Tag: Reviews

Book Bingo Take Two

As per my post two weeks ago when I completed the first round, this is my second go at the bingo card, having completed it early, due to my filling in several squares at once in some posts. This time around. I’ll be trying to only do one book and square a fortnight, so I don’t finish early.

To begin, the text list of my categories is here, clean and empty for me to begin in my next post.

Book bingo take 2

 

Challenge #4: Book Bingo Take 2

(Rows Across)

Row #1 – –

 A book set more than 100 years ago:

A book written more than ten years ago:

A memoir:

A book more than 500 pages:

A Foreign translated novel:  

Row #2 –

A book with a yellow cover:

A book by an author you’ve never read before:

A non-fiction book:

A collection of short stories:

A book with themes of culture:

 Row #3:  –

 A book written by an Australian woman:

A book written by an Australian man:

A prize-winning book:

A book that scares you:

A book with a mystery:

Row #4

 A forgotten classic:

A book with a one-word title:

A book with non-human characters:

A funny book:

A book with a number in the title:

Row #5  

A book that became a movie:

A book based on a true story:

A book everyone is talking about:

A book written by someone under thirty:

A book written by someone over sixty:

Rows Down

Row #1 – –

A book set more than 100 years ago:

A book with a yellow cover:

A book written by an Australian woman:

A forgotten classic:

A book that became a movie:

Row #2

 A book written more than ten years ago:

A book by an author you’ve never read before:

A book written by an Australian man:

A book with a one-word title:

A book based on a true story:

 Row #3: – 

A memoir:

A non-fiction book:

A prize-winning book:

A book with non-human characters:

A book everyone is talking about:

Row #4 

A book more than 500 pages:

A collection of short stories:

A book that scares you:

A funny book:

A book written by someone under thirty:  

Row #5

A Foreign Translated Novel:

A book with themes of culture:

A book with a mystery:

A book with a number in the title:

A book written by someone over sixty:

 

I have not started in this post, as I have not chosen where to start yet, but I have some ideas of the books I want to add this time. I will be aiming to read and include the latest Jackie French book in the Miss Lily series, and some others that I have not had a chance to get around to yet. The first post will either be up today, the second or next bingo week, the sixteenth. I have been enjoying this book bingo and will enjoy having another go at it using as many different books as I can.

Advertisements

The Ship That Never Was: The Greatest Escape of Australian Colonial History by Adam Courtenay

ship that never was.jpgTitle: The Ship That Never Was: The Greatest Escape of Australian Colonial History

Author: Adam Courtenay

Genre: History, Non-fiction

Publisher: ABC Books/HarperCollins

Published: 21st May 2018

Format: Paperback

Pages: 336

Price: $29.99

Synopsis:
The greatest escape story of Australian colonial history by the son of Australia’s best-loved storyteller

In 1823, cockney sailor and chancer James Porter was convicted of stealing a stack of beaver furs and transported halfway around the world to Van Diemen’s Land. After several escape attempts from the notorious penal colony, Porter, who told authorities he was a ‘beer-machine maker’, was sent to Macquarie Harbour, known in Van Diemen’s Land as hell on earth.

Many had tried to escape Macquarie Harbour; few had succeeded. But when Governor George Arthur announced that the place would be closed and its prisoners moved to the new penal station of Port Arthur, Porter, along with a motley crew of other prisoners, pulled off an audacious escape. Wresting control of the ship they’d been building to transport them to their fresh hell, the escapees instead sailed all the way to Chile. What happened next is stranger than fiction, a fitting outcome for this true-life picaresque tale.

The Ship That Never Was is the entertaining and rollicking story of what is surely the greatest escape in Australian colonial history. James Porter, whose memoirs were the inspiration for Marcus Clarke’s For the Term of his Natural Life, is an original Australian larrikin whose ingenuity, gift of the gab and refusal to buckle under authority make him an irresistible anti-hero who deserves a place in our history.

~*~

There are many stories within the realms of national and international history that are not known, or where there might not be as much known about them as some, usually for a variety of reasons. One of these is the escape of ten convicts from the worst convict prison in Australia in the 1830s. James Porter was transported in 1823, for stealing a sack of beaver furs. He was sent to what was then known as Van Diemen’s Land – renamed Tasmania in 1856. He made several attempts to escape from the penal colony, and as a result, was sent to the notorious Sarah Island.

