Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar

It is 1855 when Stanton Finch journeys to an isolated farm holding on the coast of South Australia with his wife and nine children in Lucy Treloar’s novel Salt Creek. Formerly from well-to-do Adelaide, the family have suffered one collapsed enterprise after another, their idealistic father determined that the new dairy farm will make their fortune.

The story is told from the point of view of fifteen-year-old Hester, describing the hardships of life on Salt Creek, and their encounters with the local Ngarrindjeri and Finch’s dreams of ‘civilising’ them. His dreams slowly unravel through the book and he manages not only to alienate the aborigine people, but members of his family as well.

Hester becomes the glue that keeps them together and it is her concern for her family - her poorly mother, her flighty younger sister Addie, her dreamy brother Fred, the baby Mary - that keeps things on an even keel. She puts her own happiness last, but underneath she has a steely determination to live a different kind of life.

Another key character is Tully, the aborigine boy the family befriends. He lives between two worlds, a survivor able to live off the land like his people, but quick to learn and understand western knowledge too.

Inspired by real events, this is a novel about a clash of cultures, the misplaced optimism of new settlers, and the injustice done to indigenous people, the struggle for women to have any self-determination. It is a gripping read, elegantly written and evoking a wonderful sense of time and place. Salt Creek deservedly won a place on the shortlist for this year’s Miles Franklin award. It is one of those novels that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: Salt Creek

Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy (Lumberjanes #1-4)

Written by Noelle Stevenson (one of the funniest artists on the internet), Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, and Brooke A. Allen (Illustrator), this series is an amazing adventure about a group of awesome (and diverse) girls, at a mysterious summer camp called ‘Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for Girls Hardcore Lady Types’. It’s packed with girl power, friendship (TO THE MAX), and supernatural adventures. The girls use everything, from fighting to math, to solve the mystery, and prove that girls can do anything when they put their minds to it!

It’s funny, and sweet (and at times confusing). A lot of the plot isn’t explained yet, or just doesn’t seem to make sense - but it is only Vol. 1, so I’m hoping it will become more developed in the next couple of volumes which are now sitting on my desk.

An easy read, to be enjoyed by the younger readers, and those of you who (like me) are young at heart (although unfortunately not in age).

Posted by Sas

Catalogue link: Lumberjanes, Vol. 1

From the archives… AfterWords by Helen McConnochie.

As I watched scenes from the recent Kaikoura earthquake and the difficulties residents and visitors are having with the basics of food, water and shelter, I wondered how the survivors of the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake coped with these same difficulties on shaky ground.

Both earthquakes were the same magnitude, 7.8, although the death toll was significantly more in 1931.

In AfterWords, former Radio New Zealand producer Helen McConnochie, captures the very essence of what Hawke’s Bay was like from the moment the earthquake struck on February 3rd at 10.46am, to the weeks after when evacuated children started returning to their homes and schools.

Many of these memories are from when the survivors were young. They talk of the terror of the big quake, how they escaped and of those that did not. What stands out as you read these short vignettes is how well these families adapted to the aftermath of the earthquake. Those that weren’t evacuated talk of camping in their backyards with makeshift toilets (usually a chook house conversion) and using open fires for cooking. It seems in 1931 Hawke’s Bay, every mother was adept at making camp bread.

Those in the country coped even better than those in the city; sleeping under cherry trees for six weeks until the rain came, forcing them back into their damaged houses. They also had access to water and food unlike the majority of the city folk.

Though there were no helicopters to bring television crews in and survivors out of the earthquake areas of 1931, there are many similarities between the two earthquakes. Damaged homes, businesses and roads as well as difficulties with communication are common to both earthquakes. However what comes through from reading Afterwords and following news coverage of the Kaikoura earthquake is the stoicism of the survivors. Providing food and shelter for not only themselves but others in their community shows the real fortitude of these New Zealanders as they put to right what mother earth has destroyed.

AfterWords can be found at Hastings, Flaxmere and Havelock North Libraries.

Posted by The Rummaging Bibliophile

Catalogue Link: AfterWords

On the Blue Train by Kristel Thornell

When Agatha Christie disappeared for eleven days in 1926 it sparked a police investigation and a riot of newspaper stories. At the time Christie was emerging as a popular crime novelist and foul play was a definite possibility. Kristel Thornell takes these missing days as a basis for her novel On the Blue Train, concocting a story around what Christie was doing in the interval before being discovered at a hotel in the spa town of Harrogate.

