Book Review No 21: What is Left Over, After by Natasha Lester

Gaelle is a 30 year old woman, married to a heart surgeon and mother of a baby girl Aurora. French by nationality she has made a life for herself in Sydney and has a fulfilling career as the beauty editor of a magazine. So what could possibly drive her to start sleeping with random men and more bizarrely board a flight for Western Australia with just the clothes on her back without bothering to tell her husband or friends?

Multi-layered and quite dark at times, What is Left Over, After explores many issues relating to marriage and motherhood. I found Gaelle quite unlikable to start with, but as her character is explored via her interractions with a teenager she meets on the beach, I found myself softening, as the reasons for her seeiming self-centred behaviour are gradually revealed.

Digital Book Sale

To celebrate spring the digital editions of The Beach House (epub and kindle) are available from my website only at the special price of $4.99. DRM free and with extra content not available in other editions, it is a great place to grab your copy. (http://www.thebeachhousenovel.com.au)

The Joys of Spring

Ah, September - spring is here again. As I child I loved September because it is my birthday month, but even as I've gotten older and birthdays aren't quite as exciting (mainly because the numbers increase way too rapidly!), it is still my favourite month of the year.

Here in Queensland, spring generally arrives right on cue. Usually in the last couple of weeks of August you can really notice the days getting longer and the warm breezes replacing the colder ones of June and July. It's easier to get up early in the morning and go for a walk or a swim and I just seem to have so much more energy and motivation.

It is no coincidence that all five stories in my book The Beach House take place in spring and early summer. Even though the beach can still be a beautiful place when the weather is cool, it is in the warm spring and summer months that it is truly magical.

To celebrate the beginning of spring, the digital editions of my book (ePub and Kindle) are available from my site only (http://www.thebeachhousenovel.com.au)  for the special price of $4.99! DRM free and with extra content not available in other editions, this is the best place to grab your digital copy.

Book Review No 20: QF32 by Richard de Crespigny

Having flown quite a lot, I wouldn't consider myself a nervous flyer. However I must also admit that I don't like to dwell too much on how a plane actually stays up in the air when I'm in one! This book is all about a plane passenger's worst nightmare - an ominous loud "bang" and looking out the window to see a large part of the aircraft missing as well as leaking fuel and shrapnel holes in the wing.

Flight QF32 from Singapore to Sydney - part of the Kangaroo Route many Australians have travelled on - had just taken off in November 2010 when the unthinkable happened - a loud explosion followed by numerous alarms and warnings in the cockpit. It shouldn't have happened, after all this was one of the newest, most technically advanced aircraft in the world, the Airbus A380. QF32 had the potential to be one of the worst air disasters in history. The fact that the plane did in fact make a safe landing without any injuries to passengers or crew can attributed to the amazing teamwork of an experienced crew, captained by veteran Qantas pilot Richard de Crespigny. QF32 is his story.