January, 2020 - Books we read over the festive season

Julia:  Lost Light by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch has quit the Los Angeles Police Department.  He takes a file with him to find out why a young woman was murdered 4 years ago.  Julia really enjoyed this book.  She also read Cat O' Nine Tales by Jeffrey Archer. Julia loves cats and thought it was very good.  It's a collection of short stories.  Julia said the drawings were great.

Rosemarie: The Long Call by Ann Cleeves

This is the first book in the Two Rivers series from the author who wrote Vera and Shetland.  It is set in North Devon.  A new detective, Matthew Venn is introduced.  He lacks confidence and is not as strong a character as Vera.  He is gay, but married.  This brings up issues with the family and church community.  There is a murder of a man at the beach.  There are secrets in the community.  Rosemarie thoroughly enjoyed this book.  She also read Silver by Chris Hammer.  He is the author of Scrublands.  Rosemarie enjoyed this book which is quite long at 550 pages.

 Bev:   This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay

This book is non fiction.  It's a series of diary entries of a junior doctor as he progresses through the ranks.  It showed all the mistakes that doctors make.  It was an easy read.  She didn't love or hate it.  Although it was just something you read bits of at a time, it was very interesting.

Judy D also read This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay.  She agreed with Stephen Fry's comment that it was painfully funny.

Tam:  Heart of the Dreaming by Di Morrissey

The main character is Queenie.  She loved and lived for the family sheep property.  Queenie marries a gambler and loses everything.  She also has a very jealous brother.  Queenie goes to the city and becomes a great real estate agent and makes a lot of money to be able to get the farm back.  It was a bit too much.  Her character was too perfect and brilliant and a bit unbelievable.

Prue:  Resistance by Owen Sheers

This is an alternative history novel by a Fijian/Welsh poet and writer.  It is set in the Black Mountains of Wales.  It is set in 1944-1945 and Germany has occupied England.  There are five villages in the valley and they become isolated.  All the men disappear.  The women carry on but they refuse to collaborate with the Germans until there is a very bad winter.  The characters were beautifully developed and Prue said it was really well done.

Wendy:  Field of Poppies by Carmel Bird

This is Carmel Bird's latest book and her 10th novel.  It is a mystery.  It's very descriptive but a strangely constructed book.  Terrible things are happening in the world such as child slavery.  William, a doctor and his wife, Marsali decide to escape the city to a (fictional) country town.  They are lovable and well meaning but eventually they realise strange things are happening in the country town as well.

Judy A:  Bowraville by Dan Box

This is a true story.  Between the years 1990 to 1991 three aboriginal children were murdered.  No one was ever convicted of the crime.  Journalist, Dan Box heard about the case from Dan Jubelin, a homicide detective who worked on it. He was angry and sad at the state of justice in Australia and felt justice was not the same for everyone.  It was meticulously researched.
Judy also read Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout.  I's the sequel to Olive Kitteridge, the story of a an older crotchety high school Maths teacher in a town in America.  Judy loves the Olive Kitteridge books.

Colleen:  Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

It's a novel about building a Cathedral in the middle ages. The men and women who built it were poor.  They slept on floor but they created the most beautiful buildings.  Colleen enjoyed it.

Diann:  The Daughters of Mars by Tom Keneally

This novel is 589 pages.  It's set in 1915.  Two sisters joined the war effort as nurses.  They share a secret from the dairy farm where they grew up. It gives the female perspective to WW1.  It's well researched.  Diann said it was a really great novel and it was a very good read.

Judy J:  Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

 This book was published in 2008 and won the Pulitzer prize.  It's 13 stories and Olive is the connection between all the stories.  It moves throughout her life.  It's realistically drawn with an emotional depth and Judy enjoyed this book.

Jo:  Deadly Intent by Lynda La Plante

A ruthless drug dealer has disappeared.   He has plastic surgery to change his face in Mexico.  He is unrecognizable when he returns to England.  He tries to put a fatal drug on the market.  The female detective Anna Travis is called in to work on the case.  Jo said it was brilliant.

