Book Review: Cassandra's Secret by Frances Garrood

Cassandra's Secret

by

Frances Garrood

Publisher: Sapere Books 
Publication date: 10th May 2018
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 319
Format read: eBook
Source: Courtesy of the publisher

1960s England

Cassandra Fitzpatrick’s family isn’t quite like everybody else’s: her house is always full to bursting with the various misfits her mother houses as lodgers.

The creative and chaotic household is all she has ever known and loved, until something awful happens that changes everything.

Cass loves her mother deeply, but, as she gets older, she becomes more and more aware of her flaws.

Will Cass have to distance herself from her family to find happiness? Or is she destined to follow in her mother’s footsteps?

As Cass reflects on her memories, she must lay the ghosts of the past to rest and make peace with the secrets that have haunted her adult life…  

Cassandra’s Secret is story of an unconventional family. Cass and her brother Lucas are raised by their single mother with an array of misfits and drifters coming into and out of their house. There was Uncle Rupert who lived in the attic, a procession of lodgers who rented the basement and were simply called The Lodger and Greta, an exile from Switzerland, who had become chief tea maker for the family.

Told in the first person Cass sits by her mother’s death bed and contemplates her life, introducing the reader to her eclectic mother who had a love for men and a good party. Cass and her brother grew up with relatively no rules, just a love for life and adventure. An incident when Cass was 14 has left her more damaged than she realised.

This was quite an interesting story about the free and easy upbringing Cass and Lucas had. Cass’s mum seemed to have bipolar, her highs  were high and her lowes were low and at times Cass had to become the parent.

Garrood shows how over the years an incident of abuse had a dramatic effect on Cass’s life. There is quite a bit of humour in the story and even if Cass didn’t always agree with her mother’s actions they had a strong bond and she looked back over the years fondly.

Cassandra’s Secret was a pleasant read, all the characters were likeable and with themes of death, promiscuity, single parenthood, abuse and depression the topics are only lightly touched on so it never becomes a heavy read. 

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My rating  4/5

  Frances Garrood's main career was nursing, but she also trained and worked for many years as a relationship counsellor with Relate. Widowed in 1992, she re-married and now lives with her husband in Wiltshire, where she enjoys riding her horse in the beautiful Pewsey Vale, reading, writing, and keeping up with her grandchildren. She also writes regularly to a prisoner on Texas Death Row.

Frances first started writing as a child; mainly poetry, but there was one horrific novel (mercifully, never finished) in which a woman gives birth to a hideously deformed child in a thunderstorm. While she was bringing up her four children, she began writing and selling short stories to magazines before the enforced immobility following a fractured spine gave her the time to tackle her first novel.

All her books are very strongly relationship-based. Her writing has also been affected by her widowhood, and her books sometimes include issues of death and bereavement. Strangely (and not by design) they all seem to include pet animal funerals (not a subject which normally occupies my mind!)

 

Books and Bites Bingo - Category 1 #BooksandBitesBingo2020

This bingo challenge is with Facebook group Books and Bites with Monique Mulligan

I've only read and reviewed one book so far this year so I will need to double up on my bingo choices.

This week I will be completing the 'Debut Novel' category.

A Debut Novel

For this category I have chosen "Such a Fun Age".  

This was an interesting book about race, class, white saviour complex and do-gooders.  However it also had themes of growing up and at 25 Emira was still uncertain what she wanted to do with her life. She was currently hired as a babysitter, a job that was usually associated with 16 year olds. A roller coaster series of events cause Emira to take stock of her life and force her to take action. This is the debut novel of Kiley Reid. I'm looking forward to seeing what Kiley comes out with next.

You can read my full review here  

#BooksandBitesBingo2020


 

Book Bingo - Round 1 #BookBingo2020

Welcome back to Book Bingo for 2020. This year I am completing two book bingo challenges so I'm assuming that a few of the books will crossover with both challenges.

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. The second Saturday of each month book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category ''Coming of Age"

A Coming of Age

For this category I have chosen "Such a Fun Age".  

This was an interesting book about race, class, white saviour complex and do-gooders.  However it also had themes of growing up and at 25 Emira was still uncertain what she wanted to do with her life. She was currently hired as a babysitter, a job that was usually associated with 16 year olds. A roller coaster series of events cause Emira to take stock of her life and force her to take action.

You can read my full review here 

#BookBingo2020 

Book Review: Lost but Found (Rescue dogs and their stories of adoption) by Peter Sharp

Lost but Found

by

Peter Sharp

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia 
Publication date: 29th October 2019
Genre: Non Fiction
Pages: 216
RRP: $24.99AUD
Format read: Paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher

In Lost but Found , you will meet forty special dogs who have spent time at the Home. Their stories reveal how the dogs came to be lost, how and why they were in the shelter, and the love and care they received while there and in their new forever homes.

