Patchett, Ann (2021) These Precious Days. Bloomsbury. In this collection of personal essays Ann Patchett ponders and explores the nature of the people, events and memories that have influenced and inspired her life, from a portrait of the three men she called father, the choice to be childless, a feigned offer to buy a woman’s… Continue reading May Picks
Category: Reading Log
April Picks
Clifford, Aoife (2022) When We Fall. Ultimo Press. When Alex and her mother make a grizzly find on the beach barrister Alex does not accept the police explanation of accidental death. Then there is a second death. Bella is found dead at the bottom of a ravine drowned in salt water, whilst Maxine is pulled… Continue reading April Picks
March Picks
Ypi, Lea (2021) Free: Coming of Age at the End of History. Allen Lane. Politics professor Lea Ypi's memoir describes her coming of age in the last European Stalinist outpost - Albania. As a young student she was in enthusiastic thrall of both Stalin and Albania's dictator Enver Hoxha but as her politics develop her… Continue reading March Picks
February Picks
Hawkins, Paula (2021) A Slow Fire Burning. Riverhead Books. When a young man is found murdered on a London houseboat Laura is immediately suspected. Laura is the damaged one-night stand last seen at the victim's boat. Laura, Miriam the nosy neighbour who reported the murder, and Carla the victim's grief-stricken aunt all have connections to… Continue reading February Picks
January Picks
Strout, Elizabeth (2021) Oh William! Viking. Lucy Barton, in her third outing, is at a crossroads and she starts to muse on her first husband, William. Lucy is navigating her life as a widow, mother of two adult daughters, and a successful author, when she reconnects with William. This leads her to reflect on the… Continue reading January Picks
December Picks
Heller, Miranda Cowley (2021) The Paper Palace. Penguin Random House. On a perfect August morning, Elle Bishop heads out for a swim in the fresh water pond below 'The Paper Palace' - the decaying family compound in the back woods of Cape Cod where Elle has spent her 50 summers. This fictional memoir is in… Continue reading December Picks
November Picks
Hammer, Chris (2021) Treasure & Dirt. Allen & Unwin. When an opal miner is found crucified in his mine, near the bleak outback town of Finnigans Gap, Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lucic is sent to investigate, with the assistance of local detective Nell Buchanan. Caught between threats to their police careers and solving the crime… Continue reading November Picks
September-October Picks
Bailey, Sarah (2021) The Housemate. Allen & Unwin. As a junior journalist Olive Groves worked on the Housemate Homicide. Three housemates - one dead, one missing and one accused of murder. A mysterious case that has continued to baffle Australians. Nine years later Oli is is once again assigned to the story this time reluctantly… Continue reading September-October Picks
August Picks
Riddell, Shona (2020) Guiding Lights: The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women. Exisle. Women have a long history of keeping the lights burning, yet their stories are generally not well-known. Lighthouses are a beacon of fascination for many, including me, and it is the intrepid and the brave keepers of the light that are the inspiration… Continue reading August Picks
July Picks
Williams, Pip (2021) The Dictionary of Lost Words. Affirm Press. This is a book about words, based on the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary, exploring how word meanings differ in importance for men and women. In 1901 the word 'bondmaid' was discovered to be missing from the OED and in this novel it is the fictional central… Continue reading July Picks
7:30 Bookclub 