Storybook Corner Book Review: Where's My Dinosaur? by Ashling Kwok

 

 

Where's My Dinosaur

by

Ashling Kwok

Illustrated by Jasmine Berry 

 

Publisher: Yellow Brick Books

 

Publication date: 30th September 2021

 

Genre: Children's Picture Book

 

Pages: 32

 

RRP: $26.95AUD

 

Format read: Hardcover

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

 

Back cover blurb

 

Daddy told me I'm getting a new playmate.

 

I'm so excited!

I hope it's a puppy. Or even a little chick.

Ooh, it might even be a bunny.

But most of all I hope it's a dinosaur - I love dinosaurs!

 

As mum's tummy gets bigger and bigger, a little girl dreams about what could possibly be growing inside....

 My review

 

Where's My Dinosaur? is a fun story about a misunderstanding. When daddy tells his daughter a new playmate is growing in mummy's tummy she starts to speculate about what that playmate would be. She would love a dinosaur but mummy's tummy is too small.

 

As mummy's tummy grows so does the idea of the new playmate; a chicken, a rabbit, a bear, an elephant. Until mummy's tummy is soooo big she is convinced it is a dinosaur. 

 

When the new baby arrives she is not happy but soon the baby grows and loves dinosaurs just as much as the little girl.

The story ends with mum expecting again and the once baby, now a toddler, is hoping for a dinosaur.

 

We all loved this funny, engaging and heartwarming story. Told through the eyes of a young girl as she awaits the new addition to the family.

The story features a culturally diverse family and the vivid full spread illustrations are imaginative and colourful. I loved how the story ends back at the beginning!

Where's My Dinosaur? would make the perfect gift, not only for young children awaiting the arrival of a sibling but also little dinosaur enthusiasts.

 

My rating 5 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

Ashling Kwok is a children's author from Sydney and loves immersing herself in worlds where anything is possible. Ashling has been dreaming of creating stories for children since she was 14. In the time since, she has become an accomplished journalist, magazine editor and freelance writer. Her previous books include Lola and Grandpa and The Battle. 

 

About the illustrator

 

Jasmine Berry is an illustrator and graphic designer from Perth, Western Australia. Jasmine has over 10 years of experience creating masters and artwork for a leading Australian Educational Publisher.

Where's My Dinosaur? is her debut picture book. 

 

 

Book Review and Blog Tour: The Sound of Violet by Allen Wolf

 The Sound of Violet

by

Allen Wolf

 

Now a major motion picture

 

Publisher: Morning Star Publishing

Publication date: 21st September 2021

 

Genre: Romantic Comedy

 

Pages: 226

 

RRP: $10.80AU (Kindle edition)

          $ 7.96US (Kindle edition)

 

format read: eBook

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

 Desperate to find his soulmate, Shawn goes on one awkward date after another until he encounters the alluring Violet. He starts dating her, but his autism keeps him from realizing that she’s actually a prostitute.

Shawn thinks he’s found a possible wife while Violet thinks she’s discovered her ticket to a brand new life. This hilarious and dramatic award-winning story takes all kinds of twists and turns and has been adapted into a major motion picture.

 

My review

 

The Sound of Violet reminded me a lot of Muriel's Wedding, an Australian movie about a girl obsessed with the idea of getting married.

 

Shawn has wedding photos in his room, on his phone and around his desk at work. He is desperate to find 'the one'. His openness and lack of tact due to his neurodiversity   has all his dates running for the hils after an hour. Until he meets Violet, a sex worker. She knows Shawn doesn't understand what she does for a living but she is drawn to him as he is the only person who has ever been kind to her.

The Sound of Violet is a heart-breaking story of family breakdown but at the same time it also highlights the love of family through Shawn's garndmaother who would do anything to protect him and his brother Colin who teaches Shawn how to act in front of people.

When Shawn was around people he had to continually think about his words and his mannerisms. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for him in social situations.

