Category Archives: 3

May 15, 2026 · 3:03 pm

The Vintage Shop – Libby Page

The Vintage Shop – Libby Page

I read This Book Made Me Think of You and loved it – one of my favourites of the year, so I was keen to read more. I bought this for a pound from a second hand book dealer (online awesome maybe?).

Here’s the blurb …

Among the cobbled streets of the Somerset town of Frome, Lou is embarking on the start of something new. After the death of her beloved mother, she takes a deep breath into the unknown and is opening her own vintage clothes shop.

 In upstate New York, Donna has just found out some news about her family which has called into question her whole upbringing. The only clue she has to unlock her past is a picture of a yellow dress, and the fact it is currently on display in a shop in England.

 For Maggy, she is facing life as a 70-something divorcee and while she got the house, she’s not sure what to fill it with now her family have moved out. The new vintage shop in town sparks memories of her past and reignites a passion she’s been missing…

 Together, can these three women find the answers they are searching for and unlock a second chance at a new life?

It’s never too late to start again…

I do like a book about fashion. I didn’t love this one as much as This Book Makes Me Think of You. This one was more about female friendships and the restraints of motherhood. There are some poignant moments, and some ‘women doing it for themselves’ moments. All of the settings – Frome, New York and Cold Spring were delightful, and I would love to see Lou’s shop and the yellow embroidered dress.

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April 18, 2026 · 5:27 pm

The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky

I thought it was time to tackle another Russian classic (after War and Peace and Anna Karenina). I listened to this one, which, I think, is my preferred way of reading these long classics.

Here’s the description

The murder of brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov changes the lives of his sons irrevocably: Mitya, the sensualist, whose bitter rivalry with his father immediately places him under suspicion for parricide; Ivan, the intellectual, driven to breakdown; the spiritual Alyosha, who tries to heal the family’s rifts; and the shadowy figure of their bastard half-brother, Smerdyakov. Dostoyevsky’s dark masterwork evokes a world where the lines between innocence and corruption, good and evil, blur and everyone’s faith in humanity is tested.

As you can imagine, this was long with lengthy philosophical/religious tracts. It took a long time to get to what I think of as the ‘meat’ of the novel – the murder, trial, etc.

Here is the Wikipedia article

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January 15, 2026 · 11:44 am

The Tapestry of Time – Kate Heartfield

The Tapestry of Time – Kate Heartfield

I am intrigued by the Bayeux tapestry – I have even visited it (and it is a long way from Australia!), so clearly I had to read this one.

Here’s the blurb …

There’s a tradition in the Sharp family that some possess the Second Sight. But is it superstition, or true psychic power? 

Kit Sharp is in Paris, where she is involved in a love affair with the stunning Evelyn Larsen, and working as an archivist, having inherited her historian father’s fascination with the Bayeux Tapestry. He believes that parts of the tapestry were made before 1066, and that it was a tool for prediction, not a simple record of events. 

The Nazis are also obsessed with the tapestry: convinced that not only did it predict the Norman Conquest of England, but that it will aid them in their invasion of Britain. 

Ivy Sharp has joined the Special Operations Executive – the SOE – a secret unit set up to carry out espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance. Having demonstrated that she has extraordinary powers of perception, she is dropped into Northern France on a special mission. 

With the war on a knife edge, the Sharp Sisters face certain death. Can their courage and extrasensory gifts prevent the enemy from using the tapestry to bring about a devastating victory against the Allied Forces?

This had an interesting premise – the Bayeux tapestry was created before 1066 by a group of women who could see the future.

I enjoyed the world war two setting and the very different lives of the four sisters. It was well-researched, but wore that research lightly.

It has fantasy elements – second sight, etc.

For me there wasn’t enough Bayeux tapestry, and a bit too much of Ivy training her second sight.

A review

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December 17, 2025 · 5:12 pm

The Austen Affair – Madeline Bell

The Austen Affair – Madeline Bell (My copy is getting a bit worn)

I am not sure when I first heard of this one, but my daughter sent me a photo from Stefan’s Books, and, of course, I had to have it.

Here’s the blurb …

Two feuding co-stars in a Jane Austen film adaptation accidentally travel back in time to the Regency Era in this delightfully clever and riotously funny debut

Tess Bright just scored her dream role starring in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It’s not just the role of a lifetime, but it’s also her last chance to prove herself as a serious actress (no easy feat after being fired from her last TV gig) and more importantly, it’s her opportunity to honor her mom, who was the biggest fan of Jane Austen ever. But one thing is standing in Tess’s way—well, one very tall, annoyingly handsome person, actually: Hugh Balfour.

A serious British method actor, Hugh wants nothing to do with Tess (whose Teen Choice Awards somehow don’t quite compare to his BAFTA nominations). Hugh is a type-A, no-nonsense, Royal Academy prodigy, whereas Tess is big-hearted, a little reckless, and admittedly, kind of a mess. But the film needs chemistry—and Tess’s career depends on it.

