Have you ever wanted to review a book? Well, here's your chance.

10/04/2012 , 11:25 AM by Kathy Gates

Elaine braillerWhat I am asking you to do, review and share your favourite books, is purely selfish. None of us can know about all the good books there are out there just waiting to be sampled. You will never hear me say that there are too many books; however, there are too many to know about without a little help from our friends.

Upload your review - it can be a new book or one that you've chosen to re-read.

Any genre: fiction, non-fiction; new or old; Tasmanian, Australian or from elsewhere; history, biography; the books your children have brought home from school; the books you are reading to your children or grandchildren at the moment or read to them in the past. You could even encourage your children to write the reviews for themselves.

Upload your review as a comment and it will show up here for everyone to enjoy.

Make sure you include the author and title of the book at the start of your review, plus the year the book was published if you happen to know it.

 

Comments

Henry and Amy (Right-Way-Round and Upside Down)
Written and Illustrated by Stephen Michael King
Scholastic 1998

My five-year-old brought this book home from the school library and it quickly became one of my all-time favourites. Henry, who can't seem to get anything quite right, befriends Amy, who is always prepared and knows up from down and back from front. Amy teaches Henry how to do things right-way-round.
One day the two friends decide to build a tree house. Amy plans it so that it will sit right; Henry adds his own unique style. The wordless double-page illustration of the tree house is a humorous but poignant blend of Amy's perfection and Henry's ‘squiggly bits’ and Amy realises she is missing out on the fun of upside down. So Henry teaches her how to be not-quite-right. Both characters learn something from each other while still retaining their own uniqueness.
The ink and watercolour illustrations, though cartoonish in style go far beyond humour and several are quite moving, particularly the climax where 'together they learn how to fly' (paper aeroplanes - Amy's flies straight and Henry's does a loop-the-loop).

This charming book subtly portrays powerful messages about being yourself, accepting differences in others and friendship bringing out the best in all of us.


Posted by: Ella Lamb | 10/04/2012 at 12:16 PM

RPM by Noel Mengel, (UQP, August 2011)

This is a coming-of-age story about a muso and his friends in a rural Queensland town in the 70s and 80s. I loved some parts of this book, and found other parts an effort. I felt the first third was very focused on building characters - and there are quite a few to remember - to the detriment of story. It occurred to me that not much actually happened, although that may have been the whole point. The author was, after all, writing about the boredom of life in a small town. But does that mean the reader should also be bored? Also, I wonder how much the book was changed by a house editor to suit the US or overseas market. For example, in a story about life in an Australian town in the eighties, why do we read about "malted milks" and "shopping malls" (page 70)? It disrupted the picture, which otherwise beautifully evoked the sights, sounds and feelings of that era (which also happens to be my own!). And although the TV show, Countdown" was mentioned several times, the only Aussie band I remember reading in the story was Hush. Why? There were a zillion references to The Beatles, The Kinks, Dylan, T Rex, The Supremes, Sex Pistols etc. Surely there would have been a few more Aussie bands influencing these musos? Having said all that, though, I found the book drew me in over time, especially once the "catalyst" was introduced in the second third of the book. The different time frames portrayed in the book were juxtaposed in a particularly seamless way. The 70s/80s were brought back to me so effectively (overall) that I had a couple of retro dreams while reading this book! An enjoyable read, especially recommended to Gen X-ers seeking to reminisce about their youth.

