Category Archives: 4

February 12, 2026 · 1:46 pm

Time of the Child – Niall Williams

Time of the Child – Niall Williams

One of the lovely women in my stitching group lent this to me.

Here’s the blurb …

Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in the little town of Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from his community. A visit from the doctor is always a sign of bad things to come.

 His youngest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father’s shadow, and remains there, having missed her chance at real love – and passed up an offer of marriage from an unsuitable man.

 But in the advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy’s lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter’s lives, the understanding of their family, and their role in their community are changed forever.

This is beautifully written – is Niall Williams a poet? I could feel the damp and the humidity, not to mention the small town lack of anonymity. The baby doesn’t arrive until about halfway through the novel. Prior to that we are observing the daily lives of these ordinary people, which is made extraordinary simply by the observation. The doctor goes a bit mad when he tries to concoct a plan to keep the baby – this is Ireland in 1962, no one is going to let an unmarried woman keep the baby. However, after getting the curate drunk, sending money for a ticket to a young man in New York, crashing the car, willing an old lady to die, and Ronnie running away only to return – they concoct a good plan. This all sounds very dramatic, but it is a quiet, introspective novel with a real sense of place and character.

A review

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February 1, 2026 · 11:10 am

Children of Time – Adrian Tchaikovsky

Children of Time – Adrian Tchaikovsky

I found this in our Audible library and thought why not? The narrator, Mel Hudson, was brilliant.

Here’s the blurb …

A race for survival among the stars… Humanity’s last survivors escaped earth’s ruins to find a new home. But when they find it, can their desperation overcome its dangers?

WHO WILL INHERIT THIS NEW EARTH?

The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age – a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind’s worst nightmare.

Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?

I really enjoyed reading this. There are two narratives that join at the end – one from each civilization and I found both fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the conclusion (no spoilers). I was a bit worried I would have to commit to the next book in the series, but this ended at a good place – I can continue if I want to, but I feel the story has reached a satisfying end.

A review.

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January 11, 2026 · 1:39 pm

The Rest of Our Lives – Ben Markovits

The Rest of Our Lives – Ben Markovits

I selected this because it was short listed for the Booker Prize. I didn’t know what to expect, but it was short, so I didn’t have to commit to too much.

Here’s the blurb …

What’s left when your kids grow up and leave home?

When Tom Layward’s wife had an affair he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest daughter turned eighteen. Twelve years later, while driving her to Pittsburgh to start university, he remembers his pact.

He is also on the run from his own health issues, and the fact that he’s been put on leave at work after students complained about the politics of his law class – something he hasn’t yet told his wife.

So, after dropping Miriam off, he keeps driving, with the vague plan of visiting various people from his past – an old college friend, his ex-girlfriend, his brother, his son – on route, maybe, to his father’s grave in California.

This is told from Tom’s perspective and I feel he is an unreliable narrator. His wife, Amy, (who admittedly did have an affair) is portrayed very unsympathetically. Also, Tom is clearly unwell. He wakes up every day with a puffy face and oozing eyes and tells everyone there is nothing wrong, but middle age, and yes he has had tests. And finally, there is white man fragility – good men aren’t getting jobs because of diversity hiring, etc.

Tom is on a road trip; to drop his daughter at College, and then he keeps driving. He visits his brother Eric, who seems to be another lost soul, his college mate (one of the sad white men), his college girlfriend (not sad) and finally his son in L.A.

All of the relationships are beautifully portrayed, and the descriptions of being on the road; the diners, the houses, the basketball courts are great.

It’s about middle age, family, regrets and missed opportunities. There is emotional heft to this novel, particularly the end (no spoilers).

A review

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January 9, 2026 · 4:22 pm

Butter – Azako Yuzuki

Butter – Asako Yuzuki

I bought this in November of 2024, and then it languished. However, it is my next book club book, so I have read it!

Here’s the blurb …

The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, “The Konkatsu Killer”, Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan. 

This novel was extremely popular when it first came out in English. I remember seeing the bright yellow colour everywhere.

