APRIL, 2019 - THE AUTHOR DI MORRISSEY - VARIOUS TITLES

Di Morrissey is an Australian novelist, the author of 25 best selling novels and 5 children's books.

THE OPAL DESERT
Published in 2011

PAMELA:   The story was in three different parts about three different women.  Pamela read the first part and 4 pages of the second part.  She didn't find much about opal mining and didn't like the book.

JUDY A:  It's a story about three women whose lives intertwined.  It was set in a town near Broken Hill.  Judy found it a pleasant read and better than she had anticipated.

TEARS OF THE MOON
Published in 1995

SHEILA:   This is a story about pearl diving.  Sheila thought the subject was interesting and said the author had a real feel for Australia.  It's a family saga. After the death of her mother, a young Sydney woman  from a dysfunctional family decides to trace her family roots in the hope of understanding her mother. The story goes back to the pearling industry in Broome and the effects of  WWI and WWII industry.  The Japanese were interned.  Sheila said the descriptions of pearling were magnificent and felt the author had done a lot of research.

BEV:  Bev said it was better than she thought it would be and she said she liked it. She was expecting more soap opera.  Lily, a young woman was wanting to find out her family history. Through this she learns about the pearl diving industry.

SILENT COUNTRY
Published in 2009

JUDY D:    The story is about a television producer writing a story about a film crew who went to the outback 50 years ago.  Judy said the story was better than she thought it would be and the descriptions of country, especially Kakadu and Coopers Creek were excellent.

THE PLANTATION
Published in 2010

CHARIS:  The story is set in Malaysia and Australia. It's told in first person dialogue and Charis was totally irritated with the speech marks.  The story is about a female marketing consultant who helps her mother when she is having her house demolished.  She is given information that sends her on a search to find out about her Aunt and family in Malaysia.  Charis said it was a good story. 

VAL:  It's a story about a young woman in the RAAF who is linked to another young woman who is looking into her past.  The story from the past is about two sisters, one goes to Singapore and the other one, with a child is interned in Australia.  Val felt pleasantly surprized and felt the story rang true.  She said the author does a good job with her research.
 
KIMBERLEY SUN
 Published in 2002

TAM:  This is a follow up to Tears of the Moon, also set in Broome.  Tam has read a lot of Di Morrissey and thinks they are a good holiday read.  She seems to have a similar plot in all of her books.  The settings are good and the descriptions spot on.  She takes a lot of political and/or environment issues and weaves a story around them.

WHEN THE SINGING STOPS
Published in 1996

JO:  The story is about a young Australian woman who travels to visit her brother in Guyana, South America.  She finds a unique and beautiful culture being destroyed.  Jo said there was a bit of everything in it - environmental issues, drug running, murder, family dynamics.  She loved it and said it was very interesting but a bit too long.

ARCADIA
Published in 2018

PAT:  It's about two young girls who grew up together.  One moved to the city.  There was no real story to it and it was super sweet.  Pat found it humdrum. 

DISTANT JOURNEY
Published in 2016

ROSEMARIE:   There are no political or environment issues in this book.  The story is about Cindy, who lives with her Aunt in America.  She is about to go to university.  She falls madly in love with an Australian grazier.  They marry and return to the family property in western New South Wales. This is the story of their life together.  Rosemarie said it wasn't a challenging read.  It was an easy read but very bland.

DIANN:  The story is about Cindy who goes to Palm Springs, USA to take care of her aunt's child as her aunt is trying to run a sewing business.  The aunt had moved to get away as she was a battered wife.  The aunt's sister comes out to Palm Springs later to do catering as well and the business begins to grow.  When Cindy gets married to a grazier, the father in law doesn't think she is good enough for his son.  Diann said it was a really good story.

ED:  Ed said Cindy was heartbroken after an earlier romance.  She meets Murray, an Australian on holidays in California.  They have a whirlwind romance, get married and move to the sheep station in the Riverina district in Australia.  Murray's father is very rude to Cindy.  Cindy wants to find out more about Murray's mother who left when he was young but no one wants to talk about her.  Ed enjoyed the book.

THE BAY
Published in 2001 

JULIA:  The Bay was once a whaling town and throughout the book there are two stories.  The main story is about the Bay in the present and the people who live there. Alongside that there is a story told by a woman from the late 19th century who was married to a Norwegian whaler.  They had made their home in the Bay and her experiences were recorded in the logbook she kept on their travels and during her life in the Bay.  Julia loved the book and worked out where the Bay was very early in the book. 