Fully illustrated and with both before- and after-adoption photography from award-winning pet photographer Peter Sharp of Tame & Wild Studio, this touching collection of precious pups will warm the hearts of animal lovers near and far.

About Sydney Dogs & Cats Home:

Sydney dogs and cats home is unique in its ability and commitment to find that ‘one in a million’ owner for animals in their care, as well as that ‘one in a million’ pet for people looking to adopt.

The home services multiple councils across Sydney, they take care of some 3,000 lost, abandoned and neglected pets each year. If they are unable to reunite a pet with its owner, they seek to find them a new and loving home.

The home has an extensive network of foster carers who take animals temporarily into care if they are not coping with the shelter life or if the shelter is at capacity. The home has a strict no-time-limit policy on every animal awaiting adoption.

If you would like to find out more about adopting or fostering please see the Home’s webite sydneydogsandcatshome.org

My thoughts on the book: 

You don’t have to be a dog lover to enjoy this gorgeous book. The 40 dogs featured all have a story, each one different and interesting, of how they came to the home, the search for their owners and the story of how their new adoptive owners came to the shelter and found them. There is a follow up with each dog’s new owners saying how they are getting on with cute details about their antics and bonding.

The parts of the book I really loved were the interviews with the dogs which were quite often funny. Then each dog has a photo shoot with Peter Sharp. I can see why Peter is revered as a pet photographer. The photos were cute, charming and funny and showed off each dog’s personality.

The book also explains the senior pet project which is something I’ve never heard of before. In this project they adopt out older dogs in their twilight years. There are advantages to this for some people as the dogs need less exercise, the commitment is shorter and the dogs lead a quieter life. The new owners have the satisfaction that they have made the dog’s last years of life loving and comfortable.

A few important points on finding a new friend, microchipping and desexing are also included.

      

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My rating  5/5 (how can you not love a cute book of dog photos)

Peter Sharp is a Sydney-based photographer who has had a love of animals for as long as he can remember. Peter does all the photography for the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home, while also running his business Tame & Wild Studio, and volunteering his services at three not-for-profit organisations. 

This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge  

and part of the NonFiction reader challenge Category: Nature. 

 

Book Review: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid #BRPreview

Such a Fun Age

by

Kiley Reid

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing 
Publication date: 7th January 2020
Genre: Contemporary Fiction 
Pages: 320
RRP: $29.99 AU
Format read: Uncorrected proof paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Better Reading

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living showing other women how to do the same. A mother to two small girls, she started out as a blogger and has quickly built herself into a confidence-driven brand. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night. Seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, a security guard at their local high-end supermarket accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make it right.

But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix’s desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix’s past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.

With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone “family,” the complicated reality of being a grown up, and the consequences of doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

Alix Chamberlain is a rich online influencer, feminist and does speaking events on women in the workplace. She is trying to land a job on the Hilary Clinton campaign. Alix employs Emira Tucker, a 25 year old black college graduate to babysit her three year old daughter Briar. Emira uses the babysitting to supplement her typing job. Emira is well educated with a college degree so she feels babysitting, as much as she loves it, is not a permanent job. She quite enjoys looking after the inquisitive three year old but both jobs are seen as temporary while she decides what to do with her life.

Whilst the story centres on Emira and Alix’s relationship we are also introduced to Emira’s love interest, Kelley, who just so happens to have some connection to Alix from their High School days. This brings quite an interesting mix of emotions into the story as both Kelley and Alix think they need to protect Emira from each other.

The story is told from the perspective of both Emira and Alix and while it was an easy fun read it brought up some relevant issues concerning race, class, white saviour complex and do-gooders who think they know what is best for everyone else. Kiley Reid addresses these issues with a light tone and sensitivity. She also explores different friendships and how sometimes even our best friends get it wrong in trying to control help in our life.

These tough topics are interspersed with touching interactions between Emira and her charge, Briar. These were quite heart-warming to read.

I am certain this book will be much talked about when it is released. It would make a great book club read.

Kiley Reid is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, where she was awarded the Truman Capote Fellowship. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a babysitter for six years. Such a Fun Age is her first novel. 

 

Book Review: The Treehouse Joke Book by Andy Griffiths & The Quest Diaries of Max Crack by Jules Faber

Now that Christmas is firmly behind us and the new toys have all been played with parents and children are faced with a long school holiday period to fill.

