Reviews of Books
Posted in Fiction, Recommended on May 7th, 2013
I have been meaning to read this novel for a long time. I keep a list of interesting books in Evernote for whenever I am out and about and feel like buying a book and this one was very near the top. I finally bought a copy from the book depository when they sent me [...]
Posted in Fiction, Recommended on Mar 25th, 2013
I read a review in The Australian and then a friend recommended, so I had to read it. And I am glad I did – it is hilarious! Here is the blurb … Meet Don Tillman. Don is getting married. He just doesn’t know who to yet. But he has designed a very detailed questionnaire to help [...]
I’ve read Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch and would describe myself as a George Eliot fan. However, I must admit I struggled with this one. Scenes of Early Death would be a more descriptive title. It is three longish short stories (or maybe novellas) in one novel all featuring clergymen. Here is the plot summary from Wikipedia [...]
Posted in Fiction on Mar 19th, 2013
This novel was highly recommended by a number of my friends. I’ve delayed writing about it because, even now, I’m not sure what I think. I am certainly thinking about it, which must be a sign of a well-written novel, but I find the plot disturbing. Here’s the blurb … This is a story of [...]
Posted in Fiction, Recommended on Mar 4th, 2013
This novel has been sitting in my tbr pile for a very long time and I finally decided to read it – I was looking for something fun. There were a few laugh out loud moments and the tractor history was quite informative (I learnt about the dust bowl crisis in America – caused by [...]
Posted in Fiction on Feb 25th, 2013
This was recommended by several people, but I did have a couple of false starts. It took me a while to appreciate Ms Brett’s writing style – not a criticism just a personal preference – in the end I enjoyed the novel. Here’s the blurb … Lola Bensky is a nineteen-year-old rock journalist who irons [...]
Posted in Fiction, Recommended on Feb 18th, 2013
I’m a Anne Tyler fan – a review here and here - I like how she can make the ordinary extraordinary. I picked this one up from the library and it was quite an easy read (shorter than other Tyler novels). Here is the blurb … Anne Tyler gives us a wise, haunting, and deeply moving [...]
Posted in Fiction on Jan 14th, 2013
I have read quite a few of Ms Kingsolver’s books. I particularly liked The Poisonwood Bible. This was a Christmas present – I might have suggested it – here is the blurb … Flight Behavior transfixes from its opening scene, when a young woman’s narrow experience of life is thrown wide with the force of a raging [...]
Posted in Fiction on Dec 27th, 2012
I like reading Ian Rankin’s novels. I’ve been a Rebus fan for ages and I’ve read one of the Malcolm Fox novels. This has a bit of both although Malcolm Fox isn’t portrayed very sympathetically. Here’s the blurb … It’s twenty-five years since John Rebus appeared on the scene, and five years since he retired. [...]
Posted in Fiction, Recommended on Dec 22nd, 2012
I saw the movie and was very keen to read the novel. Although having now read the novel, I can say the novel and movie are very different. Not that is necessarily a bad thing, but it was unexpected. Here is the blurb … This is the story of Dr Alfred Jones, a fisheries scientist [...]