Book Review No 16: The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

I am a big fan of Liane Moriarty and having especially loved her last book (The Hypnotists Love Story), I was really looking forward to The Husband's Secret. Within the first few pages I was hooked and knew that I would definitely not be disappointed.

The three main characters Cecilia, Tess and Rachel are introduced in separate small chapters and at first seem to have little in common except a vague tie in to The Biggest Loser being on TV at a particular moment in time. However it soon becomes clear they are all part of the St Angela's Primary School community in Sydney and like six degrees of separation their lives already have and will continue to overlap in many ways.

Book Review No 15: Educating Alice by Alice Greenup

At 18 Melburnian Alice decided to quit uni and travel around Australia with a friend by motorbike. During her travels she stops in to see a family friend in Mackay, Queensland and on a whim applies for a temporary job as a governess on a remote cattle station. It is here that she meets a young jackaroo named Rick and from that moment her life is changed forever.

Theirs is not an easy courtship - Alice returns to Melbourne for a while, before transferring her studies to Brisbane and Rick spends a year away working in the very remote Kimberley's. Although initially drawn to the outback life, it takes Alice a while to fully adapt and accept that if she marries Rick their lives will be forever tied to the land. As newlyweds they take a huge gamble with the purchase of their own property and face many obstacles as the unrelenting drought brings them to their knees. Just when it seems things are going their way Alice is involved in a devastating accident and it is only with huge amounts of courage and tenacity that she makes a good recovery before going on to give birth to three children.

Book Review No 14: House For All Seasons by Jenn. J McLeod

An old house, a small town, several different stories that weave together...what a great idea! LOL. This charming book has many similar elements to my own novel, so naturally I was very eager to read it. And I definitely wasn't disappointed.

Sara, Poppy, Amber and Caitlin were once good friends when they all lived in the small NSW town of Calingarry Crossing. Central to their friendship was their association with The Dandelion House - a place they all spent time at under the wise and watchful eye of Gypsy. However a tragedy rocked their friendship and the town on school muck up day back in 1989 and one by one the four girls fled the town and their friendship.

Twenty years later all four women are shocked to discover that Gyspy has willed the old house to them, but before any decisions can be made about its future, each of them must spent a season back in Calingarry Crossing, alone. All are reluctant at first, but in turn they acquiesce and each then embarks on their own journey to healing the past.

Book Review No 13: Bush Nurses by Annabelle Brayley

Back in the 1980s I used to love the TV show The Flying Doctors. Set in a tiny outback town in NSW, it was based around the work done by not only the actual doctors who flew great distances to treat sick and injured patients, but also the nurses who ably assisted them. Like many viewers I assumed that the storylines on the show were probably exaggerated for effect – to create more drama and keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Apparently I was wrong. In reading Bush Nurses, I realised that The Flying Doctors only touched the surface. 

Book Review no 12: Last Summer by Kylie Ladd

Rory is a great Aussie bloke - a father, husband, brother, son and good mate to many. He's also the captain of the local cricket team and the nucleus of a group of friends in suburban Melbourne. Then suddenly (and shockingly) one day he dies....and everybody around him is left floundering as they try to pick up the pieces of their lives without Rory in it.

I really liked the way the premise of this book and how it explored what happens when a tragic, unexpected event occurs. It illustrated wonderfully just how different people cope (or don't cope) and how people attempt to move on. This is especially true when losing a person like Rory, who they all relied upon in one way or another.

Amazing Community Libraries

Having always had access to a well-stocked Council library, I was blissfully unaware of the amazing work done by community libraries all over the country. It was not until I was invited to speak as an author (quite a thrill I must say) that I had the pleasure of visiting my first community library and learning all about what a huge role they play in small towns. 

After doing a little research I learned that community libraries are generally run by volunteers and they rely mainly on donations to stock their shelves. So, to be honest I was expecting a small building with lots of second hand books (and there would have been absolutely nothing wrong with that). Imagine my surprise when I arrived to find a good sized, modern building with a huge range of books, all lovingly cared for. There was even free internet. To know that this is all made possible by the work of a great band of dedicated volunteers is what made it truly remarkable. Books are either donated (mostly new) or purchased with funds raised (by the same group of volunteers). All the work involved in the running of a library (which basically has the same borrowing system as a regular library) is carried out by volunteers. Although the hours are not as long as a normal library, they certainly offer enough time for anybody to squeeze in a visit and borrow some books.

