Those who had read and enjoyed The Unbelieved by Vikki Petraitis agreed it should be titled The Disbelieved. Highly recommended After the Party Series starring Robyn Malcolm was good viewing. Stalin’s Englishman: the Lives of Guy Burgess, a biography of Soviet spy Guy Burgesss written by Andrew Lownie came recommended and, going back in time, The Child in Time by Ian McEwan. Ian is a beautiful writer. Light on the Snow by Anita Shreve, was a good read. An interesting article by journalist Andrew Bolt gave rise to discussion on publishers’ methods of distributing books. At this point in time 84% of books published are written by women. In the USA banning of books is becoming quite common, one complaint and the book is removed from the shelf, whilst banning certain books for children is becoming commonplace in Australia. Interesting facts in the article. Back to what we had read, Oath and Honour: A Memoir and a Warning by Liz Cheney, a United States House Representative, is interwoven with political analysis. Liz sacrificed a lot to speak out - if you are interested in politics this is a must. Dorothy listened to audio books including Outback Rides and All the Golden Light. Richard Osman’s latest book The Last Devil to Die is fortunately the last in the Thursday Murder series, they had gone as far as was credible. Also enjoyed was Barbara Taylor Bradford, The Women in His Life. A new crime novel Reykjavik: A Crime Story co-written by Katrinjakob Stottir (the Prime Minister) and Ragar Jonasson, a very wordy book. The Secret: a Jack Reacher Novel co-written by Lee Child and Andrew Grant, Jack Reacher was a very busy person. The following were enjoyable reads - The Armour of Light by Ken Follett, a big book; The Royal Windsor Secret by Christine Wells and The Chocolate Factory by Mary-Lou Stephens, love, friendship and dangerous secrets of the early days of Cadbury chocolate in Tasmania. Books by Phillipa Nefri Clark received a big tick as enjoyable reading. Between, Before and After, a true story of escape from besieged Sarajevo by Edita Mojkic, highlights how little acts of kindness mean so much to refugees. Much laughter when a 1916 book by Lady Hackett, The Australian Household Guide was produced. We need to lift our game after reading some of this. Shark Arm: a shark, a tattooed arm and two unsolved murders co-authored by Phillip Roupe and Kevin Meagher, and enjoyed was Women Who Dared, 52 stories of adventurers, daredevils and rebels. So, a wide variety of literature and some good discussions in June.
See you all on Monday 1st July. Happy reading.
Geraldine