Book Review: How to be Remembered by Michael Thompson

How to be Remembered

by

Michael Thompson

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

 

Publication date: 28th February 2023

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

 

Pages: 352

 

RRP: $32.99AU (Paperback)

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review of How to be Remembered

As soon as I heard about How to be Remembered I couldn't wait to read it, and Michael Thompson didn't disappoint.

 

Every year, on his birthday, Tommy's life is reset. Everything about him disappears and everyone forgets him. On his first birthday his parents awake to a strange baby in their house, the presents wrapped the night before gone, no baby toys or clothes. The police take Tommy to Milkwood House, a foster care home. 

 

Can you just imagine every year you are the new child at the foster care home, obviously dropped overnight by child services, there is no paperwork, nothing. Every year you have to start over as the new child at school, introducing yourself to your friends.

 

How to be Remembered is a beautiful and heart-wrenching story of belonging, leaving your mark, falling in love and the fear of being forgotten.

 

I love magical realism, you just have let go and believe in the unbelievable. Michael Thompson has cleverly plotted this imaginative debut and I just loved going along for the ride. 

You will fall in love with Tommy and ride his ups and downs wanting him to succeed and build a life. There may be tears, okay there will be tears. 😭

 

I'm excited to see what Michael Thompson comes up with next!

 

My rating 5 / 5 💖💖💖💖💖 

About the author

Michael Thompson has been a successful journalist, producer and media executive for the last fifteen years. He lives in Sydney with his wife and two young children. How to be Remembered is his first novel.

 

Book Review: The Death of John Lacey by Ben Hobson

 The Death of John Lacey

by

Ben Hobson

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

 

Publication date: 31st January 2023

 

Genre: Crime / Mystery

 

Pages: 352

 

RRP: $32.99 (Paperback)

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via DMCPR Media 

 

My review of The Death of John Lacey

The Death of John Lacey is not only a story about John Lacey, it's a story about the harsh Australian countryside.

Hobson delivers an authentic Australian historical drama set during the mid to late 1800's. Told through the dual narrative of Ernst Montague, the son of a convict sentenced to life in Australia, and that of John Lacey, a smooth talking entrepreneur.  Ernst and John's lives cross at different times as the reader is taken to the gold fields and surrounding areas where men and women work hard to survive.

 

Hobson builds an ominous feel around John Lacey as he lurks around the gold fields doing favours and building alliances. He is a man that lusts for power and rules the town with an iron fist. Hobson also cleverly builds empathy for Ernst even though he is on the wrong side of the law and when Ernst and John confront each other the town will become divided.

I loved the conversations between the male characters, they were slow and sparse, coming across as very authentic. I also enjoyed reading about Australia and it's early years. It was a harsh country with some cruel men but there were also those that were willing to help others at their own expense.

If you are after a story that shows the struggle of early Australians coupled with the good and bad in men themselves, this will be a book you will thoroughly enjoy.

My rating 5 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Ben Hobson is a teacher, and an author, based in Brisbane. To Become a Whale, his debut novel was released in 2017. His second novel, Snake Island, a literary thriller, was released in 2019.

Book Review: Billings Better Bookstore & Brasserie by Fin J Ross

 Billings Better Bookstore & Brasserie

by

Fin J Ross

Publisher: Clandestine Press

 

Publication date: 22nd June 2020

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

Pages: 278

 

RRP: $24.99AU (Paperback)

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review of Billings Better Bookstore & Brasserie

Fin J Ross is a remarkable wordsmith and Billings Better Bookstore & Brasserie is filled to the brim with eloquent writing and fun alliterative verse.

 

You don't need to be a true logophile to enjoy Ross's writing as it's written in a light-hearted, fun way. However, if you are a lover of words this is the book for you.

It's very easy to love nine-year-old Fidelia Knight, a small girl with a big vocabulary, she is bright and full of life. Fidelia's father is a lexicographer and the family journeyed from England to Australia where he was to take up a position at Melbourne University. Suddenly orphaned on the long trip to Melbourne, Fidelia is taken to an orphanage. She refuses to believe her father is dead and dreams they will be reunited one day. Fidelia satiates her love of words by hiding in a bookstore and reading all the books she can.

