Holiday+Reading+2013+2014


 * Discussion Dates:** Friday 24th January to Friday 7th February



In the space below feel free to comment in any way youwish on any books that you have read recently. This can be as brief or as detailed as you wish. As you read through people's reviews, do ask questions or comment further if you too have read this book. It would be great if some of the books you write about do generate a discussion. I am really looking forward to reading about all your reading!

Lucy: Now, if only my baby brain would work. What have I read??? This is about Government and politics and basically corruption in Kenya. It is very well written and easy to read but very very frustrating. It is written and the start of what was considered to be a new and brilliant age for Kenya when Moi was eventually toppled from the presidency. However, the corruption did not stop and slowly the poor people of Kenya began to realise that life would go on as before. It is very interesting how much of life and society is still run along tribal lines and how important this is to individual Kenyans. The futility of it all is very depressing but an interesting read.
 * It's Our Turn To Eat - Michaela Wrong**

I have read some other stuff which I will post soon but now have to go and feed some screaming children!

Mel:
 * Beautiful Ruins - Jess Walter**



A great light holiday read. Light but not fluffy. Had some heart and soul and substance. But pleased that we didn't read it for book club, as we would have all probably agreed that it was a nice story that concluded in a way that made us smile and that would have been the end of the conversation.

Mel:
 * Night Games: Sex, power and sport - Anna Krien**



=
This book is essentially about the objectification of women in the world of Australian Rules football. Krien is obviously a huge fan of the author Helen Gardner and has tried to write in the style of “The First Stone” and “Joe Chinque’s Consolation” (two books that I both love and find very important). She has followed a trial (rape charge with loose links to the Collingwood Football Club), undertaken background research around the issue and weaved in a degree of her own thoughts as she grapples with the issues. Krien’s writing is not as tight as Gardner’s and it was very obvious where the trial is heading. The book did, however, stir in me a lot of emotions around the very grey area of sexual consent, and take me back to being aged between 18 and 25. Trying to be wise in the way of the world and in relations with boys, but often coming off foolish and confused. Pleased to have made it past those years (mostly) unscathed. ======

Mel:
 * Interventions: A Life in War and Peace - Kofi Annan**



I had to read Annan's memoirs as we are going to use it as a set text for the Global Politics I teach. But it was as much for pleasure as for work. I actually found this book really interesting on many levels. Annan clearly knows that people are going to buy this book to hear about his time as UN Secretary General, and so this is what he gives the reader for over 90% of the book. His candor and ability to openly critique himself, the UN and world leaders is fascinating. He doesn't pull any punches and on a number of occasions repeats verbatim important conversations with some of the world most influential people. A really great read for anyone interested in world affairs.

Jane: Mel, your comments here make me want to read about Kofi. It would be nice to have him read it on an audio book because he has such a beaut voice!

Mel:
 * Instructions for a Heatwave - Maggie O'Farrell**



Maggie O'Farrell is always consistent in producing a bunch of interesting and flawed characters and a story line that keeps your churning through the pages. This book is set in London in 1976 in the middle of an extreme heatwave (by British standards). I enjoyed the unfolding of the story and moved through it quickly but have not given it one minutes thought since I finished it.

Jane:
 * The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt**

I am about halfway through this book, but it is heading towards being one of the best books that I have read in a while. There is something about Tartt's writing that really appeals to me and frankly this book is spectacular. Incredible narrative, interesting characters, a bit of art history thrown in, amazing sense of place (Manhatten, Las Vegas). I think the review from the Guardian explains it better that I ever could: []

Here's a sample of writing (the narrator is fifteen-year-old NY Theo): Steadily the goldfinch gazed at me, with shiny changeless eyes. The painting, the magic and aliveness of it, was like that odd airy moment of the snow falling, greenish light and flakes whirling in the cameras, where you no longer cared about the game, who won or lost, but just wanted to drink in that speechless windswept moment. When I looked at the painting I felt the same convergence on a single point: a flickering sun-struck instant that existed now and forever. Only occasionally did I notice the chain on the finch's ankle, or think what a cruel life for a little living creature - fluttering briefly, forced always to land in the same hopeless place.

Or this: Ever since Boris had shown up with the bruised eye, I had built Boris's father up in my mind to be some thick-necked Soviet with pig eyes and a buzz haircut. In fact - as I was surprised to see, when I did finally meet him - he was as thin and pale as a starved poet. Chlorotic, with a sunken chest, he smoked incessantly, wore cheap shirts that had grayed in the wash, drank endless cups of sugary tea...

Mel: I bought The Goldfinch through book depository. They have sent me a huge brick like thing that I just can't stand. Have seen a far nicer/more manageable copy in the bookshops. Am considering buying it again and putting the first copy in the book swap shelf at work. Such a waste of money, but I think it has to be done. Especially if I am going to gobble it up as Jane suggests that I will.