It was not long until Governor George Arthur declared Sarah Island would be closing, and the inmates moved to the infamous Port Arthur prison. Porter and a band of inmates took this chance to take control of the ship they were on – the Frederick, and escaped across the seas to South America, where they lived in Chile for many years as free men, before being sent back under the authority of the British colonial government at the time.

Told in a style that is engaging, whilst dealing with the historical facts and vents of a little-known convict and mutiny, I found this interesting to read, as it expanded upon what I have previously been taught and have read about Australian history. Whilst much is known about colonial era history, there are still stories that haven’t been told about various aspects – and having access to these stories allows us to wholly understand where Australia came from in the years of penal colonies and convict arrivals from 1788 until the transports ended in 1868, though different colonies stopped their transportations at different times.

It reads as both non-fiction and fiction – not overly embellished, but still capturing the spirit of the times and adventure that Porter wrote about in his journal. The author, Adam Courtenay, writes about Porter with fascination, yet allows himself to see the flaws and exaggerations that Porter wrote of, explaining in the text that the facts found in historical records about floggings and the details of how far punishments could be taken or were taken alongside Porter’s experience. What this does is show that even first person accounts that historians rely on are not always reliable, and I felt, even though I have only read the uncorrected proof, that Courtenay took what he had from Porter with a grain of salt and compared it to other accounts, and historical records to create his book.

In doing so, Courtenay has created a work that sparks an interest in this person and era, but also shows that good research is crucial – I would be interested to see if the final copy includes a bibliography, for further reading, and to show what sources he was able to find, as I imagine a little-known story such as this might not have as many sources as stories and legends that are well-known within the national consciousness.

As someone who has studied history, I know to examine various sources and accounts, just as it appears Courtenay has done. I will be looking for more information on Porter where I can, to supplement this book and build a larger picture of this man who managed to escape from Tasmania to Chile and live for several months to at least a year or two without being sent back. An intriguing book that shows that Australian history is more complex than we are originally taught.

Booktopia

Other Worlds 1: Perfect World by George Ivanoff

perfect worldTitle: Other Worlds 1: Perfect World

Author: George Ivanoff

Genre: Science Fiction, Children’s books

Publisher: Random House Australia/Penguin Random House

Published: 26th February 2018

Format: Paperback

Pages:192

Price: $14.99

Synopsis: Keagan finds a key . . .
It opens a doorway . . .
He steps through . . .

Into a weird world of clones who are obsessed with perfection. But this world isn’t as perfect as it seems. Keagan is determined to return home – all he has to do is find a way out of the city, survive the Dumping Ground and outsmart a bunch of rogue clones!

Will Keagan escape Perfect World?

The Other Worlds series: OTHER WORLDS

Find the key!
Open the doorway!
Enter the Other World! 

OTHER WORLDS is a new adventure series for kids aged 8 and up, with a sci-fi and fantasy flavour. It’s about mysterious keys that open doorways into other worlds. Each book is a stand-alone story with a new set of characters. But, for those who read the entire series, there’s also a thread running through the first three books that gets tied up in Book 4.

~*~

Keagan enjoys playing video games with his best friend, Ravi, reading and creating websites, but on the day his mum asks him to go and buy her some pickles while she is out, he stumbles across a shop called Matilda’s Collectibles, and he is drawn to it like a magnet – as though something within is summoning him to step inside and discover the miraculous things inside. What greets him is a dark and dingy store, complete with glass cabinet and a number of clichés he’s encountered in writing – including the strange old woman – Matilda. Within moments, he grabs a falling computer chip disguised as a key, and is transported into a sci-fi world from his computer games – Perfect World – were everything is perfect – five clones for each generation, and where the clones who have imperfections are sent to the Dumping Ground. Here, he is quarantined, studied and dumped through a garbage chute, where he meets Eone and the rest of the Refuse. He falls into a plot by one named Befour to start a revolution and take over Perfect World. Can Keagan stop Befour, teach the clones the lessons they need to learn and get home before his Mum notices he is missing?

This is another book I received from Scholastic to write a quiz for – and it is aimed at 8 years and older, up to upper primary. The first in a series of four, Perfect World explores ideas of perfection and imperfection, sameness and differences, and diversity. It is the kind of book that any child or reader can relate to and put themselves in Keagan’s shoes. A fun read, it encourages being yourself and not doing what everyone else does just to fit in – the clones of Perfect World are the antithesis of what Keagan believes but, in a world, where perfection and being the same goes so far, the generations speak in unison – which Keagan finds quite unnerving.