Fidelia changes the lives of everyone she meets with her positive attitude and insight well beyond her years. At the ripe old age of 10 she acquires her dream of becoming a teacher when she is asked to tutor two illiterate women, one being Billings' wife, and two orphaned boys.

Billings Better Bookshop & Brasserie is a delightful read with themes of bettering yourself and believing everyone has a talent, you  just need to tap into it.

Set in 1870's Melbourne the area is brought to life through Ross's beguiling descriptions of the streets and buildings visited by her characters.

Each chapter, one for each letter of the alphabet, is headed by an alliterative poem. There is also an appendix of rhymes found in the story and a glossary of all those remarkable words you will be curious to know the meaning of. 

Follow Fidelia Knight, a most extraordinary young girl, from the tender age of nine, as she sets out to forge the way for women of the future.

Billings Better Bookstore & Brasserie is a delightfully uplifting story that will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

My rating 5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Fin is a journalist and creative writing teacher who runs a boarding cattery in East Gippsland and breeds British Shorthair cats.

She is co-author, with her sister, of the true crime anthologies, Killer in the family and Murder in the Family (not their family). Her first novel AKA Fudgepuddle is the journal/memoir of the oh-so-true adventures of a demanding cat called Megsy.

Fin has won eight category prizes in the annual Scarlet Stiletto Awards for crime and mystery short stories. The competition has been run by Sisters in Crime Australia since 1994.

In her spare time Fin compiles cryptic crosswords.

Book Review: The Way from Here by Jane Cockram

The Way from Here

by

Jane Cockram

 

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

 

Publication date: 2nd March 2022

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

 

Pages: 320

 

RRP: $29.99AU (Paperback)

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review of The Way from Here

The Way from Here is a twisty family saga that had me captivated from start to finish.

 

When Susie dies suddenly from a fall from a ladder her older sister Mills is grief-stricken. Then Mills receives a bundle of letters written by Susie to be opened after her death. Each states a place she would like Mills to spread her ashes.

 

I've read a few books with posthumous letters and I like that they have all had a different style to them and different connections between the letter writer and the recipient

 

The Way from Here is narrated through a dual time-line with present day Mills on her quest to retrace Susie's holiday and sprinkle her ashes in the places that somehow changed Susie's life forever and 1998 with 19 year old Susie on her summer holiday.

 

Jane Cockram's writing flows well and the story is easy to read I enjoyed both timelines with the evocative descriptions of the French coastal town of Ile de Clair and the mystery of Mills revisiting these areas and slowly uncovering deep and heart-breaking secrets. 

There were lots of red herrings which sent me running off at tangents and never guessing the real story until the very end.

If you enjoy twisty family sagas you will love The Way from Here.

My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Jane Cockram studied journalism at RMIT, majoring in Literature. After completing post-graduate studies in Publishing and Communication at Melbourne University, she worked in sales for Pan Macmillan Publishers and then as fiction buyer at Borders, fulfilling a childhood dream of reading for a living. Cockram spent a year living in the West Country of England, where the House of Brides is set, and still daydreams about returning. In the meantime, she resides in Melbourne with her husband and two children.

Book Review: The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital by Joanna Nell

 The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital

by

Joanna Nell

Publisher: Hachette Australia

 

Publication date: 29th September 2021

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

 

Pages: 352 (paperback)

 

Source: Own purchase

 

My review of The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital

The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital is the perfect read if you want something light and uplifting that also contains a bit of substance. 

Inevitably at some stage in your life, whether as visitor or patient, you will come across the wonderful women who volunteer their services at local hospitals, serving tea and providing a listening ear for patients and their families.

Hilary is the militant manageress of The Marjorie Marshall Memorial cafeteria situated in St Jude's Hospital. Hilary, now separated from her husband Jim and his lucrative income, is living in her sister's spare room. With Hilary it is all about keeping up appearances and she battles on with no idea how she will manage her future.

New recruit Joy is vivacious, colourful and full of life. She was encouraged by husband Len to take up some volunteer work outside the home.

Chloe is an anxious seventeen-year-old volunteering at the cafe to complete her Duke of Edinburgh Award. Chloe neglects her own wants in the aim to please her hard-working and ambitious parents.