Both Shawn and Violet had the common connection of people judging them before they got to know them.

Wolf highlights the real problem of human trafficking and how young girls are trpped into the sex-trade with no means of escape.

The writing is simplistic and the authors history with sceenplays is evident as the scenes and actions are highly visual. I could picture this on the screen as I was reading. It had a cinematic feel to it.

I was expecting The Sound of Violet to be a story about an autistic man looking for love but it was much more than that. It was a story about kindness, acceptance and healing. I can't wait to see it on the screen!

My rating  3.5 / 5    ⭐⭐⭐½

About the author

llen Wolf is an award-winning novelist, filmmaker, and game creator. He is also the host of the popular Navigating Hollywood podcast.

His debut novel “The Sound of Violet” has won multiple accolades and is described as “Entertaining, well-paced, and highly visual” by Kirkus Reviews. It is now a major motion picture. (www.TheSoundOfViolet.com)

He has won 39 awards for his games that are available as books, including You’re Pulling My Leg! and You’re Pulling My Leg! Junior. They’ve brought smiles to hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

As a filmmaker, Allen wrote, directed, and produced “In My Sleep,” which was released worldwide, won multiple film festivals, and is available on iTunes and Amazon Prime. Hollywood Reporter raved, “In My Sleep never rests, a credit to the tight, psychologically astute pacing of filmmaker Wolf.”

Allen graduated from New York University’s film school. He married his Persian princess, and they are raising two kids together. He enjoys traveling around the world and hearing other people’s life stories. Allen also cherishes spending time with his family, eating chocolate, and visiting Disneyland.

 

 

 

 

Book Review & Giveaway: The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer by Ilsa Evans

The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer 

by

Ilsa Evans

 

Two grandmothers. They both love Avery. Shame they can't stand each other.

 

Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises Australia

Imprint: HQ Fiction AU

 

Publication date: 1st September 2021

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

 

Pages: 480

 

RRP: $ 29.99AUD

 

Format read: Paperback (Uncorrected proof)

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

Beth's daughter Cleo and Shirley's son Daniel used to be married. Now Cleo is in gaol for supposedly contravening a family violence order, and Daniel has full-time care of their four-year-old daughter, Avery.

When Shirley suspects that Daniel is harming Avery, she enlists Beth to abduct their own granddaughter, even though the two women can't stand each other. They are joined on the run across country Victoria by Winnie, Shirley's own 89-year-old tech-savvy mother, and Harthacnut, Beth's miniature schnauzer.

The abduction gives rise to crises both personal and social, as Shirley's large and interfering family - including her toxic son - struggle to come to terms with her actions, amid a whirl of police investigation and media excitement. This heartfelt, wise, witty and wholly original novel explores of the lengths we may go to for those we love, and the unintended damage folded into daily life. 

 

My review

 

In The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer Ilsa Evans explores the conundrum faced by grandparents to intervene or not when they fear their grandchild may be being neglected or abused.

 

Shirley Conifer has been noticing bruises on four year old Avery. She confronts her son, Daniel, and he retaliates by not allowing her to see Avery. When the next time Avery is dropped off she sees more bruising she can't not interfere, deciding she must hide Avery until she can talk Daniel into getting help. With her eighty-nine year old mother and four year old Avery she goes to see Beth, Avery's other grandmother, and they hatch a plan to keep Avery safe.

 

Child abuse is a difficult subject however it is handled sensitively and offset with humour as the two grandmother and great-grandmother try to get along for Avery's sake.

This is a story about family; mother's and their children. Daniel is a narcissist, charismatic and a good manipulator and the idea of nature or nurture is explored as Shirley feels all the guilt over his behaviour. Beth's daughter Cleo is serving a four month prison term for breaching an IVO,  Beth wonders where she went wrong.