What is better than books to keep your children occupied and amused. 

Children have the wonderful capacity to read the same book over and over and not be bored with it. Knowing what is going to happen in the story seems to enhance their reading experience, not hinder it. I'm sure you can remember a book you read a gazillion times as a child. 

Today I have two hilarious books that will keep children occupied for hours.

The Treehouse Joke Book

by Andy Griffiths

Illustrated by Terry Denton 

Publisher:Pan Macmillan Australia 
Publication date: 24th September 2019
Imprint: Pan Australia
Genre: Children's / Junior Fiction
Pages: 304
RRP: $12.99AUD
Format read: Paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher

Andy and Terry live in the world's craziest treehouse. They like making books and telling jokes. And now they've made the world's funniest jokebook!

From bears to birds, penguins to pirates and skeletons to space, there are gags galore. Perfect for fans of the Treehouse series!

The Treehouse Joke Book from the best selling authors of the Treehouse Series has 293 pages of rip-roaring, laugh-out-loud jokes. There are bear jokes, dinosaur jokes, music jokes, pirate jokes, space jokes and many more in the 26 different categories of jokes.

Q: What kind of ant is good at maths?
A: An account-ant

Q: Where do books sleep?
A: Between their covers.

Q: Why did the girl tiptoe past the medicine cabinet?
A: She didn't want to wake the sleeping pills.

There are hundreds more! A wonderful book to share with a child, Well, they will need to try the jokes on someone!

The children I shared the book with loved the jokes and thought the book was funny. 

🌟🌟🌟🌟

My rating   4/5

 

Photo credit: Macmillan Aus

Andy Griffiths is one of Australia's most popular children's authors. He and illustrator Terry Denton have collaborated on more than 30 bestselling books since their first title, Just Tricking, was published in 1997.

In Australia Andy and Terry's books have sold over 10 million copies, won 80 children's choice awards and 10 Australian Book Industry Awards-including Book of the Year for The 52-Storey Treehouse in 2015. 

Andy is a passionate advocate for literacy and in 2015 was awarded the Dromkeen Medal to honour his outstanding contribution to Australian children's literature. He is also an ambassador for both The Indigenous Literacy Foundation and the Pyjama Foundation.
 

About the Illustrator

Photo credit: Macmillan Aus

Terry Denton is a writer and illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. His work is mainly humour-based cartoon style.


Terry Denton has illustrated bestsellers such as the JUST! series and the Treehouse series by Andy Griffiths. He has three children and is the owner of a back garden burial ground for dead pets. 

This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge 

The Quest Diaries of Max Crack 

by

Jules Faber

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia

Publication date: 27th August 2019

Imprint: Pan Australia

Genre: Children's / Junior Fiction

Pages: 204

RRP: $12.99AUD

Format read: Paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

Hi everyone! I'm Max Crack and this awesome book is all about me and my quests and my best friend Frankie!
Buried treasure, new school, doodles, peanut butter and honey toast, best friends, horrible blobs, mysteries, Meddlyslop, spelling bees (hard words, harder words), more doodles, comics, World War Undies ... this book has it ALL. 

Written in diary form we follow Max as he traverses the minefield that is the New Kid in town.

It's Max's first day in Piddown and Max makes a list of things he wants to achieve - his quest.

1. Make a best friend

2. Explore the new town

3. Win a trophy

4. Solve a mystery

5. Get my picture in the paper

On his first day out he meets Frankie and they quickly become firm friends. Max is an only child and Frankie is one of eight. Through Frankie, Max learns about sharing and the ups and downs of friendship and that it involves give and take. Together they compete in the spelling bee, earn some pocket money and solve a mystery.

The Quest Diaries is a story with lots of humour. Not only told in the written word but also very visual with different fonts, funny drawings and etchings. Some of the story is told in comic form. There are lots of fart jokes, gross stuff and embarrassing moments. All the things kids love to read and laugh about.

There are blank pages at the end of the book to write your own quest list and sketch a picture or two.

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My rating  4/5

Jules Faber is a cartoonist and illustrator, most well-known for illustrating the WeirDo series by comedian Anh Do, for which they've won multiple awards, including Book of the Year for Older Children at the Australian Book Industry Awards.
He's also illustrated David Warner's 'Kaboom Kid' series, Michael Pryor's 'Leo Da Vinci' series, Alex Ratt's Stinky Street Stories and some of Dr Karl Kruszelnicki's science books.
When he's not illustrating books, Jules loves reading books and graphic novels, and collecting comics. He has served four, two-year terms as the President of the Australian Cartoonists Association and is a Member of the CBCA NSW Committee.



This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge