Bev  read.

JUDY J - THE CHAIN - Adrian McKinty. Written by and Irish novelist the story takes place during the time of the Troubles. A university lecturer receives a mystery call saying her daughter has been kidnapped. A ransom must be paid and another child must be kidnapped. This begins a chain of events. What would you do? A thriller, fast paced, a page turner.

ROSEMARY S - DAUGHTERS OF WAR - Trilogy by Dinah Jefferies. Begins in 1944 where 3 English sisters are living through WW2 in a small French village. Wartime sees them take risks to survive. Characters are well balanced, many harrowing events to overcome, plot is strong. The Hidden Palace has 2 timelines with only 1 sister - Florence -  followed. She returns to England fleeing brutalities only to be asked by her mother to return to find another sister. There are few clues for Florence to follow. 3rd book is In the Night Train to Marrakech. Set in 1960's with a backdrop of rising worldwide political tensions, this book is a strong thriller and follows the daughter of one of the sisters. Moroccan scenery, food, sounds and smells are beautifully portrayed. Very much enjoyed.

LYN - ARCADIA - Di Morrissey - Family mystery set in southern Tasmania, 3 generations, a lush forest and a secluded farm, good friends, some danger and a mystery. The descriptions and word pictures of the forest and surrounding countryside created by the author were just beautiful.

JUDY DEL T - STONE YARD DEVOTIONAL - Charlotte Wood.  A woman leaves her city life to return to her early life. She struggles to recover from the death of her mother. The community she rejoins is strange, reclusive, monastic. With 3 unusual events occurring, her stability is shaken and she faces deep questions - can anyone be truly good? What is forgiveness?

KRIS - WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING - Delia Owens. Set in 1950's in isolated marshes of North Carolina. As main character Kya grows she lives a secluded, quiet life surrounded by nature and the natural environment. Called 'The Marsh Girl' and considered unfit for polite society, she becomes friendly with a local boy who shares her love of nature. When he goes to College she doesn't understand. When another local boy is found dead attention turns to Kya. A moving story worth reading.

VAL - JAMES REDBANK. An English pastoralist in the Lake District, writes about traditional farming methods. With the industrial revolution farming changed dramatically and many other problems became evident. James sees value in the traditions and wants a balance between the 2 methods.

PRU - THERE, THERE - Tommy Orange. 12 characters are followed, all are urban Native Americans. Lives eventually collide. The novel shows the resilience and challenges that Native Americans face whilst also grappling with their 'painful history'. The characters struggle with depression, alcoholism, unemployment, poverty etc. Beautiful, sad and funny - well worth a read.

LESLEY - HOMECOMING - Kate Morton. Historical fiction with 2 timelines. Present day - Jess returns from London to be with her beloved grandmother Nora. Both Nora and Jess are strong, smart and successful. 1959 - in the Adelaide Hills a young mother and her 3 children, living in an opulent, isolated home die mysteriously. A baby girl is missing. These 2 stories intertwine - family secrets and dynamics, mother/daughter relationships, small town life, grief and loss. The book is well written, highly emotive of rural Australia and whilst slow at the beginning, as the characters flesh out and links are made the plot is increasingly intriguing. 

 

 

 In January we have Santa Sack.  We choose  book we have read over the festive season.