Reviews of Books
Posted in Fiction - Light, Recommended on Oct 18th, 2011
This novel was recommended on a blog I read (possibly this one). I didn’t know anything about it, but reserved if from the library – there was quite a queue. Here’s the description … In the opening pages of Jamie Ford’s stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes [...]
Posted in Fiction - Light, Recommended on Oct 12th, 2011
As it is school holidays, reading is happening, but thinking and writing is not. I read a review of The Best of Everything here and was intrigued, Luckily I could get a copy for my Kindle (have I said how much I love my Kindle?). This novel is Mad Men from the girls’ perspective, although [...]
Posted in Fiction - Light, Recommended on Sep 23rd, 2011
We read The Good Mayor and really enjoyed it (I don’t think I blogged about it.) Here is the blurb … Luciano Hernando Valdez is his Latin American nation’s most celebrated novelist and he’s suffering from writer’s block. So far his latest great work comprises the words ‘The scrawny yellow cat crossed the road’. He’s tried [...]
Posted in Recommended, Serious on Aug 23rd, 2011
This was a random choice by my book club. Someone had it, but hadn’t read it yet, but was keen to read it. That was enough – a bit of enthusiasm and we will all jump on board. Here’s the blurb … In the dawning light of the late summer morning, the people of lower [...]
Posted in Recommended, Serious on Aug 2nd, 2011
I read about this novel on a book blog, but I can not remember which one and google searching hasn’t enlightened me. This novel consists of five elegies. In each one the narrator is talking to the character describing their lives and her interaction with them. It is an interesting structure like, but also different [...]
Posted in Recommended, Serious on Jul 27th, 2011
I selected this book for book club after reading a review in the Weekend Australian. I liked it. It has different points of view – the structure is quite intriguing ranging from first person to third person there is even an amazing chapter in second person. The time period changes as well from the near [...]
Posted in Recommended, Serious on Jul 25th, 2011
After having enjoyed Freedom, this one was a must read. I didn’t enjoy it as much as Freedom - the characters weren’t as appealing – although I did get the same sense of an America not normally described in novels. Here is the blurb … After almost fifty years as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to [...]
Posted in Recommended, Serious on May 19th, 2011
This book is about Patty and Walter’s marriage, but it is also about so much else; America’s involvement in Iraq, the environment, parenting, the effect of poverty on a community and individuals, etc. Here is the blurb … Patty and Walter Berglund were the new pioneers of old St. Paul – the gentrifiers, the hands-on [...]
Posted in Recommended on May 9th, 2011
As I loved The Hand That First Held Mine (read about that here), I had to read more of her work. I wasn’t disappointed. Here is the blurb … “When Alice Raike’s sisters come to pick her up at the train station, they find her wild-eyed, confused, and insistent on returning to London that very [...]
Posted in Fiction - Light, Recommended on May 5th, 2011
I was sent this novel to review (how exciting!). Here’s the blurb … Friends forever. Then he came along … Bea’s contending with a new boss, power-hungry colleagues and a stroppy teen-aged son, not to mention the anxieties of returning to the dating game. Stressed-out Kate is coping with an empty nest and the growing [...]