Posted by: Julie Murphy | 10/04/2012 at 12:59 PM

Reluctant Heroes by Helen Evans, 2011

Review by June Keir www.junekeir-writer.com.au

Reluctant Heroes, part fact, part fiction, tells the tragic story of Bill McDonald and his mates; prisoners of war in Singapore after it fell to the Japanese in 1942. It is also the story of the family Bill McDonald left behind in Australia, in particular, his son, Russell, from whose point of view part of the story is told.
Helen Evans, Bill McDonald’s daughter, was inspired to write this book by letters written by her father when on active duty before the fall of Singapore. In 2009 Helen, along with the historian, Lynette Silver, and family members of other ‘reluctant heroes’, made the challenging trek from Sandakan to Ranau in Sabah, Malaysia. Helen thus gained valuable personal insight into the difficulties experienced by the prisoners of war in this most rugged of terrains. The cover picture on the book captures the essence of this terrain.
It was only a fierce determination to be reunited eventually with their families and friends at home that enabled Bill and his mates to endure dreadful hardships. I felt Bill’s love for his family and thus felt for him in all he endured in Singapore and on the Sandakan March, a long way from home.
Helen Evans, a former Preschool director and TAFE teacher, has a way with words that conveys an emotional depth without sentimentality that immerses the reader in the time and place of the action whether it is in Singapore, or in the POW camps where they were housed, or in Australia with Bill’s family.
I was deeply affected by this story, by the courage of the POWs and their families. It is a compelling read; informative and emotional. Fact and fiction blend together and help the reader to relate to both character and place. I recommend Reluctant Heroes to anyone with an interest in history, particularly relating to the fall of Singapore and the Sandakan Marches. This book is an insightful account of how war affects those who fight and the families and communities they leave behind.

Posted by: June Keir | 10/04/2012 at 01:02 PM

Card received from : Eileen Lynch. Posted via ABC

Has a book bought years ago in UK - The Pleasure of Reading –edited by Antonia Fraser.
A collection of pieces by writers about their own reading. Writers range (40 of them) from C Cookson Doris Lessing, Roger McGough, Melvyn Bragg, J G Ballard – Dylan Thomas.

If you have not read it would drop into ABC if you are interested.

Posted by: Penny Terry | 10/04/2012 at 01:51 PM

REVIEW by Graeme Bourke (via yourafternoon@your.abc.net.au)

A REDBIRD CHRISTMAS

By

Fannie Flag

Every now and then you come across a book that stands out, that satisfies all your needs as a reader. A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flag is one of these stories. Books like this are rare in the literary world when compared to the sheer volume of work that is written.
This is a charming, heartfelt, feel good story that is simply written. The writing is not crowded with adjectives. It doesn’t need them. The story has its own life, its own ebb and flow. In places I felt that the author stretched the bounds of reality a little, but this did not distract one from the very essence of the tale. To stretch the imagination is a time honoured fiction right, and done properly, it can enhance any story.
The author creates in the mind of the reader a compelling urge to read on in the first page, in the first chapter. This is something that many authors fail to do. I see it all the time, even from those best selling authors who should know better.
A reluctant Oswald T. Campbell moves to a warmer climate in Lost River in Alabama on his doctor’s advice after he reveals to him that he won’t live much longer if he stays in Chicago where the winters are cold and damp.
At first Oswald is lost, unable to fill in his time, but gradually he makes friends and begins to appreciate the slow humdrum life in Lost River. He makes friends with the local storekeeper, Roy, who had running wild in his store a crippled Redbird. Roy had saved the bird from certain death after it had been shot by some boys with pellets.
Patsy, a young, shy and crippled girl had seen the Redbird through the shop window but she never came into the shop. Each day she came to look, each day she became a little braver and eventually she came into the shop much to the delight of, Roy, Oswald, and of course, Jack, the Redbird.
I have no intention of revealing anymore of the story except that it revolves around the friendship, the love of Patsy for Jack, the love of all the people of Lost River for the little crippled girl who changes all their lives.
The copy I read was a shortened version that was in a Readers Digest Selected Editions book of four which was published in 2007. I have no problems with recommending this book as a very good read.



Graeme Bourke
Author of the Ghost Ship

Posted by: Penny Terry | 10/04/2012 at 03:27 PM

Promises by Cathryn Hein, 2011 (Penguin)
Review by Juanita Kees (www.mission-romance.blogspot.com.au)

Every now and then a spectacular read ends up in my hands and I find myself totally enchanted. As a rule, I try to vary my reading choice, so you will find anything from murder and mayhem to supersweet romance on my bookshelf - even a handful of YA. But once in a while I come across an author who has me stalking bookstores and libraries for more. One such author is Cathryn Hein.


Cathryn's novel Promises spent a couple of weeks on my bookshelf waiting patiently for it's turn to be read. I kept passing over it because I'm not really a horse fan. (Put it down to a bad experience with a Shetland Pony!) And since this book was very clearly set in the racing scene, I was a little hesitant ... until I started reading it.


Not since my introduction to Nora Roberts, has an author had me so completely and utterly spellbound. I forgot to cook, the laundry piled up and the dust bunnies swirled, forgotten because I could not put the book down. I sincerely hope Ms Hein considers selling movie rights if approached. It would be an amazing movie!

Cathryn has an exceptional way with words. As I read, I could hear the beat of hooves, smell the turf, feel the excitement. I even found myself liking the horses. I cried and celebrated with Sophie and Aaron, increasing my shares in Kleenex tenfold. Her well-defined characters came alive on each page and kept me so entertained I only stopped twice to reach for chocolate.


Cathryn captures the growing relationship between Sophie and Aaron perfectly. There is just the right amount of conflict to keep you glued to the page. From beginning to end, you ride an emotional rollercoaster as you identify with the struggles that keep the two apart.

Promises is a compelling tale of forgiveness and hope, coloured with secrets and tainted with regrets. If you haven't already read it or have it on your TBR list - this is one you should not miss out on. I was thrilled to find that Cathryn has another release, Heart of the Valley, due out in May 2012 and yet another in the pipeline. I hope I can pre-order.

Posted by: Juanita Kees | 11/04/2012 at 01:18 AM

Bitter Greens
By Kate Forsyth
Random House, 554pp, $32.99
Released March 20, 2012

Bitter Greens interleaves the scandalous life of Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force (1650-1724) with ‘Persinette’ (‘Little Parsley’), her retelling of ‘Petrosinella’ - the first published Rapunzel tale - by Giambattista Basile (1634). Mademoiselle de la Force changed the ending to have the prince’s eyes healed by Persinette’s tears and to redeem the witch.

Kate Forsyth excels at historical fiction and pays meticulous attention to details. From age 16, Charlotte-Rose lived at the Palace of Versailles, as a ward of King Louis XIV. During the Affair of the Poisons (1677-1682), the King’s mistress, Marquise de Montespan, allegedly purchased aphrodisiacs and performed black masses with midwife, ‘La Voisin’. Charlotte-Rose, lady-in-waiting to de Montespan, was imprisoned in the Bastille for black magic, but acquitted.

Forsyth delights in her heroine’s passionate nature. The mature Charlotte-Rose, 36, fell in love with under-age Charles de Briou, 24. During Carnivale, Charlotte-Rose disguised herself as a dancing bear to talk with Charles imprisoned in the family fortress. They married after he came of age, however, the family had the marriage annulled citing ‘abuse of position’.

In Bitter Greens, key events in the colourful life of Charlotte-Rose are paralleled with the shocks endured by Margherita in Italy. Margherita, a much-loved only daughter, was promised to the witch, La Strega, for a parsley-based love spell bought by her mother and for parsley stolen by her father to ease the childbirth. La Strega kidnapped Margherita on her seventh birthday. Renamed Petrosinella, she learned singing at the Venetian orphanage, a joy that enabled her survival in, and eventual escape from, the tower where she was imprisoned from age 12.

A sense of freshness and the element of surprise are difficult to deliver in fairytale retellings because the plots and motifs are so well known. Forsyth delivers by anchoring Margherita’s tale at a specific time (early 1600s) in Venice and Lake la Garda.

The elements of black magic in this tale are mirrored by the documented tales of black magic at King Louis IV’s court, achieving an air of magic realism. Forsyth inserts folk and herbal lore in a natural manner – for example, the origins of parsley as ‘the devil’s seeds’, the significance of blood with the lunar cycle (menses), and hair. (What would a Rapunzel tale be without hair?)

The redemptive actions in de la Force’s ‘Persinette’ – the heroine heals her lover’s blinded eyes with tears and forgives the witch – form a framework for Forsyth to conclude Bitter Greens. The fairytale collection enabled Charlotte-Rose (alias ‘Mademoiselle X’) to regain her freedom, physical and financial, from the convent to which she was exiled by King Louis IV for her unconventional life at court.

