Author Archives: S.C. Karakaltsas

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About S.C. Karakaltsas

I am a published author of historical fiction and short stories.

Book Review: Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran

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This is a tough but essential read and very deserving of the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2023.

Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is located in the western suburbs of Sydney and its residents and indeed owners have interesting histories peppered with secrets and trauma. The place is a home of safety and kindness and consideration, until it’s targeting by small mindedness.

The owner, Maya is herself a resident in her eighties having given up the running of it to her daughter Anja whose best friend Nikki is the home’s doctor. The author takes us into their lives, their past as well as their present. Maya’s beloved husband has disappeared and the trauma of her loss is never far away. Maya also harbours secrets to the outside world portraying herself as a white person when she is a Sri Lankan Tamil married to a Sri Lankan Muslim.

Chandran does a brilliant job to not just highlight and educate the reader about what it’s like to be a Tamil in Sri Lanka as well as Australia, but also shows us the brutality of war and the  stupidity of thinking behind racism together with the denial and destruction of culture by a majority over a minority. This is not only a repetitive historical trope but a real one that we witness today, right now. The Tamil language was forbidden back in the fifties, their land and culture denied which resulted in the recent Civil War.

Chandran also dissects white privilege thinking in Australia via her character Gareth who is married to Nikki. She explores media, mainstream and social where a story can go off course creating falsity and driving lies which leads to tragic consequences. Gareth is the instrumental vehicle and after lighting the ‘fire’ of racism, we don’t see him again. On reflection I preferred it that way.

It might be fiction but the themes are brutal, painful and uncomfortable. Chandran never lets you off the hook as the reader is forced to confront and consider and think.

The characters are well drawn and although there is a lot of them, you get to know them quickly.

A powerful book and a must read.

Book Review: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

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This book is an epic family saga about the Padavano sisters spanning several decades. Much like their favourite book Little Women, the sisters are extraordinarily close. Julia the oldest is followed by Sylvie then twins Emeline and Cecilia.

Julia is the sensible and pragmatic sister leading the way. She meets a young man William who has been rejected by his parents and lives in the shadow of his dead sister. Julia decides he’s the man for her and goes about moulding him to become the ideal husband to fit the life plan she has made for them.

But when the sisters father dies, it creates a ripple effect fragmenting the family destroying the planned path set by Julia.

This is a complex novel about relationships and love with well-drawn characters primarily told through the eyes of Julia, William, and Sylvie. The family was clearly of Italian heritage but only because of their name. Nothing else gave a clue about it which I found unusual. The style of writing was bogged down quite a bit with showing us rather than telling and this became a little laboured for me. While I accepted everything which happened, I found myself wondering where the story was going.

There is scandal and sadness as well as darkness as William grapples with mental health issues which has profound effects on the entire family.  The bounds of love are stretched, snap and come back together, quite neatly. The book became somewhat repetitive in the last quarter leading to a predictable end and went on for a just a little too long.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel for the most part and it is very well written. If you like a family saga to get immersed in then this one shouldn’t disappoint.

Book Review: Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford

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This book was given to me as a birthday present. I thought it was a self help book which I’m not particularly keen on, but it was a revelation.

It’s described as “a manifesto on living better and longer that challenges the medical thinking on aging and reveals a new approach to preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health.”

It’s a long book and quite technical in parts some of which went right over my head. However, it sends a powerful message reminding the reader, me, that time is marching on and to look ahead and make some plans about what I want my health to look like as I age.

You know the drill. In your teens and twenties, you think of yourself as invincible. You eat, drink, and do what ever you please. Getting old is somewhere off in the distance. But Attia brutally points out that you’re probably already setting the stage for heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s or cancer.  “Globally, heart disease and stroke (atherosclerotic disease) … represent the leading cause of death.”

He goes into detail about cholesterol and the ins and outs and in particular the fact that LDL the bad one, is the one to worry about. The culprit that is atherosclerosis ‘is a slow moving, sneaking disease…some scientists believe the underlying processes are set into motion in late adolescence. The risk builds throughout our lives.”

Sobering indeed and it’s enough to make you put down this book and search for a wine or a chip. He goes into comprehensive detail about diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Attia backs it all up with scientific studies and that’s where it can be difficult but he summarises what it all means in layman’s terms. It’s not pretty. Nor should it be as he takes a swipe at how modern medicine deals with these diseases too late.

He also points to the following strategic areas to focus on for longevity.

