Book: Charlotte's Creek

Summary: After a couple of years working in a privileged private school, Lucy Francis yearns for adventure. So when she hears about a job teaching four children on a massive cattle property in North Queensland, she decides to throw caution - and her teaching job - to the winds.

When Lucy arrives at Charlotte's Creek Station she finds a family in crisis. To make matters worse, the four children she's been charged with educating are very spirited, not always cooperative, and dismally behind in their schooling.

To Lucy, the only person who seems to be keeping Charlotte's Creek afloat is the family's gruff stockman, Ted. With his support and encouragement Lucy throws herself into the day-to-day activities of the station and makes excellent progress with the children.

Though Lucy and Ted's feelings for each other grow, Ted can't see any future for them because of his lack of prospects. As the family divisions at Charlotte's Creek prove insurmountable and the property looks set to be put on the market, Lucy faces returning to the city and leaving Ted behind. . .

What I thought: LOVED IT! This one had me hooked from the start. A great rural romance read. 

Book: Northanger Abbey

Summary: The story’s unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry’s mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art.

What I thought: I have been trying to be better from a literary viewpoint and read more classics. I picked this as I have only read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen before and this was the skinniest! I did enjoy it but it wasn't even close to Mr Darcy and co.! It was still good but the characters lacked depth or something.... not sure. Hmm - which one to read next?

Book: Mountain Ash

Summary: After years of struggling as a single mother, Jodie Ashton has given up on love and passion. What she craves now is security for herself and her beloved daughter Milly. And marriage to widower Alex McGregor, the owner of the prosperous Glenevelyn cattle station in East Gippsland, will certainly offer that. If only he wasn't so much older and so controlling.

Needing space to decide her future, Jodie reluctantly agrees to a girls-only weekend at the Riverton rodeo …

Meanwhile, cowboy Nate McGregor vows off women, after his latest one-night stand costs him his job in the Northern Territory. Perhaps it's time to head back to his family home, Glenevelyn, to check out for himself the ‘gold-digger' his father seems determined to marry.

But first, on his way through Riverton, he plans to stop off at a rodeo.

Two lives are about to collide in one passionate moment - with devastating results...

What I thought: Loved it! Sure it was all a bit unbelievable towards the end but it is fiction after all!

Book: Love in the Outback

Summary: The year before she turned fifty, Deb Hunt stopped dating. She was done with love and sick of chasing men who didn't return her affections. When her most recent flame announced he was marrying someone else, Deb knew it was time to make a change.

She landed a job as a marketing assistant with the Royal Flying Doctor Service and left London for the sunshine of Sydney on a mission to find happiness without a mate. But then on a trip to the red-dust town of Broken Hill, she encountered a man unlike any other. A legend of the RFDS, he was practical, steady, financially responsible and conservative - everything Deb was not. He wanted a relationship. She wanted to flee.



What I thought: This was ok. Wouldn't be recommending to others though.

Book: Lone Wolf

Summary: Edward Warren, 23, has been living in Thailand for five years, a prodigal son who left his family after an irreparable fight with his father, Luke. But he gets a frantic phone call: His dad lies comatose in a NH hospital, gravely injured in the same accident that has also injured his younger sister Cara.

Cara, 17, still holds a grudge against her brother, since his departure led to her parents’ divorce. In the aftermath, she’s lived with her father – an animal conservationist who became famous after living with a wild wolf pack in the Canadian wild. It is impossible for her to reconcile the still, broken man in the hospital bed with her vibrant, dynamic father.

With Luke’s chances for recovery dwindling, Cara wants to wait for a miracle. But Edward wants to terminate life support and donate his father’s organs. Is he motivated by altruism, or revenge? And to what lengths will his sister go to stop him from making an irrevocable decision?

Lone Wolf looks at the intersection between medical science and moral choices. If we can keep people who have no hope for recovery alive artificially, should they also be allowed to die artificially? Does the potential to save someone else’s life with a donated organ balance the act of hastening another’s death? And finally, when a father’s life hangs in the balance, which sibling should get to decide his fate?

What I thought: I had been told by someone before I read this that it wasn't very good - but I actually really liked it! I wasn't too interested in the habitats about wolves etc. but overall I did enjoy this - tough decision to make...

Book: Fighting Ruben Wolfe

Summary: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. In Fighting Ruben Wolfe, Markus Zusak brings us into a world of dogfights and illegal boxing matches. Enter Ruben and Cameron, two young punks hungry for money and a lot more dignity. Downtrodden and poverty stricken, the brothers Wolfe are living on the edge of Sydney's blue collar world, a world where the working poor try to increase their meager earnings by betting on dog races and boxing matches. When the boys get the opportunity to fight for a sleazy fight promoter bent on exploiting their inexperience and vulnerability, they jump at the chance to pick up a few bucks and help out their unemployed father. But really, the stakes are much higher. Cameron is younger, more sensitive and not much of a fighter. Rube, as he's called, is harder, more streetwise and a natural fighter. Together, they fight for identity, pride and each other.

What I thought: Loved it! So different to his renowned Book Thief novel. This was a great gritty teen novel. Looking forward to reading others in this series.

Book: Zelah Green

Summary: My name is Zelah Green and I am a Cleanaholic. I spend most of my life on Germ Alert. Or Dirt Alert. It's a miracle I ever get to school.My life was going OK despite that - you know, school, best friend, bad hair days - until four weeks ago. That's when Dad vanished.Now my stepmother has packed me off to a place with some crazy people. So I'm stuck with the Doc and Alice, Lib, Caro and Sol.Sol, who doesn't speak. Sol, who has brown eyes and olive skin. Sol, who I actually want to touch. Now I'm on Flirt Alert!Maybe, just maybe, something good could happen...


What I thought: LOVEDit! Great teen book about mental health issues etc. Sure not necessarily reality but still a great read. And there is a sequel!