Tag Archives: Reading

Book Review: Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey Mcquiston

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I admit I selected this book because of its cover and from publicity generated by other book bloggers. Yep, I fell for the hype and there has been a lot. Had I read the blurb, I probably wouldn’t have bothered as romance is not a genre I read very often.  Nevertheless, I read this one. And I can’t say it was brilliant but it wasn’t all bad either.

The story centres around Alex, the son of a female US President and his relationship with a UK Prince called Henry. Does it sound like someone you might know? Initially, these two are enemies, then a friendship forms and eventually love grows with disastrous consequences. You get the drift.

It’s a light and easy read, although there are a lot of characters to keep up with. I found the sister and friend to be so similar that I kept losing who was who. I wonder why there really was a need for this extra character? The politics was interesting with the authors imagination running rife about the possibility of a female president. But the media craziness was as you expect. The character of Prince Henry was an interesting take although I could only visualise the real prince Harry whose name is actually Henry. Perhaps the names should have been completely different to avoid identifying with the real royal family.  

Of course, everyone is wealthy and beautiful and well, just awfully privileged. I just couldn’t get terribly invested in any of the characters. The biggest problems Henry and Alex had was keeping their scandalous secret from the media and not ruining an election. Predictable and not particularly compelling for me. But I gave it a go. If you like that sort of story then it’s one for sitting by the pool, I think.

Book Review: Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down

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I always like reading a Miles Franklin winner and this one recently won this prestigious prize.

The novel begins with the narrator opening a Facebook message from a man called Tony who is wondering if she is Maggie from his childhood foster home. The message leads Maggie to reflect on her old life and she takes us down a heart-breaking and tragic past. Her mother died from an overdose and her father was is in jail for murder by the time she reaches five. From then she is shunted from foster home to foster home, encountering abuse, drugs and institutional neglect.

This is a tough story to read and it makes you wonder how much trauma and tragedy a person can endure. For some, this will be a very difficult story to get through. Yet the writing compels you to keep reading, to turn the page with the desperate hope for something better for little Maggie. And whilst there is at times despair, there is also hope as she claws her way to people who do care and love her unconditionally. The scenes with her last foster mum are heart-warming and gratifying as is her early life with her husband and his family. But of course, nothing lasts for too long as events take a twist forcing her to make difficult choices.

The foster care system is fully scrutinised and its failings highlighted for debate in the wider community. Down shines a light on how institutionalisation affects a child’s, education, sense of belonging and self, demonstrated when Maggie finds she has no history – no photos, scant background on her family and little record of where she’s been.

Set in various parts of Melbourne and Phillip Island it’s always gratifying to read about my own backyard and the author has been meticulous in her research given that the time periods of which she writes have not been directly experienced by her.

It’s a fascinating novel, highlighting important themes, yet the last third for me seemed to drag a little. Perhaps the trauma of her life was just a little bit too much for me. However, I was compelled by Maggie, her resilience and her perseverance for the life she wanted and eventually got.

Book Review: Oh William by Elizabeth Strout

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This was a surprisingly delightful read and I didn’t think it would compel me as much as it did.

The story centres around writer, Lucy Barton whose husband has died. She has two grown up daughters, and a first husband William whom she still has a connection too. When he invites her on a trip, she is puzzled by his need to be with her until a family secret is shared.

This is a journey of discovering William, dissecting Lucy’s relationship with him and their shared past. Lucy feels her invisibility and vulnerability as she reflects on her life, her successes and her failures.  What is really interesting is that we get to know Lucy Barton so well that the book ends with acknowledgements then continues with Lucy Barton’s book which is a memoir. It was confusing yet surprising as I wanted more which I definitely got.

Strout manages to pick out and analyse human frailty and faults in both characters to the point that we feel for them. William is lost when his relationship falls apart and it is almost sweet how he gravitates back to Lucy and one wonders if there is any chance of reconciliation. How Lucy deals with him is apt yet thoughtful despite the man’s appalling behaviour with women.

It is a very upper-class lifestyle where money is not a problem for these two successful people. Yet Lucy’s background of poverty makes her the person she is and the reveal about her is interesting. This is said to be a third novel in a series which I’ve not read yet it didn’t affect my experience.

Beautifully written, I can see why it’s made the Booker shortlist for 2022. The winner to be announced on 17 October. Watch out for it.

Book Review: Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au

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Winner of The Novel Prize in 2021, this story is about a daughter and her mother’s holiday through Japan. They visit galleries and museums, eat at restaurants and generally act as tourists do.

This is a short novel of only ninety-nine pages and the narrative is filled with the daughter’s observations of art, or literature, her family or her mother. We get little sense of the mother’s thoughts or feelings and she comes across as reserved with little personality. Their relationship seems strained with a portrayal of detachment across a cultural divide.

The narrator makes the following observation to her mother. “Maybe it’s good, I said, to stop sometimes and reflect upon the things that have happened, maybe thinking about sadness can actually end up making you happy.”  Yet we are given nothing about the mother’s response which left me a little frustrated.

