Book: Change of Heart

June Nealon’s daughter needs a heart transplant, and the man on death row for killing the rest of her family wants to donate his. Can June accept his heart?

Had to go back for another Picoult! And again she didn't disappoint. I mean you now what you are going to get but I just love them. Nice easy, thought provoking reads.

Book & Bookgroup: People of the Book

People of the Book is based on a true story of a real book known as the Sarajevo Haggadah. This Hebrew prayer book was discovered in Sarajevo and probably was created in the 15th century. The author did amazingly scrupulous research, learning the tools of the trade of book restoration as well as the history of the Jews through the centuries. Through the first person narrative of an Australian book restorer, Hanna Heath, we get to learn about the city of Sarajevo and its recent violent history as well as the fascinating story of the book through the ages. These stories, of course, are fictional. Each one is complete in itself as the book passes from hand to hand through the centuries. I learned more than I ever thought was possible for me to know about the art of book restoring. And, there is also the story of Hanna Heath herself, as she comes to terms with her own personal history.

This was just such a wonderful book. It was a dedicated read though (ie. not 5 minutes here and there but chunks of time). I loved it as did my bookgroup. Just so fascinating and it reminds me that I know so little about world history and that sometimes I just feel so uneducated. Well worth the effort!

Book: Family Farm

I loved this book. Similar to Rachael Treasure and the newly published Fleur McDonald.

Summary: Isabelle Simpson longs to take over the family farm, but her ailing father is locked in a tragedy of the past and won't give her the chance she deserves. The stand-off between them threatens to tear the family apart.Izzy decides to break free and make a new start for herself – even though that means leaving the handsome Will Timmins and all her mixed emotions about him behind.But when hardship falls on the farm again, Izzy returns with an even greater determination to resolve the family feud. As she gathers with her friends in the close community under the shade of the gum-tree tavern, confessions are made, long-held secrets are revealed and hearts are set free.

Just a great current day country Aussie love story. Such an easy read (still not quite as good as Rachael Treasure though!)

Book: Me and Mr Darcy

Summary: After a string of disastrous dates, Emily Albright decides she's had it with modern-day love and would much rather curl up with Pride and Prejudice and spend her time with Mr. Darcy, the dashing, honorable, and passionate hero of Jane Austen's classic. So when her best friend suggests a wild week of margaritas and men in Mexico with the girls, Emily abruptly flees to England on a guided tour of Jane Austen country instead. Far from inspiring romance, the company aboard the bus consists of a gaggle of little old ladies and one single man, Spike Hargreaves, a foul-tempered journalist writing an article on why the fictional Mr. Darcy has earned the title of Man Most Women Would Love to Date.

This was only ok. The main character was kind of an ditz for a 29-year old. The story was cute, but I thought the Mr. Darcy fantasy appearances were a little far-fetched. I didn't feel the connection between Emily and Spike, but it was a cute affair. This would be a good beach read I suppose. I didn't think all the curse words were consistent with the type of character Emily was supposed to be, and the author slipped a couple of times with the accent making Emily sound more British than American like she was supposed to be...oh well. I might give the author another try.

Book & Bookgroup: Midwives

From Amazon:

Sibyl Danforth, a Vermont lay-midwife, attends a home birth that goes horribly wrong when the laboring mother apparently dies. Sibyl makes a hard decision and performs a C-section on the apparently dead woman to save her baby. The story is based upon the ramifications of this decision - because Sibyl's apprentice and the laboring woman's husband claim that the woman wasn't dead when Sibyl performs the C-section. Thus Sibyl ends up being charged by the state with involuntary manslaughter, under the claim that the C-section Sibyl performed to save the baby's life killed it's mother. Midwives is told from the point of view of Sibyl's daughter, Connie, who is fourteen at the time of the tragedy. As a grown woman and ob/gyn, Connie is still trying to come to terms with what happened to her family in the months after the 'bad birth'.

The ending is very unexpected and it's just an amazing book. Loved this book and so did all at book group. Well worth the read (only point is that if I was pregnant maybe not the best book to read!)