I have just finished Call of the High Country by Tony Parsons. A very
Australian book about life on a cattle and wool property. Very good and
I am looking forward to his next book, Return to the High Country.
MargaretA

The Red Dahlia by Lynda La Plante.  This lady gets better and better.

Hi there everyone! Hope this finds everyone going great...and reading and sewing to their hearts content!

Ive had 7 weeks off work now so ive been reading, reading and more reading! I read Hit by Tara Moss...i remember someone commenting on it before...i enjoyed reading her others...this one was good as well although the end was pretty disappointing...im sure it certainly was left there to make way for the next one. I then read Waterlemon by Ruth Ritchie who write for one of the Sydney newspapers...it was her journey whilst her husband was in a coma after a bike accident...it was a bit of a struggle to read at times but i made myself finish it and overall it wasnt too bad...although i made the mistake of reading it while i was in hospital (not a good idea!)...one that i recently read and really enjoyed was Once Upon A Day by Lisa Tucker....about a girls search for her brother after she leaves a utpoian 'sanctaury' away from the modern America...dealing with a family's past etc....it was one that was read very quickly... i have just finished The Valley by Di Morrissey which wasnt a brain strain and apart from being about 3 inches thick it was a great read...they are easy books to enjoy and i suppose i like the fact they are about Australia...

So im sure ill be able to fit one more in this week before i return to work next week! Ill let you know how i go!

Hope this finds everyone well....take care and look forward to hearing from everyone soon.

Cheers, Deb....in the very sunny hunter valley

Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com

I have just finished reading Mary Soames' biography of her mother
Clementine Churchill (wife of Sir Winston).  Absolutely riveting with
insights to much of the history of early and mid 20th century

I am in the middle of Thomas Cahill's "Sailing the Wine Dark Sea", about
the Greeks the fourth book in his Hinges of History series

On a lighter note I am reading Earlene Fowler's "Steps to the Altar",
the first of her books which I have read.  Very lightweight and not very
engrossing

Timothe Mansfield
Kapiti Coast NZ


>

I have it my "to read" pile

Timothe Mansfield
Kapiti Coast NZ



Liz Needle wrote:
> Have just finished reading the last Elizabeth George . Quite different
> from her usual British crime. About the boy who shot Helen in the last
> Det Linley  book.
>
> Very interesting comment on the 'class' system if one can call it
> that, currently in London.  I would be interested in comments from
> others who have read it. I found it interesting, but very depressing.
>
> Liz Needle
> lizneedl@... <mailto:lizneedl@...>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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5:56 p.m.
>

"Platinum Blues" by William Deverell - mystery and murder, good easy
read with a believeable hero and an insight into the music industry.
"The Missing Persons League" by Frank Bonham - really scary when you
realise this book was written thirty years ago about a time when the
earth is running out of natural resources - the year 2050 - the young
hero's mother and sister disappear.  Good tension as he tries to solve
this and other mysteries.

Currently reading "Closing Ranks" by Dirk Bogarde.  I loved the volumes
of his autobiography and have read several of his novels - this is
promising to be as good as all the others.

June in Petone, NZ where it is raining again - or is that still?

Let's have a roll call and share with all what we are at present
reading.   I was recommended "Salvation Creek An Unexpected Life" by
Susan Duncan.    I am up to page 109 and so far, cannot get
enthusiastic.   Maybe it will happen soon.   Maggie Tabberer described
the book as "A wonderful read.  Ruthlessly honest, passionate, gutsy
and funny.  I couldn't put it down."   Hopefully that will happen in
the next few pages.

Lyn in windy Banora Pt, NSW 2486.

Thanks Chris! No adolescents in my life these days, we're back to board
books for the next generation, but I might try to track it down to read
myself.

Cheers
Nola

> I've just finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and I
> found it utterly  fascinating.

Nola, we use his 'Fighting Ruben Wolfe' as a Year 10 English
class text and the kids love it. Zuzak's writing style is
very informal in this book and the kids easily identify with
the main character. He uses wolfe/dog/pack references
throughout the story and the kids suddenly 'get it' about
metaphors. If you need a book for an adolescent male for a
Christmas stocking filler I'd recommend this one.

Chris

...if you guys keep recommending books! I immediately go
online and reserve them at my library. Trouble is, I work on
the same campus and every time I go to my pigeon hole a
lovely librarian has hand delivered yet another reserved
book. I currently have 8 books piled up!!!!!

I am struggling with one though - it was recommended by a
friend. It's called 'The Ballad of Desmond Kale' by Roger
McDonald. It's about our convict times, but the writing
style is a bit unusual. For example: "Here was the place
where they had some minutes to do what was wanted against
the irons."  Mmmmm. I keep trying to unravel the
convolutions instead of getting on with the story.

Has anyone else read the book? My friend and I share very
similar reading tastes, so I do want to persevere - I just
keep looking longingly at that pile of 8 and figuring any
one of them is likely an easier read.

On my way to and from work I'm listening to 'Malicious
Intent' by Kathryn Fox (I think someone on this list
suggested it) and have to say that I'm thoroughly enjoying
it. I have fingers crossed for a good ending!!!!!

Chris, in Adelaide

I've just finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and I found it utterly
fascinating. So much so that I actually went out and bought it today, as I
know it is one I'll come back to, later.

I'm not sure if we've talked about it here or if I saw it reviewed in the
Sydney Morning Herald. It's set in Germany in 1939 and Liesel is being taken
by her mother to live with a foster family outside Munich. The story is
narrated by Death, who was kept pretty busy during that period in that area,
but finds time to follow the story of this young girl. Through various
circumstances, Liesel becomes the book thief of the title.

