2011 Librarian's Reading ChallengeThis is a featured page

12 Months - 12 Reading Experiences

The aim of setting a Librarian's Reading Challenge is to further understand the diversity of readers who use our libraries and the items they choose to read.

Each month in 2011, library staff are challenged to read materials around a particular theme. Each month, post your reading choice to the corresponding table on this page. Your reading experience on the topic for the month can vary from books and blogs to poetry, plays and essays. If you have a twitter handle, feel free to add it too.

You can extend this reading challenge to your library patrons and the online public by taking part in the 2011 Twitter Reading Group.

Just to spice tings up this year we will again be celebrating #bookbinge in April - so go all out with some #oznzreads, add your reads below and don't forget to tweet!

Happy Reading to all!

January #suagb Scare Up a Good Book

Name &
Twitter(optional)		 Author/Title/s: Comments
Ellen @ellenforsyth Kill the dead by Richard Kadrey Think hardboiled with zombies (including a mix of pigs blood and jelly beans). It is not light reading, and there is little light in it. I was going to read non-fiction, but have only been reading quite cheery non-fiction and not anything which fits with #suagb, but I can add in a scary tea cosy.
Shirley Mortara @shirlmo What the night knows; Dean Koontz Dean Koontz usually writes Paranormal but this one goes into the Paranormal on a deeper level than normal. The ghost in this case inhabits various people with an aim to murder. This fits in really well with #suagb
Cathy @CatyJ Steven King / The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon After having watched The Shining at a very young age and then Misery much later I have not been a fan of Steven King and have actively not read any of his books. Given the #suagb challenge I decided that this was his chance and this title was the first one I came across on the library shelves. I then went on to read H.G. Wells' The Valley of Spiders (a series of short stories) and Dean Koontz' The House of Thunder (one of the few Koontz titles I had not read). I've now decided to give Steven King another go and read a few more titles as the parallel between his writing and Koontz' writing is fairly strong and I quite enjoy Koontz .....
I finished the month by reading King's collection of short stories - Night Shift - and The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, both extremely enjoyable and more than just a little scary - perfect for #suagb!
Added to this I also took great delight in playing Alan Wake and scaring my kids back into their bedrooms!!
shirley@shirlmo Blood Sins: Kay Hooper this book qualifies because it is centred on a psychopath on a apocalyptic crusade of terror.
LibraryJo Something Wicked This Way Comes /Ray Bradbury Read this a few years ago and found it amazingly freaky. Not in a modern, gory way, more mentally disturbing. A very clever writer. I get the feeling Stephen King could have been influenced by Bradbury. I would recommend it to anyone who is not into your standard horror, but appreciates talented writing.
Vicki @vix013 Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton This is a Vampire series that I am finding similar to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer story but for grown ups.
Heidi Zeitoun by Dave Eggers Abdulraman Zeitoun is a Syrian-American living with his American wife, Kathy, and their 4 children in New Orleans, running their painting business, quietly living the American dream.
The first part of the book gives Zeitoun and Kathy’s story, telling you what ordinary, law-abiding, hard-working, patriotic people they are.
When Hurricane Katrina arrives on the doorstep, Zeitoun stays to keep an eye on their home and their other properties while Kathy leaves with the children for the safety of her sister’s home in Baton Rouge.
After the hurricane, using a canoe he bought some time previously, Zeitoun travels through his neighbourhood, and later further afield, seeing if he can assist people – with his noiseless canoe he can hear people calling for help which the authorities in their noisy fan-powered boats can’t. He keeps in contact with Kathy via a phone in one of his properties which has not been inundated and despite her urgings to leave town, he is enjoying being useful and stays on. He links up with a few other men, Todd who is the tenant of the apartment with the phone, his friend Nasser and another man who has been using the phone too.
Then one day when all four men happen to be at the apartment at the same time they are raided by the police and national guard and taken to the main train station in New Orleans, arrested for looting. Things soon look very much more ominous as the men are interrogated, internally searched and incarcerated in a chain link fence prison (similar to that at Guantanamo Bay) that has been set up behind the train station – the authorities haven’t organised food, water or shelter for civilians properly but have managed to build a prison!
With no presumption of innocence, the men are treated horrifically – sprayed with capsicum spray and blasted with bean bags, shouted at. It dawns on Zeitoun that he and Nasser at least are suspected of terrorism. After several days the men are moved to a high security prison. All this time and for almost a month, Zeitoun is denied a phone call to let his wife know what has happened, eventually managing to persuade the prison chaplain to make the call for him.
This part of the book was really difficult to read. By then you have a sense of how honourable a man Zeitoun is; he just wants to do what’s best for him and his family and his neighbours and gets caught up in a nightmare where all human rights are stripped from him under the Homeland Security laws. Scary, very scary stuff.
And don’t think it can’t happen in Australia – witness Dr Haneef
Heidi The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters & The Small Hand by Susan Hill More traditional scary stuff - two ghost stories
The Little Stranger - Set in Warwickshire in 1947/48. Dr Faraday is called out one day to Hundreds Hall, the crumbling mansion belonging to the Ayres family which by now consists of Mrs Ayres and her two grown up children, Roderick and Caroline. Roderick has injuries stemming from his time as an RAF pilot during WWII. Caroline had been in the Wrens but returned home to nurse her brother and look after her father. The family is in severe financial crisis, having to sell off parcels of land for council housing to meet the bills and unable to keep the house in good condition. The last person in the household, and Dr Faraday’s initial patient, is Betty a young local girl, their only servant nowadays.
Dr Faraday is welcomed into the household as a regular visitor and is there at dinner one evening when a small girl is badly bitten in the face by Caroline’s old dog, Gyp. Things start to unravel with first Roderick, then Mrs Ayres and finally Caroline falling victim to something sinister in Hundreds Hall.

