When We Were Two by Robert Newton

I now have another title to add to my list of books that made me cry.

When We Were Two was a real surprise package. I had put off reading it because I thought it was about two soldiers/brothers in the Vietnam War. I'm not philosophically opposed to war stories or the Vietnam War in particular, but I did think it was going to be a bloke-y action kind of book. And I usually palm those books off onto my stepsons.

However I'm determined to read as many of this years CBCA shortlist as I can and this is one of the teen nominees, so today I picked it up with a big sigh of resignation & a let's get this over and done with as quickly as possible attitude.

I love it when a book proves me wrong.

Yes, this is a war story, but WW1 not Vietnam. Yes, it's a story about 2 brothers marching out of town with one of the coo-ee marches, but so much happens before and after that. And the brothers are only 11 and 15.

This is a splendid, engaging, heart-warming road trip story complete with rites of passage, tests of character, brotherly love and friendships.
You could even say there is a hint 'Of Mice and Men' about it. Newton evokes the time and place beautifully, like Steinbeck, but he doesn't delve into the darker sides of human nature as deeply or bleakly as Steinbeck can. Like most authors for children and teens, Newton sticks to the principle of providing hope.

Highly recommended for mature teen readers.

The Silver Door by Emily Rodda

I reviewed book 1 in The Door Trilogy last year - The Golden Door. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was looking forward to book 2.

Sadly book 2 is basically the same plot as book 1 - just through another door into another part of Dorne to find the other brother.

This area of Dorne is desolate and barren. The whole time I was reading it I had images from the Mad Max movies in my mind.

When we were introduced to Bones at the edge of the Saltings I immediately thought of Bruce Spence's Mad Max character.

The Silver Door, for me was a skimmer (pun intended!) 

I raced through the descriptions to get to the action so I could find out what happened to Rye and his brothers.

I remembered Pennac's 'Rights of the Reader' in time not to feel bad about this. (He says on pg 155, "Even when we're grown-up, and though we may be reluctant to admit it, we still skip from time to time, for reasons that are strictly between us and the book.")
I revised his Right to Skip to the Right to Skim and raced happily to the end.

I will probably read book 3 - The Third Door - where Rye will no doubt finally realise that he is the hero of this story.

These books are great for the youngest son in a family or for anyone who is overshadowed, over-looked and underestimated!

Book Beginnings on Fridays

Although it is strictly speaking, no longer Friday where I live, I figure it is Friday still somewhere in the world!

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader.

This week I am reading 'Bring Up the Bodies' by Hilary Mantel.

The opening lines (after several pages of cast of characters and family trees) are...

"His children are falling from the sky. He watches from horseback, acres of England stretching behind him; they drop, gilt-winged, each with a blood-filled gaze. Grace Cromwell hovers in thin air. She is silent when she takes her prey, silent as she glides to his fist. But the sounds she makes then, the rustle of feathers and the creak, the sigh and riffle of pinion, the small cluck-cluck from her throat, these are sounds of recognition, intimate, daughterly, almost disapproving. Her breast is gore-streaked and flesh clings to her claws.

Later, Henry will say, 'Your girls flew well today.' The hawk Anne Cromwell bounces on the glove of Rafe Sadler, who rides by the king in easy conversation. They are tired; the sun is declining, and they ride back to Wolf Hall with the reins slack on the necks of their mounts."

Strictly speaking this is a little more than the opening lines!

Bring Up the Bodies is the sequel to Wolf Hall. Wolf Hall finishes as the King and Cromwell ride off to stay with the Seymour family at Wolf Hall for the first time.

I had heard that Bring Up the Bodies was going to be more about Anne Boleyn and Mary, so the opening lines confused me.

Was it a dream sequence? Was Cromwell remembering the deaths of his daughters and his wife from his own death-bed?

Birds? Of course, the cover has a bird of prey on it!

He named his birds of prey after his wife and daughters? Really??

Whats going on?

Ohhhh, they're out hunting....with the King...OMG!! They're still at Wolf Hall!!

This book picks up exactly where Wolf Hall finished - how delightful. I haven't missed a moment - not one single moment '- how wonderful - ahhhhhhhhhhhh  (sigh of relief and pleasure and anticipation.)

