Literary Brooding

Hidden Killers (Jane Tennison #2) by Lynda La Plante  Paperback, 496 pages, Published October 20th 2016 by Simon & Schuster UK The second book in what would be called the Jane Tennison origin series. Tennison has finally finished her probation and has started working at Bow Street as a Detective Constable. Tennison finds herself attending the scene of what is called an accidental death but she knows something is amiss. What is wrong with the scene Tennison can not clearly identify and she starts to investigate. While trying to start in her new career her days associated with Hackney are not over. A case is about to go before the courts where a man is accused of a series of sexual assaults and a vicious rape that occurred some time ago. Yet, Tennison is not sure that the arrest was above board and suspects that evidence may have been planted. It is in this book that the character of Jane Tennison we know through the books and associated TV series begins to emerge. Ther...

Summer Skin – Kirsty Eagar Paperback, 352 pages Published February 1st 2016 by Allen & Unwin Jessica Gordon is 19, attending Unity University College, coming out of a horrid relationship and is not looking forward to anything but having a good time, hanging with friends and getting through her studies. She is also seeking payback on the guys from Knight’s College for an incident that happened to her friend last year. Meeting a good looking guy from the detested Knight’s College was certainly not in her plans. What happens is a girl meets boy romance that does not fit into the normal conventions of a romance story. There is a lot to like in Eagar’s Summer Skin. The all the characters come with baggage, lots of emotional baggage, it is relatable and very real. What I did like that it was not angst ridden in that Bella/Edward Twilight way where Bella became completely unable to function. No, Jessica remains feisty, true to herself, carries around doubts but is willing to seek s...

Goodwood – Holly Throsby Paperback, 304 pages Published October 1st 2016 by Allen & Unwin A small country town in Australia, two missing people within a week and everyone is walking on eggshells. Told primarily through the eyes of Jean, a teenager in the town, we come to know the characters and secrets of the town. I found myself in two minds about this story. The first half showed a great deal of promise, Jean and her friend Georgia were curious, engaging and certainly knew all the gossip about town. With the disappearance of Rosie, the two teenagers do quite a bit of theorising about what happened and when Bart the butcher also goes missing the two go into overdrive. It is through Jean we meet the characters of the town and they are a group of people you would find in every single Australian country town. Yet by the halfway point of the novel the mystery of the two missing people had been pushed to the background as Jean struggled with her identity. It is the second ...

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher Kindle Edition, 267 pages.  Published November 22nd 2016 by Blue Rider Press “ I was sitting by myself the other night doing the usual things one does when spending time alone with yourselves. You know, making mountains out of molehills, hiking up to the top of the mountains, having a Hostess Twinkie and then throwing myself off the mountain. Stuff like that .” There is a lot that makes this book hard to read and death of the author being the biggest one. Yet the main thing you have to remember that this is the recollections of a 19 year old woman trying to find her way in a man’s world. She is involved in a casual relationship with her married co-star, Harrison Ford and she cannot talk to anyone about what is happening. This forms the basis of Fisher’s memoir about her time on the first Star Wars movie. I found Fisher’s writing to be honest and heartfelt. As outsiders, we see actors as confident, worldly people who are able to handle a...

Well it was a two book day as I finished Kathy Reich's 'The Bone Collection' and then powered through J K Rowling's 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay'. The Bone Collection - Kathy Reichs Paperback, 368 pages Published November 3rd 2016 by Arrow (first published November 1st 2016) I remember many years ago reading Deja Dead and quickly working my way through the next five or six books with relish. Over time that relationship with reading every Reich's book as soon as it was released has diminished but I do like to come back to Brennan and see how things are going. The Bone Collection is four novellas that find Brennan in various stages of her career and comes complete with author notes. Bones in her Pocket has Brennan looking at case that turns into advocacy against puppy breeding farms. Swamp Bones - when a Burmese python has more in its stomach than local wildlife, Brennan is no longer on holiday and chasing a mur...

Well being ill did not stop the reading but did stop all the posting. I managed to keep my goodreads reviews going but could barely find the energy to update here.  A list of what I made my way through is here . I did finish 72 books and my favourite was Helen Garner's 'Everywhere I look'. I did think 'The Girl on the Train' was a bit over hyped and I am not sure why it received so much attention.  So this year I am planning on making my way through 60 books. I am aiming to be more adventurous and look to read authors from outside my comfort zone.  There is a second hand book store near my parents and they certainly sell some stuff cheap. I managed to pick up some classic Australian reads for $1 and 'All the light we cannot see' by Anthony Doerr for $4 and the first book I have read for 2017.  This book really surprised me, really surprised me. I had put reading this book off for some time as to be honest I was really not ready for another World W...