Book Review: Bitter Greens

From Goodreads: An utterly captivating reinvention of the Rapunzel fairytale weaved together with the scandalous life of one of the tale's first tellers, Charlotte-Rose de la Force.
Charlotte-Rose de la Force has been banished from the court of Versailles by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. She is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of bitter greens...
Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1512 and still inspiring him at the time of his death, sixty-four years later. Called La Strega Bella, Selena is at the centre of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition, retaining her youth and beauty by the blood of young red-haired girls.
After Margherita's father steals a handful of parsley, wintercress and rapunzel from the walled garden of the courtesan Selena Leonelli, he is threatened with having both hands cut off unless he and his wife give away their little red-haired girl. And so, when she turns seven, Margherita is locked away in a tower, her hair woven together with the locks of all the girls before her, growing to womanhood under the shadow of La Strega Bella, and dreaming of being rescued...
Three women, three lives, three stories, braided together to create a compelling story of desire, obsession, black magic and the redemptive power of love. 

Thoughts: Kate Forsyth has become one of those authors I immediately recommend to people who ask me for something new. Her writing is fluid, magical, provoking strong images and emotions. Her female characters are flawed but strong and compelling. And when the blurb tells you it's "three stories, braided together" it speaks true - the stories are interwoven, each strand clear and engrossing but so precisely interlocked with the others the change over is seamless. The women have lives that are complicated and intriguing. They are living in a time when their sex can be such a disadvantage, yet all of the rise against this and carve out a life of their own - not perfect, but theirs. Still their paths cross and their stories overlap and parallel. It's a bit like seeing an intriguing pattern come to life with words instead of lines.

Add to this Forsyth's incredible detail of King Louis XIV Versailles court, her attention to detail in her research shining through and you have a book well worth exploring. Much like the court itself, Forsyth's descriptions are rich, but there is an undertow of seediness as well.  You can see the tightrope the court walks on to maintain the favour of the king, knowing full well how devastating the drop will be if you fall. 
Bitter Greens is a book to immerse yourself in. It is a book that will make you fall in love with fairytales all over again.

Bitter Greens gets 5 stars

*        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it
*****   It was amazing

November in Review

So are you ready for Christmas? I'm not, nowhere near it! I'll just stick my fingers in my ears and sing la la la for a little while longer!

8 reads this month. Not bad, but I am unlikely to hit my target of 100 by the end of year. Such is life, no biggie really.

Stats first.

Kindle - 1                              Library - 6
Book - 4                                  Own - 2
Audio - 3                                Borrowed (non library) - 0
Fiction - 6                       
Non-fiction - 2
Female Author - 6                  New to Me Authors - 4
Male Author - 3
Australian Author - 6

Big month for audio - 3. Only one that I was really impressed by though was Still Alice. The Heart Goes Last and The Serial Killers Club fell short of the mark. I was bitterly disappointed with The Heart Goes Last as I quite like Margaret Atwood but this one just didn't do it for me.

The Jungle Dark was a very personal read for me and has definitely left it's mark, but the pick of the month is by far and away Geraldine Brooks' The Secret Chord. Brooks is an author who just gets better and better. The Secret Chord has reminded me I've yet to read Caleb's Crossing so expect to see that soon.

Looking Forward

Nothing new borrowed or bought this month, although I have made a list of books I hope to get through over the Christmas break. I made it a few weeks ago and have already made a start, but this is what is still on it.

Island Home - Tim Winton (we all know I adore Tim Winton!)

The Little Red Chairs - Edna O'Brien

The Beast's Garden - Kate Forsyth

Caleb's Crossing - Geraldine Brooks

Not Just Black and White - Lesley & Tammy Williams

This list only includes those books I actually have in my possession. My actual TBR list is way longer!!

So how was your November? What are your plans for holiday reading?

Book Review: Cracking the Code

From Goodreads: This story of a father's search to find a diagnosis, and ultimately a cure, for his son's mystery disease is an inspiration that has set the world of genetic medicine and research abuzz with the possibilities for the future.