The Small Hand - Adam Snow is an antiquarian book dealer. En route to visit a client, he loses his way and comes across a large, derelict house. In the grounds he feels a small child put their hand in his . . . but there is no child.
Atmospheric right from the start this small book (only 167 pages and 12cmx18.5cm) contains a good ghost story, although I had guessed at the ending a little while before it was confirmed.
Anne CD @Edwirinia Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King I chose Stephen King as I'm trying to broaden my reading by trying those authors whose books I've often shelved, but never felt compelled to read. Novellist suggested that this title would be a good starting point as it contains four strong short stories and a short piece by Stephen King explaining his inspiration for each story and what he was trying to achieve.
The stories were varied: a mans life disintegrates after murdering his wife, a woman hunts down and revenges herself upon a rapist and his accomplices, a wife deals with finding out something very disturbing about her husband of 20 odd years, and a man makes a deal with the devil to improve his own life to the detriment of his best friend's. All were well written, with straightforward narratives. The weren't particularly scary or horrifying - contrary to what I'd expected based King's reputation - but all lingered in my mind long after reading, which is what the author says he set out to do.
I'd read Stephen King again, if I wanted a good story with a disturbed atmosphere.
Carolyn Worth Dying For, Lee Child This probably isn't the typical scary story as it is typical Jack Reacher - lots of violence, high body count and Jack saving the day for the "good guys". However, the underlying story is scary. I won't give away the subplot for those who plan to read it but there are a couple of scenes that belong in your worst nightmare...
Vassiliki The Library Policeman - novella in Four Past Midnight by Stephen King I love the premise behind this novel. A grown man who is still terrified of going to the library due to being raped when he had gone to the local library as a child. The slow unfolding of evil librarians is wonderful and vintage King. Unfortunately, I did not like the conclusion to the story. Though terrifying it slips out of straight horror/crime and enters the realm of horror-fantasy of which I am not a big fan.
Anne Snowman by Jo Nesbo I actually had to stop reading this at night as it was quite scary. The idea of the disguised lurker just waiting to get you alone completely creeped me out. Very popular author, and the tension created was very real (to me anyway!)




February #heartreads Romance



Name &
Twitter(optional)		 Author/Title/s: Comments
Cathy @CatyJ
For something a bit different I started trolling the library shelves from 'Z' and working backwards selected every book I came across with a heart genre label on the spine.
So far I've picked up Timothy Wislon's "Master of Morholm", Lauren Willig's "The temptation of the Night Jasmine", Sally Wentowrth's M&B title "Mission to seduce", and Tim Waterstone's "Lilley & Chase".
I haven't read the blurbs, I'm just diving straight in - boots & all!
My best find this month was "The River Wife" by Heather Rose - a simple and beautiful retelling of a classic myth. It appealed on oh so many levels and satisfied my language doorway.
Heidi Italian Prince, Wedlocked Wife by Jennie Lucas My very first Mills and Boon - Lowly petrol station attendant Lucy Abbott, struggling single mother of one-year-old Chloe, is kidnapped by Prince Maximo d’Aquilla from her work in Chicago, or Seattle and forced to marry Maximo so he can take revenge on Alexander (Lucy’s ex-fiance and father of Chloe who has done a bunk without paying child support) and a business rival (who turns out to be Lucy’s grandfather). If she marries Maximo until the old man dies she’ll get $1million for each month they are married plus more.
Of course she fancies him, of course they end up happily ever after. There is lots of plump breasts, electricity and passion.
It’s all so predictable – I’m told that’s the attraction of romance stories and repetitive. No surprise there!
Shirlmo Blue-eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas This is a sequal to Sugar daddy. basicallly the typical romance story. Boy from wrong side of tracks meets girl that was from a rich family, a few troubles along the way (naturally) and eventually marries the girl. :)
Shirlmo The Thorn: Beverly Lewis. This is the first book in a trilogy (The Rose trilogy) . As is then norm for Beverly Lewis her books are focused on love and marriage in the Amish Society. The best thing is its a good clean read. No swearing, no sex and no its not boring..it is a good soft read.
Anne CD @Edwirinia Jennifer Crusie, Rachel Gibson, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, MaryJanice Davidson, Nalini Singh My experience with the romance genre is that its fraught with danger. There are great reads, and there are absolute duds, and cover art and back of book blurbs are of little use in telling one from the other. So I decided to take recommendations from romance readers as to the best authors to in contemporary, humorous and paranormal romance.
I started with contemporary romance, with Jennifer Crusie's Maybe This Time and Fast Women, Susan Elizabeth Phillips Ain't She Sweet and Rachel Gibson's I'm not in the mood for love. All four were set in the US and followed the romantic adventures of women in their mid 30s. They were light, easy reads, entertaining and amusing. Judging from these particular novels (admittedly a small sample), I think that Crusie and Phillips are the stronger writers. I'd have no trouble recommending all three writers, though, as long as the readers are comfortable with (not particularly graphic) sex scenes and a heavy peppering of fashion/shoe/porcelain brand names that in a movie would have to be interpreted as product placement.
Next I tried MaryJanice Davidson's Undead and Unwed and Undead and Unemployed, that fall where the realms of romance, humour and vampire novels cross in a Venn diagram: Betsy Taylor rises from the dead to find that not only is she the queen of the vampires, but her evil step mother has stolen her shoe collection. Again, this was set in the US and a light, amusing and entertaining read with plenty of fashion product placement and slightly more graphic sex scenes. I think this would be more likely to appeal as a chic-lit/vampire crossover than to readers of straight romance.
Finally, I took a stronger step in the direction of paranormal romance, reading Nalini Singh's Mine to Possess and Slave to Sensation, books 4 and 1 in the Psy-Changling series. Set in a slightly alternative future, where humans co-exist with the Changling and mentally gifted but emotionally repressed Psy races, these books are part paranormal romance (Psy and human women fall in love with men who shift to panther or leopard form), and part sci-fi mystery. I know that some readers enjoy these for the romance and pretty graphic sex, but I found myself equally interested in the back story of the power struggle between the three races.
Anne Outlander by Diana Gabaldon I had never read this series, even though I have ordered countless replacement copies, but another staff member recommended it. I would also honestly recommend it, especially to someone who wanted a love story, but wanted a bit of meat with it as well. It is the first in a series, but I found it a fine read-alone. I have the rest of the series on my list, but as they are huge doorstops, they will have to get in line.
Carolyn Familiar rooms in darkness by Caro Fraser This was an interesting romance - the hero was already in a relationship and so spurned the advances of the female lead. it had a bit of family intrigue, the theatre, travel etc as well. Overall not too bad, but I'm still not sure what the title relates to...
Ellen @ellenforsyth The devil's cub by Georgette Heyer I actually tried this because Garth NIx had written about his favourite reads and they had included Georgette Heyer. It was was a fun romp through mix ups and confusions.
Vicki @vix013 Odd One Out by Monica McInerney Romance of a girl not looking for romance that of course finds her. Highly readable chewing gum for the eyes.
Vassiliki @VaVeros Susan Elisabeth Phillips' Call Me Irresistible