As the women hide out they slowly start to understand each other. Beth is self-righteous and hilariously judgemental whilst Shirley is meek, always apologising. I felt 89 year old Winnie was the star of the story. Sharp as a tack and totally tech savvy. Winnie was happy to be ignored. She could do all sorts of things, being ignored was her super power. Winnie's antics had me laughing again and again. Whereas this feeling of invisibility was upsetting to Shirley.

"In some ways it was to her benefit if people underestimated her. Or even thought that she was senile" - Winnie

Ilsa Evans smashes the ageist stereotypes in this book.

Told from multiple points of view, thirteen in all. However each character is gradually introduced so it doesn't overwhelm. I did notice though that they were all women. The males in the book were generally backseat observers.

I really enjoyed this family drama filled with laugh out loud moments and characters I could truly connect with. Ilsa draws on her experiences on the board of a women and children's refuge to create real characters in compelling situations.

I also enjoyed the exploration of the relationship between the two grandmothers and the different mother / daughter relationships taking place throughout the novel. Even the subtle look at DS Elsa Kaltenbrunner's relationship with her mother.

My rating 5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Photo:Studio3 Photography

Ilsa Evans has published fourteen books across a range of genres, from light fiction and short stories to memoir, murder mystery and YA fantasy. Two of her books have been shortlisted for the prestigious Davitt (Sisters in Crime) Awards, while her novel about domestic violence, Broken, was an Australian best-seller and selected as Women's Weekly Book of the Month. Ilsa also teaches creative writing students, writes social commentary, and has been published in several newspapers and online journals. In 2011, she received the Eliminating Violence Against Women (EVA) Award for online journalism. 

            

 

GIVEAWAY:

 

 

 

 

 Thanks to The Reading Nook online bookstore you can win 1 of 2 paperback copies of The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer 

 

Enter via the form below (open to Australian addresses only) Entries close at midnight on  27th September 2021.

 

This giveaway is now closed and the winners were announced here.

Book Review: Driving Stevie Fracasso by Barry Divola

Driving Stevie Fracasso 

by

Barry Divola

 

He's about to find everything he didn't know he was missing

 

 

 

Publisher: Harper Collins Australia

 

Publication date: 3rd March 2021

 

Genre: General Fiction

 

Pages: 352

 

RRP: $32.99AUD

 

Source: My purchase 

 

 

About the book

 

Jaded music journalist Rick McLennan knows his life is going south when he loses his job, his apartment and his long-term girlfriend all on the same day. But then he is thrown a lifeline - a commission to write the story of his ex-rock-star brother, Stevie, and drive him from Austin, Texas, to New York to play one final gig. One small problem: the brothers haven't spoken in thirty years.

Rick knows it's a bad idea. But he's out of choices. So he gets behind the wheel of a beaten-up 1985 Nissan Stanza and drives towards his destiny. He's about to find everything he didn't know he was missing. It's September 2001.

 

My review

 

I have to say I've never been interested in music or bands. The only records I've brought are a couple of Slade albums in my early teens. What I'm saying here is you don't have to be a music buff to love this novel. Though if you are, you will!

 

Driving Stevie Fracasso is a story about finding yourself, reconciling your past and growing up and learning what's important in life.

Music journalist Rick loses his girlfriend, his accommodation and his job on the same day. However when he is offered the job of writing a book on washed-up musician Stevie Fracasso, on the proviso he picks him up in Austin and drives him back to New York, Rick decides it solves his immediate problems so accepts. The only problem is, Stevie is his brother and he hasn't seen him in 29 years.

After stealing borrowing his ex-girlfriends car, what ensues is a road trip filled with colourful characters, a busted nose, acquisition of a three legged dog and words of wisdom that come from the most unlikeliest people as Rick and Stevie visit Stevie's top attraction list on their trip.

 

I had a blast reading Driving Stevie Fracasso, it was witty and heartfelt. Rick was quite annoying at the start of the book. He was forty years old and still acted like a twenty year old. I felt embarrassed for him. He has a big chip on his shoulder about his life, his parents and his brother. Rick's character was well drawn and I enjoyed following his road to enlightenment. 

