Wow! This year was a bumper reading year for me with 82 books. Here's the breakdown:
Fiction: 65
Non-Fiction: 17
Of the fiction 6 were teenage books (finally read a few and loved them) and 22 were my ever so tragically addictive Australian rural romance books. Le sigh - I love them. In fact many of the non-fiction and normal fiction books I read were also about country life. There is just something about it that resonates strongly with me...
I managed to read 10/11 of my bookgroup books - after 5 years 100% still eludes me. Am confident I can pull off 100% next year as I have already read 4/11 (and no I don't re-read).
Best reads were hard to choose this year. I did love many of my Aussie Rural Romances but I'm going to pick Still Alice as my favourite - just brilliant.
Once again the aim for 2014 is 52 books - have a great holiday and may it be filled with many books :)
Monday, December 30, 2013
Book: Ironbark
Summary: Sixteen can be a tough time. And it's almost unmanageable for a wisecracking boy whose temper is white-hot. As a consequence he is sentenced to a time-out with his reclusive grandfather in a primitive shack in the Tasmanian forest. There is little to do except chop wood and watch the red-eyed wallabies gather at dusk.
They are an unlikely couple: a taciturn old man who prefers the simple life, and a volatile boy addicted to the technology of the 21st century - and yet a bond blossoms between them. But denied access to much he desires, and feeling provoked by a local cop cynical of city folk, the boy's frustration grows. And when he encounters situations he can't control anything could happen...
What I thought: Quite enjoyed it. A little different and it ended abruptly leaving me with questions and gaps (don't like gaps). LOL.
Book: Poppy's Dilemma
Summary: Poppy Abbott seems to have it all. Bright, successful and attractive, she lives in a beautiful apartment with sweeping views of Sydney. However, since the recent death of her beloved grandmother, she's been struggling to come to terms with her grief.
Feeling nostalgic one evening, Poppy decides to sort through her grandmother's belongings, which she hasn't been able to face before. She's hardly started when she comes across an old leather diary with the name 'Maggie Abbott' written in the front. It's not long before she's drawn into Maggie's life and her fears for her soldier boyfriend during the First World War.
As her interest in Maggie's diary intensifies, Poppy decides to spend some time at her grandmother's house in the country. Away from the city, Poppy begins to wonder if all the things she's always valued so much are what she really wants out of life. And then love intervenes...
What I thought: Loved it. Great rural romance.
Book: The Activist
Summary: As Theo finds himself in the center of a hot political battle over a proposed highway bypass through his town, he discovers corruption that has him questioning the ethics and motivations of everyone involved, including his father. When his beloved canine sidekick, Judge, is badly injured in a confrontation with surveyors, Theo discovers that a dog is not only a boy's best friend, but also his star witness.
What I thought: It was ok. Not as good as the first 3 in the series but I still enjoyed.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Book: His Other Lover
What I thought: Awesome! Chick lit but not the usually funny stuff much more dark. Loved it. Not too keen on the ending though. I like answers!
Book: Cora's Heart
Summary: Cora has been hurt too many times. And by one man in particular . . . Abandoned by her mother and widowed in her mid-twenties, Cora Sylvan has learnt the hard way that you should take nothing in life for granted. So everything is planned out to the nth degree – from how to run her farm on a shoestring, to how to survive a major earthquake. Unfortunately there's nothing in those notes to cover the return of the infuriatingly handsome Mac Wildwood. Her husband's cousin. The man she loved and lost. And Mac, it seems, has a shattering plan of his own up his sleeve. Dammit. Cora Sylvan safeguarded everything – but she didn't protect her heart . . .
What I thought: Not bad. A bit over this series though.
Book: When the dust settles
Summary: When third generation Northern Territory cattleman Rob Cook set out on a routine mustering job in a chopper it was a day in the outback like any other, but when the chopper suddenly fell out of the sky, smashing into the ground, it was the day that changed everything. This one-time professional bull-rider had been in scrapes before - he had miraculously walked away from a previous crash in his beloved Gyro, but this time it was different. This time there was no walking away. Seven hours later he was rescued from the wreck on one of Australia’s most remote cattle stations, Suplejack Downs Station, and his journey back to life, his young family and the way of life he loved had only just begun. When the Dust Settles is the extraordinary story of cattleman Rob Cook’s journey back to life from a catastrophic helicopter accident that left him paralysed - it is also the story of Suplejack Downs Station and one of Australia’s most remarkable and resilient bush dynasties.