Claurene:  Me by Elton John

This is Elton John's official autobiography.  After 50 pages, Claurene wasn't sure about it but she said it got better.  She also read Tall Tales and Wee Stories: The Best of Billy Connolly by Billy Connolly.  It's not a biography but a compilation of all the skits he has done.  Claurene didn't like it.  She said it was not good.

Connie:  The Last Voyage of Mrs Henry Parker by Joanna Nell 

Evelyn trained as a nurse in England.  She sailed from England to Australia in 1953 in the hope of an adventure.  She fell in love and married the ship's doctor. As the doctor's wife she lived on board.  The story goes ahead to when she is elderly and losing her memory.  She loses her husband and walks all over the ship looking for him.  It was very amusing as well as very sad in parts.  Connie really enjoyed this book.

Joan:  The Anarchy:  The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire by William Dalrymple. 

The author is an historian who lives in India most of the time.  This is the story of the relentless rise of the East India Company. It's London, 1599 and auditor and financier Thomas Smythe invests in a trading company seeking fortunes in the spice trade.  The Dutch are ahead of the game so they focused on Bengal.  In 1765 The East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and forced him to hand Bengal over to the company. The ships and private army of the company were double the size of the British army. The British government made a lot of money from the company.  It's hardcore history and Joan said it was so absorbing.  

Val:  Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori

Each chapter deals with a different tree. The illustrations are beautiful.  Val said it was a fascinating book.

Sheila:  Sharpe's Company by Bernard Cornwell

Sheila has read the series which consists of 21 books.  It is set during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The protagonist, Richard Sharpe is working his way up in the English Army.  The descriptions are very apt. Although it is historical fiction, Sheila said it was historically accurate. She said it was well worth reading, a great holiday read.

Pamela:  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

The story starts slowly.  It is divided into five sections.  The time is 1922 after the bolshevik revolution.  It is set in Moscow's Hotel Metropol for most of the story.  The main character, Count Alexander Rostov was sentenced to be a former person because he wrote a poem for political change.  He has to vacate his rooms in the hotel to live in the attic.  It turns into a thriller.  Pamela said the writing was beautiful and it was uplifting to read.  It was a book she couldn't put down.

 Kris:  Room for a Stranger by Melanie Cheng

The main character Meg, a 75 year old woman, is living alone with her African grey parrot called Atticus for company.  Since her sister Helen died, Meg has been very lonely.  She becomes involved in a scheme where a younger person is given accommodation in return for a few duties.  Andy
Chan is the Chines second year university student who comes to live with her.  He is struggling financially and with his studies.  It's beautifully written.  The characters are flawed and vulnerable.  It's also an insightful look at multicultural Australia. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

Kris


                                      FEBRUARY, 2020:  Any title by KATE MORTON







 

 

December 2019: The Best Book You Read This Year!

Kris: The Library Book by Susan Orlean

In 1986 a fire destroyed much of the Los Angeles Public Library. While it was never proved by whom or why the fire was lit, this book explores, through little snippets, the importance of the Library to the community and the many roles it plays. While not a riveting book, it certainly was a ‘lovely read’.

                          

Rosemary: Dignity by Alys Conran

This is the 2^nd novel by this young Welsh writer and it covers both the 20^th century in India at the time of the Raj, and a modern day 21^st century UK town. It sways beautifully between the two, and you have no trouble determining which era you are currently in.

Joan:

To bring an element of coolness to the heat of this summer, Joan shared a poem, The Cremation of Stan McGee, written by Robert M Service.  It was published in 1907 and concerns the cremation of a prospector who freezes to death in Yukon, Canada, as told by the man who cremates him.

Bev: Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

Anthony Peardew is the ‘keeper of lost things’. Forty years ago he lost a keepsake of his fiancé, who unexpectedly died later that day. So he began collecting lost things, taking them home and cataloguing them. He had so many he had to get an assistant, Laura. When he died, she has to carry out his last wish, to reunite these objects with their owners. Bev described it as a sweet story.

Jo: Owl be Home for Christmas by Donna Andrews

This is the 26^th book in the Meg Langslow series, a lighthearted murder mystery set around Christmas. In a snow storm people are worried about getting home in time!