What I enjoyed about this book was that Keagan remained true to who he was, but at the same time, used his knowledge to translate his sense of self, and individuality into terms that the clones could understand – at least the ones not trying to take over things.

Keagan is the key to teaching the clones about diversity and friendship – and his relationship with Eone is quite adorable, as is their journey to discovering diversity, and divergence and enlightenment – and hopefully, this book will show kids that it is okay to be who you are and that you don’t have to fit in with the crowd.

I hope the kids who get to read this enjoy this book, and get as much out of it as I did.

Booktopia

Grandpa, Me and Poetry by Sally Morgan, Illustrated by Craig Smith

grandpa me poetry.jpgTitle: Grandpa, Me and Poetry

Author: Sally Morgan, illustrated by Craig Smith

Genre: Children’s Fiction

Publisher: Omnibus/Scholastic

Published: 1st May, 2018

Format: Paperback

Pages: 52

Price: $9.99

Synopsis: Melly likes poems that rhyme with words like frog, bog, doggedy-dog.

And when the school holds a poetry competition, Melly has her eye on the prize, with a little bit of inspiration from Grandpa.

~*~

One of Melly Wilson’s favourite things is poetry, and her favourite person is her grandfather. While Melly is at school, Grandpa is in hospital, and she is learning about poetry – which is something that connects her with Grandpa. Together, they come up with rhymes, and poems that don’t rhyme for school. When a poetry competition is announced, Melly is excited: she loves words that rhyme and wants to write a poem that will stun her teacher and win the competition, and perhaps she will – with some inspiration from Grandpa.

I was sent this book by Scholastic as part of a quiz writing program and decided to also review it here.

AWW-2018-badge-roseGrandpa, Me and Poetry is about Melly, who enjoys poetry – but only if it has sounds, beats and repeats – and if it rhymes. She doesn’t like poems that don’t rhyme, but her teacher does. Melly is a cute character, and the book is told from her perspective, as she worries about her Grandpa, who is in hospital, her Mum and writing the perfect poem to please her teacher and win a prize at Family Day at school. But will Melly have her family there?

It is a story about a family, told from the perspective of the daughter and her love of poetry, and how she uses it to express herself at an uncertain time, with a nice resolution at the end of the story that brings a smile to the face of readers.

As well as being cute, it was also funny. Melly’s rhymes were a highlight and will delight readers as they read it and enjoy the sense of rhyming and rhythm that Melly enjoys too. From her cheeky rhymes in class, to her poem that doesn’t rhyme, and her final poem about her Grandpa, Melly’s poetic journey is funny, cute, and enjoyable. and has a great main character, who is full of life but also, shows that everyone has worries and obstacles that they need to overcome.

A great book for children starting to read chapter books and novels, or for reluctant readers, and also a great book to learn to read with, this is a highly enjoyable book for all ages from one of Australia’s fabulous Indigenous authors.

Booktopia

Circe by Madeline Miller

CirceTitle: Circe

Author: Madeline Miller

Genre: Fantasy/Mythology Retelling

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Published: 10th April 2018

Format: Paperback

Pages: 352

Price: $29.99

Synopsis: When I was born, the name for what I was did not exist. 

Circe is the daughter of Helios, the sun god, and Perse, a beautiful naiad. Yet from the moment of her birth, she is an outsider in her father’s halls, where the laughter of gossiping gods resounds. Named after a hawk for her yellow eyes and strange voice, she is mocked by her siblings – until her beloved brother Aeëtes is born.

Yet after her sister Pasiphaë marries King Minos of Crete, Aeëtes is whisked away to rule his own island. More isolated than ever, Circe, who has never been divine enough for her family, becomes increasingly drawn to mortals – and when she meets Glaucus, a handsome young fisherman, she is captivated. Yet gods mingle with humans, and meddle with fate, at their peril.

In Circe, Madeline Miller breathes life once more into the ancient world, with the story of an outcast who overcomes scorn and banishment to transform herself into a formidable witch. Unfolding on Circe’s wild, abundant island of Aiaia, where the hillsides are aromatic with herbs, this is a magical, intoxicating epic of family rivalry, power struggles, love and loss – and a celebration of female strength in a man’s world.

~*~

Set in Ancient Greece, daughter of the sun god, Helios. and naiad, Perse, Circe is cast aside in the halls of their home as an outsider, mocked by her siblings and other gods, and named after a hawk. She is unlike anyone else, with her yellow eyes and strange voice – until her brother Aeëtes arrives, and finally, someone understands her. But still, she is isolated, as her sister, Pasiphaë marries Minos, and Aeëtes is sent away to rule his own island. So she begins meddling with mortals – Glaucus, a fisherman. When her spell backfires and he falls for her sister Scylla, the revenge she takes on Scylla sends her into an exile to Aiaia, where she traps sailors as pigs, and where one day, she meets Odysseus on his way back from Troy – a war of ten years and a journey back that has already taken several years – as told in The Odyssey. From here, Circe seals her fate as a mother and exile, and what she must endure for eternity.

The Circe (Kir-kee or Cir-cee) myth cycle is one of the most interesting myth cycles in Greek mythology. A sorceress and goddess, Circe’s most famous and well-known appearance is in The Odyssey with Odysseus when she turns his crew into swine and induces him to stay for a year on the island with her. As a witch, she used potions and magic to transform people into animals. Where most mythical retellings focus on the male heroes, Madeline Miller takes Circe’s tale and spins it into something new and fresh – Circe and what she did, her exile and how the other gods treated her and feared her – from her perspective of her role as a woman, as a goddess with the voice of a mortal but the body of a goddess and sorceress. It is Circe in her own words – what she did, what she felt when she was exiled and how she reacted to other divine figures sending their nymph daughters to her – to serve her, and in the eyes of the gods, give Circe companionship in her exile.

In Miller’s story, Circe’s dark revenge spell that she casts on her sister, Scylla, forms the backbone to this story. In a mythological world where each god, goddess and mythical figure crossover into each other’s myth cycles all the time, several other gods, goddesses and characters are woven in and out, such as Medea and Jason, seeking refuge away from Colchis, away from Aeëtes, and Pasiphaë and Minos, and the birth of the Minotaur. Madeline Miller has cleverly constructed a story that reads much like the ancient myths, but injected new life into them, amplifying the voices of the goddesses and sorceresses, and giving them a story where they are true to themselves, and where the reader goes on the emotional journey with them, never quite sure what to expect from them, or how to react to them.

Miler’s Circe is allowed to be human, though she tries to hide any instances of what the gods saw as human weakness, when it comes to her son, Telegonus, she does all she can to prevent what she fears the most. Each god and goddess show their good and bad side as well, and their ability to be heartless towards one character, yet at the same time, a patron towards another. Circe is shown as neither good nor bad, but in the grey areas in between, where many figures of mythology lie. As a lover of Greek mythology, seeing the female characters front and centre, in their own words, rather than the ancient texts, is intriguing and fascinating. Whilst still living in antiquity, modern authors give them agency and voice that ancient authors didn’t always, or that the myths didn’t allow for. The mythological world is fascinating in all its incarnations, and this latest Circe interpretation is no exception – she is feminist yet fits into her time in antiquity and uses this to her advantage, and she is individual – embracing every part of who she is because it what makes her Circe, not what Helios and the rest of her family wish she was. Circe is powerful and vulnerable in equal measure and is cautious about letting her guard down – and she is a heroine in her own right, standing up for herself and not letting the world dictate what she must do.

Booktopia

 

Book Bingo Eight – a book that has been made into a movie, a book that scared you.

book bingo 2018.png

For my two categories this week, I have chosen a book that has been made into a movie, and a book that scared me. The book made into a movie was easy – as there are quite a few to choose from, whereas the book that scared me was trickier – as I’m not a horror reader, I interpreted this differently and decided to use a book that had scared me – but less in a monsters and demons way, and more in a human way, which I will explain lower down.

guernseyFirst, the book I read for the book that has been turned into a movie was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, which arrived in one of my many packages of books from publishers this month and was a rather pleasant surprise. I read it quickly, choosing to read it first as it was the shortest and only took a few days – whereas the other books, which might fill the rest of these categories, are taking a little bit longer. Told in letters, it is easy to follow, as the letters give as much detail as possible, and it was interesting to imagine what was happening in between. As I said in the review, I really liked that the main character, Juliet, had her own mind and knew what she wanted, and didn’t drop everything at the demands and say-so of the man courting her. My full review is linked above, and it will be interesting to see how the movie interprets this book.

good doctor of warsawNow we come to the book that scared me, and for this I chose The Good Doctor of Warsaw, because I had a multitude of emotions with this book. It didn’t scare or horrify me in the way one expects a horror movie or novel to – it scared me in the sense that it showed the true evil and depravity that humans are capable of, and what they have done in the past to people  for no other reason than the Nazis didn’t like something about them that didn’t harm anyone – something that has happened multiple times across human history in various places, and that should never happen again, or at all. I chose this because I feel that a book that scares you doesn’t necessarily need to have ghosts, or monsters, or zombies that we associate with the horror genre. Sometimes, it’s more horrifying to read about what humans are capable and willing to do to other humans – where the overwhelming fear comes from knowing what will happen and knowing that this could happen again. It’s chilling as well as scary.

So there’s two more books ticked off – my next post will see the short stories ticked off, and maybe one or two others. I am gearing up to complete a second card, which I will either fill with books only read in the second half of the year, or mix it up and switch around some of the books and categories here where I can. Either way, it’s making my reading challenges interesting and fun for 2018.

Booktopia

When The Mountains Roared by Jess Butterworth

when the mountains roared.jpgTitle: When The Mountains Roared

Author: Jess Butterworth

Genre: Children’s Fiction

Publisher: Orion

Published: 10th April 2018

Format: Paperback

Pages: 282

Price: $15.99

Synopsis: A vivid, warm and atmospheric adventure set in the mountains of India, about a girl who is determined to protect the wild leopards of the mountain from poachers, perfect for fans of Katherine Rundell.

I thought we’d live here forever … but then, I thought Mum would be here forever too.

When Ruby’s dad uproots her from Australia to set up a hotel in the mountains of India, Ruby is devastated. Not only are they living in a run-down building in the middle of the wilderness surrounded by scorpions, bears and leopards, but Ruby is sure that India will never truly feel like home – not without her mum there.

Ever since her mum died, Ruby has been afraid. Of cars. Of the dark. Of going to sleep and never waking up.

But then the last remaining leopards of the mountain are threatened and everything changes. Ruby vows to do all she can to protect them – if she can only overcome her fears…

~*~

When Ruby arrives home one day, she finds the house in turmoil, with boxes and suitcases half packed. Her father announces they are moving to India, and she needs to pack her own bags. At twelve, Ruby wants nothing to do with this move – she wants to stay in Australia, the only home she knows. To leave now feels like she’d be leaving the memories of her mum, and it also means leaving all her friends and not being able to see them again. When intruders force the family to flee and leave earlier than planned. Soon, they are on a ship, with their dog, Polly, and a baby kangaroo in tow, sailing across the sea to a new life, and a new venture in India.

But the hotel Ruby’s father has been asked to run is not all that it seems. High up in the Himalayas, stories of previous owners being plagued by a vengeful mountain goddess abound, and the stories lend themselves to more sinister goings on, and hint at tragedy when Ruby and her new friend, Praveen, discover what Dad’s bosses are truly up to, and find out about the poaching of the majestic snow leopards. Ruby vows to do all she can to save them – if she can overcome her fears.

Jess Butterworth has again created a story, set in the Himalayas and India, where the characters are full of life and complex, and deals with issues of poaching, and what happens when someone gets involved with the wrong people in a clever and accessible way for younger audiences. Grief is explored through Ruby’s reaction to her move and the changes in her life – how she responds to the dark, and going to sleep, and of cars. But this hurried move, and the smuggled joey, and quest to uncover her dad’s secret drives Ruby to overcome her fears. Together with Praveen and her grandmother, Ruby will follow her heart, and instincts, and use her photography talents to bring some rather evil men to justice.

When The Mountains Roared has diverse characters, and a setting that is vastly different to what many readers will have experienced, which is one of the reasons I enjoyed it – it allows the reader to travel without leaving the comfort of home, and go on an adventure with Ruby and Praveen to save the snow leopards of the mountains that they call home, and save Ruby’s dad from getting into trouble with men like the ones who drove them from their home in Australia.

A great read for middle grade and younger teen readers, or anyone who enjoys a good story.

Booktopia