Jane:
 * The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton**

I got about three quarters of the way through this book and then had to lend it to someone who needed it urgently to read for their book club. It is certainly not what I would call an easy read. There is much to take in, a vast cast of characters, an incredible sense of NZ history. For me, it required so much concentration that I had to be in a particular mood to take it all in. I think you can read it on two levels - one, as a mere plot-driven historical novel, or two, thinking about structure (the subtle but intricate links between the characters, or how they act according to star signs and the phases of the moon). What Catton has written is nothing short of genius (in my humble opinion) and I am looking forward to finishing the story.

Jane:
 * Emily of New Moon - L.M. Montgomery**

A beautiful light relief from life itself! This is gorgeous and pure and fun - very much in keeping with Ms. Montgomery's other masterpiece, Anne of Green Gables. I love books that take me back to my childhood.

Jane: The title says it all really. I have been dipping in and out of this book since I received it as a gift. It has made my tendency towards introversion seem so much more acceptable.
 * Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking - Susan Cain**

Mel:
 * The Orphan Master's Son - Adam Johnson**



I am about a tenth of the way through this 600+ page book, and I am engrossed. It recently won the Pulitzer Prize. Set in modern times North Korea and vastly different to anything that I have read before.

This review makes me feel as though, I am going to stay this way for the next 500 or so pages: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/fictionreviews/9118725/Adam-Johnsons-Pulitzer-Prize-winning-novel-review.html

Wow, impressive reading ladies! I have slowed down on reading and haven't even finished one book. And now with your reviews I have a long list to get through!
 * Michelle:**

I thought this sounded really interesting when it was nominated so I jumped the gun and started to read it before the winning book was announced. I still haven't finished it, but it's held it's own and sucked me back in every time I've randomly picked it up. I think the writing is clever and interesting, and the stories weird and thoughtful. I am so intrigued to find out whether all the different paths are going to cross or not.
 * There but for the: Ali Smith**


 * Lynne**
 * Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay**

I nominated this for our last book club round and when it was rejected I decided it would be my holiday read and I am so glad I took it away with me. I was swiftly transported back to 1900 and was wholly immersed in the story. Lindsay's descriptions of the Australian landscape were beautiful. The "mystery" itself was a side issue to the effect it had on the local community. The way she described the subsequent events as the 'pattern of the picnic' spreading across those who were there and even those who were only loosely connected was fabulous. The demise of the school and the disintegration of the indomitable headmistress were unthinkable, yet inevitable, and enthralling. I loved the Englishness of some people and the Australianess of others, the repressed desires and the sensuous themes. A sensational read for so many reasons - and definitely worthy of being a classic. 10/10.

This is a memoir of a Scottish born journalist that migrated to Australia in her 20's and, while working as the health reporter for The Age, decided to take a year off drinking. It explores societal attitudes to drinking, the inherent health risks, our relationship with alcohol and what can be gained if we stop. It was the dire effects of a new year's day hangover that prompted Stark to stop, which was immensely difficult for her as she had been drinking (socially) since she was 16 and considered her consumption normal until she began to notice that the next day was becoming increasingly difficult to manage. I found this to be a really interesting read - just at a time where I think I have matured enough to step back from drinking and appreciate the positives of moderation. Had I read this 10 years ago I would have thought it was an unauthorised biography of my life..... Anyway, a sobering read (geddit!) at the ripe old age of 41 for me. Glad that I have reigned in my habits, though I would never go so far as to stop all together, as there is nothing finer than a cold beer on a hot afternoon. 7/10.
 * Lynne**
 * High Sobriety by Jill Stark**


 * Lynne**
 * Wild by Cheryl Strayed**

Another book club reject (I like underdogs) that I am glad I tracked down. This is the story of Cheryl Strayed's journey of self discovery, starting in the Mojave desert, at the lowest point in her life, and following the Pacific Crest Trail for an 1100 mile hike along the US west coast. Spectacular scenery, dangerous animals, an oversized backpack, a lack of orienteering skills, dehydrated food, snow, searing heat, moments of deep introspection mixed with descriptions of how many toenails she had left - fascinating and uplifting in an Oprah's-book-club kind of way. Lots of girlpower moments and a few laughs too. A good (light) summer read, though it does make one feel guilty for sitting and reading instead of tackling some insurmountable challenge. I was merely a passenger. I will not be punishing my body like this. 6/10.

Lynne: and now I'm off to bed to keep reading In Cold Blood, with Philip Seymour Hoffman on my mind as the Oscar winning actor from "Capote" - the next film I __must__ see, after Picnic at Hanging Rock. xox ps: good to see you last Friday Mel, and lovely to meet Gen as well. We really must try harder to get some book club face offs happening.... pps: after all the raving you ladies have been doing about Donna Tartt I bought The Secret History and it will be the next book I read, then hopefully the Goldfinch.

Jane: Lynne, I am going to go and find a copy of Picnic at Hanging Rock right now. I think I have seen the movie at some stage, but I think I was completely terrified, so maybe I did not watch the whole thing. Anyway, your review of the book has inspired me again. Ooh, and "Capote" is one of the best movies I have ever seen. PSH is GENIUS. Such a star. A tortured star. I can't believe he is gone from our world.