Nanna – you are truly missed. I remember fishing, prawning…nights by the river. I remember birthday cakes, Easter cakes, Christmas cakes …you were the social fabric that connected us and bound us together .
Month: April 2013
Good Morning – Woof Woof :)
How true is this? Made me chuckle – Bob the Dog sits on you lap whilst you are reading – he snuggles in and makes himself at home 🙂
Cats also enjoy a cuddle – especially in this cooler autumn weather 🙂
Seven Day Juice Challenge – Hungry for Change
Is anybody going to join me on the 7 day juice challenge?
I have done green juicing in the past – and have been saying for ages that I will embark on this regime again soon…NOW IS THE TIME.
In the past I found this style of fasting to promote clear eyes, clear skin, strong nails, lowers blood pressure and will help reduce weight – benefits we could all do with. And when following this regime I do not get hungry.
Check out the Hungry for Change site for more info.
Our Garden Delights
Post Script: Keep No Secrets – Julie Compton
Julie Compton
Fresh Fork Publishing
ISBN: 9780988793224
Description:
After the ultimate betrayal, what is more important: trust or forgiveness? In KEEP NO SECRETS, the controversial follow-up to Compton’s debut legal thriller TELL NO LIES, a district attorney struggles to redeem himself after a one-night stand four years before damaged his marriage and professional reputation.
After surviving the private and public fallout from a one-night stand four years before, St. Louis DA Jack Hilliard wants nothing more than to be trusted again by his wife, Claire, and to earn back the respect of the community he serves. Since the day Claire accepted him back into the family, he’s vowed to be true to these goals, and so far he’s succeeded.
But all of Jack’s efforts begin to crumble when the woman involved in his earlier downfall, Jenny Dodson, returns to town claiming threats on her life and asking for his help, and resurrecting for Jack long-buried emotions and questions of her guilt for the murder of a client. Just when he thinks the pressure can’t get any worse, his son’s girlfriend, Celeste, accuses him of sexual assault, and he suddenly finds himself on the wrong end of a criminal case, battling for his freedom.
Can Jack trust his freedom to the legal system on which he built his career? Or will the ghost of his one-night stand four years before come back to haunt him, causing him to be convicted on the mistakes of his past?
My View:
This is a follow story to Tell No Lies that is written so well that it really isn’t necessary to read the earlier book – but I think I will follow this one up as I enjoyed this read so much. A legal procedural, psychological narrative revolving around family, moral dilemmas and lies – by omission and little white lies to save face and family and reputations. Compton is able to construct a believable tension that ripples through this story – creating a tsunami of emotion, intrigue and hope that eventually Jack will be redeemed and all will be happy ever after.
I really enjoyed this book which spins a web of conspiratorial intrigue whilst subtly questioning our understanding of forgiveness, love and family. How do we truly forgive and move on? Can we love more than one person? Jack loves his wife, he loves his family, his children, his work, he also loves Jenny Dodd (but he won’t admit this even to himself) – how does he make sense of his world especially in a time of trouble, confusion and trial by media, a time when he really needs emotional support and unconditional love himself?
Compton creates believable and empathetic characters whose stories put the spotlight on child abuse and domestic violence and how these crimes impact on the individuals involved and the greater community. I loved Jack – his loyalty, his sense of family, his vulnerabilities, and his passion for justice. I felt for his wife and her attempts to construct normality and family after a situation of such great personal betrayal. She wants to forgive and go back to their idyllic life but through her responses (or lack of) we see how difficult it is to truly forgive; it is easy to say the words. I felt for all involved. Compton shows us life is not always easy, decisions are not always black and white and sometimes we have to acknowledge that we cannot repair all damage and moral dilemmas are dilemmas. A great read.
Happy Birthday Rachel
Wishing you a fantastic day .
Twenty Four Hours in My Life
The past twenty four hours have been hectic, chaotic and frustrating. And that’s just the start of it. 🙂
I have:
- Written one book review. 🙂
- Had many Skype conversations/meetings – work related with the USA, UK, and Canada and consequently worked till midnight to accommodate all the time zones.
- I needed and had 2 glasses of red wine in between dinner and more calls and then at midnight – 2 small glasses of Lemon and Ginger Port. Ahhhhh.
- I slept for 8 hours then started again.
- I have sat by my phone waiting for a call that was supposed to happen immediately – 5 hours ago.
- I have finished the final stage in the pickling process of making olives.
- I have answered at least 30 emails.
- I have made lunch – albeit just cheese on toast!
- I am awaiting another call/email regarding filming protocols in Parliament.
- I have sent money overseas – an achievement in itself these days.
- I have hugged my dog.
- I have been impatient with my husband ( sorry – you know I dont do tired very well. I’ll try and be more patient in future).
How has your day been?
Post Script: The Darkling – R.B. Chesterton
The Darkling – A Novel
R.B. Chesterton
Open Road Integrated Media
ISBN: 9781453298541
Description:
When the Hendersons take in a mysterious teenager, they are happy to have a new addition to the family, but it soon becomes clear that Annie is no regular orphan . . .