  1. Exercise: the most powerful longevity drug
  2. Nutrition
  3. Sleep
  4. Emotional health

And while some of what he says are things the medical fraternity has been saying for years, Attia brings it all together. He reflects on his own health and what he has done to build his longevity forcing us to relate.

It’s a comprehensive book filled with explanation and ideas to implement toward better health. And sometimes you just need all the headlines and articles you scan over the years to be something comprehensive like this with an argument about health which just can’t be ignored.

But right now I’m off to the gym and to organize a blood test.

Book Review: So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

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Since I loved Keegan’s Small Things like These, I downloaded this one. It’s not a novella but a short story of four chapters (28 pages).

Again, this one packs a punch where each line earns its place.

It’s a story about Cathal who finds love but can’t quite connect to Cynthia because of his misogynistic thinking. When the relationship falls apart, he is left wondering what happened.

“She said things may now be changing, but that a good half of men your age just want us to shut up and give you what you want, that you’re spoiled and turn contemptible when things don’t go your own way.”

He wanted to deny it, but if felt uncomfortably close to the truth he had not once considered.

Cathal is forced to confront his own part, his upbringing and his own responsibility.

A very good read.

Book Review: The Conversion by Amanda Lohrey

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I loved The Labyrinth and The Conversion was written in much the same way.

Nick had tried to persuade Zoe to buy an old run down church which they can renovate and live in. Their sons are grown up and have moved away. She could never see his vision for it as all she can see are the stained-glass windows and the isolation of a small country town in a valley of coal mines and vineyards.

Yet she finds herself buying the church and moving in alone, looking to start her life alone.  She is stuck unable to move forward with converting the building into a home. Along the way she manages to strike up friendships with formidable women and somehow comes to a decision about what to do.

This is a gentle novel drawing the reader into Zoe’s world for what she has lost, her past and the difficulty she faces with what her future will look like.  The conversion of the church conjures up the ghosts of her lost relationships but it does also inspire new ones.

I enjoyed the characters which crossed Zoe’s path and I understood her loss and the betrayal she felt. Her inertia was palpable as she camped out in the church. Melanie, a powerful force turns up and convinces her that the church is the only place for a school concert. A friendship of sorts is promised but is never satisfied.

I was also interested in the relationships with her two sons. One who is married with children provides her with support and comfort while the other is virtually estranged. I would have loved the author to delve more into that. But like most things in the novel, we are given glimpses into Zoe’s past life and for the most part that is enough.

The writing is beautiful and the scene setting visual. I enjoyed this one.

Book Review: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

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This was a wonderful book, short to read ( 63 pages as an ebook ), and it certainly packed a punch.

Set in a small town in Ireland in 1985, it centres around Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man. It’s Christmas week and one morning delivering coal to the local convent he’s confronted by a young woman locked in the coal room. Faced with a plausible explanation by the nuns he leaves, but is troubled. Confronted by his own past, the state of the woman bothers him. His eyes are also opened by the silent complicity of the town turning a blind eye to the goings on at the Convent.

The writing is sublime and the author does a wonderful job of placing us into the gloom of the economic woes of the time, painting a picture of the small town. We are taken into the everyday of Bill’s life as father of five girls and husband to pragmatic Eileen. But more importantly, the reader is also placed into Bill’s dilemma. What should he do? Should he probe further or trust his instincts?

The conversation with Eileen is illuminating.

“Where does thinking get us?” she said. “All thinking does is bring you down.” She was touching the little pearly buttons on her nightdress, agitated. “If you want to get on in life, there’s things you have to ignore, so you can keep on.”

I loved this one and it has certainly stayed with me. I’m not surprised it was shortlisted for the Booker in 2022.

Do yourself a favour and check this one out.

My Reading Year and Book of the Year for 2023

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Like many other readers, I set myself a challenge on Goodreads. For 2023 my goal was 30 books and I surprised myself by reading 41. My goal for 2022 was 24 and I read 35 so it looks like I need to set myself a higher target for 2024.

Here are the stats:

Pages read: 12555

Average book length: 306

Average rating I gave: 4.1 stars

How many books by women?: 31

How many Australian authors?: 27

What was my book of the year?

I had a number of five star reads, and like picking out a favourite child I found it quite difficult to single just one out. But if I really have to then, my vote goes to The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks which only just pipped all the others.

What’s your favourite book for 2023?

A snapshot of the books I read are below. How many of these have you read too?

Until next year…

Happy New Year everyone.