Sparks fly, but not in the way Tess hoped, when an electrical accident sends the two feuding co-stars back in time to Jane Austen’s era. 200 years in the past with only each other to rely on, Tess and Hugh need to ad-lib their way through the Regency period in order to make it back home, and hopefully not screw up history along the way. But if a certain someone looks particularly dashing in those 19th century breeches…well, Tess won’t be complaining.

A wickedly funny, delightfully charming story, The Austen Affair is a tribute to Jane Austen, second chances, and love across the space-time continuum.

This novel was great fun, and I loved the time travelling aspects of it (and meeting Jane Austen). It was well-written and witty, but also with a bit of emotional heft. I do think it could have been a bit tighter – a bit more editing perhaps.

A review.

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November 28, 2025 · 1:57 pm

Columbus Day – Craig Alanson

Columbus Day – Craig Alanson

I was looking for something to listen to on my husband’s audible account (it was in alphabetical order) and I decided to give this one a go. Science fiction is not my usual choice, but I do, occassionally read it. I didn’t realise this was book 1 though.

Here’s the blurb …

We were fighting on the wrong side, of a war we couldn’t win. And that was the good news. 

The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits. 

When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved. The UN Expeditionary Force hitched a ride on Kristang ships to fight the Ruhar, wherever our new allies thought we could be useful. So, I went from fighting with the US Army in Nigeria, to fighting in space. It was lies, all of it. We shouldn’t even be fighting the Ruhar, they aren’t our enemy, our allies are. 

I’d better start at the beginning….

This was quite long – 17 hours, and a lot happened and a lot had to be described. There is a lot of galaxy and world building going on (all done very well). But, as for any story, it really comes down to the characters. Skippy, the beer can AI, was my favourite and I loved how Joe and Skippy played off each other. It was a very immersive experience and I can imagine it as a film or television series.

A review

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August 7, 2025 · 2:19 pm

Penelope – Anya Wylde

Penelope – Anya Wylde

I have had this on my Kindle for a very long time, and it was selected by my random number generator.

Here’s the blurb …

Leaving behind the rural charms of Finnshire, Miss Penelope Fairweather arrives in London with hope in her heart and a dream in her eye. The dowager, no less, has invited her for a season in London, where she will attempt to catch a husband.

Thus begins our heroine’s tale as she attempts to tackle the London season with all her rustic finesse. Unfortunately, her rustic finesse turns out to be as delicate as a fat bear trying to rip apart a honeycomb infested with buzzing bees.

What follows is a series of misadventures, love affairs, moonlit balls, fancy clothes, fake moustaches, highwaymen, sneering beauties, pickpockets, and the wrath of a devilishly handsome duke.

At first, I found this slow going. It felt like a first novel where the author tries to cram in all of their good ideas – did we need so many misadventures? It picked up speed in the second half, and I enjoyed the relationship between Penelope and the Duke. It was well-written, witty and fun.

A review

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July 10, 2025 · 3:33 pm

The Bostonians – Henry James

The Bostonians – Henry James

This was in my husband’s audible library (slightly odd), so I thought I would listen as I liked Portrait of a Lady.

Here’s the blurb …

The Bostonians is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Century Magazine in 1885-1886 and then as a book in 1886.

This satire of the women’s rights movement in America is the story of the ravishing inspirational speaker Verena Tarrant and the bitter struggle between two distant cousins who seek to control her. Will the privileged Boston feminist Olive Chancellor succeed in turning her beloved ward into a celebrated activist and lifetime companion? Or will Basil Ransom, a conservative southern lawyer, steal Verena’s heart and remove her from the limelight?

This was ostensibly about women’s suffrage, but I think Olive (clearly a lesbian) hated men and wanted a new world order. It came down to a competition between Olive and the handsome Basil Ransom. Poor Olive, you could see it was all going to go horribly wrong for her. She held on too tight. But I pity Verena too, I don’t think life with Basil will be what she expects it to be.

I don’t think this story works for a modern audience. People haven’t changed, but the social situation has. Now days Verena could support herself and not be dependent on Olive or Basil to keep her. She could freely choose, and maybe even have a relationship with both (not at the same time, or maybe at the same time).

The writing is beautiful and some of the incidental characters are fabulous. Mr Tarrant with his mesmeric healing, Mrs Luna and Newton (her spoiled awful son), etc.

I suspect my ignorance of the time and culture mean that I haven’t appreciated this novel as much as I should.

A review

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May 25, 2025 · 12:33 pm

Lemon – Kwon Yeo-Sun

Lemon – Kwon Yeo-Sun

I won this book, and then it languished in the pile.

