Hannah was rescued from an unhappy childhood at a Dymocks store when she escaped to the depths of Newtown. At brtd she is reponsible for customer's special orders, searching the world for those hard-to-find books, to satisfy our most demanding shoppers.
Secretly she had always hoped to be a ballerina and is still disappointed her parents never bought her a pony.
Silent Footsteps
Sally Henderson
2007
PB $32.95
As Sally Henderson was bedding down for the night during a holiday in Botswana with her husband, she forgot to fully zip her tent. When she woke hours later, lions were circling in for the kill. Torn between the urge to scream, fly into a frantic fit and secure the tent or remain calm hoping the pride would slip away into the wilderness, Sally lay dead still wishing for the night to end and occasionally sending pissed-off thoughts to her husband who continued to loudly snore. When Sally became aware of the lions sudden retreat she risked a move to see what had caused the swift departure. Standing directly above the tent as silently has it had arrived stood a fully grown elephant. A washed with relief and a new fear of being stomped to death Sally struck up a deal with her protector who continued to stay with her until morning. She would return to Africa to protect this endangered animal. So a few years later, having sold up in Australia, Sally returned to Zimbabwe with her partner to do just that.
What follows in this book is a beautiful, moving and often funny account of life with the elephants and of course, let's no forget to toss in the wilderness, heat, people & spirit of Africa! Combined it cooks up a marvellous tale.
Pictures of Us
Todd Alexander
2006
PB $32.95
Pictures of Us tells the story of Maggie Apperton and her desire to reform a family that has been driven apart by years of secrecy and deception. Retired and lonely, Maggie starts a lunch club to fill a void in her life and the bond she forms with the other women in the club is much stronger than any that she has at home. On the surface, Maggie is just the same as the others - married and settled, open with her conversation but dig a little deeper, and we see that Maggie's relationships at home are strained. Her son Patrick only visits to see the family dog and Maggie knows little about what he gets up to in his city life. That suits them both. Her daughter Isabel lives in Paris and is a journalist studying for her PhD. The letters she sends home to her parents are cordial and impersonal. Then there's Maggie's husband, Marcus - his business provides the family with all the material possessions they need but he's essentially a workaholic and not as home as often as he could be.
When Marcus dies unexpectedly, the shock to her routine encouraged Maggie to reach out to her children before it's too late. Can Patrick emerge from the exile his mother has imposed upon him and will Isabel be open to escaping from the exile she's imposed upon herself.
This book is an intimate and often moving exploration of a seemingly average Australian family, its history and the web of deception that it has been built around. Its characters are real enough to be flawed and at times frustrating, just like a family member we know who's not quite telling the truth or what's on their mind. It poses the question - can friendship be formed once a family has grown cold and distant?
This is a debut novel from Todd Alexander who spent 5 years writing the book after being inspired by conversations with his mother. I am ever so glad that Todd gave me this book to read, for it is not something that I would have pulled of the shelf myself.
It's honest and compelling and will keep you intrigued until the very end when the Apperton family is slowly unraveled to reveal that truths at its core.
A Walk in the Woods
Bill Bryson
1998
PB $24.95
A Walk in the Woods is my favorite Bryson novel. It tells the story of Bryson's attempt to travel the world's longest footpath, the Appalachian Trail , which stretches along the entire East Coast of America, from Georgia to Maine . Accompanying Bryson (much to his disbelief at times) is his overweight, cake-loving, traveling buddy Stephen Katz.. Some of you may have already been introduced to Katz from Neither Here Nor There, an earlier Bryson tale of his travels through Europe . If this is the case, then enough said, if not, to describe Katz would be to roll Bernard Black's cruel sense of humor, Homer Simpson's appetite and the demeanor of a sloth into the one being.