Thoughts: Yet another book I was drawn to through Richard Fidler's Conversation Hour. Stephen and Sally Damiani's world was turned upside down when their first born child, Massimo was diagnosed with Leukodystrophy. The problem with Leukodystrophy is it has many variations - lots of them unidentified. Massimo had one of these forms. So the Damiani's set to work. Sally became responsible for managing Massimo's day to day care - therapies, medications, appointments - and Stephen became responsible for find a cure. OK, that may be a little dramatic, but he immersed himself in research to determine exactly what variation of the disease Massimo had and therefore develop effective therapies and treatments.
This book is a great example of what can happen when you are not constrained by the conventions of a job or industry. When you are not part of the machine, you do not see the reasons something can't be done. You see the reasons why it should and set about working out how. 
The Damiani's were lucky in several ways. Whether you believe it to be fate, divination intervention or just plain coincidence, they met several people on their journey who were not only able, but willing to help them in their quest. From being able to ask questions, to mapping Massimo's genome, to finding someone who understood how to read that genome, the Dimaini's ended up with an army of people on their side.
Cracking the Code is a fairly easy read. It's not bogged down in scientific jargon and at the heart of it is a pretty cute kid. Every parent will feel for Stephen and Sally. As a parent I was in awe of their determination and drive, but wonder is it any less than I would have done for my kids. I see a lot of my husband in Stephen - if there is a problem you work out how to fix it. While it's not discussed in the book (and nether should it have been), the Damiani's obviously had access to some financial support or fund as much of what they did was not cheap and not publicly funded. They also had the education level and intelligence to fully understand what needed to be done and to further educate themselves. I'm assuming not everyone is able to teach themselves genomics in the way Stephen did! This is the type of thing that makes you wonder if certain things happen to certain people for a reason. Yes, I know it's horrible to do this to your child - says the universe - but I know you have the resources, knowledge and drive to help him and through that so many other children. And the Damiani's and their team have. They identified Massimo's variation. They have developed treatments that help. They have a little boy they expected to be dead by 2 going to school. They have saved other parents the anguish of not knowing exactly what is wrong with their child. They have proven the importance of genomics in diagnosing rare illness. 
Cracking the Code is at it's very heart a feel good story. The triumph of hard work and determination and love. The Damiani's and Massimo have a long way to go, but their journey so far is well worth reading about.

Cracking the Code gets 3 stars

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it

*****   It was amazing

Book Review: Still Alice

From Goodreads: Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty years old, she’s a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life--and her relationship with her family and the world--forever.
At once beautiful and terrifying, Still Alice is a moving and vivid depiction of life with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease that is as compelling as A Beautiful Mind and as unforgettable as Judith Guest's Ordinary People.

Thoughts: I can be quite a morbid person. I will run the most horrific scenarios through my head wondering how I would cope. Loss of my husband, loss of one of my kids, going blind, cancer diagnosis. Alzheimer's is one of those most terrifying scenarios. How on earth do you cope with losing yourself, losing everything you believe makes you you, everything you have created, worked for, slipping away from you.

As a neuroscientist Lisa Genova knows her stuff. This makes this even more scary as you know what she is describing is in fact very, very real. As she says at the end, this book does not describe everyone's journey with Alzhiemer's, but it does depict one possible path.

As with her book Inside the O'Briens, Genova takes you through her characters realisation there is something wrong, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis and deterioration. She explores the affect on spouses and children, especially given the hereditary nature of the disease. I was concerned momentarily about it become another O'Briens when the subject of testing for Alice's children came up and whether or not they should be tested. However, unlike the O'Briens where it became a significant sub plot, it was very quickly and easily dealt with.

I have no experience with Alzheimer's. It is not something that has appeared in my family tree and for that I am grateful. I do not know how I would react as a spouse of someone with Alzhiemer's, but I will admit some of John's (Alice's husband) reactions annoyed me. They had such limited time left and all he seemed to want to do was ignore it. Having said that, the book is told from Alice's perspective the only insight you get into John is through her.

I listened to this as an audio book, read by the author. It flowed easily and I think would be a fairly easy read, even if it is emotionally charged. There were times when tears welled, but they never spilled. Again, like the O'Briens, Genova finished the book before the ultimate demise - a good thing. As the reader you know where the story will end and it's almost like watching a family go through this, then withdrawing at the appropriate moment to allow them their privacy.

Genova has two other books I haven't read - Left Neglected and Love Anthony. Both sound interesting and I will have a look at them. Love Anthony in particular interests me as it seems to move away from the neurological disorders field. As I said, I feel one of Genova's strengths is her professional knowledge about the conditions she writes about. I hope it's a skill she can carry across to other areas.

Still Alice gets 4 stars

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it

*****   It was amazing

Book Review: The Secret Chord

From Goodreads:A rich and utterly absorbing novel about the life of King David, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of People of the Book and March.
With more than two million copies of her novels sold, New York Times bestselling author Geraldine Brooks has achieved both popular and critical acclaim. Now, Brooks takes on one of literature’s richest and most enigmatic figures: a man who shimmers between history and legend. Peeling away the myth to bring David to life in Second Iron Age Israel, Brooks traces the arc of his journey from obscurity to fame, from shepherd to soldier, from hero to traitor, from beloved king to murderous despot and into his remorseful and diminished dotage.
The Secret Chord provides new context for some of the best-known episodes of David’s life while also focusing on others, even more remarkable and emotionally intense, that have been neglected.  We see David through the eyes of those who love him or fear him—from the prophet Natan, voice of his conscience, to his wives Mikhal, Avigail, and Batsheva, and finally to Solomon, the late-born son who redeems his Lear-like old age. Brooks has an uncanny ability to hear and transform characters from history, and this beautifully written, unvarnished saga of faith, desire, family, ambition, betrayal, and power will enthrall her many fans.

Thoughts: Some books you can just immerse yourself in. Float along on a river of rich language, lavish descriptions and an enthralling story. The Secret Chord is such a book. If we continue the river analogy, it starts off a slow steady place, almost ebbing in parts before the flow picks up and you find yourself bouncing over rapids and the occasional waterfall .
Told from the point of view of Natan, King David's prophet, The Secret Chord leads us into David's inner world. His early years before meeting Natan are covered as his mother, brother and first wife tell Natan of their lives with David and how he became the man he was. 
Brook's portrayal of David show a flawed man who truly believed he was anointed by God to be king. His was a brutal reign at times, but his destiny to unite the tribes of Israel and bring peace is something he had complete faith in. The constant of Natan gives the reader a voice to hold onto and believe. Natan has no vested interest in lying so you believe what he says implicitly and value his point of view. Poor Natan had no choice over his destiny either, but he followed it with humility and bravery.
Not having a great knowledge of biblical stories, I was not bothered by Brook's use of traditional Hebrew names. For some reviewers this deviation from the names they have grown up with was a struggle. At times the book is graphic in it's descriptions of battle and rape, but they were pretty brutal times.  
If you are a Geraldine Brooks fan, I'd highly recommend this to you. It will definitely be up there as one of my best reads of 2015.

The Secret Chord gets 5 stars

*        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it

*****   It was amazing

 

Book Review: The Serial Killers Club

From Goodreads: When our hero finds himself in the path of a serial killer, he somehow manages to defend himself, and give the blood-thirsty madman a taste of his own medicine. But when he goes through the dead man's wallet, he finds a mysterious personal ad inviting him to join a party hosted by Errol Flynn. What begins with passing curiosity soon becomes uncontrollable obsession, as our hero becomes acquainted with 18 killers. Their game: to share the thrill of the hunt and to make sure no two members choose the same two victims. To protect their identities, they have all chosen names of old Hollywood stars, and before long, our hero becomes Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. But he has no intention of following the rules. With a government special agent on his trail who will soon become his partner in crim, "Dougie" plans to knock off the killers one by one, from Carole Lombard to Chuck Norris, to Laurence Olivier and Cher. But what happens when the "stars" notice their numbers dropping?

Thoughts: At the library where I work, our customers can use an app called Overdrive to download ebooks and audio books. Occasionally I have to help someone access the items they want so I figured I better work out how to use it myself! So I downloaded a couple of talking books - this being one of them. It sounded good, sounded light and funny. It even had promise to start with, but by the end I just wanted it to be over! I think part of the problem is Dougie is just an incredibly stupid man. Painfully stupid. He is completely oblivious to anything going on around him that doesn't pertain to him. Every slight by a person, every comment made is reaction to him and if it's negative, he will spin it around to some explanation that strokes his belief in himself as this perfect human specimen. Of course what this means is he is extremely easy to manipulate and completely clueless to it. While it had comic value to start with, by the end it just became plain annoying and repetitive. 
It most probably didn't help that I wasn't enthralled by the narrator either. His voice lacked expression and possibly made a dull book even duller. If you were going to give this one a go, I'd suggest reading it, not listening. It is this that convinces me to give it 2 stars instead of 1.

The Serial Killers Club gets 2 stars

*        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it

*****   It was amazing

Book Review: The Jungle Dark

From Goodreads: On 21 July 1969, 3 Platoon, A Company, 6 Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment forced their way through the damp Vietnamese jungle on a patrol as part of Operation Mundingburra. With the insects biting and the humidity sapping their strength, the platoon established a safe harbour and listened as the news came across the radio: Neil Armstrong had become the first man on the moon. Moments later, their skipper, Platoon Commander Lieutenant Peter Hines, stepped on a mine and exploded in a maelstrom of dirt, smoke and blood.
Memories of that fateful day stayed with the members of 3 Platoon for more than a decade before singer-songwriter John Schumann transformed the story into a ballad that would capture the spirit of a generation and become the anthem for the veterans of the Vietnam war.
This is the true story of Frank 'Frankie' Hunt and the other soldiers of 3 Platoon who were the inspiration for Redgum's 1983 hit song I Was Only Nineteen. Using first-hand accounts, The Jungle Dark is both a fascinating Australian yarn and enthralling military history. Vividly told, informative and poignant, it also traverses the deep unhealed wounds left in the minds and hearts of Vietnam soldiers long after they had left the battlefield.

Thoughts: 

Then someone yelled out "Contact"', and the bloke behind me swore. 

We hooked in there for hours, then a God almighty roar; 

Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon: - 

God help me, he was going home in June.

Sometimes a book comes to you out of the blue and insists on being read. The Jungle Dark happened to come through the return chutes at work when I was in check in. For some reason, I flipped it over to read the back and the words Platoon Commander Lieutenant Peter Hines jumped out at me. I'd grown up hearing about Peter Hines because apparently I looked a bit like him - he was my mum's cousin.  I'd been told he was the person in the song I Was Only 19, but I kind of assumed mum meant it was something that happened to Peter on that day, not that he was the actually "Frankie". Turns out he was.

Steve Strevens recount of 3 Platoon is heart wrenching in so many ways. It focuses on Frank Hunt and the impact Vietnam had on him, not only during the conflict but afterwards.  The other members of 3 Platoon also have their story told, including Peter. These are men we should be proud of. These are men who handled themselves with dignity, loyalty and courage in the most god awful circumstances. These are men whose suffering did not end when they left the battlefield and came home.

Strevens treats the whole situation with remarkable sensitivity. He outlines the declining support for the war among the general populace, but does not lay blame. He places you in the middle of the fear and uncertainty of the jungle dark. The importance of being able to rely on your mates, the focus on not letting them down, working as a team, becoming family. They became important because they understood, they knew what you had been through and the trauma you continued to suffer. He deals with the reality of these men's lives after Vietnam and the effect it has on their lives to this very day.

I truly believe Australia's attitude towards our service men and women serving overseas was changed by our acknowledgement of how badly many of the Vietnam vets had been treated at the very late welcome home parade in 1987. The parade and the memorial was the country's way of saying while we don't necessarily agree with you being in a foreign war zone, we respect the job you did and the sacrifices you made. I think it has gone a long way towards people being able to separate their disagreement about our service personnel being in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq from the men and women who serve there. 

For me The Jungle Dark has an obvious personal connection, a link to my personal history. The moment I finished I got on line and bought a copy for myself, my mum and my sister. It's also a interesting, moving read. If you want an insight into Vietnam this is well worth reading.

The Jungle Dark gets 4 stars

*        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it

*****   It was amazing