Wendy L: The Weekend by Charlotte Wood

The story concerns three older women who have been friends for 40 years. A fourth member has just died so they go to her beach house to clean it out to get it ready for sale. They explore their friendships, some bubbling tensions arise and secrets are revealed. Beautiful characters in a terrific book.

Lesley: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Attwood

Having seen the TV series, Lesley thought she should read the book. She thought the book was good but glad she had seen the series. She was particularly interested in the notes at the end. Reflecting on these, the comment was that you can’t judge on what has happened in the past.

Connie: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

From the first page she enjoyed it! Jean Perdu buys a barge on the Seine and turns it into a bookshop. As he takes it down the river he advises people what to read to sort out their problems. He meets so many interesting people, and sorts them all out, except himself.

Judy J: The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee

This is her story of growing up in North Korea, a secretive and brutal totalitarian regime. Eager to see what life was like in China, she crosses the border at night. The true story of her survival, not only in China, but eventually in South Korea, is remarkable. It was twelve years before she was able to meet her family again and help them escape to join her.

Julia: Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham

The author has a new protagonist in Cyrus Haven, also a criminal psychologist. Evie Cormac is a girl without a past, found in a secret room after a shocking crime. Julia liked the way the book is written, with one chapter told by Evie, the next by Cyrus. Michael Robothan is recognized as great crime writer.

Ed: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens                

Kya is a young girl who lives in an old shack in the marshes in North Carolina. She is left to look after herself but also learns so much about the gulls and other creatures in the area. Eventually this knowledge changes her life. A very heartwarming story of resilience, survival, hope, love and much more.

Prue: The Digger’s Rest Hotel by Geoffrey McGeachin

This is the first of three ‘Charlie Berlin’ crime novels and won the Ned Kelly award for best fiction in 2011. Charlie Berlin is a Melbourne police detective who served as a WW11 pilot, was shot down and did time as a POW. On his return to the police force he didn’t quite ‘fit in’ so was sent to Wodonga to solve a series of crimes. Prue enjoyed it so much, she is in the process of finishing the remaining books in the series.

Diann: Cesha’s Story by Cesha Glazer

Cesha Glazer’s story is remarkable. Born near Warsaw, Cesha was a blonde young woman who was easily able to pass as a Christian.  She spoke Polish with no trace of an accent.  This, combined with her ingenuity and ability to retain her composure, even in the face of extreme danger, enables her to act as a courier from the Warsaw Ghetto and later to live ‘in plain sight’ in Warsaw. Cesha’s Story is a devastating picture of life in wartime Poland.  But it also shows how individuals were able to rebuild their lives in Australia and to find meaning in their survival by telling their stories in the hope of ensuring that no such horror occurs again.

Charis: Pacifica by Kirsten Simmons

Set in the future when the ice has melted and plastics in the ocean have formed an island. The world is divided into two groups at war with each other, and one of these groups live on the ‘plastic island’.

In this dystopian world, everything we haven't done to save the environment has taken its toll. Global warming went to an extreme; all the icebergs in the world melted; miles and miles of rubbish make the seas almost inhabitable!

Claurene:  Rather his Own Man by Geoffrey Robertson

This is the second part of his memoir, and is absolutely a fun, fascinating, very witty and poignant memoir. Good fun to read and a fantastic book.

Tam: The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett

The book has a very different format – in 1958 a young couple meet after she fell off her bike. Three different versions of what could have happened are told. The same people make different decisions in each part. Tam found it quite interesting.

Pat: The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama

Pat found it a really interesting and different book.

Most people associate happiness with things, but it has to come from within you, not material things.

Sheila: The House on the Hill by Susan Duncan

This is the third book of her memoirs. She is at the age where she has decided there is no point sweating on long term ramifications; there aren’t any. She is aging gracefully, building a house, grappling with floods and droughts and sorting out things from her family’s past.

Sheila thought the first two books were better though.

Pamela: The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Its not an easy read, with four stories that happen to members of the Compson family, in one day but in different years. Everyone is complicated and with a different point of view. Published in 1929, it was the author’s fourth novel.

January 2020  ~  ‘Santa Sack’

At our first Book Club meeting for the year, we will share books we have received for Christmas and/or read over this holiday period.