'Poor Bryson' I hear you all saying, and I thought the same, yet with the 4000 kms of remote woodland that lay before him, home to wild bears, cats, snakes, moose, poisonous plants, nasty little insects and a random murderer, I believe he was glad of the company. That was of course until the first hill, the first cake-throwing tantrum and never relenting wish to break in the nearest motel with pizza & beer and watch the X-Files . You'll love Katz in the end!
If A Walk in the Woods was meant to crush a desire for outdoor adventure, it has the opposite effect. Bryson's description of the surrounding landscapes - the Smoky Mountains & Great North Woods of Maine, has me longing to go.
This is one of the most enjoyable travel books so far. Give thanks that Bryson can relate his adventures and misfortunes in a uniquely hilarious way.
Much the same as Janet Evanovich, to read Bill Bryson is to subject yourself to the puzzled looks of passers, caused solely by hurtful belly laughs.
The Falls
Ian Rankin
2006
PB $19.95
In his later Rebus novels, Ian Rankin shows more of the dark side of the city he evokes so well for his reader, Edinburgh. A student is missing, one who has been playing a deadly game on the internet. Inspector Rebus is a Luddite, dismissive of computer technology and must rely on his technically more capable colleague, DC Siobhan Clarke to uncover the role-playing cyber game, one that sucks her in at her peril. The discovery of a carved wooden doll in a tiny coffin seems to be connected. This bizarre object is eerily reminiscent of ones found in Edinburgh as early as 1836 and now housed in that city's museum. Echoes of Edinburgh 's infamous body snatchers Burke and Hare and Robert Louis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde add to the atmospherics as the drama is played out in the underbelly of Edinburgh and on the gloomy heights of Arthur's Seat.
Rebus is just as sharp as ever though his maverick ways are becoming of great concern to his friends and colleagues. He seems to have given up any hope of mastering his excessive love of single malt and tobacco, despite his doctor's dire warnings. He needs the relief alcohol brings to ward off the ghosts of the past that haunt him nightly as he keeps his lonely vigil at his window, staring out at the bleak Edinburgh nights.
Rankin doesn't get any better than this.
Much the same as Janet Evanovich, to read Bill Bryson is to subject yourself to the puzzled looks of passers, caused solely by hurtful belly laughs.
My Family & Other Animals
Gerald Durrell
A 2006
PB $14.95
'My Childhood in Corfu shaped my life. If I had the craft of Merlin, I would give every child the gift of my childhood' Gerald Durrell
This book follows the early footsteps of Durrell, a blossoming zoologist, and his family's move from dreary England to the exquisite island of Corfu .
Durrell gives a warm and entertaining account of his day to day life between the ages of ten and fifteen where he immediately befriends the native folk of the Isle. He earns the title of \\lquote <//lquote> Little Prince' from doting neighbors, enjoys siestas in the shade with the family's taxi driver Spiro Americanos and involves himself in animated conversations with the island's Rose Beetle-Man, a non-English speaking character who enjoys trading his remarkable collection of pets.
This book is refreshing to read, written with the single-minded objective curiosity of a growing boy. Although being thoroughly satisfied with Durrell's mischief adventures and curious appetite for nature, he throws in the added bonus for us of becoming acquainted with his eccentric and comical family. If you still want more, Roger the dog and Quasimodo the Pigeon, with their disturbingly human habits, will be sure to satisfy.
A must read for every lover of nature, travel addict or for those who simply enjoy slipping into the world of another every now and then.
The White Masai
Corinne Hoffman
2006
PB $22.95
The White Masai begins with author Hofmann falling hopelessly in love with a beautiful Masai warrior whilst on holiday with her boyfriend. Swept away with the entire hullabaloo that happens when you fall in love, Hofmann packs up life in Switzerland and moves to Kenya to be with Lketinga. The love between them grows and at one point seems indestructible. Corinne learns the Masai way, their traditions and beliefs, they have a baby daughter and a home is created. I knew it was all down hill from then on.