What I thought: Riveting read - remarkable man and what an amazing wife and such a supportive family!
Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Bookgroup: Trailblazers
Summary: A compilation of stories of 15 inspiring Australian women.Pioneer Eliza Hawkins blazed a trail across the Blue Mountains. Sydney journalist Louise Mack moved to Tuscany and enjoyed a steamy affair with Italy's leading writer. As the world's first female war correspondent she reported the German invasion of Belgium for The Daily Mail, Louise narrowly escaped being shot as a spy and returned to Sydney.
Sister Ann Donnell risked her life to save Gallipoli victims in a field hospital on the island of Lemnos.
Beautiful, wild and wealthy, Nell Tritton became the lover and second wife of Alexander Kerensky, former Prime Minister of Russia. Nell foiled attempts by Stalin to assassinate her husband and drove him to freedom when the Nazis invaded Paris. Melbourne artist Hilda Rix Nicholas had a five day honeymoon before her husband was killed fighting the Germans in France. Hilda had two landmark exhibitions in Paris before returning to Australia, marrying again and moving to the Monaro. Mary Gaunt explored the remote jungles of West Africa with a team of naked warriors carrying her baggage. Two years later, in 1913 she spent six months in Peking, in an era before China had proper roads, journeying by mule cart from Peking to the Gobi desert and wrote three books about her adventures. Margaret Ogg and Vida Goldstein were jeered in the 1890s when they claimed women were clever enough to get into Parliament. It took 50 years before Enid Lyons, widowed mother of twelve, was made Australia's first Cabinet Minister and her struggles to hold office are compared with the career of Julia Gillard, our first female Prime Minister, and Quentin Bryce, mother of five and our first female Governor-General.
What I thought: It was ok. Some interesting facts and amazing women out there. Writing was a bit stilted or something though...
Book: Mini Shopaholic
Summary: Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) thought motherhood would be a breeze and that having a daughter was a dream come true – a shopping friend for life! But it's trickier than she thought – two-year-old Minnie has a quite different approach to shopping.She can create havoc everywhere from Harrods to Harvey Nicks to her own christening. She hires taxis at random, her favourite word is ‘Mine‘, and she's even started bidding for designer bags on ebay.On top of everything else, there's a big financial crisis. People are having to Cut Back – including all of Becky's personal shopping clients – and she and Luke are still living with Becky's Mum and Dad. To cheer everyone up, Becky decides to throw a surprise birthday party – on a budget – but then things become really complicated.Who will end up on the naughty step, who will get a gold star and will Becky's secret wishes come true?
What I thought: I really enjoyed this book and had a few laugh out loud moments. It was cute and quirky but still not as good as the original few... Still a great series though!
Book: Driftwood
Summary: To Taylor Whitworth, knowing that she'll never meet her dead biological father is devastating. All she knows is he was a stockman, so she yearns to be like her father...and to become a jillaroo. So she packs her bags and hits the road, destination unknown, until she happens upon the country township of Driftwood.
Life-burdened Jay Cooper is a cowboy through and through, his passion for the outback and bad boy image inherited from his forefathers. The whole town whispers about him but Jay doesn't care. Except his rough and tumble lifestyle is stopped dead in its tracks when he happens across Taylor on a deserted country road. And soon, their mutual love of horses begins a wonderful friendship that develops when Jay offers Taylor a job as a jillaroo on his cattle station...
What I thought: I enjoyed this book. No an awesome read but still enjoyable :)
Friday, November 15, 2013
Book: Silver Clouds
Summary: When marketing executive Tessa Mathison leaves London to attend her great-aunt's funeral in Australia, her life is in turmoil.
An indiscretion during a boozy night out has resulted in Tessa's name being mud in London's cliquey marketing scene, and soon after she arrives in her homeland she discovers she's been sacked.
Tessa's childhood home, Danjar Plains, is an isolated station which holds some bad memories for her. She plans to escape it as soon as the funeral is over, but then an unusual request in her Aunt Violet's will makes it impossible for her to leave.
When charismatic and charming Brendan McKensie introduces himself to Tessa, staying at Danjar Plains no longer seems such a hardship. As various secrets begin to unravel, Tessa realises letting go of her heart may hold the key to unlocking both her past and her future.