There is a lot of minute detail some of which leaves little to the imagination for the reader. This together with the ‘tell’ nature of the prose served to take me out of the story, giving me nothing to feel or even at times to care about the daughter or the mother.

Almost like a travelogue of observations and although nicely written, I found this one difficult to engage with. I’m glad it was a short one.

Book Review: Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

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This is another beautiful story following McConaghy’s first novel, Migration.  Along similar lines, this book explores climate change and the deteriorating world environment.

Inti Flynn and her twin sister Aggie arrive in Scotland. Inti leads a team of people who are tasked with introducing a group of wolves into the wilderness, commonly known as rewilding.  Inti and her team must deal with antagonism and suspicion from the locals some of whom still retain centuries old superstition about wolves. Despite that, she leads her team with grit and determination. When a sheep and then a man dies, the wolves are blamed and Inti makes an ill-fated decision which creates disastrous consequences to protect the animals.

The wolves are indeed the central characters. The rewilding process is a fascinating idea and has actually been introduced in Scotland in 2021. Land has been overrun by deer and farming. By introducing wolves as predators, the deer move on allowing the ecosystem to rebuild.

“if we can extend woodland cover by a hundred thousand hectares by 2026 then we could dramatically reduce CO2 emissions that contribute to climate change and we could provide habitats for native species.”

I really enjoyed the author’s exploration of this idea and it made me read further. It was successfully done in Yellowstone National Park and rewilding has begun to take shape in many countries across the world providing new hope.

But this story is much more than about wolves. The backstory of the sisters is emotional. Where Inti is ferocious and passionate, Aggie is silent and the trauma behind that is quite shocking. We learn also that Inti has the rare condition known as mirror-touch synthesia where she feels the pain of others.

The writing as always is beautiful and the descriptions of place so vivid, I could feel the bleakness and the cold. The sub-plots covered a lot of territory from domestic violence, to twin behaviour, animal bonding, community ignorance, trauma and mental illness. Without giving away spoilers, some of this could have been pared back as there was a lot to deal with as a reader. Was Duncan’s backstory just a bit too much?  It became quite complex yet wrapped up very neatly at the end, just a little too conveniently.  And while I appreciated what the author tried to do, there were some things that seemed to move towards the edge of implausibility.

But despite all that I really did enjoy it and the messages still remain important. Give this one a go.

Book Review: Denizen by James McKenzie Watson

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Nothing is as it seems in this thriller debut by Australian author James McKenzie Watson.

Nine-year-old Parker grows up on a farm in outback New South Wales. His mother kills herself and his father is distant and Parker blames himself, knowing that something is wrong with him. An incident at a creek solidifies his growing terror and guilt about what happened. As an adult, the birth of his baby son brings back disturbing memories and doubts via flashbacks and when he returns to the creek on a camping trip with friends, he’s forced to face his past with drastic consequences.  

The first two parts of this novel was a slow reveal of Parker’s past and some of his present, his friends and his foes. The tension grows as does the disquiet drawn not just from Parker but from the very bleakness of the landscape, the town and its desolation and hopelessness. The relationship between mother and son is as disturbing as it is ferocious.

When I finished part two, my head was swimming trying to work out what the hell just happened, as everything I thought I’d known about this character tumbled away. Had I been sucked in by an unreliable narrator? It certainly seemed so. It took a couple of days to get back into the book as I needed that time to process the shock.

This story burrows into your mind as you try to make sense of the unfolding event, all the while compelling you to turn each heart-thumping page. It’s beautifully written, evocative of language and place.

At the core of this novel is mental health issues in rural Australia, the lack of resources for people and the consequences of what it can do. It’s not a happy or even hopeful story and may be very confronting for some, but nevertheless it’s a powerful and important read.

Book Review: Penny Wong by Margaret Simons

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Interestingly this book was published in 2019 before the world spun into total unpredictability. But it’s taken that long for me to pick this one up despite being a fan of Penny Wong.

Nevertheless, I knew little about her until she was recently appointed as our Foreign Minister. After the election in May, she hit the ground running, impressing me even more.  

This biography reveals a lot about her background, her mother, Australian with ancestors dating back to the 1800’s and her father of Chinese descent. The history of her childhood is fascinating and her battle with racism heartbreaking. Yet this is where her passion and her ethics were created making her into the person she is today.

I was fascinated to learn the machinations of the party and her role in it and reminded of the disgusting behaviour by the Liberal Party under John Howard (who could forget his role in dividing the country on race by the pictures of the children overboard scandal).

I don’t often read biographies let alone ones on politicians but I’m glad I read about this inspiring woman.  I’ve seen her interrogating politicians on the Senate’s committee asking the questions I wanted answered.  No wonder she is seen as formidable. Because she is and a whole lot more.

This biography goes beyond the personal as it delves into Australian politics forcing the reader to confront the past, the good, the bad and the ugly, particularly when it comes to the slow and painful machinations of change such as marriage equality, climate change and our indigenous voices. At times it is dry, plodding and insightful, sometimes all at once.

I will certainly be taking a lot more notice of what Penny Wong does, now that I understand her just that little bit more. If you like your politics then this one is for you.