After fours years together the cultural clash between white European and Masai becomes too much. Female circumcision, malnutrition, disease and an abusive husband all became too evident. Corinne's world was slowly falling apart.
This book was a realistic and convincing read. It offers a window into a world we are still so ignorant about.
I take my hat off to Hofmann; she found what she wanted and went for it.
Could you leave all that is familiar, comfortable and stable in your life for a bloke and the Kenyan bush? I'd like to think that I could, but I'm all for flushing loos, hot water and dark Lindt chocolate.
My favourite book
It is impossible to narrow it down to just the one. There are far too many books out there. However, if I were to mention a few that have that special place on the shelf they would be Pride & Prejudice, it's that old classic you can just read over and over again. Just as Karen said, there is nothing better than curling up with Mr Darcy when you're feeling a little low.
Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials; it's simply brilliant. There is no point is reviewing it, I wouldn't do it justice. You have just got to read it yourself!
Of course let's not forget The Lord of the Rings, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell and last but not least the Miles Franklin Award Winner The Year of Living Dangerously by Australian author Christopher Koch. A different choice (I'm more of a classic, science fiction/fantasy girl) but a marvelous novel set in 1965 Jakarta, the year of the' God-King' Sukarno's demise.
My favourite author
Janet Evanovich
I was first introduced to Janet Evanovich over dinner. Two beaten up, dog-eared books, that had obliviously been around the block were passed in my direction by my Aunt with her explaining 'These are for you to read after your HSC, not before.' One for the Money and Two for the Dough, I read the titles out aloud. 'Thanks very much guys.'
It was some time after, when I had just finished a very long morning of studying George Orwell's 1984, that I thought I deserved a break and that the best way to do this was a bit of light reading, something to momentarily take my mind off things and so I began......
Immediately I was hooked and this wasn't a good thing remembering that there are twelve books in the series and my HSC was looming ahead. But I could not stop. I was addicted to and admired Evanovich's quick and slick dialogue, her outrageous and quirky plots and of course my one and only heroine, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.
I have asked people if they could be a fiction character who would it be? Many reply as Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harriet Vane ( Dorothy L. Sayers) or Precious Ramotswe, strong>No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. My boss has a fancy to be Jack Reacher (Lee Child's lone hero) and I constantly remind him of it. On sunny days and when I'm outside and feeling wholesome I imagine myself as Lizzie Bennett, Pride & Prejudice, yet when it comes down to it, I simply cannot go past being Ms Plum.
Perhaps it's her action packed job of apprehending (or attempting to), the criminals of Trenton, New Jersey. Her zany family, and coolest Grandma in crime Granny Mazur, whose hobbies include watching the weather channel and popping the lids on caskets at her local funeral parlor or maybe it just down to the two men is Stephanie's life; the bad -arsed, Cuban-born Ranger, a fellow bounty hunter with skin like a 'mocha latte' and a persona like Batman. Or the Italian Vice Cop, Joe Morelli, who's lean and chiseled looks, sexy scars and brown eyes have more 'than a professional interest in Steph. She can't choose between them and either can I.
Evanovich is one of the most hilarious, eccentric and sassiest crime writers today. She rubs off on us all. Its been on more than one occasion when I have come home only to find my Aunt on the couch and deep in concentration with the weather channel. I have experienced enormous belly laughs in bed reading the adventures of Ms Plum and witnessed similar explosions on public transport by others. I believe I can safely say that if it wasn't for Janet Evanovich and her brilliant creation, my HSC results would have been that bit better! I can't wait for her next one.
I take my hat off to Hofmann; she found what she wanted and went for it.
What's beside the bed
Mr Timothy by Loius Baynard 'Decadence, Deviousness Debauchery'.
Tiny Tim from Dickens's A Christmas Carol takes the lead role.
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood Winner of the 2000 Booker Prize. A good enough excuse.
Absurdistan by Eric Campbell Campbell's tales as foreign correspondent as he reports from some of the most dysfunctional places in our world today.