Red by Libby Gleeson

Cyclone wipes out the eastern suburbs of Sydney. Hundreds dead; even more missing and injured!

This is the horrific news headline that would best describe Libby Gleeson's latest novel for young teens.

After an unprecedented natural disaster 'Red' wakes up covered in mud and scratches unable to remember who she is and what happened. She is unearthed by Peri who calls her 'Red' because of the colour of her shirt. The first words out of her mouth are, "jaymartinjaymartinjaymartin".

What follows is a suspenseful adventure (which occasionally teeters on the edges of believablility) through the suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne as Red tries to regain her memory and find her father.

I had issues with plausibility throughout the story, but it was fast-paced and snappy enough to give me little time to ponder these flaws too closely.

Recommended for 11+ readers


 

D is for Dragonflies

If I had chosen D is for Dragons as my Alphabet Meme, I would have had so many books with dragons as protagonist to choose from...but instead I chose dragonflies...why?

Dragonflies have become my (our) personal totem.

Our first holiday together in modern times, was to Broome.

It was a wonderfully romantic, relaxing holiday that helped us both realise that we were doing the right thing by getting back together after a 14 year break.

In the evenings the pool outside our room was invaded by an incredibly colourful swarm of dragonflies.

On our first night we were surprised by the fluttering touches of so many dragonflies, but on subsequent nights we looked forward to sharing our pool with these beautiful skimming creatures.


When I looked into the symbolic significance of dragonflies I found that...

The dragonfly inhabits two realms: air and water. Dragonfly people will be emotional and passionate during their early years (the influence of water) and more balanced with greater mental clarity and control in as they mature (the influence of air).

The Dragonfly lives a short life, and it knows it must live to the fullest with what it has.

Maturity and a Depth of character: The dragonfly, in almost every part of the world symbolizes change and change in the perspective of self realization; the kind of change that has its source in mental and emotional maturity and the understanding of the deeper meaning of life.

All these meanings and symbols seemed to match our situation perfectly.

We used dragonflies as the unifying design in our wedding 5 years later and to this day they continue to enchant us and draw us to see things anew.

Some of my favourite books came to me because of dragonflies...I think you will see why!

If you have a personal animal totem or a special thing for dragonflies I'd love to hear your story. Leave a comment or a link to your post below.

Happy reading --------}>>

Edmund de Waal

I'm going to break my self-imposed silence to tell you about the Sydney Writers Festival event I went to yesterday.

Edmund de Waal of The Hare With the Amber Eyes fame spoke to Caroline Baum. This was one of my favourite books of last year, so I moved heaven and earth to get to the Opera House by 2.30 yesterday.

And I was well rewarded.

My first observation was that I was the youngest person in the room. At 44 I don't get to feel that very often anymore! But it gave me cause to reflect on the people who read memoirs and the people who have the time and money to attend writer's festival events!

Edmund (at age 48) was quietly erudite. He spoke with humility and grace. He was emotional and very giving of his time and thoughts. I feel that my appreciation for The Hare has deepened and expanded. If I had the luxury of rereading time, I would have started the book again last night.

As a result of The Hare's success, Edmund's grandmother's "unpublishable" book from the 1950's is about to be published for the first time. The Hare is going to be made in to a movie and his father has been able to return to the home of his birth in Vienna to wander around the old rooms once more.

The 3 biggest influences on his writing have been Primo Levi's The Wrench, Vasily Grossman and Austerlitz by WG Sebald. I've only read Levi on this list...but I suspect that the other 2 will find their way onto my ever increasing TBR list. 

Edmund is also friends with AS Byatt and Vikram Seth! Two authors that have written some of my all time favourite books. In fact, Edmund met AS Byatt when she approached him for help with potting...which she needed to write The Children's Book.

The Germans and Austrians have received The Hare very well, whereas the French have virtually ignored it. They seem to be upset that an Englishman dared to write about Proust (he referred to Proust's writing as an "anatomy of snobbery").
Edmund was also quite scathing about the "poisonous" undercurrant of anti-Semitism that has always existed in French society - something he feels has never been addressed by the French because of its deeply hidden and embedded nature and because it still exists. There was obviously no love lost there!