My View:
This novel is best read late at night, or around a camp fire or when snuggled up safe and warm in bed. It is horror story reminiscent of Rebecca by English author Daphne du Maurier, first published in 1938. Anyone who has read Rebecca (no matter how long ago they read the novel) will be able to recall it’s brooding oppressive threat of harm, of impending doom. Chesterton masters this effect – creating an atmosphere filled with tension, feeding the reader hints, giving clues as to what may possibly happen next, something sinister, something evil. Allowing the reader to connect the dots, to use their imagination, is a very powerful tool that works to create the tension that can be felt in your muscles, in your shoulders, in the tightness in your stomach as you read this book and anticipate the evil deeds that you know will follow.
About page seventy I actually put this book down and left it to see for a few days – this story really affected my imagination. I knew bad things were going to happen, I couldn’t stop them, I could see them coming and I wanted a little break from the tension. Saying this – this is not a gory, blood thirsty riot of microscopic detailed carnage; it is tension created by anticipation, tension created by the written word.
Chesterton does a great job – I have not felt this level of intense involvement in a novel for a very long. Reading this book is like viewing the shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho – you don’t exactly know what is behind that screen but you do know it is going to be…bad.
A great gothic style read.
Post Scripts: Coming Soon
Work and life have been busy and complicated lately and I have not been able to squeeze in as much reading as I would have liked to have. I have some great books on my shelf – I thought I would share with you some of the books I will be reading and reviewing in the next few weeks ( in no particular order):
The Darkling – I am currently reading – this is a scary read in a Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier) kind of way – lots of brooding atmosphere and hints of horror to come.
A change of pace with the Nilsson – the biography of singer/songwriter/composer Harry Nilsson (deceased) – of whom I am a big fan.
More crime fiction.
A thriller.
An Australian author – a contemporary story of travel, work and modern dreams.
And a historical mystery.
There is a little bit of everything here ( plus a few more I haven’t even read the covers of yet) . I am longing for time to sit down and get stuck into these. The books are calling to me…..READ, READ. 🙂
Best Australian Blog – Votes required :)
Hi
A quick word to ask all you lovely viewers out there to please cast a vote for me – Reading Writing and Riesling in the Best Australian Blog awards – you don’t have to be in Australia to vote. You all get a chance. You have to be in it to win it. 🙂
Cheers.
Post Script: Good Bait – John Harvey
Good Bait
John Harvey
Pegasus Books
ISBN: 9781453271568
Synopsis( Pegasus Books)
A stunning new crime novel from the Cartier Diamond Dagger winner and London Times bestselling author.
When a 17-year-old Moldovan boy is found dead on Hampstead Heath, the case falls to DCI Karen Shields and her overstretched Homicide & Serious Crime Unit. Karen knows she needs a result. What she doesn’t know is that her new case is tied inextricably to a much larger web of gang warfare and organised crime which infiltrates almost every aspects of London society.
Several hundred miles away in Cornwall, Detective Inspector Trevor Cordon is stirred from his day-to-day duties by another tragic London fatality. Travelling to the capital and determined to establish the cause of death and trace the deceased’s daughter, Cordon becomes entangled in a complicated situation of his own. A situation much closer to Karen’s case than either of them will ever know.
Brilliantly plotted and filled with rich, subtle characters, John Harvey’s latest novel reveals him once again as a masterful writer with his finger firmly on the pulse of twenty-first century crime.
My View:
A very complicated plot, and a dual story line that left me uncomfortable with my dual feelings about this book. On one hand I enjoyed the reading what felt like a episode of The Bill – seeing the police procedures and methods come to life juxtaposed against the lives of the poorly developed characters who we dont get to know very well at all . DCI Karen Shields is a sad and lonely character worthy of more attention; I felt her character was a little one dimensional, she had the potential to be so much more; a black female DCI in the Homicide and Serious Crimes Unit has so much more to offer the reader than cardboard cut out I experienced. I did not think the sex scene between her and Alexandria added anything to the story line and was at a loss to see why that was included. DI Cordon as a character was far more developed and as such was more sympathetic. I felt that there was a potential stand alone story about Cordon hidden in this book.
A very complicated plot line that had me often referring back to refresh myself on how individuals/places fitted into the story. The dual storylines had me impatiently asking myself –where do these stories intersect? When will they intersect? I was impatient; I wanted the two stories to be more connected but was given a story of intrigue and shadowy hints of a bigger picture connection. When this finally materialised I was able to make more sense of the book as a whole and felt a little more comfortable with the read.
I am not really sure where I stand on this book – I neither loved it nor hated it. In places I enjoyed the writing – could visualise the scenes playing out on my TV, at times I thought – what is the point? I dont think I would recommend this particular read despite my research having unearthed praise and accolades for previous books this author has written. Maybe it is worth dipping my toes into one of his earlier books to see what all the positive press was about.
What do you think? Has anyone read any of his earlier works?
Reading, Writing and Riesling 