I found this fascinating on two levels. One is that it's a story about
wartime Germany in which the fate of the Jews does not play a huge part. A
part, yes, but not a central one. It's not like The True Story of Hansel and
Gretel or The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, both of which I've
read recently, with Jewish protagonists. Most of the people in the story are
ordinary Germans, who respond in their individual ways to the enormous
social changes happening in their country. None of them is a hero in the
larger sense; they are all just trying to survive in their own ways. And yet
there are heroic decisions, that make you wonder about your own courage in
these smaller ways, if you were faced with a similar situation.

The other is that it's so much about choices. People make choices every day,
about small and large things, and yet, in this novel, the choices of these
few people are played out in very much the way they are in real life. An
apparently bad choice may have a good outcome, while a safer choice may
prove very costly. And yet it isn't a depressing novel.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed it! It's not a light read or a short one
(584 pages), but not difficult either, with nice small chapters!  I really
recommend it.

Cheers
Nola at Epping in sunny Sydney

From 1 November subscribers will be able to read the magazine online,
and are being offered a free trial of the online version.

Interesting to note that to subscribe to the online version only is
$45 a year, compared with the print and online version at $95 a
year.   Website:  www.goodreadingmagazine.com.

Just wondering whether in the future we will have the same choice for
our newspapers and magazines?

Lyn.

he Devil’s Companions

John Misto

ISBN 0733619517 Hodder RRP$32.95
Release May 2005

On Christmas Eve, three-year-old Anna Brennan disappears from a crowded church during midnight mass. She is kidnapped, believed murdered.

Twenty years later, in the process of a burglary investigation, a startling piece of evidence accidentally comes to light. Could Anna still be alive? If so, who abducted her, and why?

Detective Constable Greg Raine is assigned the task of solving the case and reuniting Anna with her parents. But a nightmare of treachery and murder lies ahead.

In a shattering climax, the detective unearths the secret behind Anna’s disappearance … and it’s a discovery that comes at a terrifying price.

I so agree Chris - about book endings.  I have been known to throw the
book across the room in disgust - this was a Robert Goddard when he
killed off the hero on the last page - a real cop out.
The best ever ending, in my humble opinion, of a book I have read is
The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox - anyone else read it and
agree/disagree?

Regards
June in Petone, NZ

Looking Good dead by Peter James for those who enjoy a superior thriller
- griping - satisfying complex puzzle.

LOL.  Spot on Nola.

Liz Needle
lizneedl@...

Lyn, I enjoyed it, although I had to readjust my thinking a bit, so as not
to affect my thinking on the Alcott books. I found the change in point to
view halfway through was disconcerting - almost as if she had locked herself
into a literary approach of first person narrative and then realised, if he
was lying unconscious in hospital, that wouldn't work to complete the story.
It would have worked better, I felt, if she had introduced Marmee's voice
earlier, as a counterpoint to his viewpoint, rather than giving us a whole
lot of "answers" in the later section. I felt, despite the hype, that is
wasn't the best book I had read, from a narrative viewpoint, although I felt
her characterisation was very good and her prose style well-paced and
interesting. I was mildly suspicious of her using the very well-known
characters from another novelist's imagination - it always seems a little
lazy to me! But I can see she had things to say about human motivation and
the assumptions we make about other people, even ones we know well, that had
more punch from being a different take on a well-known story.

Year of Wonders, I enjoyed much more. I felt the characterisation was not as
strong, but I felt these were generally believable characters in their
historical context. The concept of village life as a microcosm of society is
not a new one but she's handled it very effectively with interesting things
to say about how people respond under challenging situations. And there's
that whole rite-of-passage, young girl becoming woman thing, that is handled
very well. I think I'd recommend this one more freely than March, though
both are good reads.

Haven't encountered her non-fiction, though I remember looking at Nine Parts
of Desire at one stage and deciding against it. I have to have a strong
motivation to read non-fiction!

Cheers
Nola

> I enjoy these for a good fun read when I don't want to read anything
> serious.
They are fun, aren't they, Liz? Very formulaic, of course, so I can see why
she has moved to another character more recently. They must get a bit boring
to write!
First chapter - ridiculous chain of events causes her car to catch on fire.
Policeman boyfriend slaps his head while other cops snigger, sexy Ranger
says "Babe", smiles enigmatically and roars off in his sexy black Porsche.
Second Chapter - extremely bad guy(s) discover she knows something/saw
something/has something that will affect their ability to go on being bad
guys and start tracking her (usually in ominous SUVs at night).
Third Chapter - light relief in comic capture (or non-capture) of bail
absconder, involving sexy Lula and someone without his pants. May involve
sexy kiss from Ranger.
And so on. Bad moment in second last chapter when bad guys get her, followed
by series of accidents/sexy Lula's gun/bit of feminine resistance to solve
the problem before policeman boyfriend shows up, slaps his head and asks why
she won't marry him and settle down to be a wife and mother, while policemen
mates snigger, and Ranger says "Babe".

I don't want to put people off them - they really are fun! Just don't look
for any depth or anything.
Cheers
Nola

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I have just finished reading "The Kite Flyer' by Khaled Hosseini. He
was born in Afghanistan and received asylum in the USA.  Although the
book is set in Afghanistan and the USA, it really gives an insight
into and understanding of  the fighting between the sects in iraq.

It is definitely a "must read again" book. Books that I really enjoy
I read quickly and then like to go back in a few months and re-read
slowly, really savouring them.

Before that I read "The Shadow of the Wind", mentioned by someone
else. I watched the video of the  ABC's  Tuesday Book Club yesterday
and I think I agree with the young man who thought it was a bit
pretentious. But Iwas on holidays when I read it so perhaps not in
the right mood.

Away from the computer to do some more to my DGD's quilt,
Rosemary from cold and cloudy Mooball


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