I loved Joanna Nell's eclectic group of characters. I like the way Joanna uses older characters that are vibrant and break the stereo-typical role of older people. They all had problems they kept to themselves whilst putting on a brave front. When the very existence of the cafe is jeopardised in the name of progress the three unlikely friends band together to try and save the little cafe.

The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital is a heart-warming story, filled with humour and pathos, that celebrates unlikely friendships and standing up for yourself.

my rating 5 /5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Joanna Nell was born in the UK and studied medicine at Cambridge and Oxford universities. Her essays and short fiction have won multiple awards and been published in medical journals and literary anthologies. A former ship's doctor and now working as a GP, Joanna writes character-driven stories, creating young-at-heart characters who are not afraid to break rules and defy society's expectations of ageing.  Her first three novels were national bestsellers. Joanna lives on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

Other books I've read by Joanna Nell:

https://theburgeoningbookshelf.blogspot.com/2018/10/book-review-single-ladies-of-jacaranda.html

Book Review: The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane

 The Sun Walks Down

by

Fiona McFarlane

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

 

Publication date: 5th October 2022

 

Genre: Historical Fiction 

 

Pages: 416 (Paperback)

 

RRP: $32.99AU

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review of The Sun Walks Down

The Sun Walks Down is an evocative story of unsettledness, dispossession and survival in a harsh, arid land, all centred around the search for a six-year-old boy lost in the desert.

 

McFarlane is a skilled writer who has penned a powerful period story set over one week during September 1883. The author keenly depicts the impact the ruthlessness the desert region of Australia has on individuals and families. 

A wide and varying cast of nuanced characters are introduced in this predominantly character driven novel. The reader is given a thorough insight into their feelings for the land and each other. I found it hard to develop a connection to any of the characters, even the lost boy, as the story flits back and forth with no real focus on any one family or character. I did however feel a connection to the land through McFarlane's descriptions of the remoteness and bleakness of the setting. I liked the inclusion of the strange blood red sunsets and how the characters frequently mentioned its ominous feel which is such a comparison to today where catastrophic events of nature are immediately communicated around the world through electronic means. We no longer have that awe or confusion over unusual solar activity.

The story was a touch slow for me but if you are a lover of beautiful writing and literary fiction I am sure The Sun Walks Down will be a book you will enjoy.

My rating 3 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Fiona McFarlane is the author of the novel The Night Guest, which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, and a collection of short stories, The High Places, which won the International Dylan Thomas Prize. Her short fiction has been published in the New Yorker, Best Australian Stories and Zoetrope: All-Story. Born in Sydney, Fiona teaches creative writing at the University of California, Berkeley.

 

 

Book Review: Second Fleet Baby by Nadia Rhook

 Second Fleet Baby

by

Nadia Rhook

Publisher: Fremantle Press

 

Publication date: 2nd August 2022

 

Genre: Poetry 

 

Pages: 104 (Paperback)

 

RRP: $29.99AU

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review of Second Fleet Baby

Second Fleet Baby is a collection of poems that examine birth and motherhood spanning the centuries from 18th Century convict women to women of today,  conceiving and giving birth during a pandemic.

 

These poems are of a literary nature and I found them hard to understand. It was helpful that some came with a footnote explanation. I feel the poems are something to be read in a group setting, leaving an avenue for discussion which would bring greater understanding.

I am going to just leave it here with the back cover blurb which describes the book much better than I can.

Drawing on the energies of 18th century English convict women, including Rhook's own ancestors, Second Fleet Baby opens raw questions on belonging. In this collection, 'mother' is narrated as a long process of becoming. Through stories of childhood, fertility, and of nurturing new life during a pandemic, Rhook casts off the patriarchal weight of history, pulling origins 'from the seabed to the surface'.

Praise for the book

Extraordinary craftswomanship, tender yet piercing stories of nation-building and child bearing, intricately woven together by hand of an astute and fearless poet. - Elfie Shiosaki

In these wide-ranging, self-questioning, imaginative poems, Rhook tracks how colonisation works against and through the bodies of women. The poems are shaped by a rare combination of judgement and compassion - Lisa Gorton