 

I love stories about road trips and Barry Divola didn't disappoint. The road trip through New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville was eventful and funny - usually at Rick's expense.

 

"Don't you know anything about road trips? They're not about the destination, they're about the journey."

 

Driving Stevie Fracasso was a roller coaster journey for Rick and he did finally reach his destination, reassessing his hopes and dreams.

 

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

Barry Divola is a journalist and author born and bred in Sydney, currently living in Perth. He writes regularly for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review and Qantas Magazine. He was a senior writer for Rolling Stone (Australia), the long-time music critic for Who, and his work has appeared internationally in Rolling Stone, Spin, Entertainment Weekly, Monocle and other magazines. Driving Stevie Fracasso is his first novel, but he has published eight other books – four non-fiction books, three children's books and a book of short fiction (Nineteen Seventysomething). He has won the Margaret River Short Story Prize, the FAW Jennifer Burbidge Award, the Cowley Literary Award and the Banjo Paterson Award for Short Fiction (three times). Although he plays in three bands in two cities, he has been informed not to give up his day job.  

 

Challenges entered:   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

 

 

Book Review: What Would LaVonda Robinette Do? by Kirsten Maron

What Would LaVonda Robinette Do?

by

Kirsten Maron 

 

Can she really get away with murder?

 

 

 

Publisher: Shawline Publishing Group

 

Publication date: May 2021

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction 

 

Pages: 419

 

RRP: $24.95AUD 

 

Format read: Paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of Beauty & Lace Book Club

 

 

About the book

 

LaVonda Robinette likes to take charge, and yes, she can be a little bossy, because sometimes that is the only way to get things done. But lately, LaVonda's life is spinning out of her control: Her husband of twenty-five years walks out, she has a horrible run-in with a colleague, and to make matters worse, she experiences her first hot flush in a crowded supermarket. On her birthday.

It is enough to drive a person to murder.

After her colleague is accidentally, but conveniently killed, LaVonda is left in a bit of a state. The appropriate thing to do would be to confess and accept her punishment. And she will. But maybe she could put right a few wrongs first? Not everything is as straight-forward as LaVonda would like though and bumping people off is proving to be rather tricky.

Does she have what it takes?

Will her newfound interest put herself, and her family, in danger?

 

My review

 

Who would have thought menopause and murder would combine to make such a darkly funny and enjoyable read!

LaVonda has a lot to contend with at the moment; her husband has left her for a younger woman, she is being bullied and shut down by the new person at work, she is obligated to visit her elderly abusive mother and on top of all that she is stricken with hot flushes that descend without warning. It's little wonder LaVonda's thoughts turn to murder. Her life would be so much easier without these people.

 

Kirsten Maron's writing is entertaining as she builds intrigue through a witty narrative. LaVonda is extremely likeable even though she has a deviated moral sense, we see most of her dark thoughts through her internal monologue. 

 

Many of the books themes will resonate with middle-aged women; hot flushes, mood swings, forgetfulness, paranoia, perceived invisibility and murderous thoughts.

 

"I've become invisible, Ann. People keep bumping into me as though they can't see me."

"It's our age. We're not relevant to society anymore so we're overlooked ......... we're sliding into middle-aged obscurity."

"It makes me furious ....... Any minor irritation flares straight into rage these days."

 LaVonda's sisters Maxine and Ann are wonderful support characters and lend for some additional threads to the story.

What Would LaVonda Robinette Do? is an engaging and witty read filled with, fierce and fabulous females, a storyline that will have you laughing out loud and a twist that I didn't see coming.

4 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Kirsten Maron writes fictional stories and What Would LaVonda Robinette Do? Is her second completed book.  

 

Kirsten has been creating stories since she first learned to write and at 6 won her first literary and only award with a cunning retelling of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. 

