A Bridge In The Jungle ~ B. Traven

Sandman Slim ~ Richard Kadrey

Freedom ~ Jonathan Franzen

X NO X

National Book Critics Circle Award : finalist 2010
Tournament of Books : 2011 (finalist)

First Tuesday Book Club

Sing, And Don't Cry ~ Cate Kennedy

** RECOMMEND **

An absolute joy
Just wish I had read it before the trip to Mexico


Cate spent a year in Mexico as a volunteer worker in a poor Mexican community.

Her observations are compassionate and heartfelt but never condescending or judgmental. She recognises and acknowledges, and maybe even envies, the richness they find in their impoverished lives.

The World Beneath ~ Cate Kennedy

** RECOMMEND **

Dexter Is Delicious ~ Jeff Lindsay

The Wide Sargasso Sea ~ Jean Rys

Purchased at City Lights Bookshop, San Francisco
Reviewed on First Tuesday Book Club

This is the story of the first Mrs Rocherster. It is a prequel or a sister novel to Jane Eyre.

It is set mainly in the Caribbean and maybe it was the fecund heat of the tropics rotting everyone's existence but I found that there was a lot of second guessing with the plot, a lot of reading between the lines and still not being sure that you "got" it.

The writing style was not for me.

First Tuesday Book Club

Heart Of Darkness ~ Joseph Conrad

The Chemistry of Death ~ Simon Beckett

The Well at World's End ~ A. J. Mackinnon

Written in Bone ~ Simon Beckett

The Singapore School of Villainy ~ Shamini Flint

Solar ~ Ian McEwan

Eagerly anticipated but didn't grab me
Lots of blah blah blah scientific detail

The main character is well written - a rather horrible, rather lazy scientist who is simply keen to rest on his laurels. He wants to make as much money as possible based on his reputation that was made after winning a Nobel Prize. He rips off an idea from an acolyte and frames his wife's ex-lover for the murder of her current lover, the acolyte he ripped off.

The scientific blah blah blah was not necessary to understanding the plot or the characters or their motivation ... too much ... too boring.

First Tuesday Book Club

An Iron Rose ~ Peter Temple

A short page turner

Almost a mini "Broken Shore"

This was well constructed and nothing is wasted in moving the plot along. It has dry humour and believable characterisation. It uses its location to the best advantage.

In some ways it reminded me of Broken Shore ~ ex policeman retired to the countryside (check), bad things happen in children's home (check)

Whispers of the Dead ~ Simon Beckett

** LIKE **

A find on the remainders table
Well constructed forensic crime

A British forensic expert is revisiting his place of training in Tennessee ~ the Bone Farm. We had just watched a Stephen Fry Across the US travel series where he visited this place. (People donate their body to science so that studies can be done on rates of decomposition etc ... so there are bodies in barrels, under trees, in cars, exposed to the elements etc).

The book was an excellent page turner with a good twist to keep you on the edge of your seat. Characterisation was well done.

This was the third in a series (that's the problem with remainders table pick-ups) and, of course, there were the inevitable bits of backtracking to remind you/fill in the blanks if what happened earlier.

The Children's Book ~ A. S. Byatt

Shortlisted : Booker 2009

Made the wrong choice (me ... not the judges!)

Not that I didn't like it ... just that I didn't love it ... and it was soooo long. And I had "Wolf Hall" and this sitting by the bed and chose this one to read (probably because I like the cover ... groan). Wolf Hall went on to win the Booker and heaps of other accolades.

This was a long long long book. It had a great historical setting but it was so wordy ... at times it seemed like the author just slipped history lectures or research notes into the narrative.

It was set at the turn of the century (1800s into 1900s) in upperclass / bohemian / arty society of England.

Basically, I was glad to finish it!

The Black Minutes ~ Martin Solares

Mexican Crime
Not what I was after

I picked this up before our trip to Mexico but didn't find the sense of place I was after. It was certainly crime noir though with a Mexican touch of phantasmagorical (with lurid dream sequences).

The time swings between the crime happening in the present and an author investigating an earlier crime. The narrative for both stories is overloaded with corruption (everyone ... police, politicians, businessmen) .... all a bit heavy.

The Blind Assassin ~ Margaret Atwood

** RECOMMEND **

Winner : Booker Prize 2000

A delightful read


Iris tells the story of herself and her sister, Laura. It is set among the wealthy industrialist families outside Toronto before and after WW1.

There is deliberate confusion about what is happening and to whom it is happening. The story exposing the family's dark secrets is interwoven with a trashy science fiction saga being told by ???

I loved the sense of time and place in this book ... and the fact that you had (wanted to) read carefully so as to expose the truth. This is a complex read with parallel stories and not in a time continuum.

The Gates ~ John Connolly

** RECOMMEND **

Young teen fiction
Cute, well constructed, fast paced.

One of my "Favourites" is Connolly's "Book Of Lost Things" which is also in the Young Adult category (maybe??) but for an older audience than this.

Demons have been let loose! The Gates of Hell are opening. All because a small chink occurred diring the operation on the High Speed Particle Accelerator. So it is up to our cool hero ... a dorky young boy ... ably assisted by his two friends and his very well written dog.

This book is fun!

The Whisperers ~ John Connolly

Charlie Parker #9
Slightly supernatural suspense

It has been so long that I have read one of the Charlie Parker series but this one was timely as we went to Sydney and had lunch with John Connolly himself! ... thanks to Michael Robotham!!

After my Charlie Parker hiatus (I felt that Black Angel was a bit of a 'jump the shark' for me and Charlie), I really enjoyed this one! Soldiers returning from Iraq bring back spooky plunder from a sacked Baghdad museum.

Plenty of baddies, well written, face paced ... a winning formula