Tag Archives: Reading

Book Review: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doer

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Wow, what an epic read this one was. It’s long, more than six hundred pages in paperback which is tough especially to hold such a tome in bed.

There are five major characters: Konstantine, a fourteen-year-old stuck in a locked room in a spaceship sometime well into the future. Then there’s two thirteen-year-olds: Anna an orphaned seamstress inside the walls of Constantinople and on the other side is a disfigured boy named Omeir who is caught up in the invasion of Constantinople in 1453.

Finally we are brought to 2020 where we meet eighty-six-year old, Zeno who is being held hostage in a library with five young children by Seymour, a slightly crazed eco-warrior.

The stories of each character is told in slow and moving detail and they are bound together by an ancient story in a manuscript originally found by Anna. The story is about Atheon who travels the world yearning for something more as he is turned magically into various animals.

The story has significance for each of the characters which are brilliantly drawn. It’s a challenging book as the narrative hops in and out of the characters and timeline, yet still manages to remain truly engaging.

Each character is on their own journey and we, the reader are swept along from the past and to the future, bleak as it is. The significance of family and our connection to the environment is explored but central is the relevance and importance of learning and books. Indeed, Doer dedicates the book “For the librarians then, now and in the years to come.”

This is such a multi-layered novel cleverly constructed with a very satisfying end. It’s quite descriptive and could be hard to follow for some so I’d suggest a few chapters to be read in one go. It’s not a chapter a night type of book but they are quite short.

It’s a not like anything I’ve ever read. It’s sheer brilliance.

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.

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.

 Book Review: Love Stories by Trent Dalton

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Let me say at the outset that I do love Trent Dalton’s books and actively seek them out. And let me confess that I originally thought this book was fiction until I sought the help of a lovely librarian who pointed it out in the non-fiction section.

Dalton sat down on a busy Brisbane Street at his folding chair and table with a sign inviting passers-by from all walks of life to tell him their love stories. Now, that’s really setting yourself up for a challenge.

This book is a collection of those tales interspersed with Dalton’s observations of people and his questioning about what love really means. It’s a sentimental journey and includes stories of his own family and his love for them.

There are various stories of love lost and love found. Some were incredibly moving and heartfelt making the reader reflect on love in a whole new way. Some stories were inspiring and those from older people where full of wisdom and learning.

I enjoyed reading the many stories and there were times when I wanted to know more. Dalton with his journalistic hat tried to probe further but some stories could never be elaborated on. People protected their privacy and sanitised their own versions and I don’t blame them. Describing love is as emotional as you can get and some stories just bring on tears whether you like it or not.

It’s a gutsy effort to put the stories into a book and Dalton does it well. There was some filler here and there which I could have done without, but overall I liked this one.

In a world where everything seems doom and gloom, it’s good to be reminded about the power of love and never taking the love of those around you for granted.

Book Review: Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

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I always like reading a Charlotte Wood novel and I particularly loved The Natural Way of Things for which she won the Stella Prize.

Stone Yard Devotional is a gentle rhythmic story of one woman’s withdrawal from her family, friends and society to live with a group of nuns in a religious community not far from where she grew up. There is no plot or fast-moving action just a contemplative reflection on the people who live there and exploration of the woman’s own guilt and failings about her parents and her part in bullying a young girl called Helen.

There are three significant events that happen while the woman is there. A mouse plague of biblical proportions arrives, the skeletal remains of a nun which is returned for burial with a woman who turns out to be Helen from her childhood.

The writing is as you’d expect, brilliant and I couldn’t help but be transported along this woman’s journey looking for forgiveness.

‘In the night I am drawn from sleep by a deep, thrumming rattle. I switch on my bedside lamp and see that the fly screen over my closed window is crawling with leaping, climbing mice. When the light goes on a shiver goes through the mass, and their scrambling becomes more frenzied.”

The mouse plague made my skin crawl and the mice grow more grotesque in description, the more uncomfortable the woman becomes with her reflections of guilt. It was a relief when the mouse plague ended for the reader and the woman. And that for me is the mark of great writing.

This book won’t be for everyone but it’s not long and I found myself rivetted even though we never really get answers to the question of why she decided to withdraw herself from everything. We contemplate and surmise it but the answer not handed to us.

It’s a thought-provoking personal story of a woman’s journey to find peace, beautifully told.

The Month that was…November 2023

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What a jam-packed month, November was. I’m only just recovering from my daughter’s wedding extravaganza followed by the publication and launch of my latest book, Sugar Creek.

It was all nerves and anticipation when I turned up to The Bank, Carnegie where guests freely mingled inside and out. The temperature was mild and the rain held off. Some grabbed a meal and a drink before the formal part of the evening.

AJ Collins kindly and generously gave up her time to say some glowing words to launch the book before I got up and spoke. Of course once you get me started, it’s hard to stop. When it came to question time I was surprised by the interest with questions such as how long does it take to write a book to… is there another one?

Just in case you haven’t caught up about Sugar Creek, read the blurb below.

A missing man, a stolen baby and a plot of land where nothing grows. Are they connected? One person knows.

1948: Sugar Creek seemed such a welcoming town for Ellen, a young woman keen to share the news of her pregnancy with her fiancé Billy. When Billy signs up for extra work testing topical creams at the local military base, to earn money for their wedding, Ellen is nervous. Now it seems her fears were founded. Billy has disappeared. Devastated, Ellen begins to ask questions, turning the locals against her and putting her life at risk as she desperately searches for him.


2000: Instead of beginning her career with a dream job as a GP in a suburban practice, Dana has found herself jobless and facing the hospital board for a mistake she made with a patient. Herb Hipworth, mayor of Sugar Creek, is desperate for a town doctor and makes Dana an offer she can’t refuse. But when Dana arrives in the remote tropical town, she discovers the locals are plagued with unexplained health issues. Now, as she digs for the cause, she stumbles upon a decades-long conspiracy leading to an environmental disaster.

Sugar Creek is available on Amazon

What I’ve been watching…

I’ve launched back into the second season of Julia, the series about Julia Childs and it has inspired me to do a little more cooking…if only.

What I’ve been reading…

I’ve caught up a little on my reading so watch out next month for my reviews of these interesting and heart-felt novels.

Happy reading and writing everyone as we prepare for the festive season and the end of another big year.

Until next month…