The frustrations of middle age provided Kirsten with the authorial fuel for writing her second book, but of course, unlike LaVonda, she would never actually murder anyone. 

Kirsten lives in rural NSW with her husband and several bossy kangaroos. She is currently working on her third novel; a sequel called What LaVonda Robinette Did Next.

 

 Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021

 

                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

 

Book Review: The Other Side of Beautiful by Kim Lock

The Other Side of Beautiful

by

Kim Lock

 

What happens when fate says 'go'?

 

 

Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises Australia

 

Imprint: HQ - Fiction

Publication date: 7th July 2021

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 368

RRP: $29.99AUD

Format read: Paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

About the book

 

Meet Mercy Blain, whose house has just burnt down. Unfortunately for Mercy, this goes beyond the disaster it would be for most people: she hasn't been outside that house for two years now.

Flung out into the world she's been studiously ignoring, Mercy goes to the only place she can. Her not-quite-ex-husband Eugene's house. But it turns out she can't stay there, either.

And so begins Mercy's unwilling journey. After the chance purchase of a cult classic campervan (read tiny, old and smelly), with the company of her sausage dog, Wasabi, and a mysterious box of cremated remains, Mercy heads north from Adelaide to Darwin.

On the road, through badly timed breakdowns, gregarious troupes of grey nomads, and run-ins with a rogue adversary, Mercy's carefully constructed walls start crumbling. But what was Mercy hiding from in her house? And why is Eugene desperate to have her back in the city? They say you can't run forever...

 

My review

 

In The Other Side of Beautiful Kim Lock takes the reader on a journey. Not only a vividly described journey by land from Spalding, South Australia to Darwin, Northern Territory (over 3000 kms) but also a journey of self discovery.

The reader takes this eventful ride right along side Mercy and her pet dachshund, Wasabi.

 

Inspired by the author's own experience with acute anxiety Mercy Blain is a true to life character and her crushing fear felt very real.

 

The Other Side of Beautiful shows how a series of tragedies, one after another, can trigger anxiety and lead to a breakdown. How easy would it be to just hide in your house! That's exactly what Mercy has been doing for the last two years and the book opens with Mercy's home burning to the ground.

 

This all sounds a bit depressing but the story isn't at all depressing as Kim Lock has sprinkled the storyline with humour and quite a few scenes had me laughing out loud. We get to cheer Mercy on as she fights her irrational dread and wild imagination and starts a trip, a bit by accident and a bit on purpose, to prove to herself that she is more than her fear.

Along the way she will face quite a few dramas, some mini meltdowns, an old nemesis and make new friends.

 

The Other Side of Beautiful is rich in humour and vivid imagery of outback  Australian roads, towns and landscapes. This is a sensitive, honest, insightful and heartfelt story, not to be missed.

 

5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

Credit: Goodreads

Kim Lock is an internationally published author of four novels. Her writing has also appeared in Kill Your Darlings, The Guardian, Daily Life and The Sydney Morning Herald online, among others. She lives in regional South Australia with her family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021

 

                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

 

 

 

Book Review: The Grand Tour by Olivia Wearne

 The Grand Tour

by

Olivia Wearne

 

 

Publisher: Harper Collins

Imprint: HQ Fiction AU

Publication date: 2nd December 2020

Genre: Contemporary Fiction 

Pages: 400

RRP: $29.99AUD

Format read: Uncorrected paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Better Reading

 

About the book

 

When Ruby and Angela embark on a Grey Nomads road trip, the last thing they expect is a tiny stowaway; one who will turn them from unsuspecting tourists into wanted kidnappers and land them in a world of trouble. As their leisurely retirement plans unravel, Angela's relationship with her brother Bernard goes from bad to worse.

