She’s the one by Cathy Kelly

I ejoyoed this book but I didn t love it. I kept getting annoyed at the character’s jumping to conclusions that led to more drama than was really needed. And the switching back and forth between characters is something I normally like, but I found that I would get engrossed in one story and then have to switch over to the other and it was actually a little irritating. The stor is your usual chikc lit fare – woman leaves husband, gets new job, finds new man. Couple with a similar story about a woman going through the same sort of stuff but at a different stage in her life. Definitely readable, just not awesome ….

April Fool’s Day by Bryce Courtenay

This is a true story written about Courtenay’s youngest son, Damon, who was born a haemophiliac and then became HIV positive as a result of contaminated Factor VIII, the clotting factor required to be used every time he had a “bleed”. Happening in a time when HIV/AIDS was still a very new disease with a social stigma attached to it, and when the medical profession’s knowledge of treating the disease was far from well developed, Damon struggled through the last eyars of his life. The story is brutally honest and not an easy one to read but Courtenay tells of a loving family and a young man with amazing spirit. It is inspiring to read, but a tragic story as well.

The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam

This was very disappointing. The story sounded intruiging on the back cover but it didn’t grab me at all. The story is set in Afgahnistan and tells of a house in the country where several people arrive seeking various things. Some of the images are quite wonderfully descriptive and thought provoking but I found the discussion of war a little too confronting and uncomfortable. It was almost like the book couldn’t decide whether to be an action thriller or a gentle novel.

The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw

This book was ok. I enjoyed parts of the story very much but I was also disappointed by parts of it and I was left feeling quite unsatisfied at the end. There were aspects of the story that I wanted to hear more about, and I didn’t.

The story is of a Chinese man in Malaysia in the 30s and 40s. It tells the story from his son’s perspective and that of his wife as well as a close friend. I like the style of it, but I found the political aspects quite boring and the it was a little too elusive at times.

The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveller’s Wife is one of my favourite recent reads. I first read it about a year ago and I loved it. I just re-read it and loved it more. This is one of those books I will read many, many times. From the opening poem, Love After Love :

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

To the very end, I cannot overestimate how much I love this book. It took me ages to re-read because I was savouring the words and enjoying every page.

The story is of a man who time travels and who marries a woman that he meets when she is 6 and he is older. Theire relationship grows on different planes – she has known him for virtually  her whole life but he only discovers her as an adult. The book constantly moves between times and ages and deals with their relationship as well as the issues of time travel and how it affects the chacter’s lives. It is a truly wonderful book

The Other Side of the Story by Marian Keyes

 I have been re-reading some of the books on my shelf and Marian Keyes books are always worth multiple reads. She writes books that can only be described as chick lit and yet its not the kind that irritates me in any way. Instead it is just lovely and comforting and funny and I get hooked every time, even when I have read the book before. This book follows 3 women – an author, her agent and the author’s ex-best friend who also becomes and author with the same agent. There are many many amusing storylines and its quite lengthy for a chick lit book. The ending is very satisfactory too.

More Children’s Books

 Mutt Dog is a homeless dog and when he finds a home, he finds all kinds of other things too. A great reminder about how important families are

 

 

 

 Gilbert The Great is a shark who is missing his friend. He soon makes a new friend, but not before working his way through the stages of grief in a picture book !  A great, subtle story for kids. There is another one as well – Gilbert In Deep where he learns why you should listen to what your parents ask you to do !

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

One of the advantages of not feeling well is the sense that laying on the couch reading a book all day is perfectly acceptable. In such a situation, I always find myself drawn to a relatively simple book, preferably one I have read many times before. I brought only about half of my books with me when we moved, and so I have a small bundle of classics to draw upon .. Little Women is certainly one of them. There are elements to the story that make it feel like a classic and it is so familiar to me, that I am comforted by the story. I must say those lengthy sections on the Pickwick Chronicles do nothing for me but I otherwise find the story very engaging and the author well able to describe the period about which she writes.

Silver Wattle by Belinda Alexander

  I have read Belinda Alexander’s other novel, Wild Lavendar, and enjoyed it and I picked this one up last time I was in Australia. I started it but struggled with the first couple of chapters and left it for a while. Having picked it up again, I was quickly engrossed. The story is of two sisters who live in Prague  but are forced to leave for Australia after their mother is murdered. The storyline unfolds there with love, pregnancy, racism, career choices, mental illness, family debate, strange neighbours and ill children in a 1920s setting and all of the social requirements of that age. It is a saga-style book but very readable and the story progresses well and covers some important issues. I enjoyed reading it.

December by Elizabeth H Winthrop

This novel centres around a 12 year old girl who has stopped speaking for no apparent reason and the effect on her family and life. Its quite fascinating and told from several perspectives,including that of the girl. Having struggled with some parenting issues and a child with anxiety recently, I found it quite engaging and a little scary. I could completely relate to the characters and their struggles and the story was well told and easy to read.