KRIS:  The modern story begins with Holly, a 45 year old North Shore woman who is married to a ruthless businessman who makes her feel inadequate.  With her children now at University she buys an old historic house in the Bay to renovate and to prove her capabilities to her family. There are a lot of different characters and stories, lost souls, alternative lifestylers, people starting new lives as well as the other main story of the whaling industry in the past. In the beginning it was a bit confusing but it was all drawn together at the end.  It was a very good read.

THE LAST MILE HOME
 Published in 1994

 CONNIE:  As this is one of Di Morrissey's  early books, Connie felt she must become a better writer. It's about the daughter of a poor shearer who falls in love with the boss's son.  They have a secret relationship and she falls pregnant.  They go away together. There is a tragedy but a satisfactory ending.  She then read a later book to compare.  THE WINTER SEA is set in Italy before WWII.  It's about a fisherman who joins the army and goes to war.  After the war he goes to a place south of Wollongong and works as a fisherman.  Another story is introduced from the present about a young woman who finds herself in a fishing village after her divorce.  She meets the grandson of the original Italian fellow.  Connie said there was a very good twist and a satisfactory ending.  She feels she has now read enough of Di Morrissey.

THE RED COAST
Published 2017

LESLEY:  It was an easy read.  Lesley has read quite a few Di Morrissey books and said they were very formulaic.  The backdrop is Broome in the early days of the pearling industry.  She skims across issues, environment, aboriginal issues, government and big business in a superficial way.  There was too much description of the countryside.  Lesley said she enjoyed it but wouldn't read another.

RAIN MUSIC
Published in 2015

DI:  The story begins with a brother and sister whose father has died.  He is well thought of in the community and they commemorate him with a building.  The brother goes north  where he is a guitarist in the local pub. Then the sister wants him back for a reunion.  About half way through Di lost interest.  She said it was very superficial.

Kris



MAY BOOK CLUB:  Books by Kazuo Ishiguro including Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go, When we were Orphans and The Unconsoled.

JUNE BOOK CLUB:  Comedy - choose your own

MARCH 2019 - Books by MICHELE GIUTTARI

The author Michele Giuttari was an Italian police chief from 1995 to 2003 who was involved in fighting the Mafia.  He became a best selling novelist whose fictional police hero, Michele Ferrara, is also involved in fighting the Mafia.

FLORENTINE DEATH  

This is Book 1 in the series about Chief Superintendent Michele Ferrara. He is investigating a series of brutal and apparently random murders.


CONNIE:  The first few chapters got her confused.  She couldn't keep pace with the people.  Once she got all the murders sorted it was okay.  She found it complicated and too fragmented but she enjoyed it at the end when it was all sorted out.  She would like to try another one of his books.

ED:  This is the author's first book.  It was easy to read but the names were hard to pronounce.  She said it was well done and she suspected the identity of the serial killer.

DIANE:  It flowed well and leads you on a merry chase.  Inspector Ferrara receives threatening letters. There is emphasis on the priests and what they were doing.  "All in all a good read" Di said.  

JUDY J:  She read it on the plane. She thought it was a bit clumsily written.  The dialogue was corny in places.  Very quickly something happens, right at the end.  Judy also said it didn't given you a feel of the city.

LESLEY:  She also read it on the plane, but only got half way through.  She said it could have been set anywhere.  She quite enjoyed it but thought the characters were not well drawn.  She said it was a bit simple but would like to finish the book.


DEATH IN TUSCANY 

This is Book 2 in the series.  In a picturesque Tuscan town the body of a scantily dressed young girl is discovered lying by the edge of the woods.

PAMELA:  It begins with the death of a young girl.  She is thought to have died of an overdose.  Inspector Ferrara is not convinced.  The plot becomes complicated and convoluted.  There are two police forces and there are always problems between them about who has the right to conduct the investigation.  A lot of different things are going on and Pamela found it a bit incredible when a solution was so easily found.  She said it was an okay read with a satisfactory conclusion.

SHEILA:  She didn't like it and couldn't remember what it was about.  She also said the translation wasn't all that good. 

PAT:  There was one murder and one kidnapping and Pat enjoyed reading the book to see how they were connected.  It was easy to follow but seem to go on and on a bit in the middle.  She got the feeling it was true to life as the author was head of the flying squad before he became a writer.

