Monday 31 October 2016

October Reading at Book Chat

The Promise Seed by Cass Moriarty
Moriarty writes an original story about an elderly man who befriends his ten-year-old neighbour, a boy suffering from abuse and neglect. The two bond over gardening and care of the old man’s chickens, and gradually the story of the elder man’s own childhood is uncovered. This is a very moving and haunting debut novel, well worth picking up.

The Rescuer by R S Hill
This Victorian mystery novel is set in 1873 on the River Torridge in Devon. Abigail March is the feisty daughter of a Canadian politician’s daughter, when she saves a woman from drowning in the flooded river. But soon after, the woman she rescued is murdered and a cache of smuggled weapons goes missing. When a man is arrested, Abigail and the defendant’s young brother realise a mistake has been made and work together to solve the case. A cracking read.


Call of the Outback by Marianne Van Velzen
This is a biography of Earnestine Hill, a 1930s journalist who travelled to the remotest parts of Australia to write for popular publications like Walkabout to bring the outback to everyday Australians. She also wrote bestselling books, including The Great Australian Loneliness and Flying Doctor Calling. A fascinating story about a trailblazing adventurer and nomad.

The Railwayman’s Wife by Ashley Hay
The lives of three people in small town Australia become entwined in this novel, as each tries to find new purpose after horrific events. When Annika loses her husband in a railway accident, she finds herself trying to piece her life back together, taking a job at the railway institute library. Here she meets Roy, a struggling poet, damaged by his war-time experiences, and Frank a doctor plagued by terrible guilt. The writing is very lyrical and evocative, building to a thoughtful ending.

See Me by Nicholas Sparks
At first this novel seems to be a love story, the first half or so developing around two people from opposite sides of the tracks and their getting to know each other. But who is leaving dead roses in Maria’s car as well as sending threatening messages? Can it have something to do with Maria’s work as a lawyer? The story is a little slow to get going but picks up pace towards the end. Published just last year, we can only wonder when the movie will be coming out.

Posted by Flaxmere Library Book Chat


Saturday 29 October 2016

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

A futuristic retelling of the Cinderella story where she’s a cyborg living in New Beijing? Yes please! Oh, and she’s one of the best mechanics in the Eastern commonwealth? Even better! She has a mysterious past and unexplained powers? I’m down for that.

I didn’t have too high hopes for this series, only deciding to read it because it’s been so popular lately, but man was I an idiot to put it off for so long!

It’s fun, fast paced, and while it’s a tad predictable at times (but hey, what fairy-tale retelling isn’t?), I loved every moment! The evil Queen wanting to take over the whole planet, check. The charming Prince who falls in love with Cinder before finding out her true identity, check. The fun sidekick (Iko the android who is probably my favourite character in the book), check. This book had all the Cinderella elements required, while also offering a fresh, new perspective to the old tale.

Then in the next three books, while also continuing with Cinder's story, we meet Scarlett (with the red hoodie and a love interest named Wolf), Cress (with the long, blonde hair, locked away by the evil Queen in a satellite in the middle of nowhere), and Winter (beautiful step-daughter to the evil Queen, with dark hair and lips as red as rubies), all of whom work with Cinder to help defeat the Queen.

Is it aimed towards teenage girls? Definitely. And there is A LOT of romance. But it is an exciting story about smart, strong teenage girls trying to save the world. Do they make mistakes? Of course. But they are all interesting characters and it was definitely a fast paced, feel good read!

Posted by Sas

Thursday 27 October 2016

The Heat of Betrayal by Douglas Kennedy

Kennedy has made a name for himself writing thrillers about women in desperate circumstances, so I knew I would be in for a roller-coaster of a read when I picked up his latest novel, The Heat of Betrayal. It is the story of Robin, who with one desultory marriage behind her, is smitten when she meets Paul, an artist some years her senior. She helps him with his accounts because he’s profligate with money, despite holding an academic post and selling his art to connoisseurs.

The couple marry and eventually travel to Morocco where Paul lived in his twenties, a place that inspired some of his best work. He hopes to rekindle his talent, while Robin hopes for a baby, but an email from New York destroys Robin’s trust in Paul. He’s a volatile personality and suddenly disappears, threatening suicide and causing the police to suspect Robin of foul play.

The rest of the book is a kind of cross-Morocco game of cat and mouse, Robin trying to find her fragile husband before it’s too late. She is thrown into some horrendous situations, while stories of Paul’s past come to the surface. Meanwhile the authorities close in on Robin, and she has to rely on the kindness of strangers to survive.