I haven’t read much Japanese fiction (one of the coffee going cold books and The Housekeeper and the Professor, which I really enjoyed), so I didn’t know what to expect. This novel is very sensuous. There are many mentions of the sensations of eating; the nuttiness of the rice, the butter coating the inside of her mouth, the feeling of warmth in her body, etc.

There also seems to be an obsession with thinness

And

And this from Rika’s boyfriend after she has gained some weight from all of the good eating

I am not sure about the time setting of this novel. There are mobile phones, but also DVD rental stores (or is that a Japanese thing?)

And this idea about taking care of oneself

And this idea of trying to live well

This was fascinating. How both Rika and Reiko became enamored by Kaji to the point of psychological distress. Everyone had trauma, disappointments and disillusionments. Rika’s untangling of food, cooking and her father’s death was well-written. To me this novel feels more introspective than a western novel.

It is fascinating, intriguing and well worth reading.

A review

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January 5, 2026 · 11:26 am

Legacy – Chris Hammer

Legacy – Chris Hammer

I was browsing our Audible library and came across this one. I enjoyed Scrublands and Silver.

Here’s the blurb …

The blast hits them, a shock wave … glass smashing … Somewhere a woman screams. A second explosion, and Martin looks towards the hall, what’s left of it, flames roaring and smoke pouring skywards.

Someone is targeting Martin Scarsden. They bomb his book launch and shoot up his hometown. 

Fleeing for his life, he learns that nowhere is safe, not even the outback. The killers are closing in and it’s all he can do to survive. 

But who wants to kill him and why? Can he discover their deadly motives and turn the tables? 

In a dramatic finale, he finds his fate linked to the disgraced ex-wife of a football icon, a fugitive wanted for a decades-old murder, and two nineteenth-century explorers from a legendary expedition. 

Martin Scarsden’s most perilous, challenging and intriguing assignment yet.

This is Australian noir, you know the genre, a small town in the outback, it’s hot and there is a murder in the past. There is also a little bit of spy stuff, deep fake pornography, secret treasure and lost explorers. It had different view points (Ecco and Martin) and the journal of a missing (a fugitive) young woman.

I enjoyed it the setting was beautifully described and the murderer was unexpected. I also liked the machinations around Martin – who wants him dead and discredited?

All in all a very satisfying and fun read.

A review

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December 28, 2025 · 11:49 am

Murder in the Cathedral – Kerry Greenwood

Murder in the Cathedral – Kerry Greenwood

I have always liked the Phryne Fisher mysteries, but I haven’t read one in a long time and I certainly haven’t read them all. I received this one in the family ‘book flood’ and I read it in a couple of days.

Here’s the blurb …

When Phryne Fisher is invited to Bendigo to witness the investiture of her old friend Lionel, who is being made a Bishop, her expectations of the solemn and dignified ceremony do not include a murder.

Phryne quickly involves herself with perspicacious local Constable Watson and eagle-eyed Detective Inspector Mick Kelly as they identify the murder victim – an overzealous deacon with a nose for trouble. 

Applying her quick wits and magnetic charm, Phryne and her expanding team of sleuths discover murky layers of church politics, social scandals and business scams and blackmail. Soon, various suspects begin to populate a long list, each with excellent motives to kill.

Meanwhile the clock is ticking … Will Phryne be able to bring to light the proof she needs before the murderer strikes again or disappears completely?

I love all of the historical references; the clothes, cars, architecture …The crime was intriguing as well – a deacon murdered during a service (no one noticed anything) and the murderer has vanished (how did he/she get out of the cathedral?). The Deacon had something of serious import to tell the Bishop, is that why he was murdered?

This is a cozy crime – like from the golden age of crime.

This will be the last Phryne Fisher mystery as Kerry Greenwood sadly died earlier this year.

A review.

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December 27, 2025 · 1:21 pm

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil – V.E. Schwab

Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil – V. E. Schwab

I am a fan of V. E. Schwab. I have listened to The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue and Gallant. So when I saw this on sale at Target, I had to have it. Of course, it then lingered on my shelves (although I think I purchased it this year).