As a writer, all you want is for people to read your work. Sure it is nice to make lots of sales, but it is equally nice to know that strangers go into a library, browse the shelves, pick up your book and take it home to read. In a time when some are questioning the validity of libraries in our modern world, the community library is a shining example of why we DO and will always need a place we can go and find books. 

So I say hats off to all the community libraries out there! Keep doing what you're doing and we authors will always have a reason to keep doing what we do.

Book Review No 11: The Sinkings by Amanda Curtin

Although the beginning chapters of The Sinkings are a little confusing and seemingly disjointed, I soon settled into the rhythm of this compelling novel and by the end I really enjoyed the way the two threads of the story (past and present) inched together and gradually met.

Willa lives in Western Australia and is just starting to function again after dealing with the loss of her daughter. Drawn into the horrific homicide of a convict turned free settler over a century before at a place known as The Sinkings, Willa is determined to unravel just what happened to the man known as Little Jock. Not much notice was taken of the brutal manner of the murder at the time, but knowing that Jock suffered the same rare medical condition as her daughter Imogen, Willa believes that she owes it to him to find an answer.

The Kindness of Kids

Today's blog post has nothing to do with writing or book reviews - although it is kind of related to a book I'm reading (My James by Ralph Bulger). Most of us remember the absolutely horrific murder of an angelic looking two year old boy James Bulger back in 1993. Almost as shocking as the brutality of the crime was the fact it was carried out by two ten-year-old boys. Reading this book you cannot help but be absolutely horrified at what this young boy suffered and feel despair that kids could be capable of such evil. Unfortunately we usually only hear the horrible things kids do and rarely the good, so I would like to write a little about that today.

Book Review No 10: Bay Of Fires by Poppy Gee

Bay of Fires in Tasmania is a place where people come every summer to enjoy a simple beach holiday either in their own shack or at the campground. Quiet, idyllic and isolated it seems like a very unlikely place for a murder. Yet in the space of just over a year two young women (of remarkably similar appearance) have met with foul play. Young surfer Chloe simply disappeared without a trace after telling her family she was going surfing and Swiss backpacker Anja's body was discovered washed up on the beach on Boxing Day. Suddenly the close knit community is on edge - people are locking doors and watching their backs, something they've never had to do before.

Sarah Avery has just arrived back in her home state after a stint living and working in Queensland. It is obvious she is seeking solace in her family's beach shack, yet she is unwilling to talk about what caused her to leave her boyfriend and the job she loved at a Barramundi farm. Choosing to spend a lot of time fishing alone or swimming in the freezing waters of the nearby beach and lagoon, Sarah is working hard to bury her recent troubled past. It is only when she strikes up a friendship with journalist Hall Flynn (who is covering the murder mystery) that she begins to let her guard down.

Book Review No 9: Paper Chains by Nicola Moriarty

Hannah is not your usual twenty-something Australian living in London. Unlike the thousands of other travellers and working holidayers that make the city home for a time while they party their way around Europe, Hannah spends her nights alone in her flat and her days off jogging all over the city to the point of exhaustion. By a stroke of fate she meets fellow Aussie India, who is as outgoing and fun loving as Hannah is serious and reclusive. Although an unlikely friendship it flourishes and enriches the lives of both the young women in amazing ways.

It doesn't take long for India to work out that Hannah is hiding a secret and she makes it her mission to discover and get it sorted out - after all in her own words "everything is fixable". In the meantime India is dealing with her own matters of the heart. Although she has adopted a "here for a good time not a long time" attitude to travel and the people she meets along the way, India can't stop thinking about Simon who she met in Greece and continues to correspond with via an unorthodox method that sees her letters hand transported via other travellers. Yet a secret of her own keeps her from following her heart and committing to a relationship with him.