Here’s the blurb …

In the summer of 2002, when Korea is abuzz over hosting the FIFA World Cup, nineteen-year-old Kim Hae-on is killed in what becomes known as the High School Beauty Murder. Two suspects quickly emerge: rich kid Shin Jeongjun, whose car Hae-on was last seen in, and delivery boy Han Manu, who witnesses Hae-on in the passenger seat of Jeongjun’s car just a few hours before her death. But when Jeongjun’s alibi turns out to be solid, and no evidence can be pinned on Manu, the case goes cold.

Seventeen years pass without any resolution for those who knew and loved Hae-on, and the grief and uncertainty take a cruel toll on her younger sister, Da-on, in particular. Unable to move on with her life, Da-on tries in her own twisted way to recover some of what she’s lost, ultimately setting out to find the truth of what happened.

Told at different points in time from the perspectives of Da-on and two of Hae-on’s classmates, Lemon loosely follows the structure of a detective novel. But finding the perpetrator is not the main objective here. Instead, the work explores grief and trauma, raising important questions about guilt, retribution, and the meaning of death and life.

I don’t think I have read anything else like this. There are three narrators, but it can take a while to work out who is doing the narrating. For one of the narrators we have a one-sided conversation with a therapist or psychiatrist, and we can read between the lines. There are hints about who the murderer might be, and there might be another crime (well there is definitely another crime, but we might know who did it). However, mostly I would say it is about grief and trauma, and how to move on from terrible events. Two of the narrators Da-On and Yun Tareim are self-absorbed, selfish and obsessive about the murder.

A review.

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May 15, 2025 · 10:42 am

Practice Makes Perfect – Sarah Adams

Practice Makes Perfect – Sarah Adams

I have been on a holiday, so I wanted some fun, light and easy reads.

Here’s the blurb …

Annie Walker is on a quest to find her perfect match—someone who complements her happy, quiet life running the local flower shop in Rome, Kentucky. But finding her dream man may be harder than Annie imagined. Everyone knows everyone in her hometown, and the dating prospects are getting fewer by the day. After she overhears her latest date say she is “so unbelievably boring,” Annie starts to think the problem might be her. Is it too late to become flirtatious and fun like the leading ladies in her favorite romance movies? Maybe she only needs a little practice . . . and Annie has the perfect person in mind to be her tutor: Will Griffin.

Will—the sexy, tattooed, and absolutely gorgeous bodyguard—is temporarily back in Rome, providing security for Amelia Rose as excitement builds for her upcoming marriage to Noah Walker, Annie’s brother. He has one personal objective while on the job: stay away from Annie Walker and any other possible attachments to this sleepy town. But no sooner than he gets settled, Will finds himself tasked with helping Annie find the love of her life by becoming the next leading lady of Rome, Kentucky. Will wants no part in changing the sweet and lovely Annie. He knows for a fact that some stuffy, straitlaced guy won’t make her happy, but he doesn’t have the heart to say no.

Amid steamy practice dates and strictly “educational” tutoring lessons, Annie discovers there are more layers to Will’s usual stoic attitude. As the lines of their friendship become dangerously blurred, Annie reconsiders her dream guy. Maybe her love life doesn’t need to be perfect—it just needs to be real.

I haven’t read the first in this series – When in Rome, but it’s not necessary. This was fun, I enjoyed the banter between Will and Annie, and the set-up (Will being Annie’s dating coach). I did find it a bit long, and the reasons for keeping them apart a bit flimsy.

Having said that, it is just a mismatch between me and this novel. People must love it, it has four stars on goodreads.

A review (they feel like I do)

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April 20, 2025 · 6:01 pm

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain

My book club is reading James by Percival Everett. I have already read it (as part of my Booker short list reading), so I thought I would listen to Huckleberry Finn and see how they were connected.

Here is the Wikipedia summary

Commentators readily distinguish three parts in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In the first, the author believes he is writing a children’s entertainment, a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Then, at the beginning of Chapter XVI, he experiences difficulties and stops writing. It is at this point that his hero questions the notions of good and evil that he has been taught. It will take Twain seven years before he regains his creative momentum. Finally, in a third part— a highly controversial “burlesque about-face  —the character of Tom Sawyer reappears, selfish, cruel, and unconscious. Huck falls under his influence again, and the author returns to the “Tom Sawyer” spirit of the beginning.

This is not my favourite book – I know it is an American classic, but it wore me down. The constant use of the N word, and the bit at the end when they play at rescuing Jim was excruciatingly awful. The sections where it was Huck and Jim having adventures were enjoyable and interesting.

I know it is meant to be a satire and we see characters that are more like caricatures, and Huck grapples with the morality, first of helping a slave escape and then secondly of slavery itself. But I feel it has not aged well, and James does a much better job of show casing the awfulness of slavery and the selfishness (and ignorance) of the people white people.

From the Guardian

I definitely don’t agree.

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