What I thought: A nice enjoyable read. Better than her last book but not as good as her first two...
Book: Moral Hazards
Summary: On Wall Street, reflects Cath, women are about as welcome as fleas in a sleeping bag. Funny, liberal and left-leaning, she is an unlikely candidate to be writing speeches on derivatives in a Manhattan tower, 'putting words in the mouths of plutocrats deeply suspicious of metaphors and words of more than two syllables'. She finds herself on Wall Street because she needs serious money. After ten good years, her beloved older husband Bailey is suffering from Alzheimer's. So begins Cath's journey into two nightmare worlds. By day she deals with the topsy-turvy logic and ingrown personalities at work in high finance; by night she has to watch the slow disintegration of the man she loves. In between, she must stop herself from falling apart. As the money markets hurtle towards financial meltdown, Cath faces personal disaster and a moral hazard that she cannot ignore.
What I thought: Not at all like I expected. It was ok...
Book: Outback Dreams
Summary: Faith Forrester is at a crossroads. Single, thirty and living on a farm in a small Western Australian town, she’s sick of being treated like a kitchen slave by her brother and father. Ten years ago, her mother died of breast cancer, and Faith has been treading water ever since. She wants to get her hands dirty on the family farm. She wants to prove to herself that she’s done something worthwhile with her life. And she wants to find a man...
For as long as he can remember, Daniel ‘Monty’ Montgomery has been Faith’s best friend. When he was ten, his parents sold the family property and moved to Perth, and ever since, Monty’s dreamed of having his own farm. So for the last ten years, he’s been back on the land, working odd jobs and saving every dollar to put toward his dream. Now he finally has the deposit. But there’s still something missing...
So when Faith embarks on a mission to raise money for a charity close to her heart, and Monty’s dream property comes on the market, things seem like they are falling into place for them both. Until a drunken night out ends with them sleeping together. Suddenly, the best friends are faced with a new load of challenges...
Monty and Faith are both ready to find a life partner and settle down, but have they both been looking in all the wrong places?
What I thought: Loved it, loved it, loved it! Great rural romance...
Bookclub Book - Truth
Summary: Inspector Stephen Villani, head of homicide in Melbourne, Australia, has a full agenda: a murdered woman in a penthouse apartment, three men butchered in a sadistic rampage, a tattoo-faced drug dealer corrupting his rebellious daughter, a crumbling marriage. As these events begin to unfold, Villani finds himself immersed in an unfamiliar world of political scandal and ethical ambiguity, where honesty is a resource in very short supply.
What I thought: Blah! Just didn't do it for me (or anyone else at bookgroup).
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Book: The 4 hour work week
Summary: Timothy Ferriss is a serial entrepreneur. In addition to speaking six languages, Ferriss runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide. His eclectic passions include being a world record holder in tango, a national champion in Chinese kickboxing and a guest lecturer at Princeton University.
In The 4-Hour Workweek, he explains that there is a new subculture of people in the world who have figured out that the 9-5 grindstone doesn’t really fire up their imaginations to any great degree. Instead, they organize their lives and follow a set of uncommon rules which typically allows them to work less than four hours a week but earn more in a month than most people do in a year.
These people are the "New Rich" (NR). They abandon the conventional deferred-life plan (work now and retire later) and instead develop their own signature lifestyles which utilize the currencies of the New Rich: time and mobility. The 4-Hour Workweek gives you four steps to follow which will take you from being deferred-life oriented to becoming part of the New Rich.
What I thought: There were some great points made in this book which I am trying to adopt but all in all I am not ready to make the drastic changes required in this book. I love my life and career so am happy to remain with the status quo.
Book: Sisters of Mercy
Summary: Snow Delaney was born a generation and a world away from her sister, Agnes. Until recently, neither even knew of the other's existence. They came together only for the reading of their father's will - when Snow discovered, to her horror, that she was not the sole beneficiary of his large estate.
Now Snow is in prison and Agnes is missing, disappeared in the eerie red dust that blanketed Sydney from dawn on September 23, 2009. With no other family left, Snow turns to crime journalist Jack Fawcett, protesting her innocence in a series of defiant letters from prison. Has she been unfairly judged? Or will Jack's own research reveal a story even more shocking than the one Snow wants to tell?
What I thought: I did enjoy this but her other three books were definitely better. Plus an unresolved ending! Grrr. Still a fantastic author though.
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