Upon release, Bitter Greens was labelled Random House’s book of the month - a high recommendation that will be endorsed by fans and those new to Forsyth’s work. Bitter Greens, Kate Forsyth’s 25th book, is adult historical fiction and a fairytale retold par excellence.

Posted by: Shirley Way | 12/04/2012 at 10:02 PM

Two Reviews by Marilyn Quirk


1. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee – first pub. in 1960, latest publication is 2007.

Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama in 1926 and just before she wrote this book was living in New York working in Reservations for an international airline. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, two honorary degrees and various other literary awards.
My first brush with To Kill A Mockingbird, was a movie with Gregory Peck fighting prejudice as Atticus Finch, the lawyer. The story is a film of its time with the push for civil rights in 1962. Atticus presents an impassioned defence as he tries to convince an all-white jury that allegations of rape against a black man in Depression-era Alabama are false. The story is of small town values and southern racial prejudices and is related through the eyes of Scout, Atticus’ six-year-old daughter. There is a sub plot involving Scout, her brother Jem and friend Dill was they grapple prejudice on another level. There is small-town gossip that their neighbour ‘Boo’ Radley is a vicious madman and this is mostly in the children’s imagination. There are lots to be scared about as even they feel the backlash in the tension of the town.
Atticus’ advice to the children is, Kill all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird.
As Miss Maudie remarked, Mockingbird’s don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They do nothing but sing their hearts out.
‘This book takes us to the roots of human behaviour – innocence, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humour and pathos.’ (Cover)
It isn’t so much the movie I remember, although it won Oscars, and I have watched it several times, it is the writing of Harper Lee. I wish I could write like that.

Marilyn Quirk – a great book.

2. - CAESAR, a novel, - By Colleen McCulloch Pub Arrow, London. 1998 - 846 pages. (I am a bit of a history tragic!)

Rome is frightened: the brilliant, ruthless Gaius Julius Caesar must be crushed before he can overthrow the government and become dictator. This novel opens in Gaul, scene of Caesar’s magnificent victory over a fierce people. His conquest is in the name of Rome, but when the Senate refuse to give Caesar his due, he marches upon his own country, an army prepared to die for him.

As Colleen McCulloch’s compelling portrayal draws us ever further into the powerful, dangerous world of ancient Rome, one figure emerges supreme: the extraordinary, tragic genius Caesar, a man who changed the world. This book is one of three about Caesar and Rome: Others are; The First Man in Rome, Caesar’s Women. These are real people who contributed so much to our world as it is today. Rome was a Republic and everything changed under the rule of a reluctant Dictator/Emperor, the mighty Gaius Julius Caesar. You learn so much other matters too. Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, orator, political theorist, Roman consul and constitutionalist lived next door to the Caesars in his childhood. The careers of Caesar and Cicero collided from time to time; both were murdered by the Rome to which they were so dedicated.


Posted by: Kathy Gates | 18/04/2012 at 03:35 PM

WRITER – Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was born in Illinois 21 July 1899 – died in Idaho 2 July 1961.

By Marilyn Quirk

I have always been a fan of Hemingway and I recently decided to revisit his life and his writing. This is a very short précis of some of his life and works. He said that he spent his life trying to write the perfect sentence. He is credited with changing the writing styles of the 20th century. Henry Louis Gates believes his style was fundamentally shaped, "in reaction to his experience of world war". After WWI, he and other modernists, "lost faith in the central institutions of Western civilization," by reacting against the "elaborate style" of 19th century writers; and by creating a style "in which meaning is established through dialogue, through action, and silences—a fiction in which nothing crucial—or at least very little—is stated explicitly."

If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing. —Ernest Hemingway in Death in the Afternoon

Hemingway was a great sportsman - liked to portray soldiers, hunters, bullfighters - tough people whose courage and honesty are set against the brutal ways of modern society.

