Too hot to go anywhere, bush fires and smoke everywhere. Somedays the power was off and could not use air conditioner or fan. Did lots of reading and cooking. Cooked an easy tomato soup using lots of tiny tomatoes were are growing.
Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica
A good mystery. Set in USA mostly in present time with flashbacks to earlier years.
The Family Upstairs By Lisa Jewell
Star-Crossed by Minnie Drake
I loved this novel. It was full of humour with some
laugh out loud moments. I loved the characters and the situations that they
were placed in. It was set in Australia mostly in Alexandra Park in a large
city.
It is about Nick Jordan and Justine Carmichael they
were best friends when in Primary School in a small country town called
Edenvale. Justine was a Sagittarius and loved words, reading and spelling. Nick
was an Aquarius and totally believed in his stars.
Years later Justine is living in Alexandra Park in a
city close to where she grew up and working for Alexandra Park Star a local
newspaper. Justine’s job was to run and fetch as required and she was hoping to
eventually be offered a cadetship in journalism.
Nick was between jobs and thinking about getting back
together with an old girlfriend. Nick has been offered a part as Romeo in a
small company and decided to take up the part based on what his horoscope
predicted.
Justine is offered a promotion and one of her jobs is
to transcribe the monthly horoscopes sent in by fax from a correspondent who
lives on an island. Justine decides to slightly adjust the horoscope for
Aquarius in the hope to get Nick to change his mind about getting back with his
old girlfriend. Things don’t go as planned and the lives of many Aquarians who
regularly follow their stars are set off on alternative courses.
This is a wonderfully constructed plot and follows the
life on many different people who are affected by the changes that Justine
makes in the monthly horoscope. I loved the way it all comes together.
Postscript by Cecelia Ahern
This was a sequel to PS I Love You and a sampler of 37
pages. It is set in Ireland. Holly
Kennedy works for her sister in a second-hand shop called Magpie. It has been
seven years since Holly’s husband Gerry died from cancer. Before Gerry died, he
left ten letters for Holly to open each month after his death. Each letter
ended with “PS I love you”. Holly is asked to speak about how the letters helped
her get her life back together. She speaks to an audience of friends and family
in her sister’s shop and the interview is broadcast in a podcast.
Many people listen to the podcast and a small group of
people suffering from cancer or other terminal illness form a group and call
themselves “The PS, I Love You Club”. They want Holly to help them write
letters so they can leave something for their families.
Holly does not want to get involved but she gives in
and helps after meeting the club members.
This was only a small sampler of Postscript but
I loved it and I have since read the book and fully enjoyed the book, I loved
the humour and the sadness, Holly’s family and friends and the stories of the
members of the “PS, I Love You Club”
A Long Time Coming by Robin W. Pearson
Beatrice Agnew known as Granny B to her family has
lived in the same house since she was a young woman. She brought up seven children.
Their life was difficult. Her husband walked out on them many years ago. She
has kept her secrets about her life well hidden until one day when her
granddaughter Evelyn comes to visit and accidentally finds a box full of
letters.
Evelyn is not happy in her marriage but is trying to
get all the family together for her mother’s birthday, but Granny B wants
nothing to do with it.
This was about families and family relationships and
identity. I gradually got to like the family members as their life was
revealed.
The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley
Posy Montague lives with her parents in a large house in Suffolk during the 2nd World War. Posy's father is a pilot and Posy has many happy memories of collecting butterflies with her father. He dies in 1944 and Posy is sent to live with her grandmother in Cornwall. Years later Posy returns to her family home in Suffolk and spends all her time creating and working in her garden. The home has been in her family for 300 years. When Posy turns 70 and trying to decide to sell the home she discovers family secrets.
This was about secrets, families and family relationships.
Miss Austen by Gill Hornby
This is an historical novel. It is about Jane Austen
and her family members. Their life is told through letters written by Jane and
her sister Cassandra to family members. I loved the way their life was revealed
and how different members of the extended family viewed Jane Austen’s writing
ability.
Jane’s older sister Cassandra is getting old and is
concerned about letters Jane and Cassandra wrote to their relative at Kintbury
Vicarage over many years. In 1840 Cassandra travels to Kintbury Vicarage to
help her relative pack up in preparation of leaving the Vicarage. Cassandra is
on a mission to find the letters.
The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung
I loved it, all about numbers, theorems, mathematics, identity and women wanting to be recognised for their contribution to science.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow
January Scaller lives with Mr Locke while her father travels the World looking for unusual artefacts. This is about families, greed, identity and belonging. It is a fantasy where January's father came from a different world and time through doors between paralel places.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Mary Catherine Blackwood called Merricat lives with her sister Constance and Uncle Julian. Her sister was acquitted with murdering their parents, brother and Julian's wife. A very disturbing family unliked in their community.
The Girl in the Painting by Tea Cooper
An historical mystery set in Australia mostly between
1906 to 1913 with flashbacks to the 1860’s and 1870’s.
Jane Piper was left at an orphanage when she was a
baby. Jane likes numbers and learning. Michael Quinn and his sister Elizabeth
organise a scholarship so Jane can further her education. When Jane gets older, she helps Michael and
Elizabeth in their business.
An artist visits Maitland and some of her work is
displayed in a gallery. Elizabeth Quinn visits the gallery and her life and
everything she believes is suddenly changed as she regains long forgotten
memories to an earlier time. Jane and the artists son help Elizabeth.
I loved the way Jane Piper was helped by Michael and
Elizabeth Quinn. I also liked the way the history of Michael Quinn and his
sister was told. Gradually revealing all their secrets.
This is about families, identity, immigration and early
Australian history set in gold rush town of Hill End, Sydney and Maitland.
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