BEV:  She enjoyed every minute of it.  Read it in a day and a half.  She liked the way it all fitted together.  Bev enjoyed the story and the conclusion.

DEATH OF A MAFIA DON

This is Book 3 in the series.  As Ferrara is driving to work through the busy streets of Florence, a bomb explodes putting him in hospital.  Ferrara has only recently organized the arrest of a Mafia boss.

KRIS:  A Mafia boss is found dead in his cell and Inspector Ferrara is determined to find answers.  There is military involvement and talk of terrorism, as well as talk of rival groups within the Mafia. All the different names of the Mafia were confusing and it was difficult to keep track of who's who but apart from that, it was an easy, quick read.  It was quite enjoyable with lots of twists and turns.

TAM:  She thought there were too many characters at once and it could have been set anywhere. She still thought it was good and an easy read.

ROSEMARIE:  She thought the characters weren't well developed and it was far too long.  She didn't like the style and said perhaps something was lost in the translation from Italian to
English.  

CLAURENE:  She found the names difficult and there were too many people.

DARK HEART OF FLORENCE

This is Book 6 in the series.  After enduring years at the mercy of a serial killer, the people of Florence rejoice at news of his death until a senator is found brutally murdered.

JUDY A:  A senator and his butler are savagely murdered.  You soon know who did it but Judy kept reading it to find out.  She said is was amateurly written and she wouldn't read another one of his books.

DEATH UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN

 This is Book 7 in the series.  In a dark prison cell, a serial killer plans his retribution.

VAL:  She had read this author many years ago. She read it in 2003 and enjoyed this one and read several others.  She didn't remember his books could be so gruesome.  She feels the author is writing very much from experience.  

A DEATH IN CALABRIA

This is Book 4 in the series.  Calabria, a wild and beautiful region of Italy is home to a deadly organized Mafia crime operation.

JOAN:  It's the story of the Ndrangheta - the Calabrian Mafia formed around 1890. There is a death in the USA leading back to the root problem of drug smuggling in Calabria. The Sicilian Mafia are weakened and the Calabrian Mafia take the opportunity.  Joan said it was very mediocre.  She thought it was shades of juvenile and compared the Mafia wives luxuriating on couches to a Joan Collins story.

DIANN:  She enjoyed the Godfather novels so she enjoyed reading this book but hasn't had time to finish.   Giuttari's writing is simple and she would recommend his novels.  

WENDY:  It was complicated with lots of different characters and too many law enforcement agencies.  The Mafia wives drove her mad and she felt they were unnecessary to the plot.  Wendy thought it might be the translation from Italian to English.  She read it all but would not read another one.

JULIA:  There were too many characters and she only got half way through.  She did enjoy it and thought the flashbacks from New York to Calabria were done well.

JO:  She read it and enjoyed the story. 

CHARIS: She liked the way it carried across from USA to Calabria.  It was easy to read and quite a good read but she was frustrated with the descriptions of the men.  Charis said she was not enamoured with the writing style and thought it was more a journalistic style of writing.

JUDY D:   She did finish it but wouldn't read another one.  Judy does like murder mysteries and the Italian author, Donna Leon but didn't want to read about the Mafia and politics.


OTHER BOOKS RECOMMENDED

PRUE:  THE SHADOW DISTRICT by ARNALDUR INDRIDASON

The story is about a modern day detective solving cold cases from the war.  It's the first in a series of wartime mysteries set in Iceland. One chapter is current and one is in the past.  She liked the differences between the people from the country and the city.  Prue liked the book and said it was an easy read.

MARINA:  OMERTA by MARIO PUZO  

Omerta means Sicilian code of honour for silence.  The plot centres around a New York mob boss who is assassinated and no-one will talk.  The story is beautifully told from a cultural perspective. The characters depict the world we live in today - the politicians lie, the rich are merciless in their power struggles; the poor are vicious and then there are the law enforcers who justify whatever promotes their aims and interests, while receiving rewards from the proceeds of crime.  Marina always enjoyed reading Mario Puzo's books.


APRIL:  DI MORRISSEY

Choose your own titles

MAY:  KAZUO ISHIGURO

Remains of the Day,  Never Let Me Go, The Unconsoled,  When We Were Orphans 

Kris 

 

February ~ E M Forster

Edward Morgan Forster, generally published as E.M. Forster, was a novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is known best for his novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society.