Julia Quinn's On the Way to the Wedding		 I adore Susan Elisabeth Phillips. She writes complex relationship stories with unlikeable characters that end up redeeming themselves. Her books are interlinked with characters from previous books. I really enjoyed Call Me Irresistible's main characters but unfortunately found that the backstory was too much of an info dump for my liking. however the love declaration is fabulous and I've already reread the last third of the book twice.

Julia Quinn's On the Way to the Wedding starts with the love declaration at the bride's wedding to another man. Then it takes you to 2 months earlier. The build up to the church scene is wonderful & keeps you on edge throughout the whole of this lovely, romantic book. A great read!


March #specfic - speculative fiction, fantasy, etc

Name &
Twitter (optional)		 Author / Title: Comments:
Cathy @CatyJ Brent Weeks / The Black Prism After having read Weeks' Night Angel trilogy I launched straight into the first title in his Lightbringer series, The Black Prism. Okay, so mostly I read these because he's speaking at the RA seminar on March 9th but having done so this is one author I will now continue to follow. These stories of these two series are never dull, they take exciting twists and turns, the characters are engaging and the worlds real and believable - I was so glad I got to read the Night Angel series in one go without having to wait for the next book to be published! Now if only book 2 of the Lightbringer series would hurry up.....
Anne Soulless by Gail Carriger Read as prep for Dragons @ the Metcalfe. I was excited to see it mentioned by Brent and Sofie as I really enjoyed it myself. I think this is a very easy introduction to Steampunk. Vamps, werewolves and mad scientists in Victorian London. There are still the social mores of the times, but woven in is the inclusion of these other species. This book is great fun, and I intend to read the other two in the series.
Heidi Sourcery by Terry Pratchett
I scoured the shelves at the Library for something slim but those fantasy guys and girls all write enormous tomes. My son suggested one of his favourite authors, Terry Pratchett, and handed me Sourcery. And I tried. Gave up at p58 (which is a few more pages than I managed with Ursula Le Guin). I loved the Chronicles of Narnia as a child and they were the first set of chapter books I bought my sons (when they were 4 or five months old) but I've lost the art of fantasy as an adult.

Anyway, seems all sorts are getting into fantasy, including the Royal Mail in Britain. They are releasing a set of beautiful stamps with characters from Harry Potter, Discworld and The Narnia Chronicles. Have a look at the gallery the Guardian has put up by clicking here.

2011 Librarian's Reading Challenge - Readers' Advisory Services
I notice that one of the stamps is of Rincewind. Him I know because, on my way to p.58, I'd read p.17 and there he was : "Rincewind, as honorary assistant librarian, hadn’t progressed much beyond basic indexing and banana-fetching, and he had to admire the way the Librarian ambled, among the quivering shelves, here running a black-leather hand over a trembling binding, here comforting a frightened thesaurus with a few soothing simian murmurings."

I love the idea of a soothing a frightened thesaurus.
Heidi Article in the Guardian Can fantasy ever tell the truth? . . . Just asking
AnneCD @Edwrinia The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card, Angel's Blood & Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh, Souless, Blameless & Changeless by Gail Carriger, Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks I've never read Orson Scott Card's books, but his most recent, The Lost Gate was highly reccommended by a borrower. Danny, who has grown up as the only unmagical member of a magical family, finds that he actually has the most prized and dangerous talent of all, he is a Gatemage. Centuries ago, the gates between this world and the world of Westil were closed by a rogue gatemage, and all knowledge of the magic forbidden. Danny must flee his family and develop his magic without being detected. I found the writing quite uneven, at times it flowed, and reading was effortless, other sections were quite clumsy, and I was tempted to put the book down without finishing.
I tried some of Nalini Singh's paranormal romance Psy-changling series last month, and decided to give her urban fantasy Angel seriesa go this month. Elena Deveraux is a vampire hunter in a world where angels rule and vampires are their indentured servants. In both books she's involved in solving grisley murders. The sex and violence are graphic - this is definitley not a vampire book to reccommend to teens.
Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate stampunk series was highly reccommended by several speakers at Dragon's at the Metcalf. In a version of Victorian London, where Vampires and Werewolves are respected, well dressed members of aristocratic society, Alexia Tarabotti labours under a great many social tribulations: she's a statuesque, half Italian bluestocking born without a soul. These books are great fun, and quite addictive. Having bought and read the first three in the series, I'm now eagerly awaiting the publication of the fourth.
I'm not usually attracted to fantasy epics, but I was inspired to try Way of Shadows after listening to Brent Weeks speak at Dragons at the Metcalf. The story opens in the dangerous slums of a faction ridden city, where a young boy attempts to improve his life by apprenticing himself to a killer. The setting and large cast of characters are believable, and the story moves quickly, with lots of well writen action scenes. Having read the first book, I'm now half way through the second, and wouldn't hesitate to reccommend these books to a reader looking for fast paced fantasy. My one compalint is that while the edition I have has a map at the front, there is no character list. I find the plethora of characters with strange names hard to keep straight in my head!
Shirlmo My name is memory: Ann Brashares Daniel is a guy who keeps on being re-birthed / reincarnated and remembers the girl he fell in love with centuries ago. Each time he is re born he searches Lucy out. There are always obstacles in their way by the way of Daniel's jealous brother each life time.
Was a good read.
Carolyn The way of the shadows. Book 1 of the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks As a novice fantasy reader I thought I would take Cathy's recommendation and try Brent Weeks. I have to say I was hooked and now plan to read the rest of the series and then try the next one... good to move out of my comfort zone!
Vicki @vix013 Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury Cold Iron by Sophie Masson – a cross between Twilight and Harry Potter (because it is based at a boarding school). Great Read! Highly recommend for your angsty teenager
- series of short vignettes around a family, their haunted home, their past and their future…are they vampires or something more? Really interesting read. You don’t have to read the stories in order and I actually started, read the last story and then went back to the others.
- This was a very sweet story of Tattercoats and the adventures she and her friends went on. Funnily enough I enjoyed the Authors note at the end of the Story which explained the historical context, the fairy tale and where she got the inspiration for the characters and their names. Then the book finished with the original fairytale which again, I thoroughly enjoyed. This was a YA novel but would suit Junior YA.
Vassiliki @VaVeros Kjartan Poskitt's Urgum the Axeman