Agatha concots a plan to disappear at a time when her life was unravelling: still grieving for her recently dead mother and with a husband begging for a divorce. What she wanted was a break away and to be looked after, so a spa with its healing baths, massages and relaxed atmosphere was ideal.

Also staying at the Hydro is Harry, a man living off his late wife’s inheritance, at a loss for anything in particular to do and with his own buried grief. Harry listens to classical music in his room and drinks sherry to numb the pain enough so that he can sleep. Harry and Agatha become friends and later confidantes, sharing their personal histories for the benefit of the reader.

While On the Blue Train is something of a slow burner - the plot takes a while to get going and a lot of it is looking backwards rather than forwards - Thornell makes up for the restrictions of her story with impeccable writing. She uses imagery beautifully and I found myself rereading sentences which were always elegant and often haunting.

The atmosphere of the Hyrdro, of steamy baths in winter, dining in evening dress and dancing to the band afterwards, the gentle chatter with other guests, is all brought to life and creates a picture of another era. With its relaxed pace and thoughtful prose, this is a book to take your time with, and a must for anyone interested in the Agatha Christie legend.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: On the Blue Train

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.

A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

This book has been an unexpected hit with one of our book clubs. Weird but good seems to be the general consensus!

Catalogue link;  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

The Magisterium Series

The Magisterium series is a five-book series of fantasy novels, one book for each year of Call’s life between twelve and seventeen. It is co-written by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. So far only the first three books have been released: The Iron Trial, The Copper Gauntlet, and The Bronze Key.

Let me start off by saying that I LOVE Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, so I feel like I was always going to like these books, but it wasn’t until The Bronze Key that I really started to love the series. Much like Harry Potter we start off with a scarred boy who finds out he is magic, and (against his father’s wishes) attends school in order to learn how to control his power. There he becomes best friends with a boy from a poor family (Aaron), and a very smart girl (Hermione, oops I meant Tamara), and life endangering adventures ensue.

The first book was fine enough. I liked the description of the magic school buried underground. Of the weird food, and strange creatures. However while the story was interesting enough, it didn’t warrant much more than a three star rating for me. I read the second book because (once again) I really do love the authors, and I didn’t have much else to read at the time. It was interesting enough, but it still felt very much like a book for junior readers (about nine plus years).

However, like the obsessive series reader that I am, I had to read the third book when it came out at the end of August, and I am so glad I did. All of a sudden the characters seemed to have grown up. They became better developed, their special type of magical powers was explained and explored more, and I just genuinely enjoyed the plot. While book one and two sat at about three stars, The Bronze Key definitely rates four and a half stars for me. Just be careful, because the ending of the book hit me right in the feels, and I still haven’t recovered.

I will be waiting (not so patiently) for the next book to be released in 2017.

Posted by Sas

Catalogue links:

The Iron Trial

The Copper Gauntlet

The Bronze Key

Minds of Winter by Ed O’Loughlin

Minds of Winter is in some ways a snap-shot of early Arctic and Antarctic exploration, bringing to life assorted attempts to map our most inhospitable continents. Linking the stories together is the mysterious discovery in 2009 of a chronometer connected with Sir John Franklin’s doomed expedition to discover the North-West Passage in 1841. The expedition spawned a flurry of follow-up searches for years, and odd clues were found but never the missing men.

The chronometer found its way into the hands of Cecil Meares, who supplied the dogs and horses for another fateful expedition: Scott’s attempt to be first to reach the South Pole. Amundsen got there first, and his disappearance while searching for another explorer is documented through the eyes of Bess Magids, his Canadian mistress, a fur trader from the North West Territories. There are loops and connections everywhere.

Weaving the narrative together are two current-day characters stranded in Canada’s wintry north: Nelson Nilsson, a drifter in search of his geographer brother, and the woman he picks up from the airport, Fay Morgan. Both are secretive and awkward people who rub each other up the wrong way. Fay’s on a quest to learn more about her grandfather, another character gone missing, and the two soon discover Nelson’s brother Bert has been collating stories about the North-West Passage, stories that include Hugh Morgan.

A book like this might seem unwieldy, but O’Loughlin is a master storyteller, keeping you hooked with every new story thread, many of which would make a terrific novel on their own. He knows how to bring the personalities of historical figures to life; it all brims with vibrant dialogue and evocative descriptions. And while he gives the reader a lot of information, the facts of what really happened are often as intangible as ever. For me, Minds of Winter is one of the stand-out novels of 2016.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: Minds of Winter

Days are Like Grass by Sue Younger

This is a great first novel (that doesn't read like a first novel) from Sue Younger, who was an award winning documentary maker for 20 years before giving that up to pursue her love of writing.  Days are Like Grass has already had the film rights purchased.

The plot has several interesting strands that gripped me from the beginning.

Paediatric surgeon Claire Bowerman has reluctantly returned to New Zealand from Britain with her Israeli partner Yossi; to him New Zealand is a safe paradise and he is keen to stay and marry Claire.  Claire however previously  left New Zealand as soon as she could to escape her infamous family name: her father was convicted and then years later acquitted of the murder of a young hitchhiker in the 1970's.

Claire also has a fifteen year old daughter Roimata; the result of a holiday

one- night stand with a Maori man whom Roimata has never met.  Through a chance meeting, Roimata is welcomed into her biological father's whanau despite Claire's reservations.

At the same time, a court injunction brings Claire back into the public eye, when the family of an ill child refuses life-saving surgery and opts for alternative and cultural healing methods.

Claire is a complex character; efficient, practical and good at her job, she works sensitively with the dysfunctional families of neglected children, yet keeps secrets from her loved ones and struggles to let go of her past. When her father becomes terminally ill she struggles to reconnect with him, despite her daughter and partner’s urging to forgive him.

Days are Like Grass is set in a glorious New Zealand summer in Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf, with themes of cultural misunderstanding, family secrets, and letting go of the past.

If you have not read a New Zealand novel for a while give this one a try– this is an absorbing story with engaging characters and a dynamic pace, great for a summer read!

Reviewed by Katrina
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Catalogue link: Days are Like Grass

The Dry by Jane Harper

When Luke Hadler kills his wife, child, and then himself in a drought-plagued rural Australian community, the locals are shocked but unquestioning. Rural life has become virtually economically unsustainable and Hadler's family are a tragic consequence of this environment.
Luke's childhood friend Federal Police Investigator Aaron Falk attends the funeral,and is persuaded by Luke's parents to stay and unofficially search out answers to the cause of the tragedy.
An incident from the past involving Luke and Aaron resurfaces and small town tensions reignite.
A great debut crime thriller with a well written sense of place, this book has desevedly been on the best-seller lists recently.

Reviewed by Katrina

Catalogue link: The Dry

Mansfield and Me by Sarah Laing

I have never been all that keen on the idea of graphic novels; all those foreshortened figures leaping out at you from the page, the text, such as it is, in block capitals. If you like crafted prose and prefer leaving pictures on the wall, you could be forgiven for disregarding the genre altogether. Or so I thought.

Hearing Sarah Laing speak at the Writers and Readers component of the recent Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival, and being a long-term fan of Katherine Mansfield, my interest was piqued by Laing’s recently published memoir, Mansfield and Me. So I decided to give this particular graphic a go.

Mansfield and Me is a bit like two biographies in one – with Laing’s story of growing up and study, work struggles and relationships interwoven with a narrative thread following Mansfield’s life. I really like Laing’s quirky cartoons, and the way she makes direct links between events in her life with those of Miss Mansfield’s. This gives plenty of scope for some droll humour, particularly the images of KM looking over Laing’s shoulder and being disparaging of what she sees.

Mansfield and Me is entertaining, thought-provoking and informative in equal parts. It left me longing to return to stories like 'The Garden Party' and 'At the Bay', with Laing’s delicately washed images conjuring up sunny seaside Wellington and the chilly Northern Hemisphere of the early 1900s. Being a graphic memoir, it's a quick read - the quickest 350 odd pages I've read in a while - but the pictures and humour have you flipping back to reread. This is an attractive book that should appeal to a wide range of readers, comic and traditional book lovers alike.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: Mansfield and Me