Here’s the blurb …

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life—
how it ends, and how it starts.

I do enjoy the historical fiction aspects of this novel. I didn’t know at all what it was about and I was quite surprised when I discovered what ‘bury our bones in the midnight soil’ means. Although this is a fantasy novel, it’s really about people – relationships, family, chosen family, friendships and toxic relationships. It’s about women claiming space and agency for themselves.

It was long and I am not sure it needed to be that long. We could have had a few less incidents in Sabine’s life without losing any of the character or plot development.

A review.

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December 18, 2025 · 6:27 pm

Jane Austen and Lord Byron – Christine Kenyon Jones

Jane Austen and Lord Byron – Christine Kenyon Jones

I bought this in London while browsing various book stores (we did a bit of a book tour of London).

Here’s the blurb …

Jane Austen and Lord Byron are often presented as opposites, but here they are together at last. In Regency England he was the first celebrity author while she was a parson’s daughter writing anonymously. This book explores how their lives, interests, work and sense of humour often brought them within touching distance, and sets them side by side in the world of the Regency and Romantic period.

Using some little-known sources and new research, it illustrates how they were distantly related by marriage; how they knew about each other even though they probably never met; the acquaintances they had in common and how their literary work often came close in subject-matter, approach, technique and tone.

Engagingly written and beautifully illustrated, this book will inform and delight scholars and Austen and Byron fans alike, showing that these two great authors were closer than you might think, even in their own day.

I am not convinced. Given the size of the population at the time and, in particular, the number of people in the gentry, there will be similarities and connections.

However, there were a lot of interesting points. For example, Byron and Austen were distantly related. They had the same publisher (John Murray) and shared some of the same concerns ‘a rogue, but a civil one’. They both enjoyed the theatre and possibly saw the same performances – or at least the same play.

And I enjoyed reading about Byron and Austen.

Here’s a review from Jane Austen’s House.

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November 24, 2025 · 2:43 pm

The Christmas Book Shop – Jenny Coglan

The Christmas Bookshop – Jenny Colgan

I read Audition on my Boox and when I finished it I couldn’t be bothered getting up and finding a paper book, so I looked for what else I had on my Boox, and this one was the first thing I saw.

Here’s the blurb …

Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life does not appeal.

Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job.

Thrown rather suddenly into the inner workings of Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the picturesque streets of historic Edinburgh, Carmen is intrigued despite herself. The store is dusty and disorganized but undeniably charming. Can she breathe some new life into it in time for Christmas shopping? What will happen when a famous and charismatic author takes a sudden interest in the bookshop–and Carmen? And will the Christmas spirit be enough to help heal her fractured family?

This was lovely. I particularly enjoyed all of the Edinburgh references – I want to visit that bookshop. This was a cozy romance. No terrible people, a bit of character growth, and some witty dialogue and situations.

A review.

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November 19, 2025 · 2:02 pm

The Distance Between Dreams – Emily Paull

The Distance Between Dreams – Emily Paull

My local library (Evelyn H Parker) was having an Author talk and craft event. Ms Paull was one of the authors. So, in preparation, I read this novel.

I do like a novel set in W.A.

Here’s the blurb …

Sarah Willis longs to free herself from the expectations of a privileged upbringing, while Winston Keller can’ t afford the luxury of a dream. Despite their differences, the pair are drawn together in a whirlwind romance that defies the boundaries of class. But when a dark family secret pulls the young lovers apart, and WWII plunges the world into chaos, it seems impossible they will ever find their way back to each other &– or even hold onto the dream of what might have been

It is clear that a lot of research went into this novel. I learnt quite a few things. For example, I didn’t know that there was rationing (here in W.A) during World War Two. Or that there were so many war brides (not to mention the ones who got duped).

The characters are well-written, particularly the bitchy Florence. Winston and his mother, Elsie, were delightful. Robert Willis might be a bit too stark a villain, but otherwise this was an interesting and enjoyable novel to read.

A review.

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