Gail Carriger's Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate series)
Urgum the Axeman is a barbarian who is scared of no-one with the exception of his wife (a softhand). He is gone from home for 7 years and returns to find that he has a daughter who wants to be a barbarian like him. This is a funny read with interventionist gods who are always saving Urgum from sacrificing himself on their account due to wanting to sup at their heavenly dinner table and a tax war between the barbarians and the softhands.

I adored the quirky language in this book. The world build with the wereworlves, vampires and humans in Victorian England is enjoyable and the horror aspect incredibly creepy. A delightful introduction to romantic steampunk.


April #oznzreads (ANZAC and writers from both countries)

Name & Twitter (optional) Author / Title: Comments:
hcowan In Bligh's hand : surviving the mutiny on the Bounty by Jennifer Gall Chosen for the link Bligh had to Australia - mapping and governing.
This is a sumptuously illustrated account of the infamous mutiny on the Bounty and Bligh's improbable journey in a tiny boat to Indonesia once cast adrift by Fletcher Christian and the other mutineers.
Not just the story of the mutiny - the social and political history of the time, Bligh's prior career and subsequent career as Governor of NSW, histories of the mutineers and the Pitcairn Islanders are also given.
The chapters begin with a picture of a page from the water-stained little notebook that Bligh kept on that journey and are illustrated with contemporary paintings and drawings also.
Would make a beautiful gift for the history/naval buff you love.
Anne Jaye Ford - Beyond fear Lots of publicity for this new author. Good read - creepy and suspenseful. She spoke recently at our library and was really great!
Vicki @vix013 What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. I read this on a recommendation. I really enjoyed it. This story is based in Sydney and one of the characters even loses a jumper in Katoomba so that was nice to have that connection. Alice has an accident and loses the last 10 years of her memory. She believes she is a happy newly wed about to give birth to their first baby. As the story unfolds, it is hilarious to find Alice horrified that she has 3 children and she doesn’t even know what to feed them. I was happy with how the story ended up too as at one stage I thought it was going in a different direction. And to be honest, I didn’t like the Alice that she had turned into 10 years later – I liked the sweeter, younger Alice. So I wanted her to learn something about herself and become more like she used to be…..anyway, it got me thinking….what would happen if I lost the last 10 years of my memory….my friends would be the same, I am still married to the same person, yes, there are a couple of things that I should change and should not have let happen….I like that you re-evaluate your own life along the way thanks to this story…..
Cathy @CatyJ The Ill-made mute - Cecilia Dart-Thornton This is the first book in The Bitterbynde trilogy and one I hadn't read for a few years so it was nice to go back and visit the work of one of Australia's finest fantasy writers. Plus it meant I could carry over from #specfic month and grow into #grrlpower month - win, win.
Prior to this I relaxed with Robert G Barrett's Crime Scene Cessnock featuring laconic Aussie Les Norton and his unique style for problem solving. :)
Vassiliki @VaVeros Toni Jordan's Fall Girl (Australian)





Sarah Mayberry (Australian)







Karina Bliss (New Zealand)
A story about a con-artist caught in her family's professional scamming life. When during a scammer falls for the scammee things get very interesting. This lovely romance involves many interesting secondary characters and zoology. A great read.
While I was the the Australian Romance Readers Convention there was a silent auction. I decided to put $20 towards an unknown author and Sarah Mayberry was it. And what a score! Mayberry writes angsty relationship based Mills and Boon SuperRomances. I read 6 titles in a row. I loved the way she balanced the sense of place (mostly southern NSW/Victoria) without trite description. Her character builds are complex and realistic. I enjoyed her books thoroughly and she is now on my autobuy/autoborrow list.
I felt that I should read a title called "What the Librarian Did". I will admit to being slightly reluctant as the Mills and Boon/Harlequin SuperRomance line has not been a favourite for me. However, not only was I pleasantly surprised but Bliss had me searching out more titles. I read 3 in all. The setting is sometimes in New Zealand and other times is a New Zealander in the US. Her complex family relationships and the intricate romance which is affected by greater issues are not compromised at all. What a fabulous find!
AnneCD @Edwirinia Leviathan & Behemoth
by Scott Westerfield







Pipers Son, Saving Francesca
& Looking for Alibrandi
by Melina Marchetta




Cloudstreet
by Tim Winton		 Scott Westerfield’s Leviathan & Behemoth steam punk/alternative history novels for teens proved the perfect segue from speculative fiction to Australasian authors. His fast paced stories have mechanical walking battleships, genetically engineered living airships, a runaway prince, and a girl masquerading as a boy (and out doing them all), action, adventure, friendship and morality. Keith Thomson’s wonderful illustrations add the readers understanding of the technologies found in Westerfield’s world, and to early 20th century “feel” of the book. Highly recommended.