The book is everything the back-cover reviews promise: heart-stopping twists, a page turner that makes you think and so on. While it isn’t great literature, it is sure-handed, and the character of Robin is sympathetic enough to engage the reader’s interest. On top of which, Kennedy has created some marvellous Moroccan atmosphere, and with all that sand about, this has to be the ultimate beach read.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: The Heat of Betrayal

Tuesday 25 October 2016

Things That Matter: Stories of Life & Death by David Galler

I searched out Things That Matter after listening to a recent interesting interview of Dr David Galler by Kim Hill on National Radio. He was speaking about his 25 years of experience as an Intensive Care specialist at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital.

What struck me most was his compassion for his patients and his passion for health care in New Zealand; as well as his experience of growing up with Polish Jewish immigrant parents: his mother was a survivor of Auschwitz.

The book gives an insight into some case histories of critically ill people and the difficult decisions that must be made by families and staff. Sometimes these decisions involve moral dilemmas such as how much high-tech intervention is too much, in relation to quality of life for the person.

Personal and professional stories are interwoven. Galler's parents were ironically loathe to go near hospitals (both of their sons are doctors), and the management of their ill health by their sons is very touching.

Gallers also describes the exhaustion and uncertainty of the long hours of a trainee doctor; working ridiculous hours, trying to make decisions and perform just learnt procedures when chronically sleep deprived. It is also interesting to note that Galler started his working life as a bus driver,and says he would never have made the grade to be admitted to medical school now!

Reviewed by Katrina H

Catalogue link: Things that Matter


Saturday 22 October 2016

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

“I am a blood soaked girl.”

Right from the first line I was hooked.

The book follows Minnow Bly (obviously) as she finally escapes from the Kevinian cult where she spent the last twelve years of her life. She is promptly arrested for the violent assault on a young man, questioned about the destruction of the community where she lived, the death of its Prophet, and is shipped off to juvie.

Oh, and she has no hands.

We learn right away that they were cut off by someone at the community, but it is through a series of flash backs and interviews that the story of her dark past comes to light. We come see how she was always struggling against ‘The Prophet’ and his strict way of life; she was whipped and beaten for any disobedience, her once close mother became distant and emotionally removed, her sister (born in the community) served the Prophet with religious zeal and would not leave the community no matter how hard Minnow tried, and we finally learn the horrific truth about her hands, and the lengths that the Prophet would go to make sure that his will was followed.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this book. The Kevinian religion seemed quite ridiculous – God was born in the 1700’s and is a boy named Charlie, and women were forbidden to read or voice their opinions and had no choice over who they would marry. Anyone who questioned the Prophet was punished, in some cases by death. They were incredibly sexist and racist and all the things that most cults are portrayed as being. But Minnow's story was so interesting and heartbreaking that I kept reading. It was horrific, dark and definitely not for the faint-hearted, full of incredible details, allegations of sexual abuse, and a (quite tame) look at what goes on at a juvenile detention centre. I wouldn’t recommend it for those new to the YA section, but it is definitely a book I think you should read.

Posted by Sas

Thursday 20 October 2016

This Must Be the Place by Maggie O’Farrell

Master storyteller, Maggie O’Farrell, is back with a fairly ambitious novel following the life and loves of Daniel Sullivan, a linguist from New York. At the start of the book, Daniel is married to recluse ex-actress, Claudette, who he admits is crazy. It’s a happy marriage, until Daniel is undone by discovering that a woman he dated as a student died soon after he returned home for his mother’s funeral. He’d never heard from her again.

The story switches back and forth, between Daniel and Claudette, filling in the details of their former lives. How Claudette was discovered by a Swedish filmmaker, with whom she went on to make Oscar winning movies, as well as having a son, Ari. Then there’s Claudette’s daring escape to the wilds of Ireland. Both Daniel and Claudette are difficult characters - impulsive, passionate, determined. Daniel seems frequently bent on self-destruction, drinking too much and walking out on family, on friends. Claudette has no forgiveness for infidelity, having learnt the hard way.

The narration is picked up by numerous other characters: Daniel’s flatmate, Todd; his children, Niall, Marithe and Phoebe, as more gaps are filled in, taking us from the mid-1980s to the present day. This makes for quite a disjointed narrative flow and as a reader I found I was just getting to know a character, when all at once the story flips back or forward, to another continent and to yet another viewpoint. It’s a lot to get your head around.

Nevertheless, I persevered. Like Daniel, the reader is dragged to some fairly low places, before a flicker of hope begins to rekindle. What keeps you going is O’Farrell’s lively writing, full of warmth, wit and intuition. She is a writer of immense compassion, not only for her characters, but for the human condition in general. Over all, This Must Be the Place is well worth the effort.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: This Must Be the Place

Monday 17 October 2016

Spring Cleaning




Traditionally Labour weekend is set aside for the annual spring clean in many New Zealand homes. Maybe you adhere to this regime or you just like reading about cleaning and sorting. If so, read on for tried and true tips for a clean and tidy house.

Most cleaning experts start with the decluttering process. Starting with Throw Out Fifty Things: clear the clutter, find your life. Gail Blanke, author, life coach and motivator, encourages the reader to eliminate both physical and emotional clutter. She advocates for the three bag approach; one for throw outs, one for giveaways and one for selling.

In Rosalie Maggio’s The Art of Organizing Anything, the benefits of making lists is one of the book’s ten principals to getting your home, your office and even your life into order. One of the useful tips I am keen to do is a simple solution to the multitude of power chargers we seem to accumulate. Plug all the charging cables into a surge protector power board and bundle the cords into a cable cover.


If the thought of being so organised is a bit beyond you then check out Messie No More by Sandra Felton. Here the reader is given the tools to overcome the roadblocks to being organised.

But no more philosophising! Let’s get down to the nitty gritty of spring cleaning. For the perfectionist there is Cindy Harris’s Keeping House. No part of the house is overlooked although I am not sure I could keep up with her regime of cleaning the bathroom, kitchen and bedrooms as well as washing and vacuuming the floors every day!

For a more gentle approach to the art of sorting and cleaning (and real quick tips) try 10-Minute Housekeeping by Rose R Kennedy. Although I have to say her handy tips, like not turning on all the lights so visitors can’t see the dirt, may not appeal to everyone.

Recovering Martha Stewart junkie, Lisa Quinn, gives the modern mother all the short cuts to domestic liberation in Life’s Too Short to Fold Fitted Sheets. From having a clean house 30 minutes before guests arrive to seventeen meals from a deli chicken, Quinn has got everything covered.

Looking for other uses for lemons and grapefruit? Janey Lee Grace’s Imperfectly Natural Home recommends using lemons for cleaning the kitchen bench and the use of grapefruit and a bit of salt for really grimy surfaces. Baking soda has traditionally had many uses around the home but did you know you can use it to scrub plastic items that have developed, with age, that tacky feeling? Bicarbonate of Soda: cleaning, health and beauty, recipes has this and many more tips for use in the bathroom, kitchen and laundry.

So whether you are looking for motivation to spring clean the house or ideas on sorting out your home then visit one of our libraries. Alternatively skip the spring cleaning books and head to our magazine section and browse through our lovely selection of house and garden magazines!


Posted by Miss Moneypenny

Thursday 13 October 2016

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer - an audiobook

I have recently been trying out audiobooks through ePUKAPUKA. I chose this as it was listed as Sci-fi dystopia.

An unnamed catastrophe happens and our unnamed female character is walled off in an area around a winter lodge. The wall is unseen and impassable. Parts of a town can be seen from the edge of the wall, but no explanation for the disaster is ever actually attempted.

The premise was quite original and the story goes along quite nicely for a while, but then it suffers from a lack of further development. I checked later what year this was written and it was 1963. As such Haushofer suggests some ideas that were well ahead of her time and that are again taken up by other authors years later. Especially Stephen King in Under the Dome. Of course many authors have done similar things dealing with isolation and the breakdown of normal society.

As an audiobook The Wall is slightly limited as there is only one character in the book and one voice gets a bit monotonous. Altogether it comes in at around 9 hours.

There are plenty of interesting audiobooks including a number of older Sci-fi ones available on the ePukapuka site. Well worth having a look.

Posted by The Library Cat

Catalogue link: The Wall

Tuesday 11 October 2016

The Compound by S A Bodeen

“Eli and his family have lived in the underground Compound for six years. The world they knew is gone, and they've become accustomed to their new life. Accustomed, but not happy… Eli's father built the Compound to keep them safe. But are they safe—or sorry?” – Goodreads Blurb.

I really enjoyed this book, I did. I just felt like there needed to be more. Not in a way that I loved it so much I just didn't want it to end. More like it took a while to get to the dramatic plot twist, and from there on it was very hurried.

I still liked it. I just felt like it needed to be more fleshed out in places. Like why was the father crazy? Why did he want to hide from the world? WHY was he worrying his family about potentially running out of food when he could have easily got Phil to bring more?! There were just a lot of unanswered questions. Then the novel stopped so abruptly, so of course there are more novels. At least one that has already been published, and there are probably more to come.

Honestly, I don’t think I’d bother with the rest. But if you’re a fan of books like The Maze Runner or The Hunger Games, but don’t like all the emotions, romantic relationships, or hefty political views, then maybe give this one a read.

Or maybe just wait until they turn it into a movie. They’re turning all YA books into movies these days.

Posted by Sas

Catalogue link: The Compound

Saturday 8 October 2016

Invincible Summer by Alice Adams

Invincible Summer is a story about friendship, ambition and loyalty, and how people’s expectations change over the course of their lives, or in this case the twenty years between Chapter One and the end of the book.

Eva, Benedict, Sylvie and Lucien are four friends in Bristol who have been meeting up regularly and are now on the brink of new things. Eva has an internship at a London bank; Benedict is embarking on a doctorate that will put him at the forefront of physics research; brother and sister, Sylvie and Lucien, are planning a trip to India.

Slowly the reader learns of Eva’s unrequited fascination for Lucien, while Benedict pines for Eva, and of party-girl Sylvie’s hopes of being taken seriously as an artist. Lucien makes a good income in nefarious ways. The shifting sands of their relationships form the backbone of the plot while in the background are world events we can all remember - the dawn of the new Millennium; the suicide bombers of September 11; the collapse of the financial markets in 2009. The hedonistic London club scene and Eva's hectic career as a trader contrast nicely with more bucolic episodes set in Corfu and Languedoc. And the summers whiz past.

Each character is put through the mill, making mistakes that throw their lives off-course until by the end of the book, they have grown up enough to make some sensible decisions. The title comes from these words from Albert Camus: In the depths of winter, I finally learned that there lay within me an invincible summer, which fits nicely with the way the friends overcome difficulties in their lives and their occasional meetings in summery settings.

Alice Adams has created a page turner that kept me reading in spite of the lengthy time span and the less-than-original cast of characters. What she does really well is create people you care about, giving them challenges and building towards a satisfying resolution. This is a debut novel and I shall look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: Invincible Summer

Thursday 6 October 2016

It Chooses You by Miranda July

We’ve all done things to procrastinate when the task at hand seems simply too hard. It Chooses You is Miranda July’s personal form of procrastination. It started simply enough; reading the PennySaver (America’s version of Trade and Exchange) as a way to avoid working on a screenplay she was struggling to finish. But July found that reading the ads was simply not enough, she wanted to know more about these people, why were they selling this hairdryer/leather jacket/care bear and what did it say about them? The result is a wonderful collection of interviews and accompanying photographs of everyday people living their personal version of everyday life.

July is a writer/director/actor with a very particular style. The ability to observe everyday mundane things with a unique honesty of detail lends reality to her work that’s often more true than life itself. She talks often about the most human of things, the everyday habits and obsessions we would never share with anyone she talks of openly and thoughtfully. She’s not scared to share her personal world, which is told throughout the book and somewhat links the interviews. Perhaps her willingness to share and her understanding of human nature is the reason the interviews get so deep so quick, though that might just be the kind of people that sell in the PennySaver.

It Chooses You is a voyeuristic look into another world, often slightly left field but always touching and real. July lets herself get wrapped up in the lives of the people she’s decided to meet. She uses them to disconnect, and then reconnect, with the characters in her neglected screenplay. There’s a quirkiness to July’s work that I can’t help but love. I’ve enjoyed her novels and her movies, and if you enjoy this one you’re in for a real treat.

Posted by Jessica

Catalogue link: It Chooses You

Tuesday 4 October 2016

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.” – Goodreads Blurb.

Okay. So I loved this book and read it all in one sitting. But it is full of obnoxious teens screwing up their lives because of misunderstandings and half-truths. If everybody had just owned up to their feelings at any point of the book then none of the craziness would have happened. Then again that’s the case with most YA books so I can’t really judge it too harshly for that.

Lara Jean is a sweet, nerdy, awkward, pretty (but doesn’t realise how pretty she is) kind of teenager (once again sounds like most YA books out there). But this book is a charming look at a bi-racial American teen just trying to get through the day without majorly embarrassing herself. Half-Korean, Lara Jean is raised by her white American dad (her mother died when she was a child) who has nothing but the best intentions (there is a delightful scene where he tries to cook some of their favourite Korean foods, but fails miserably) but he just doesn’t seem to be around enough. He’s a busy doctor, so most of the chores, cooking, shopping, and childcare are done by the oldest child, Margot. Then when she moves out the responsibility becomes Lara Jean's.

Laura Jean seems quite immature (or sheltered) for her age, so I recommend the book for younger YA readers. However while there are no sex scenes, it does mention sex, and even though Lara Jean is incredibly G-rated some of the other characters aren’t, so probably keep it 13+.

Posted by Sas