No amount of analysis can convey the quality of The Sun Also Rises. It is a truly gripping story, told in a lean, hard, athletic narrative prose that puts more literary English to shame. "It is written in the spare, tightly written prose, for which Hemingway is famous; a style that has influenced countless crime and pulp fiction novels. In 1954, when Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, it was for "his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style." http://en.wikipedia.com

At the banquet speech for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 Hemingway said:

Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer's loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day. For a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed.

How simple the writing of literature would be if it were only necessary to write in another way what has been already well written. It is because we have had such great writers in the past that a writer is driven far out past where he can go, out to where no one can help him.

Hemingway lived in many countries and wrote novels, stories and poems. He began life as a correspondent in France and later in the Spanish Civil War and knew Gertrude Stein who influenced his writing. He met Picasso, Castro and many other famous and infamous people over the years. The FBI opened a file on him during WW11 when he used his boat Pilar to patrol waters off Cuba. J Edgar Hoover had an agent in Havana on watch during the 1950s.

Hemingway said, “It’s the goddamnedest hell. They’ve bugged everything – the car, the phone.” His family and friends credited this harassment as the last straw before Hemingway suicided in 1961.

Posted by: Kathy Gates | 18/04/2012 at 03:36 PM

Two books I enjoyed, particularly, in the last year or so are written by Australian authors, one in fact by the Tasmanian Richard Flanagan. Richard's is The Sound of One Hand Clapping. The other is Peter Carey's His Illegal Self. Both stories of love. I found them powerful and unforgettable.

These are books to possibly include in your top 10 list!? I dont intend these comments to constitute a review, Elaine!

Posted by: Mary Noonan | 03/05/2012 at 04:11 PM


M.J. Hyland's first novel, written in the 1st person - inside Lou Connor's 16 year old head. She's brainy & bewildered, trapped by a bogan beginning, then swept up as an exchange student in another country and an imagined future of opportunities. Upwardly mobile doesn't meld with her penetrating, cynical insight and sexual emergence. The narrative is a wild and exciting ride as she negotiates rapid change in circumstances, and the contempt that is at the root of injustice. Heat seeking more M.J. Hyland.

Posted by: Kim Nielsen-Creeley | 31/05/2012 at 06:57 PM

Divas Don't Knit -Gil McNeil-2007
The title, and the cove,r caught my eye as I browsed at the library. Into the bag it went.
Its a story of family life, Jo McKenzie a recent widow with two young children takes over her Grandmother's Knitting shop on the south coast of Britian. Grandma is still there to lend a hand, as is grandma's "set in her ways" assistant. It's a light easy reading story with some moments of pathos, but more of laugh aloud humour. Written in modern language (another friend in my age group would not read it because of the swear words, that I hadn't noticed.)
As a knitter it took my fancy and I went back and found the sequel which was nearly as good. The character are realistic and the children are also well written. I enjoyed it.

Posted by: Alison Cowan | 16/06/2012 at 09:14 AM

SALVATION CREEK by Susan Duncan, once Editor of Women’s weekly and New Idea. An inspiring read for anyone facing grief or terminal illness in their life. Susan’s memoir is a down to earth account of how she overcame the difficulties of loss and illness while coping with the pressures of life in today’s society and striving to retain her journalistic career. Her descriptions of carving out a new life in the seclusion of a small community at Pittwater, N.S.W. with only car-ferry access, although different in climate and character, could compare with Tasmania’s own Bruny Island. A compelling read.

Posted by: Gabrielle Morgan | 21/08/2012 at 01:00 PM

FROM DUSK TO DAWN written by N.N. Trakakis, Research Fellow in Philosophy at Australian Catholic University. This is a book that I would describe as a classic. The back cover has a quotation from the Greek poet – Odysseus Elytis “The duty of the poet is to cast drops of light into the darkness,” and so this book does. It is a perfect blend of profound poetry, quotations and a searching story written in the form of diary entries. I found the read to be a transforming experience and I would recommend it to anyone who ponders the bigger questions of life.

Posted by: Gabrielle Morgan | 21/08/2012 at 01:56 PM

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