Melina Marchetta’s depiction of Sydney’s inner west is so realistic that I actually had a discussion with a colleague about whether or not her characters had taken the quickest and most obvious route driving from one scene to another! Apart from a strong sense of place, Marchetta creates believable characters. I made a mistake in reading the related books in reverse order, (The Pipers Son then Saving Francesca), but they read well as stand alone novels.

Time and place were wonderfully evoked in Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet. Though I’ve read and loved his more recent novels, I’d not read Cloudstreet, perhaps because I was sure that it could not possibly live up to its reputation. I was not disappointed, and understand why this novel appears so often on “Australia’s favorites” lists.


May - #grrlpower - girl power, reading about women and by women

Name
& Twitter (optional) 		Author / Title: Comments:
Cathy @CatyJ Anita Heiss / Manhattan Dreaming
Julie Kenner / Carpe Demon
Julie Kenner / Demons Are Forever
Sara Douglass / The Devil's Diadem
Stephanie Laurens / Bastion Club series		 Funnily enough I seemed to have countered my reading of female authors this month with picking up the occasional Jack Higgins (how weird is that?!)
I had never read Anita Heiss before & loved Manhattan Dreaming for that Aussie girl overseas fun, I'll definitely be reading more!!
Julie Kenner's offering is hilarious - akin to Mary Janice Davidson's Undead series - with oh-so-true motherhood issues thrown in. Massive fun!!
The Devil's Diadem is another first for me. Sara Douglass is another Australian Author who I've long admired and have finally gotten around to reading. Set in 12th century England (Wales) this is an intricate insight into power, politics, society against the backdrop of the plague. I am positively enjoying every moment.
Stephanie Laurens' Bastion Club series is a riot of regency romance at its most enjoyable.
AnneCD @Edwirinia



Behind Closed Doors: The Tragic Untold Story of the Duchess of Windsor by Hugo Vickers





Mennonite in a little black dress by Rhoda Janzen








One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde		 I've really broken the mould this month, and read some non fiction. Though two of the titles are witten by men, the subjects (or in the case of the fictional representation of a fictional character, the main character) are all women.
Biography:
Vickers writes with sympathy for the Duchess of Windsor, in a book that is as much the story of Vickers’ fascination with the royalty, as that of the decline and death of the Duchess of Windsor. Beginning in 1972 with the Duke’s death, and ending with an account of the auction of some of the Windsor’s remaining household items in 1998, Vickers recounts his involvement, and quotes from his own diaries, creating a sense of intimacy and immediacy. Read with your tongue firmly in your cheek.
Memoir:
Spending time with her family after her marriage ends (her husband leaves her for a man he meets on gay.com) and she’s injured in a car crash, Janzen mulls over her Mennonite upbringing. Plain and simple clothes, strange food, and a ban on dancing and participating in the school play were hard to bare as a child, but Janzen also acknowledges the skills that she has as a result – her ability to cook for a large group at the drop of a hat, and the innate goodness of her mother, who I think is the real star of this book. I found Janzen’s style a rather muddled, and would have enjoyed the book more if it had been more tightly edited, but it is very readable.
Fiction:
Thursday Next, (not the real one, but the written one, who plays the part of the real Thursday Next in the novels loosely based upon her) Jurisfiction’s least effective agent, begins to suspect some one wants something covered up when she is asked to investigate (but not too thoroughly) and inter-genre taxi accident. Meanwhile, the real Thursday Next is missing, a genre war is brewing, and readership is falling alarmingly. Assisted by a steam powered butler, Thursday (the “written” one) attempts to work out what is happening. The story is as inventive and convoluted as Fforde’s earlier Thursday Next/bookworld novels, and just as enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed the map showing the isle of fiction, and the relative positions of different genres with the isle.
Anne Untold Story - Monica Ali The premise for this book is - what if Princess Diana didn't die? This book is a wonderful study in character. Who might Diana Spencer have become if she ran away from the royal life? I thought the timing of publication - to coincide with the April royal wedding was going to be an indicator of the content - a royal bash! But in stead, Monica Ali presents a picture of a flawed but fantastic character. This could become a Book Club favourite.
Vicki @vix013 A Vision of Loveliness by Louise Levene Great little snapshot of Sixties London, how girls may have thought at the time and the lengths people will go to for nice clothes and a lifestyle – not much has changed . . .



June - #goreads
Anne Anarchy and old dogs - Colin Cotterill Set in Laos in the 1970s this is a trip in history as well as geography. The country of Laos as it was at the time was a mixed place. Old customs and superstitions overlayed with new post-war ideology, and bureaucracy. The main character is a 73 year old ex-revolutionary, now current state coroner. Lots of humour plus a mystery thrown in. Not an author I had read before, but a great story. Would recommend to male and female readers.
Heidi Dead Europe by Christos Tsiokas










Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks		 Tsiolkas has two stories going here - one that starts in Greece between the wars and moves to Australia, and the other that starts in Australia and moves to Greece, Prague, Paris, Venice, Cambridge and London.
All places I've been to (Prague aside) but Tsiolkas writes about the parts of these great cities that I never saw with my family; lots of drugs and rent boys!
His subject matter is confronting, his characters are not particularly likeable but by gum the man is an extraordinary writer and I was gripped, leaving off my other book to persue this one.
I read it as a download onto an iPad and it was great to be able to swap from books to maps to take a peep at the places he was writing about.

Visiting another time (1600s) as well as another place (Martha's Vineyard off the Mass. coast, USA). Brooks brings to life the true story of Caleb, a native American man who befriends settler's daughter Bethia and goes on to become a graduate of Harvard University.
Brooks' use of 'olde worlde' English to conjure up the times is excellent, giving a good idea of the times without making it too difficult to read.
Brooks is a favourite author of mine, I've liked everything of hers that I've read, both fiction and non-fiction and look forward to reading Nine Parts of Desire for the third time when my book group does it in a month or two.
AnneCD @Edwirinia A Writers World: Travels 1950-2000 by Jan Morris





The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams





The Boy I Loved Before by Jenny Colgan

Flashforward by Robert J Sawyer		 I planned to read some travel guides to plan a holiday and some travel writers. I even borrowed some from the library. But I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to plan a holiday, or to read about other people’s travels. I did dip into Jan Morris’ A Writers World: Travels 1950-2000 and enjoyed a few short pieces, but I didn’t recognise the Sydney that she wrote about, and quickly lost interest. I decided that I needed to tackle the challenge from another perspective, and so turned to fiction.

I started with The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, which I first read about 25 years ago, and must have reread it at least once a year since. Rereading now, having read Adam’s sequels, knowing the trials and tribulations ahead of Arthur Dent, knowing how long he’d have to wait to get a decent cup of tea, was a revelation all over again. The writing, the ideas, the lunacy, are as strong and fresh as ever.

Sticking with the fantasy travel theme, I decided that it was time to broaden my understanding of time travel and picked Jenny Colgan’s The boy I loved before (also published as Do You Remember the First Time) and Robert J Sawyer’s Flashforward from the library catalogue. Colgan is firmly in the chic lit genre, while Sawyer writes the type of science fiction that provides enough theory and detail to enable you to re-create conditions in your own back yard. I don’t usually read either of these genres, and this may have contributed to my dislike of both books, and the disappointment I felt with the way they dealt with excellent ideas.

Colgan’s main character is given the opportunity to live life as a 16 year old again, with all her adult knowledge intact, while Sawyer gives his characters a view of their lives 20 years in the future, and then has them struggle with the ideas of predestination and free will. I found Colgans novel a messy and unsatisfying read. The different elements of the story seemed glued together rather than integrated, and consequently, the conveniently tidy ending was unbelievable. Sawyer’s novel was similarly dissatisfying. His characters feel like “types” or cogs in a narrative machine, ra*ther than real people with real feelings. Sawyer also has his characters express opinions that jar. I’m willing to believe that a 30 year old man might not find a 50 year old woman attractive, but to describe her as a “hag”, and her body as like “fruit gone bad” seems excessive.
Vicki @vix013 The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer





Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez		 *One that I had been resisting reading because everyone who read it loved it. Plus because it was written in the style of letters, I didn’t think I would enjoy the format. It took me about 50 pages to get into the rhythm of the novel but so glad I persevered. Really a rewarding, lovely story. I am sure most of you would have read it but for those who haven’t, the characters are great and I learnt about what happened to the Channel Islands during WWII

*Absolutely gorgeous story of friendship with Kabul as a very active background.


July - #whodunnit
AnneCD @Edwirinia On The Street Where You Live by Mary Higgins Clark






Red Velvet Turnshoe by Cassandra Clark







The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe










The Various Haunts of Men, The Pure in Heart, The Risk of Darkness by Susan Hill








River of Darkness, Blood Dimmed Tide, Dead of Winter by Rennie Airth










Royal Spyness, Royal Pain, Royal Flush, Royal Blood by Rhys Bowen
 Mary Higgins Clark’s On the Street Where You Live is the one stand alone title that I read. It deals with the murders of young women that parallel a series of unsolved killings that occurred in the same costal community more than a hundred years before. Clark sets up a cast of potential victims and murderers, some with family links to the century old murders, introduces a long lost diary, the possibility of a re-incarnated killer and main character troubled by a broken marriage and stalker. The tension builds, but reader never doubts that the killer will be found.

Cassandra Clark’s Red Velvet Turnshoe is the second book in a series featuring the Medieaval Abbess of Meux. I think that I would have taken more from this book if I had read the first and had a greater understanding of the relationships between the recurring characters, especially as Clark writes to obscure her central character’s thinking, distancing the reader from any emotional engagement. I also wonder how realistic the depiction of a woman of this time travelling so extensively is. Despite this, Clark successfully evokes the cold, dirt and discomfort of medieval travel, and writes some intriguing (incidental) characters.

Inger Ash Wolfe is the pseudonym of a “well known literary” author, according the jacket notes of The Calling. The central character, Hazel Micalef, is a woman in her 60s, acting as a police chief in a small town in rural Canada. She lives with her impressive mother, deals with crippling back pain, seriously unsupportive superiors and her ex husband (and his new wife) while solving what initially apears to be a series of unrelated killings of terminally ill victims. Wolfe gives the reader just enough glimpses of the killer, alongside the main narrative of the police investigation, to build the tension the reader feels to levels of real anxiety. Highly recommended, though gruesome. Wolfe has written a second novel, featuring Hazel Micalef, The Taken.

Susan Hill’s “Simon Serailler” series, recommended by a borrower at my library, plays with detective novel conventions. Serailler, a senior detective in an English Cathedral town, is a minor character in the first novel, The Various Haunts of Men. The focus is on the characters, including a police detective, who are eventually murdered by a serial killer. In second novel, The Pure in Heart, the focus shifts to Serailler and his extended family, but the ‘crime’ - the disappearance and suspected murder of a child - remains unsolved until the third novel in the series: The Risk of Darkness. Hill is not scared to cull her recurring characters, via death or promotion. Nor is she scared to make her main character quite unattractively flawed. I’m looking forward to reading the fourth and fifth titles in the series.

Rennie Airth’s three novels span a twenty year period and feature John Madden, who in the first novel is a police inspector scarred by grief of loosing his family and the trenches of the first world war. Set at roughly ten year intervals (River of Darkness in 1921, Blood Dimmed Tide in 1932 & Dead of Winter in 44), the police are shown coming to terms with a range of investigative techniques, including forensics and psychological profiling, as they solve first the murder of an entire family at a country home, then the violent killing of a young child, and lastly the very professional killing of a young Polish refugee in wartime London. Though the novels, essentially police procedurals, do at times rely on coincidence and cliche (all the murderers have cold eyes), they feature a cast of well drawn characters who mature and develop over the series. Very highly recomended.

Finally, for a little light relief, I turned to Rhys Bowen’s Royal Spyness novels. that are set in the early 1930s, and feature Georgie, the impoverished daughter of the late Duke of Glengary & Ranoch and granddaughter of Queen Victoria’s least attractive daughter. Invited to lunch with cousin Queen Mary (who has her eye on some of the Ranoch treasures), Georgie is asked to perform a series of “favours”: Spy on Mrs Simpson (Royal Spyness), babysit a foreign princess (Royal Pain), discover the identity of a would be royal assassin (Royal Flush) & represent the royal family at a wedding in Transylvania (Royal Blood). In all her endeavours, Georgie is supported by a cast of characters including her “bolter’ of a mother, her (non ducal) grandfather, an ex policeman inflicted with doubtful cockney rhyming slang, an old school chum of independent means living the high life and her love interest, a handsome but impoverished Irish charmer. These novels are a blend humour, drawing room comedy and cosy crime, but hint at the very real misery of depression gripped 1930s London.
Vicki @vix013 Monsieur Linh and His Child by Philippe Claudel I know I know I know - I am stretching it by putting this down as my whodunnit. But I really hate reading them. So this is a mystery, and there is a twist and a reveal throughout the book - close enough????
This review on the Internet says it all : “An old man is standing on the after-deck of a ship. In his arms he clasps a flimsy suitcase and a newborn baby, even lighter than the suitcase. The old man’s name is Monseiur Linh. He is the only person who knows this is his name because all those who once knew it are dead.” (p.1). So begins Monsieur Linh and His Child: bitter and sweet and wistful – the very notes on which the curtain closes, come the occasion – it is a Kafka-esque elegy of friendship which handily sustains the sense of uncomplicated beauty evidenced above over its abbreviated course. A 2005 novella, lately translated from the French by Euan Cameron, from Philippe Claudel, author of Brodeck’s Report and erstwhile director of the sublime foreign-language film I’ve Loved You So Long, at 100 small-format pages of oversized font, Monseiur Linh and His Child is in stature hardly more than a short story, but it has all the emotional impact of a gut-punch to the soul.” – I am telling everyone to read it. I can’t tell you too much as it would spoil the story.








August - GeekReads

Vicki @vix013 Freakonomics - A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner So who made the connection to lowering crime rates and legal abortion? This is just one of the scenarios explored in this thought provoking read.. For a snapshot of modern society with interesting theories as to how and why certain things happen, backed up by statistical analysis, worth the read just to stretch the braincells.












September #bookbites

Heidi Various cook books for Book groups

The Book Club Cook Book : Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favourite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp - New York Pengin USA c2004

Recipe for a Book Club : A Monthly Guide for Hosting Your Own Reading Group by Mary O'Hare and Rose Storey - Sterling, Virginia Capital Books 2004

The Book Club Companion : A comprehensive Guide to the Reading Group Experience by Diana Loevy - New York, Berkley 2006

Book Summaries : These books all do the same thing - advise on the books you could read with your book group and how to tie in the food you might consume at that meeting.

The Book Club Cook Book is the heftier of the three with 519 pages. Each chapter profiles a different book ( from Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence to Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker via Angela's Ashes, Anna Karenina, Chocolat and Love in the Time of Cholera amongst many others - 100 titles in fact) giving a brief introduction and description of the book, the recipe and then a summary of their discussions from various book clubs.

Recipe for a Book Club is only 107 pages long and it is divided into 12 chapters - one for each month of the year in different genres. Each chapter give the suggested book title, a menu (with recipes) , a review of the book and information about the author (both very brief) and follow up suggested reading. The suggested readings often seemed to have only a tenuous link to the suggested book and theme.

The Book Club Companion is divided into groupings by genre with chapter headings such as The Beloveds, Brit Lit and Red, White and Noir. The chapters start off with a list of 'indispensible titles'. And there are some quite pragmatic suggestions for what to do, rules you might want to think about, questions you might come up with as well as the now obligatory recipes.

Review : Given that the Recipe for a Book Club authors state that "our intent is to help you create a relaxed atmosphere and minimize the stress that individuals often feel when they host a gatherng" I think in some ways these books might cause book group hosts more stress.

In my civilian life I belong to two book groups. With the first, we meet at an hotel each month and just partake of the food and drink on offer there. With the other group we meet in each other's homes but the host of the group is only required to provide tea, coffee and water so the task is not too daunting. Those of us who are visiting bring along the food and any wine, etc. we might wish to share. There is one member who likes to do the whole theme thing when we are at her house (Spanish decor and clothing for The Shadow of the Wind for example) but that is her thing and none of the others of us make any attempt to compete.

I may be biased but I feel both these approaches fulfil the "create a relaxed atmosphere and minimize the stress" criteria.

These books are both are heavily US centred so many titles may not appeal/be available to Australian readers. And while they are new to Blue Mountains City Library, none of these books were published any less than 5 years ago and so won't mention many notable books published since then. That said, if you are thinking of starting a book group with friends - and it's so easy to do - these would be a nice jumping off point for ideas.
Heidi The extraordinary cookbook by Stefan Gates; photographs by Georgia Glynn Smith
2011 Librarian's Reading Challenge - Readers' Advisory ServicesLondon Kyle Cathie Ltd 2010

This is one cook book that seems to live up to it's name.

