…on the bookshelf – january/february…

With the holidays, comes a flurry of reading time. Once we started school again, I slowed down for a bit, but now we are back in the swing of things, I’ve managed to read two books since Saturday!

Perfectly Impossible – Elizabeth Topp: a good holiday read, covering careers and relationships and how both of those feed into identity, and how that identity then feeds back into career and relationship decisions. 3.5/5

Hadley & Grace – Suzanne Redfern: This was such a fun read! It was fast paced with just the right amount of drama and action to keep me hooked. A brilliant holiday read. 4/5

The Drovers Wife – Leah Purcell: oh gosh this was a brilliantly written, emotional novel, heartrending in its portrayal of the early colonial days of the Snowy Mountains, and the tough and harsh conditions of the bush. From domestic conflict, to racial conflict, to cultural conflict, this book is one that wasn’t an easy read, but will sit with me for quite a while to come. 4/5.

Water Memory – Daniel Pyne: I picked this one up on Kindle First, and it turned out to be a much more action thriller than I expected. It was interesting enough, and I read the whole thing, but the non-stop dramatic action & violence isn’t really my cup of tea. I will say it was well written with interesting characters, so I’m going to give it a 3/5, because it wasn’t a bad book, just not my style.

Fairy Tales For Millenials – Bruno Vincent: Witty, topical and oh so cleverly written, I read this one on a Sunday afternoon and giggled all the way through. Fellow millenials will appreciate the satirical take on our demographic norms, thought my GenZ teen started reading it and didn’t quite get it, nor did the GenX husband when I read him parts that particularly amused me. 4/5

The Dry – Jane Harper: I feel like I’m the last to read The Dry, as evidenced by the fact it was a movie edition cover on the book I borrowed from the library (though with Eric Bana as the lead, I wasn’t complaining!). I read Harper’s “Force of Nature” last year, when I received it as part of my birthday bundle, and it had an extract of The Dry in the back, which hooked me from the start. Once I finally got around to reading it, it did not disappoint. Harper beautifully captured the gossipy judgeyness of a small country town (source: born, raised & still living in my small country hometown), and the heartache of drought in rural communities. Another gripping, heartaching, beautiful read – I will definitely be watching the movie once it comes to Netflix. 4.5/5

What Does It Feel Like Being Born – Jodie Miller: a biography I picked up from a library end cap, I really enjoyed this memoir, and following along Jodie’s journey into motherhood and maternity activism. It was definitely triggering in parts, but a valuable insight into a tumultuous time in maternity services in Australia – and still a long way to go, especially for those of us in rural areas. 4/5

Jacinda Ardern – Michelle Duff: I am a massive Jacinda fangirl, so I really enjoyed this bio. It was an interesting read seeing Ardern’s journey to the top job, and her handling of various pivotal events of The Before. It wasn’t all sugary, with missteps and public criticisms noted and discussed, giving the book a good sense of balance. 4/5

The Things We Cannot Say – Kelly Rimmer: another from my birthday stack, I have only just gotten to pick it up. My husband queried the out of character delay in starting a new book, and I mentioned I’d been putting it off in favour of lighter reading. A bit heavy, he asked? Well, says I, it covered Nazi-occupied Poland, dementia and autism, so yeah, just a little. The interweaving of times and characters was done well and created a beleiveable world, enough so that I was sobbing by the end. 4/5

Where The Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens: I’ve had so many people recommend this one, and finally I got around to reading it. I started at 2.15pm yesterday, and finished at 11.24pm last night, so I think it’s safe to say I loved it and found it a gripping read 4/5

Ten books in the last 54 days. Not a bad start to a year where I am aiming for 21 books read in total! I have three more library books on my trolley, and audio book in progress, one more birthday book, and one that I picked up from the library book sale all awaiting my attention, so let’s see if I can keep the pace up into March!