A Room with a View (published in 1908)

Wendy L:

The plot of this book revolves around 2 English ladies who travel to Italy for a holiday. They meet others in the boarding house and when they return to England, these friendships continue.

It’s a ‘coming of age’ novel with classic English characters and with themes of class difference, truth and hypocrisy.

Wendy enjoyed it.

Judy A:

Judy thought the beginning of the book was quite tedious to read, but the further she read, the more she enjoyed it. She loved some of the characters.

Julia:

While she liked the book, Julia commented on the number of adaptions to TV, stage, film and radio there had been from what is quite a small book.

Sarah:

Sarah was another who found it difficult to read, but enjoyed it enough to read it from cover to cover. She thought the book was about discovering life and love after children and when previous marriages didn’t work out. This is something she may be able to relate to later when she is closer to the age of the characters.

Charis:

She thought that the author had not developed the female characters enough and that he may have difficulty writing about women. Whereas the men’s characters we well developed.

Howards End (published in 1910)

Marina:

This long book revolves around 2 families, the Wilcox’s and the Schlegels.

The Wilcox’s had kept all their property in their family through marriage. Howards End is a house, the story begins and ends there.

The Schlegels are German and had become a target for prejudice and bigotry reflected in the remarks made by others. The children are left an annuity from their parents and so lead a cultured, privilege life.

They connect through different scenarios. Marina thought that some of the remarks about bigotry and race relations and influence of the media are still relevant today.

 

Judy D:

She likes the author’s writing style but found this one a bit tedious. Despite this, she enjoyed reading it again, having previously read it as a young girl.

The Longest Journey (published in 1907)

Claurene:

Claurene thought this was a ‘horrible book’, saying the author waffled through the story of a young man studying at Cambridge University. He had met a woman, whom he thought he loved, but she was engaged to someone else.

Val:

This book also disappointed Val, calling it ponderous with long waffling sentences in places.

She thought it was closely autobiographical. Ricky goes to Cambridge and is surrounded by privileged young men. He struggles with the views of the wealthy young men. The ending was brutal.

A Passage to India  (published in 1924)

Diane: Set in the era of the British Raj, Diane was upset by the exploitation of the Indians, and found it difficult to get into the book.

She commented that all his novels seem to reflect class differences and hypocrisy.

Pamela:

This is a complicated book with the title probably taken from a poem by Walt Whitman. This is a philosophical poem about the Suez Canal, a long narrow way between 2 cultures.

It was Pamela’s opinions that the women’s characters were not developed. The theme of the book was miscommunication and misunderstanding, between the Indians and English and among the Indians.

The book described India through English eyes.

Bev:

Bev described the book as ‘slow and labourious’ not her favourite.

Judy De La T:

Judy enjoyed the book especially the contrast in cultures but found there were some inconsistencies.

Again, there was the comment that the female characters were not well written.

Judy J:

An additional theme, according to Judy, was friendship. The changing and developing friendships were influenced and in response to the misunderstanding and miscommunication mentioned previously.

In an early draft, Forster had Aziz guilty of the assault and found guilty in court. The eventual change makes the ending more ambiguous.

 

Where Angels Fear to Tread  (published in 1905)

Connie:

Connie thought that the description of the characters was very good, but some were hateful people who ‘would be if they could be’. They looked down on servants and their attitudes and behavior made her very annoyed.

The author had put his own feelings about homosexuality into the book.

Joan:

This was Forster’s first book and the story contained wit and intrigue. It played on the cultural differences between the English and the Italians, and between manners and snobbery. The story was entertaining and not drawn out like other books.

Kris:

Kris described it as a ‘quick and easy read’ and found it interesting how the author examined hypocrisy in society.

Another recommendation: Heritage by Judy Nunn

Tam:

The story is set in the Snowy Mountains where refugees from many nations in war-torn Europe are employed to build the Snowy Mountains Scheme. It was completed with pride and the sweat and blood of displaced people.

Tam thought the portrayal of the characters was amazing and even though they are fictitious they had good facts behind them. She enjoys reading fiction based on fact. As in all this author’s books, her research is very thorough.

A great read with a reasonably good ending!

 

Future Book Clubs

March~ Michele Giuttari

A Florentine Death

A Death in Tuscany

A Death of a Mafia Don

A Death in Calabria

April~ Di Morrissey

Choose your own title.

