Bitter Wash Road

I very much enjoyed Bitter Wash Road by Garry Disher which is set in the South Australian outback.  A young policeman, Paul Hirschhausen, is transferred to a small country town after he testified against corrupt police officers.  Hirsch's three new work colleagues are not impressed with having a "maggot" join them.  The officer-in-charge, Sergeant Cropp, treats him poorly, giving him the worst jobs.  The townspeople treat Hirsch with the same contempt they have for the other police officers, so it is a very lonely place at first.  Hirsch is called to investigate an apparent hit and run of a young girl and there are no suspects or evidence.  He later becomes acquainted with a dysfunctional family whose members have an effect on Hirsch's life.  While Hirsch investigates suspicious deaths, and other assorted crimes in the area, the townspeople develop a respect for him.  There are some twists and turns in this story which makes for a good crime story.  The author writes very well, uses wit and irony and times and I'm disappointed I haven't discovered this award-winning Australian writer before now. 41/2/5

Gray Mountain

I enjoyed Gray Mountain by John Grisham which begins in 2008 when the GFC is hitting Wall Street in New York.  Of course, this has a massive effect on the employment of thousands in the finance industry.  Many are desperately trying to get the few jobs that are left and even doing volunteer work out "in the sticks".  Samantha Kofer, a lawyer in a large firm elects to work in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia where large coal companies are destroying the environment as well as the lives of the miners.  A quick Google search shows this is a real and serious issue.  Sam works with a legal aid firm who takes on the mining companies and becomes involved with another lawyer who has a very personal grudge against them.  There are a number of cases that they work on in the story, not all with a just conclusion.  It's a good story and also disturbing to know that this is really going on. 4/5.

Station Eleven

I very much enjoyed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel which is set in the future in Canada.  In the "near future" an actor, Arthur Leander, has a heart attack on stage while he played "King Lear" in Toronto.  That same night a highly virulent flu arrives in Toronto and around the world killing people within hours.  There is a scramble to escape the infection and when the pandemic has ended, civilisation has collapsed.  A child, Kirsten, is on stage when Arthur dies.  He has given her a graphic book telling the story of a space ship, Station Eleven.  In the more distant future when the years are marked from the time of the pandemic, Kirsten is part of a group which travels around entertaining the small pockets of towns that still exist.  It is Year 20 and life is not easy but still full of hope.  The story constantly moves between the time before and then after "the collapse". 41/2/5

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

I very much enjoyed The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy which tells the story of an important character in the author's previous novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.  The author says this is not a "sequel" rather it is the previous story from another perspective.  Harold Fry walked from one end of England to another to be reunited with his friend Queenie whom Harold had not seen for 20 years.  Queenie is in a nursing home for imminently dying patients and she is shocked to learn Harold is coming to see her after she sent him a letter.  She left suddenly 20 years previously without an explanation or goodbye to Harold.  She decides to set things right and composes a letter for him when he arrives.  The media picks up on Harold's walk and Queenie and her dying friends are given some excitement in their final days.  Queenie has hidden a guilty secret from Harold and is determined to tell the truth about what happened all those years ago.  This is a lovely story, but read Harold Fry first. 41/2/5

Riverbend Books Blog

Great news, Riverbend Books has started its own Blog.  Click here. We can now read about the latest best books with their reviews and they'll be doing a Top Ten every week which will make book buying so much easier.

This Is How It Ends

I very much enjoyed This Is How It Ends by Kathleen MacMahon which is set in Ireland towards the end of 2008.  An Irish-American, Bruno, has lost his banking job and visits Ireland in search of relatives and ancestors.  By chance he meets his cousin, Addie, and they fall in love.  They are both "middle-aged" and this romance is unexpected for them both.  Addie is staying with her surgeon father, Hugh, while he recovers from breaking his hands in a fall.  Addie has a sister, Della, who has a young family.  Bruno is charming and wins over Della, Addie's dog Lola, and eventually Hugh.  Bruno takes Addie on "tourist" drives to see parts of Ireland she's not seen.  Their relationship blossoms, a great love story with "ups and downs". 41/2/5

Golden Boys

I enjoyed Golden Boys by Sonya Hartnett which is set in a small Australian town in about 1960s or 1970s.  A dentist, Rex, and his family (wife, two boys) move in.  Rex is very friendly and welcoming of his new neighbours, allowing the neighborhood boys to treat his home like their own.  He instals an above ground swimming pool which everyone enjoys.  Rex is obviously buying his way into the community.  The boys meet the other boys in the neighbourhood and seem to get on well.  One of the dentist's sons seems to understand what is really going on.  There is another dysfunctional family with the father drinking too much and taking it out on his family.  It is interesting to see how all these characters function and "play out" what is happening. 4/5

June Book Club

This month I hosted our Book Club and we had a very pleasant evening.  Six of the ladies came and we enjoyed chatting and catching up on our lives.  One lady had been on a holiday to South Africa and she spoke of the beauty of the landscape there.  Another lady talked about escaping the cold weather by heading north.  It was quite chilly outside last night.  There were a few ladies "missing" last night who are probably having a good time.  One is visiting her new granddaughter in England, one attended a work function on the Gold Coast, and another is travelling. We have a number of great new books to read.

The Word Exchange

I read this futuristic story The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon but I didn't enjoy it at all.  It was a chore to read yet I pressed on hoping to find something in it.  A young woman, Anana's father, Doug disappears and she tries to find him.  Doug is involved with dictionaries, words etc. and it is a dangerous time.  The populace's lives are becoming more controlled by electronic devices that make words unnecessary except to be bought and sold.  Very strange story. 2/5