This is the last time that Edmund will be speaking publically about this book as he is about to start on a second one.

I was grateful to be part of his final audience and look forward to book #2.

Here is the link so you can listen to the interview on Radio National.

Happy Listening!

The Right to be Quiet

I may be absent from this blog for the next week.

I have a very good reason.

In fact, I have a really, really, really good reason for being quiet, even though Daniel Pennac has given me the right to have no reason at all.

The reason is....

The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac

I found this book tucked away in a sale box. The 10 rights of the reader were written on the back cover...and I knew I had to read this book asap.

I read it in one sitting.

I would like to add a few more rights of the reader....

11. The right to highlight, make notes and dog-ear the pages.

12. The right to inscribe your name on the front page.

13. The right to press flowers between the pages.

14. The right not to lend your favourite books out to other people.

15. The right to rant, rave and write about how much you love (or hate) a book.

I'll finish off with a few quotes from Daniel..."A well-chosen book saves you from everything, including yourself."

"When a person we like gives us a book, we look for them at first between the lines - for their tastes, for the reason they thrust it into our hands, for a sign of the bond between us."

"The question isn't about whether I have time to read or not (time that nobody will ever give me, by the way), but whether I'll allow myself the pleasure of being a reader."

Happy reading!

 

The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland

Everything about this picture book works for me.

I love the illustrations, the rhyme, the characters and the story itself!

Four friends (a zebra, moose, lion and sheep) find a cave to shelter in from the storm...until they disturb a very cranky bear.

They decide to cheer up the bear by thinking about the things that make them feel good.

The results are hilarious...although the cranky bear doesn't find it quite so amusing!

It's wonderful to read aloud with plenty of gentle frights and laughter.

This book will become a storytime regular. Highly recommended for 3+ audiences.

The Beginner's Guide to Revenge by Marianne Musgrove

Romola's dad is in the Army which means the family moves around a lot. This makes it hard for Romola to make friends and to keep friends. Romola also has issues about making good decisions around the type of friends she makes. She believes it is all her fault and if only she could change and become the new and improved Romola then everyone would like her.

Sebastian's dad took off years ago. Sebastian's mum is dating someone new. Sebastian believes his dad is coming back soon. When he finds out that his mum is going to marry the new boyfriend, Sebastian sees red. He decides to find his dad and plot revenge against his mother and her partner.

The above 2 paragraphs make this sound like a heavy, issue-based story.

It's not.

This is a light, fun, warm-hearted tale about friendship, revenge and standing up for yourself.

The backdrop is Canberra and ANZAC Day. It's a quick, easy read with the moral not too heavily laid on.

Due to be published in August through Random House.

Excellent for mature 10+ readers.

 

The Highgate Vampire by Asa Bailey

As most of you know by now, vampire/werewolf literature is not really my thing. But every now and again I feel obligated to give one a go.

I tried Twilight 3 years ago. I read 6 or 7 chapters. I could see the appeal during the set-up stage, but by the 6th chapter I was so over Bella and the goody-two-shoes vampires, that I put it down in disgust.

Recently I read The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda and surprised myself by how much I loved it.

So when an advance copy of 'The Hightgate Vampire' came my way recently, I didn't automatically file it away on the never-to-be-read-pile.

The title grabbed my attention straight away.

When I left uni many years ago, I did the usual Aussie gap year thing and spent a year in the UK working and travelling around Europe.
The 6 or so months I lived in England, Highgate was my home.

I loved the local references. Drinking at The Flask...the pub I also drank at. The cemetery of course, plus various mentions of streets and roads I had walked down once upon a time.

And this was a good vampire story.

The vampires were mean and nasty, the way all good vampires should be. They killed people indiscriminately and they didn't care.

Sometimes the writing and dialogue left a little to be desired, but the story itself was interesting enough to get me all the way to the end.

The way that Bailey left poor Kathy at the end was desperately sad and Antwain seemed to be channelling Edward in the dying moments of the story! However Bailey wasn't afraid to kill off main characters and there was plenty of stake, holy water and garlic action.

Recommended vampire lit for those tired of vampires with a moral conscience!

Sexual references and drinking alert as well.

Changing Habits Changing Lives by Cyndi O'Meara

Last Easter, I discovered this book by Cyndi O'Meara in a second-hand bookshop in Mornington.

I've been reading stuff about food, where it comes from, how to eat properly, stay healthy etc for years and years.
Where I can, I make changes in my daily eating habits.
Some of these changes stick; some don't.
Some work; some don't.

I employ a healthy amount of scepticism (and research) before doing anything drastic. I also use a certain amount of 'gut-feeling' (no pun intended!) about what makes sense and what doesn't.

This books works for me.

A couple of quotes might help to explain why.

"This is not a revolutionary diet...it's an evolutionary diet. It is not something new - it's something quite old...as a consequence, this is a diet which our bodies thrive on."

"A healthy diet is not just about the number of calories or the amount of fat; it should take a holistic approach. This book is about changing your lifestyle, the way you feel, the way you think about food."

"Most diets expect you to change everything overnight. That's why most people stick to such a diet for 2-6 weeks, and then go back to their old ways. The way to use this book is to read a chapter and then make a change...Once you've mastered that single change of habit and it becomes a part of your life, go on to the next change."

Makes sense doesn't it?

I've had this book for 13 months now and I've just completed chapter 10 "Go Back to Butter".

Some of the chapters were easy for me as they were habits I already had, or partially had. A couple were completely new ways of approaching things and took time. And Chapter 3 on eating slowly is still a work in progress!

Chapter 6 is about healthy reading. The main focus of the chapter is to read the information labels on the food you buy more closely. However I also took on board the idea of reading more about food and health to confirm/deny O'Meara's theories.

There is a lot of conflicting information out there. And a lot of it is sponsored research from multinational companies that make food products!

There are also people like Michael Pollan - a journalist and family man interested in healthy eating who decided to research what kind of food he and his family should eat.

The result has been several books such as 'The Omnivore's Dilemma', 'In Defence of Food' and 'The Botany of Desire'.

He is coming to Australia in July so I've been going through his book called 'Food Rules: An Eater's Manual' .

It has been a great complementary read to O'Meara's book.

Here's a few simple rules that I particularly like...

"Eat only food that will eventually rot".

"It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car."

"Eat your colours".

"Eat animals that have themselves eaten well."

"Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the colour of the milk."

"Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself."

"Have a glass of wine with dinner."

Speaking of which, my husband is serving up our homemade spaghetti bolonaise right now, which is my cue to pour 2 glasses of wine...and eat well.

Bon appetit!

Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams

I've come to this series rather late - I believe the first one was published in 2006 - but the first 3 books have just turned up in my local independent bookshop with new jackets & a quote from Stephen King...and I was tempted.

King says "I couldn't put it down...I'm hooked on Echo Falls." And he was right!

Echo Falls is the town where 13 year old Ingrid Levin-Hill lives. She is an avid reader of Sherlock Holmes, loves soccer and is a budding actress. However one soccer training evening Ingrid takes a wrong turn, ends up in the wrong end of town at the wrong time and witnesses a murder (well, almost).

Things quickly get curiouser and curiouser as the local sheriff starts asking awkward questions, the director of the local play has a sudden accident, her parents start arguing, the wrong person gets arrested and Joey, a boy from school, starts calling her for a chat.

The mystery is not that hard to solve, but Ingrid is a delight and since the whole thing centres around her, it works. And works well.

If you like Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden style mystery series, then this is for you.
Excellent for mature 10+ readers

The Runaway Hug by Nick Bland

This was one of my favourite picture books last year, so I was pleased to see that it was shortlisted for the Children's Book Council Award.

Lucy is about to go bed, but needs a bedtime hug. Her mum only has one hug left though. So they agree that Lucy will just borrow it then bring it right back.

So begins a charming tale as Lucy's hug gets passed around the family, almost gets lost, before finally ending up back her mother's arms.

I've enjoyed reading this aloud to a group a children as they delight in the antics of the runaway hug.

It is also a perfect bedtime story where you can snuggle up together safe in the knowledge that your own hug is right where you want it!