JANUARY 2019 - BOOKS WE READ OVER THE FESTIVE PERIOD

DIANE:  The Land Before Avocado by Richard Glover

Di read his first book and enjoyed it.  This book is a nostalgia trip about the 1960's and 70's.  She said it takes you back.  There was a cultural revolution and Di said " how far we have come".  It wasn't necessarily a better time.  Free milk for children at school was left out in the sun and olive oil was usually bought in a small bottle from the chemist. Di said it was a good read.

CHARIS:  My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Charis started with My Brilliant Friend, the first in the series and ended with the fourth book, The Lost Child. Ferrante wrote at length in the four volumes about the nature of the friendship over the years between Lila and Elena. It is set in Naples. There are passages of brilliant writing.  
She also read The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy. This book is 438 pages.  The story covers the life of a Muslim boy who became a Hijara-transgender. In a very densely written, poetic book the author describes the intensity of modern India.  At times she lost track of who was who, but the writing still engaged her to the end. 

CONNIE:  The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz

 This book is a detective story.  A divorce lawyer is bludgeoned to death at home.  They have to work out how it happened.  Connie couldn't work out if it was fiction or not.  The author uses characters who are real people which made it confusing.  It's written extremely well.  She enjoyed it and will read more of his novels. He is also the author of Foyle's War.

WENDY L:  The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton

The story is a mystery spanning the 1860's to the present.  There are multiple storytellers.  The plot is very elaborate and complex and the story is not in chronological order. There is a connection to a manor in England called Birchwood.  There is an expansive list of characters with aliases.  Sometimes Wendy wondered who they were talking about but she said it was an enjoyable holiday read.

JUDY A:  Kudos by Rachel Cusk

The narrator is an author who is going to literacy festivals in Europe.  The story is about conversations she has with people on the way.  The writing is exciting and enthralling and Judy couldn't put it down.  It's also funny in parts and she gave it 5 out of 5, except for the last page. Judy loved the book.

 PRUE:   Delirium by Lauren Oliver

This is the first book in the dystopian trilogy set in the USA.  Love is considered the cause of all social problems.  When the young people turn 18 they are cured of all feelings of love.  Magdalene and Hannah meet a boy called Alex and Hannah falls in love.  They get out of the city into the "wilds" - outside society. Prue said it was easy to read and didn't feel like a young adults novel.

MARINA:  Autobiography of Emanuel Macron

At 39 he became the president of France in 2017.  In 2007 he had married a woman 24 years his senior. They have grandchildren. Marina said it was interesting to read about his life.

 SARAH:  Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian

It's a story of a woman in an abusive relationship who gets murdered. As her husband is found shot the police think it was a murder/suicide.  Sarah said it wasn't very good and not gripping.  She read reviews that stated it wasn't the author's best book.

JUDY J:  Lost Man by Jane Harper and Scrublands by Chris Hammer

Both are murder mysteries set in the outback. Judy read quite a few books in the summer break which she enjoyed.  She also read four of the Shetland Series by Ann Cleeves.  
Now she is 1/3 of the way through Reworking the Brain by David Astle to improve her cryptic crossword skills.


ROSEMARIE:  Scrublands by Chris Hammer

This is a murder mystery set in an outback town.  Rosemarie thoroughly enjoyed this book and didn't know so much could happen in one town.   She also read Thursday's Children by Nicci French, a crime novel and she has now started Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak.

VAL:  Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee

This is the final book of a trilogy but can stand alone as a good read.  It is a detective story set in India at the time of the British Raj.  The main characters are a British detective working for the Imperial Police force and his Indian sergeant "Surrender-not" Banerjee. Val thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt a lot about the conditions in India at that time.  The author has a lovely sense of humour as well.

JULIA:  Framed in Cornwall by Janie Bolitho

The author was born in Cornwall.  This is one in a series of mystery and detective stories.  The main character is Rose Trevelyan, an amateur photographer who tries to solve the murder mysteries.  Julia said it was a good read.

KRIS:  A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka 

 The story is set in England.  Two feuding sisters join forces against their Ukrainian father's new girlfriend, a glamorous Ukrainian divorcee. He is 84 and she is 36.  The campaign to prevent the father from marrying is hilarious but there is also an underlying sadness for everyone's situation. The story was totally engrossing. Kris also read Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka.  It's about an international crew of migrant workers.  Once again it is very funny but there is a disturbing side with the Eastern Europeans already settled in England trying to exploit and intimidate the new migrants.