Some of the dishes are extraordinary because of their ingredients . . .

(Insects p.34, Bone Marrow on Toast p.55, Frogs Legs p.90 - naturally, my one experience of frogs legs was in a Chinese restaurant in Edinburgh! - and Chocolate-roasted Spare Ribs p.166),

2011 Librarian's Reading Challenge - Readers' Advisory Services

. . . some because of their method of cooking . . .

(Kebabs Cooked on a Car Engine p.114, Chocolate-tin Smoked Salmon p.143, Lunch Cooked in the Dishwasher p.144, Beer Can Chicken p.153)
2011 Librarian's Reading Challenge - Readers' Advisory Services
. . . and some just look extraordinary
(Radish mice p.14, Golden Chicken - covered in gold leaf - p.154 or the simply stunning Flourescent Jellies p.194).
2011 Librarian's Reading Challenge - Readers' Advisory Services
Heidi
For those who thought the CWA was the yardstick by which home cooking was measured (and for our overseas readers the flyleaf reads "the Country Women's Associate of Australia has long been renowned for its work in support of rural families and communities, and for its members' cooking and catering. Their baked and bottled goods are must-see exhibits at local shows . . .") , this book may come as a bit of a shock. Between its innocuous looking covers lie some absolute horrors!

Consider the following:
p.11 - Spaghetti scones - "dried, fresh or tinned?" I asked my colleague - "1 x 420g can of spaghetti in tomato sauce," she replied.
p.36 - Savoury toast and rat bait - "eeek!" - rat bait in this case meaning cheese - phew!
p.49 - Fish finger pie - this is the recipe that started off this whole conversation - layers of fish fingers (cooked or still frozen as you choose), shredded cheese and mashed potato topped with a generous layer of shredded cheese - what kind of a day are you having to come up with that?
p.104 - Salmon and pineapple casserole - all topped with cornflakes!

2011 Librarian's Reading Challenge - Readers' Advisory ServicesWho knew Mrs Cropley (The Vicar of Dibley) was a member of the CWA?

Which one to try on your family first? Me, I'm going for the Spaghetti scones for sure - tinned spag is my eleven-year-old's fave and will make a welcome change from just eating it on toast.
Awful-sounding recipes and side-splitting hilarity aside, there are also some delicious recipes too, especially in the dessert pages and we are assured, again on the flyleaf, that these are 'tried -and-true recipes from CWA branch members all around Australia, so you too can turn simple ingredients into delicious and nutritious dishes that will please everyone at your table."
Well worth checking out to try something new.
Vicki @vix013 Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanna Harris Set in a small village near Angers on the Loire, it deals with the fortunes of a widow and her three children, Cassis, Reine-Claude and Framboise, against the background of the German Occupation. While the story was compelling, and the food descriptions scrumptious, I am not sure I liked the characters. They were quite dark and downright nasty to each other.


October - Biographies, Memoirs, Lives #egoreads

Vicki @vix013 Razor: Tilly Devine, Kate Leigh and the Razor Gangs by Larry Writer
  • I have loved all the Underbelly mini-series. Yes, I know, they are all out of proportion and quite fictionalised . . . so that is why I read the book this series was based on. While there are some licenses taken with the story and some minor stories in the book blown up into a whole episode, I enjoyed the fact that I know the characters better – along with some of the background stories. My fascination with this series, I am sure, has everything to do with the family suspicion my grandfather was in a Razor Gang and lived to tell the tale . . .













    • November - Moreads #moreads

    Vicki @vix013 Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly Yes, I did it. I finally read a blokey book and lived to tell the tale. This had all the ingredients for a good story that I thought I would enjoy....Set in Egypt, based around ancient mythology and the Pyramids, conspiracy theories etc...It was actually like reading an Action Film (which I have to sit through many with my hubby). Except, the only difference with reading about the "Action" story and watching it, is that all the weapons are described in intricate detail, as are the vehicles, the fight scenes and all those things that have men drooling....Good to read so that I can knowledgably say "oh yes, Matthew Reilly writes great stories for men. He describes weapons, and vehicles and fight scenes and theres lots of action....oh you like reading about that? Well here's a book for you...."











    December - Summer Reads (what to read when it is hot) #summerreads















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    narellenolan Dr Who: The novel of the film by Gary Russell 0 Aug 29 2011, 10:42 PM EDT by narellenolan
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    In Russell's tale of specultive fiction ,The Dr and his Time Travel machine, the Tardis, materialises in San Franciso's Chinatown amid a shoot out. Set on Earth during 1999 the action opens with a malfunctioning Tardis. The Dr is followed to Earth by another time traveller and enemy of Dr, the Master. Dr Who's newly regnerated body is the target of the Master. There is the unexpected discovery by Dr Halloway, who tries to medical assist Dr Who following the gun fight-he has two hearts and 'dies' on the table as a result of her intervention. Once ferried to the morgue the Dr 'comes to life' and the battle begins to prevent the Master from taking over his body and his time machine.
    From Jules Verne writing in the 19th century to the present , writers of science fiction picture the future world and its.technology I
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    narellenolan Murder on the Brighton Express by Edward Marston 0 Jul 25 2011, 10:53 PM EDT by narellenolan
    Thread started: Jul 25 2011, 10:53 PM EDT  Watch
    Marston's historical fiction paints a vivid picture of the various english classes of people of the 19th century from the law breakers to the law enforcers and all the others in between including english ladies, clergymen and politicians. He weaves a web of intrigue around the derailment of the Brighton Express one autumn Friday evening. He catches many folk with just as many reasons for leaving London in his web-some with affairs of the state and others with affairs of the heart. The villian responsible for the derailment looses his life under a train without the financial rewards promised by a gentleman seeking revenge for the disloyalities of his wife. A perfect whodunit for lovers of old world England.
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