Bernard has his own problems to contend with. Adrift in life, his career as a news presenter has been reduced to opening fetes and reading Voss as an audio book (a seemingly impossible task). His troubles are compounded when his wife starts dating a younger man and a drink-driving incident turns him into a celebrity offender.

As Angela and Ruby set about repairing burnt bridges and helping their unexpected guest, and Bernard attempts to patch together his broken life, they discover that even after a lifetime of experience, you're never too old to know better.

 

My review

 

The Grand Tour, although I did enjoy the story, wasn’t what I was expecting. The blurb tells me Ruby and Angela embark on a grey nomads road trip and I expected lots of funny on the road disasters whilst reading about amazing places around Australia.

The Grand Tour is about relationships and the changing landscape of these relationships as we age. A satirical look at ageing disgracefully.

Ruby is estranged from her grown daughter who she has never had a solid relationship with. She was always a bit wary of her wild, rambunctious child as she was growing up.

Ruby and Angela become firm friends after the death of Angela’s husband. They are complete opposites but they compliment each other. Ruby who is an introvert loves Angela’s flamboyance. They live in the same complex and whilst their units are being renovated they take to the road in Ruby’s motor-home.

Bernard, Angela’s brother, is a curmudgeonly washed-up news reader trying to restart his career when he is pushed back into the limelight for all the wrong reasons. We are also introduced to his actress wife, Mia and her eclectic friends. An arty group of ageing bohemians.

Eight year old Izzy lives with her mother in a caravan park. Izzy’s mother has trouble coping and Izzy is neglected. Thinking her mother would be glad to be rid of her she stows away in Ruby and Angela’s motor-home, making them unwary kidnappers.

There are many funny moments as each character navigates the different relationships in their life.

The book was a slow read for me. A character driven story.

Olivia Wearne’s debut novel is witty and observant. She expertly depicts human foibles and slots them into chuckle inducing scenarios. 

 

3.5 / 5    ⭐⭐⭐ ½

 

Meet the author 

 

Olivia Wearne was born in Melbourne in 1977. She is both a novelist and a screenwriter with several film credits to her name and a Masters in creative writing. Olivia now resides in Ballarat, Victoria, where she writes at the kitchen table that she shares with her filmmaker husband and two young sons. The Grand Tour is her first novel.

 

Challenges entered: Aussie author challenge  #AussieAuthor20

                                 Australian Women Writers Challenge #AWW2020

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Bluebird by Malcolm Knox

Bluebird

by

Malcolm Knox 

 

 

Publisher: Allen & Unwin 

Publication date: 1st September 2020

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 496

RRP: $ 32.99AUD

Format read: Uncorrected paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

A house perched impossibly on a cliff overlooking the stunning, iconic Bluebird Beach. Prime real estate, yet somehow not real estate at all, The Lodge is, like those who live in it, falling apart.

Gordon Grimes has become the accidental keeper of this last relic of an endangered world. He lives in The Lodge with his wife Kelly who is trying to leave him, their son Ben who will do anything to save him, his goddaughter Lou who is hiding from her own troubles, and Leonie, the family matriarch who has trapped them here for their own good.

But Gordon has no money and is running out of time to conserve his homeland. His love for this way of life will drive him, and everyone around him, to increasingly desperate risks. In the end, what will it cost them to hang onto their past?

Acclaimed writer Malcolm Knox has written a classic Australian novel about the myths that come to define families and communities, and the lies that uphold them. It's about a certain kind of Australia that we all recognise, and a certain kind of Australian whose currency is running out. Change is coming to Bluebird, whether they like it or not. And the secrets they've been keeping and the lies they've been telling can't save them now.

Savage, funny, revelatory and brilliant, Bluebird exposes the hollowness of the stories told to glorify a dying culture and shows how those who seek to preserve these myths end up being crushed by them.

 

My Review

Quintessentially Australian, Bluebird is a Sydney beachside suburb filled with born and bred locals who live in a haze of nostalgia remembering Bluebird before the developers set in.