PAMELA:  The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje 

The story is set in a villa, previously a Nunnery, in Northern Italy just at the end of WWII.  The four main characters are people who are damaged physically or mentally. The English patient is badly burnt.  He has flashbacks to the 1930's. Hannah is the nurse who stays and reads to him. Caravaggio is a thief with his hands bandaged.  Then there is an Indian called Kip.  He was a sapper and is emotionally damaged from the war.  There is a gentle romance between Kip and Hannah. The theme is about memory and the past, spying and deception.  Pamela said the book was brilliant and the most impressive feature was the language.

 JUDY D:  The Girl on the Train by Paul Hawkins

The story is told through three women, one who is an alcoholic.  She said it was a very good psychological thriller.  She also read a book of short stories by Jeffrey Archer.  She said they were all really good.

SHEILA:  Brown Sugar by Nancy Cato

The story is set in Queensland in 1860.  It is a sad story about Kanakas who were stolen from Pacific Islands to work in Queensland on the sugar cane plantations.  It is a fictional story about two families through three generations. In one family at Maryborough the sugar cane king is originally from Scotland. The other family are missionaries on an island in the South Pacific where a young man is taken to work in Australia.  They receive very little pay for their work. Although it was a very sad story of what happened in Australia at the time, Sheila was pleased she read the book.

JOAN:  Becoming by Michelle Obama

This is an autobiographical memoir. She was a hard working student, straight laced, came from a good family and went to Harvard university.  She becomes a lawyer and meets Obama.  They marry and have two daughters after some difficulties.  Michelle says she is an ordinary person in an extraordinary situation.  They spent eight years in the White House as her husband was re-elected for a second term. When he first becomes president she realised she was married to the most heavily guarded man on earth. Joan enjoyed the book.  She also read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe This is the story of early Nigeria.


CLAURENE:  On Warne by Gideon Haigh

This book is very interesting.  It covers a time when cricket changed.  Claurene loves cricket and said it was a terrific book.

JO:  You Don't Own Me by Mary Higgins Clark and Alatair Burke

This is the latest book in the Under Suspicion series which is about a television producer who investigates unsolved murders.  One is a woman whose husband got shot in front of his son. The wife was under the thumb, very unhappy and thought to be drinking.  Jo said it was a good read with lots of different twists and turns.  She has the whole series.

Kris 


In February we will be reading various titles by E.M. Forster including Howards End, Room with a View and Passage to India.

We would like to welcome two new members to our Book Club -  Marina and Sarah.


  

December: Favourite book read this year

Judy De la T:  Judy read 4 interconnected books written by Carlos Ruiz Zafón:

The Shadow of the Wind

The Angel’s Game

The Prisoners of Heaven

The Labyrinth of the Spirits

 Set in Barcelona in Franco’s Spain, it involves intrigue, mystery, corruption and circles around Cemetery of Forgotten Books and the bookshop of Sempore and Sons.

Connie:  Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Connie found the characters likeable and the dilemma they found themselves in was intriguing. A young highflyer with career and everything it brings, becomes paralyzed following a motorbike accident. His carer, a young girl from a not well off family takes on looking after this miserable bloke.

Tam:  A Passionate Life by Ita Buttrose

Having listened to Ita Buttrose talk about her life, Tam was interested to read her autobiography. As well as being a wonderful and dignified speaker, her life was very interesting. She was a trendsetter being a pioneer in the media industry, and she had her struggles including a couple of marriages, but never lost her dignity.

Pamela:  The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

This is a very strange book narrated by a Pakistani man. He tells the story of his life to an American in a café in Lahore. The format of the book is interesting, there are a lot of ambiguities and parts of it are very sinister.

Bev:  A Month of Sundays by Liz Byrski

For over 10 years, four women have been members of an online Book Club, but they have never met. They are all very different people, at different stages of their lives and careers. They decide to meet for a week in the Blue Mountains and each has to bring a book that personalizes their life.

Lesley listed a variety of books she had enjoyed this year.

They included

Kristina Ohlsson ~ Silence, Unwanted and The Chosen

Robert Galbraith ~ Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike), Cuckoo’s Calling, Silkworm

Judy Nunn ~ Maralinga

Jane Harper ~ The Dry and Force of Nature

Liane Moriaty ~ What Alice Forgot, Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret and Truly Madly Guilty

David Lagercrantz ~ The Girl in the Spider’s Web continuing the Millennium Trilogy following the death of Stieg Larsson

Val:

Val read a poem by Robert Risenden, better known for his thrillers.

 

Pat:  The Stony Ground by Michael Crowley

This book had a personal connection for Pat as it told the story of James Ruse, a First Fleeter who eventually settled and farmed along the Hawkesbury River, close to where Pat now lives. No biography has been written about him because he was a convict, so this is a fictional account based on historical records.

Wendy L:

Jane Harper’s The Lost Man is her third book and in Wendy’s opinion, her best. It is totally different from the first 2 books featuring Aaron Falk.

Her second recommendation is Feet of Clay by Markus Zusak. This book took many years to write and tells the story of several generations of one family. The Dunbar boys are a gaggle of bruised and battered brothers, raising themselves in the wake of tragedy. Their mother is dead, their father has fled and most remarkable of all is Clay. Watch out for the twist at the end!

Charis:  Starlite Drive-In by Marjorie Reynolds

A young girl and her parents live in the Starlite Movie Theatre. When a young man comes to work at the theatre, both mum and the daughter fall in love with him.

There is a murder but the the story is told very gently.

Rosemary: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

This is the incredible story of the Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist and the woman he loved, Gita, whom he met within the camp. It is his account of what they needed to do to survive.

“If you wake up in the morning and you’re alive, it’s a good day!”

Jo:

Jo read 4 books from The Cotswold Mysteries, a series of 16 books. Tragedy and intrigue set among the muddy paths and winding roads of this beautiful countryside.

Anne: Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales

Following unexpected circumstances in her own life, Leigh Sales became interested in how ordinary people turn their lives around following tragedy The book is full of many interesting stories of people who have managed to survive.

Kris: Red Notice by Bill Browder

This is the true story of high finance, murder and one man’s fight for justice. Bill Browder was in the ‘dog eat dog’ world of hedge fund investing in the 1990s.

He had developed his business in Russia investing in undervalued Russian oil stocks. He later finds himself on the wrong side of some very powerful men when his young lawyer is murdered after uncovering a huge fraud committed by Russian government officials.

                        

Natalie:  Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriaty

This book was a disappointment, certainly not the author’s best work. Natalie thought it became bogged down in parts.

Sheila:

Sheila has thoroughly enjoyed reading Sharpe’s Company by Bernard Cornwall.

This is a series of historical fiction stories centered on the character of Richard Sharpe in the British Army beginning with the Napoleonic Wars

 The stories are historically sound and very good fun to read, covering the period from 1799 to 1821.

Joan: The Fox Hunt by Mohammed Al Samawi

This is a young man's moving story of love, war, and hope in which he recounts his harrowing escape from fanaticism and a brutal civil war in Yemen, with the help of a daring plan engineered on social media by a small group of interfaith activists in the West.

Joan described it as a riveting page turner. It showed the generosity of the human spirit and is very current.

Diann: Daughter of Australia by Harmony Verda

Written in 2016, the book has epic scope along the same lines as The Thorn Birds. It is filled with characters and vivid details of the Western Australian landscape.

This year, Women in the Bush has been a theme for Diann’s reading.

Prue: Gemsigns by Stephanie Saulter

This Science Fiction thriller is the first of a trilogy. Humanity has been decimated by a human pandemic and it looks like the end. But genetic engineers can change the genes in some people and also genetically engineer other people to do the work.

The story rolls along at a good pace, and the characters are well developed. Some of the problems they encounter are also the problems we have today.

Judy J: Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

This family saga portrays the lives of an Irish family in Brooklyn, set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and then the second world war. A young woman becomes a diver to help the war effort and after meeting a gangster her father had worked for, she tries to find out how and why her father has disappeared. A magnificent book.

Julia: Redemption Point by Candice Fox

This book is a real thriller. It’s the story of a former police officer who was wrongly (according to him) accused of abducting a 13-year-old girl. The book is set in Queensland.

The author is also the co-writer of several best sellers with James Patterson.

Ed: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

This an enthralling historical novel about two women, a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War 1 and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947. This is a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

January 2019

Santa Sack: come along and tell us about a book you read over the Festive Season