Gordon Grimes is part owner of The Lodge, as it is affectionately called by locals. He has made it his life ambition to save The Lodge from developers even though it sits precariously on the edge of a cliff and is in desperate need of renovation.  The Lodge is always filled with a cast of hangers on, old surfers that spend their mornings chasing waves, their evenings reminiscing about life and their nights sleeping in the spare room of their widowed mothers' house.

Bluebird is a place where talk is overrated and time is expected to heal all wounds. Secrets swirl ominously around its inhabitants and there are plenty of old scores to settle, dodgy dealings, secret development plans and mates looking after mates.

Delivered through multiple POV from a diverse cast of characters, all linked to The Lodge in one way or another, there is never a dull moment in this irreverent, and at times politically incorrect, satire.

A story of love, loss, family, community and belonging; Bluebird is sardonic, perceptive, outrageously funny and deeply moving.

4/5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Photo: Goodreads

 Malcolm Knox was born in 1966. His award-winning novels and non-fiction titles have been published in Australia and internationally. A journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald since 1994, he has won three Walkley Awards for investigative journalism, magazine feature writing and sports journalism, as well as a Human Rights Commission Award. He lives in Sydney with his family.

Challenges entered: Aussie author challenge  #AussieAuthor20

 

 

 

Book Club Book Review: Mammoth by Chris Flynn

Mammoth

by

Chris Flynn

Publisher: University of Queensland Press

Publication date: 28th April 2020

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 265

RRP: $29.99AUD

Format read: paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Beauty and Lace bookclub

Narrated by a 13,000-year-old extinct American mastodon, Mammoth is the (mostly) true story of how the skull of a Tyrannosaurus bataar, a pterodactyl, a prehistoric penguin, the severed hand of an Egyptian mummy and the narrator himself came to be on sale at a 2007 natural history auction in Manhattan.

Ranging from the Pleistocene Epoch to nineteenth-century America and beyond, including detours to Napoleonic France and Nazi Germany, Mammoth illuminates a period of history when ideas about science and religion underwent significant change. By tracing how and when the fossils were unearthed, Mammoth traverses time and place to reveal humanity's role in the inexorable destruction of the natural world.

Told through the eyes of a mammoth’s fossilised remains Chris Flynn has delivered a hilarious and thought-provoking tale of life, extinction and rebirth. A tale that spans continents and centuries!

As mammoth is exhumed from the earth his bones absorb information from the conversations around him. Now waiting to be auctioned in a New York City warehouse mammoth tells his story, by mental telepathy, to a tyrannosaurus-bataar skull, a prehistoric penguin and an Egyptian mummy hand. A story that spans oceans and centuries.

Chris Flynn has extensively researched his subject matter and many historical events are included in a narrative where fact and fiction combine.

With Mammut’s formal speech and dry sarcasm, T-Bataar’s witty humour and penguin’s snarky comments Mammoth had me laughing and totally invested in their stories. By the end of the story these ancient fossilised bones felt like old friends.

“Can I jump in? Bro. Take a breather. I knew this was going to be a big story. I didn’t realise it would be so boring.

I’m sorry you feel that way, T-bataar.

I don’t mean to be rude, but a couple more jokes wouldn’t go amiss.

I want to hear about your adventures, Mammut.

Not all this stale historical jibber jabber.”

This quote made me laugh because the story was anything but boring.

Funny, thought-provoking and unique, Mammoth is a must read.

 

My rating 4/5            ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chris Flynn is the author of The Glass Kingdom and A Tiger in Eden, which was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize. His fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The Age, The Australian, Griffith Review, Meanjin, Australian Book Review, The Saturday Paper, Smith Journal, The Big Issue, Monster Children, McSweeney’s and many other publications. He has conducted interviews for The Paris Review and is a regular presenter at literary festivals across Australia. Chris lives on Phillip Island, next to a penguin sanctuary.

This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge