Review: Lost Voices by Christopher Koch [Jan]

Set in Tasmania this book has three parts, telling the stories of Hugh Dixon, a school boy in the 50’s; his great great grandfather Martin’s adventures with a notorious bushranger in the 1800’s; and a return to Hugh as he makes a life in the 70s.

The first part is rather slow, telling us about Hugh’s best friend, his desire to be an artist, and his meeting with his great uncle Walter, an acclaimed lawyer, in order to get a favour for his father.  Walter creates a bond with Hugh, encouraging him to follow his dream of being an artist and acting as a mentor, introducing him to literature and new ideas.  This lays the ground work for the next chapter in Hugh’s life and introduces Martin, a relative Walter has long admired.

Martin longs to be a writer, rebelling against his father’s wish he be a gentleman farmer.  The setting is Tasmania in the 1800s, when it served as a penal colony for British convicts.  Liam Dalton escapes his prison sentence and returns to the gang of his fellow bushranger, the legendary Luke Wilson.  On his way there, he meets Martin who persuades him to take him to Luke and see if he’ll let him write down his life story for a newspaper.  Martin stays for a while in the utopian paradise Luke Wilson has created before the actions of an evil person force him out.
Jumping forward in time, Hugh’s story resumes.  Having left school, he works as a photo retoucher for a newspaper.  He reconnects with his childhood best friend and they are on their way to achieving their dreams of being artists. Then an evil person appears to shatter those dreams.  Hugh asks another favour of Walter, to help his best friend.

After a slow start, the plot heats up and more action occurs.  I’m glad I didn’t give up reading as this is a good book.  The contrast of good and evils is shown, and interesting questions are raised, such as can there ever be a utopia?  A thought provoking book, much different from my usual reads!


Title: Lost Voices
Author: Christopher Koch
Published: HarperCollins, 2012
Reviewer: Jan

Review: Siege by Simon Kernick [Jan]

A group of terrorists plot to take over a London hotel, using violence and bloodshed to control the hostages they have. Wolf is the leader of a group of fanatics and they have ensured the head of MI6 is one of the hostages.  The rest of the group are Fox’s men, and he has a slightly different agenda.  As bullets fly some guests hide while others try to escape.  The rest are rounded up and hope they live through the night.

Scope has just assassinated several people and is on his way out of the hotel when the hotel is taken hostage and he is trapped.  He comes across Abby and her son Ethan and rescues them from immediate death, then stays to protect them.  Elena is the newly engaged hotel manager, planning to move to Australia she was handing in her resignation that day.  Martin has terminal cancer and is planning to commit suicide in a hotel room that holds a special meaning for him.  When the bullets start to fly, he discovers he doesn’t want to die that day.  Michael, the MI6 man, know secrets people would kill for.  There’s an interesting subplot with the officer on the ground that’s in direct charge of the police forces response to this hostage situation.

The plot unfolds rapidly, with points of view of different characters giving a perfect view of what’s happening.  The story is told in short chapters, usually ending in cliff-hangers that are exciting and teasers to devour the book in one sitting!  The story has masterful suspense where you’re sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the next thing to happen.

I loved the ending!  The good guys win, bad guys lose, and the dodgy hero’s motivations are revealed.  Brilliant.  Off to find other books by Simon Kernick.

Title: Siege
Author: Simon Kernick
Published: Bantam Press, 2012
Reviewer: Jan

Review: NZ Rugby Kitchen by New Zealand Rugby Foundation [Jan]

A collection of recipes of the favourite dishes from some of New Zealand’s top rugby talent both present and past, this book is full of yummy goodness.  The players donated their cooking skills with royalties going to the NZ Rugby Foundation. The New Zealand Rugby Foundation is a charity that supports catastrophically injured rugby players, both financially and emotionally; and works with the New Zealand Rugby Union to communicate the message of safety first.

The recipes are simple and uncomplicated to make, while tasting great!  Easy to prepare, they are good for busy people who don’t have a lot of free time to prepare meals but enjoy food.  This book may inspire rugby mad kids to do the cooking, giving their parents a break!  The recipes are illustrated with stunning photographs of mouth watering food and there are candid shots of the rugby talent relaxing, preparing the dishes and enjoying them.

Some recipes are distinctly kiwi, like Buck Shelford’s Titi with Watercress and Kumara – Titi are muttonbirds, found in the lower South Island.  Other’s have a more international flavour, such as Adam Thomson’s Beef Fajitas and Smashed Guacamole.  Then there are the traditional staples, such as Victor Vito’s Beef Wellington or amole.  Then there are the traditional staples, such as Victor Vito’s Beef Wellington or Jason Emery’s Shepherd’s Pie.

NZ Rugby Kitchen has been chosen as a finalist in the Charity Fundraising category of the Gourmand World Cookbook awards.  The Gourmand awards are extremely prestigious and 154 countries participated in last year’s awards, entering books in 53 categories. All countries, authors and publishers — big and small — are given equal opportunity to enter.

Featured players include:
CRUSADERS
Mark Ranby, Management, Tom Donnelley, Ross Kennedy, Robert Fruean, Corey Flynn, Wyatt Crockett, Andrew Ellis

HIGHLANDERS
Jamie Joseph, Coach, Doug Tietjens, Nick Crosswell, Jarrad Hoeata, Jamie Mackintosh

BLUES
Charlie Faumauina, Albert Nikoro, Jerome Kaino, Anthony Boric

FORMER BLACK FERNS
Melodie Robinson, Anna Richards, Farah Palmer

FORMER ALL BLACKS
Sir Graham Henry, coach AB’s, 2011 RWC, BG Williams, Tane Norton, Waka Nathan, David Kirk, Marc Ellis, Buck Shelford, Sir Wilson Whineray, Buck Anderson, Jerry Collins, Chris Laidlaw, John Sturgeon, Sir John Graham, Pita Alatini, Rodney So’oialo

FORMER PROVINCIAL PLAYERS
Ben Castle, Ben Hurst, Jason Emery

REFEREE
Chris Pollock

CURRENT ALL BLACKS
Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Zac Guilford, Kieran Read, Owen Franks, Ben Franks, Israel Dagg, Sam Whitelock, Richard Kahui, Aaron Cruden, Conrad Smith, Victor Vito, Adam Thompson, Andrew Hore, Aaron Smith, Piri Weepu, Keven Mealamu

CHIEFS
Wayne Smith, assistant coach & previous assistant All Blacks coach, Alex Bradley

HURRICANES
Frae Wilson

Title: NZ Rugby Kitchen: Celebrating The Love Of Food, Family And Rugby
Author: New Zealand Rugby Foundation
Publisher: Random House, c2012
Reviewer: Jan

Review: One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern

Kitty Logan has made a huge mistake in her career as a journalist.  Now her mentor, Constance, lies dying of cancer.  She’s given Kitty a last story lead; a list of one hundred names.  Before Kitty can ask who the names are, Constance passes.  Kitty must figure out how the names are connected and write the story as a tribute to Constance.

Light, frothy, and fun to read, this book cheers you up while not being sickly.  There’s bad things happening but everything turns out right in the end.  There’s a positive theme throughout, with the message being one of hope and to follow your dreams.  There are multiple stories of people, and they’re all cleverly entwined at the ending.

The whole book there’s the undercurrent of the connection the names share and in the back of my mind I was trying to figure it out, while enjoying the story.  Then we were teased and told Kitty had figured it out and I still couldn’t find it, and can’t wait for it to be revealed.  Then the secret is uncovered and ‘of course!’  It’s perfect, very fitting with
who Constance was.  Read this, see if you can figure it out, but don’t forget to enjoy the story.

A really good book I hugely enjoyed and read in one sitting.  I just had to see what happened next!

Title: One Hundred Names
Author: Cecelia Ahern
Published: HarperCollins, 2012
Reviewer: Jan

Review: The Witness by Nora Roberts [Jan]

Elizabeth Fitch was raised by an emotionally remote mother to be a perfect daughter who never puts a foot wrong.  But one night she decides to rebel.  After forging fake ids, she and a friend, Julie, get into a trendy club to party and met he owners of the club, Ilya and Alexei.  The girls leave the club with Alexei, to go back to his place, with Ilya meeting up with them after he finished some business.  They two men are Russian mafia though and the business is Ilya killing Alexei.  Julie is caught in the crossfire and Elizabeth runs, contacting the police and agreeing to testify against the shooters.  Placed in the witness protection programme, she is betrayed before the trial and two FBI agents are killed defending her.  So she must run again.

Abigail Lowery is a mystery.  Buying a house in a small town in the Ozarks, she keeps to herself and rarely goes to town, causing the residents to be insanely curious about her.  She designs security software and by hacking, keeps tabs on the Russian mafia, FBI, US Marshals, and anyone connected with the Fitch case.  Oh, and she has a fierce guard dog called Bert who is adorable.  Brooks is the police chief of the town?? and interested in knowing more about Abigail.  The subplot involved the son of the town’s wealthiest man vandalising the property of a well liked family  The father was trying to buy the sons way out of trouble and it was interesting to view his frustration and escalation as he didn’t succeed.

The beginning was interesting but the middle dragged, with the last third of the book being interesting again.  I love the ending, though it would have been brilliant to see the reactions of the bad guys as justice found them!  I didn’t like how Brooks wouldn’t take no for an answer, pushing his way into Abigail’s house and life after being told no, because he ‘knew’ what she secretly wanted.  Things worked out ok because it’s a romance book, but no means no.  I also found his mother, Sunny, to be pushy and annoying; pushing her way into the house of a woman her son was interested in.  It worked out ok but you can see she’ll be interfering in the future.

This turned out to be a good read, perfect for a lazy day.

Title: The Witness
Author: Nora Roberts
Published: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2012
Reviewer: Jan

Review: A Kiwi Fisherman's Guide to Life by Ian Chapman and Mike Rendle [Jan]

From a Californian native to a celebrity psychic, this book interviews many people and asks why they enjoy fishing, as well as getting them to share tales, tall and otherwise!  This book has snapshots of people’s lives – specifically kiwi fishermen.  The look at their lives is fascinating and they all share a positive outlook on life, enjoying doing what makes them happy. There are some real characters out there and this book lets you view some of them.

Attractively laid out with stunning photos of the New Zealand coastline and rivers, this book looks good and is easy to read.  The format of short interviews with different people telling good stories let readers pick it up and put it down without losing the plot of the book.  You can dive in anywhere and be captivated by a story.

Preferring my fish to be already cooked and on a dinner plate when I see them, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.  This is a must read for the fisherman in your life and for anyone who enjoys a good yarn or two.  Anyone with an interest in New Zealand will enjoy the beautiful photos that accompany each story.

Title: A Kiwi Fisherman’s Guide To Life
Authors: Ian Chapman and Mike Rendle
Published: HarperCollins, 2012
Reviewer: Jan

Review: Petrolheads in Sheds by Steve Holmes [Jan]

Another awesome book with slices of Kiwi life!  This one features blokes who collect cars and motorbikes, and usually other things as well, such as tractors, Tiger Moths, Bren gun carriers, and model railways.  The author goes into shed and garages all over New Zealand as he talks to these owners and learns about their collection.  A couple of them have even opened up their collections as museums!

The stories are usually about a page and accompanied by a good number of photos.  Well composed and attractively laid out, it’s the contents of the photos that will make petrolheads drool.  A brief look at the contents of each garage has some interesting shots of some of the objects within.  These will delight motor enthusiasts everywhere.  There are some really unique people out there in New Zealand.  This book shows some really fascinating characters and the love they have for their passion.  A recommended read for anyone bitten by the motoring bug.

Title: Petrolheads in Sheds: Unique Kiwi Car Collections
Author: Steve Holmes
Published: HarperCollins, 2012
Reviewer: Jan

Review: Heart of obsidian by Nalini Singh [Jan]

Sahara is a NightStar, part of the strong clan of F-Psy who forsee events to come.  She is only a sub designation B, with the gift of backsight.  But she has another talent, so powerful no one knows of it.  Except her captor.  Held hostage for seven years and forced to use her power to benefit her kidnapers, she created a labyrinth in her mind to escape to so complex no one could breach it.  Then she was rescued from her prison.

Kaleb Krycek is the youngest member of the Psy Council.   Icily ruthless, he is an extremely dangerous and powerful Tk.  He’s been looking for Sahara for years before he teleports her to his fortress-like home in remote Russia.  Kaleb’s motives are shrouded in mystery; does he want Sahara in order to gain control of her power or is there a deeper connection?

I knew it!  The answer to a question was what I thought and it was so obvious!  A lot of questions are answered and some storylines wrapped up, while others remain a mystery and new possibilities for the Psy/changeling/human world are opened.  The plot was tightly packed with lots of action, chilling motives of fanatics, and the steamy hot love scenes Nalini Singh writes so well.  The pace moved well with events neatly flowing after each other, and the different points of view were easy to follow.  There was also a HEA.

A must read for fans, this story can be read as a standalone. I strongly recommend reading the rest of the series first though, mainly to enjoy the backstories of this compelling world.  Parental discretion is advised due to the passionate love scenes.


Title: Heart of obsidian
Author: Nalini Singh
Published: Gollancz, 2013
Series: Book 12 in Psy-Changeling
Reviewer: Jan

See the world one drawing at a time

Nowadays when I travel, I tend to buy postcards to augment my collection of not-so-well taken photographs - so that I have at least a somewhat semi-interesting collection of visual reminders of my travels. While I used to sketch things from my travels when I was a kid, I didn't really ever take it further than childhood doodling.

I've recently discovered that there is a whole urban sketching movement. While it is sometimes about travellers sketching memories from their wanderings, more often than not, it's people wanting to visually capture a snapshot of the urban surroundings where they live & work & play.

What a cool idea. It appeals to my childhood memories of sitting down for a quick sketch, scratching my pencil across the page, collecting a one-off memory of a person, place or event.

Gabriel Campanario showcases different artists and different locations from around the world, to demonstrate the subtle & unique beauty of sketched art in The art of urban sketching : drawing on location around the world. It's made me want to dig out some of my old sketchbooks and perhaps even start a new one.

What would you capture in an urban sketch of Auckland?

The tale of vegan ultrarunner

I've just finished Eat & Run : my unlikely journey ultramarathon greatness by Scott Jurek based on a friend's recommendation.

Talk about inspiring! Jurek is a vegan who runs ultramarathons (that is, running the equivalent of several marathons back-to-back), covering distances on foot that most of us only dream of.

Now I'm not an ultrarunner by any stretch, but I am fascinated & enthused by the stories Scott shares about how he got to where he is today - transforming his meat & potato childhood to adult veganism, his friendships & rivalry with other ultrarunners, his commitment to being the best he can be in every circumstance.

His writing style, his stories, his honesty, his humour - it makes you want to get out there & just go for it, in whatever field your chosen 'it' is. Be the best that you can.

So I'm off to re-read Born to run by Chris McDougall, and to get my hands on a copy of Lisa Tamati's Running Hot about her experience of the Badwater Ultramarathon through Death Valley. Since it's unlikely that I'll ever run an ultramarathon, then I am quite satisfied to live vicariously through others.

If you are needing inspiration to dust off your running shoes, then I'd encourage you to read these books, and then get out there & get running!

Change the way you make a living with The $100 Start-up

Feeling like you need a change? Have a great idea but not sure how to make it a reality? Need a kick-start to get your project off the ground? Want to know how other people did it?

I've been following Chris Guillebeau's blog for a number of years now, and I can whole heartedly recommend his first book The Art of Non-Conformity if you want to be inspired to live the life you truly want.

He's has written a great new book, The $100 Start-up, with the subtitle "reinvent the way you make a living, do what you love, and create a new future".

Sounds too easy doesn't it?

This definitely isn't a book that gives you all the answers on a plate, and it's certainly not a case of "do this exactly, you'll make a fortune". There isn't a magic step-by-step formula, 'cos if there was, wouldn't we all be millionaires by now?


What this book does is show you what other people have achieved it, how they turned modest start-up funding (in many cases less than $100) into a business turning over $US50,000 per annum.

After identifying 1,500 individuals who have started up successful businesses, Chris has focused on 50 people who've made it happen, and he explains clearly how they made it a reality to reinvent the way they make a living. He talks numbers, he talks strategies, and he pulls no punches about how hard it can be, but he also reminds you that anything is truly possible. The underlying business message is very clear though, if you aren't making money, then it isn't a business, it's a hobby.

So could you turn your hobby into a profitable business? Could you make the leap to being your own boss? Do you want to know how the other people made it happen?

Read this book. It could change your life.

More from New Zealand's remotest family

Last year I read A life on Gorge River : New Zealand's remotest family,  which is the story of Robert Long & Catherine Stewart who live in what could be considered New Zealand's most remote place. They live in a hut two days' walk south of Haast in South Westland. Robert has lived there for nearly 30 years; Catherine for 20 years and their two kids, Christian & Robin, all their lives.  

I was fascinated, intrigued, and sometimes even jealous, of this life they have carved out in such a remote place. I devoured Robert's book, drawn in by the tales of the isolation, the beauty of the landscape, the challenges of everyday life, and the satisfaction of self-reliance. 

And now I have just finished the companion volume, A Wife on Gorge River : raising New Zealand's remotest family by Catherine Stewart. This time round, Catherine gives a different and unique insight into this family's life far beyond the road end. She also shares stories from her life pre-Gorge River, which I found really interesting, to get an idea of what may have led her to fall in love and willingly move permanently to such an isolated part of New Zealand.

So here are just a few of the questions she answered for me. What is it like to be pregnant so far from anywhere? What are the challenges of schooling two kids in a such a remote place, in the pre-internet days? What happens when there isn't a doctor's surgery just a short car drive away? What is the rhythm of daily life when you are so far from the end of the road? What do you feel a hungry family of four when supplies are low and your nearest supermarket is several days walk away?

I think I have found the perfect summer read for at least one of my family members' Christmas present. And I think I may have found a unique part of New Zealand that I really want to see for myself. Walking shoes to the ready ...

Finding "A forest" on my desk

A delicious treat arrived on my desk, a debut picture book, A forest, by Australian author/illustrator Marc Martin.

Simple, clear text. Layered water colour & pen images. Poignant messages about forest regeneration & human encroachment on the natural world.

If you have read The Lorax by Dr Seuss, if your kids are studying pollution & the environment, if you want to discover a new & talented artist, then you have at least three reasons to pick up this book.

Read. Think. Share.

Comic Book Month - Week 1

Scott Pilgrim

23 years old
Rating: Awesome


You may have heard of Scott Pilgrim already - they made the comics into a film a couple of years back, and while they did a pretty good job, the source material is better. I can't really do better than the blurb on the book to describe the scenario for you, so here it is:


Everything is totally sweet.
Scott Pilgrim's life is so awesome. He's 23 years old, in a rock band, "between jobs," and dating a cute high school girl. Everything's fantastic until a seriously mind-blowing, dangerously fashionable, rollerblading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruising through his dreams and sailing by him at parties. but the path to Ms. Flowers isn't covered in rose petals. Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends stand in the way between Scott and true happiness. Can Scott beat the bad guys and get the girl without turning his precious little life upside-down?


Scott... well, basically he's an idiot, but you can't help rooting for him anyway. His complete cluelessness and optimism that everything will work itself out is kind of endearing. There's so much to love about the series, from Bryan Lee O'Malley's artwork to the wonderful character names (Knives Chau? That's one for the list). With six volumes and a movie, there's plenty to keep you going, and if you read them all that's one and a bit cards filled up for the Comic Book Month competition!

Edited to add: Try as I might I cannot get a link to this book on the catalogue to work, but you can find it on the catalogue if you search for Scott Pilgrim or Bryan Lee O'Malley

Terry & Stephen team up for The Long Earth

Two authors that I really enjoy (Sir Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter) have teamed up in a joint effort in The Long Earth. I can't tell you how good this book is yet, as it has literally only just landed on my reading shelf. Usually I am somewhat nervous about joint author efforts, as sometimes it goes horridly wrong, but I'm pretty sure I am going to enjoy it no matter what.

I'll tempt you with the synopsis from Publisher's Weekly :

In this thought-provoking collaboration, Pratchett (the Discworld series) and Baxter (Stone Spring) create an infinity of worlds to explore. A revolutionary process known as Stepping has allowed humanity access to an unlimited number of parallel Earths, all devoid of human life. The further one travels, the stranger the variant worlds become.

Joshua Valiente, one of a rare breed who can Step without external help, is hired by the transEarth Institute to travel by airship across the Long Earth, exploring as far as possible. Accompanied by Lobsang, a Tibetan reincarnated as an artificial intelligence, he journeys across millions of Earths, discovering just what sort of bizarre secrets lurk in the farthest reaches.

Has anyone out there read it yet? Willing to share your thoughts on this collaboration?

What does colour feel like?

I know, it seems a little odd to "feel" a colour, just bear with me.

Colour the stars by Dawn McMillan (author) and Keinyo White (illustrator) opens with :

Isaac and Luke sat together on the stream bank, the water washing over their feet, the bush standing guard behind them.

"Do you know about colours, Luke?" asked Isaac.

Think about that seemingly simple question : "Do you know about colours?".

How do you "know" colour? Do you "know" a colour by how something is visually represented? Do you "know" a colour by how it makes you feel when you see it? Do you "know" a colour by how something of a particular colour smells? Do you "know" what colour something is by the way it sounds?

[spoiler alert -- stop reading now if you don't want to know the story's twist]

What does colour mean to a blind person? In this story, Luke is blind. He says that he doesn't really know what people mean when they talk about colours, but that it is okay because he doesn't need colours.

The friendship between the two boys is key here, Isaac wants to share with Luke that colours aren't just visual, they are a feeling. Together they explore what colour feels like. For instance, if I said "sunshine", what colour do you think of?

Two highlights of this story for me are : the way in which Isaac explains the colour red, and then when Isaac explains about stars, "tiny pieces of yellow [...] against the black", Luke says quietly that he knows what black is. I got goosebumps.

Then Isaac shuts his eyes, and he realises that the world isn't just about colours, it is also about listening and sounds, and about the feelings that link in with those sounds. Luke responds that in his world, this is how it is, filled with sounds and feelings.

For me, this picture book is a great example of how an author's words meld perfectly with an illustrator's representation of the story. The author has written a story of two boys' friendship, and the illustrator has captured the sensations of this story perfectly.

Get hold of a copy of this book (it's available in English and Te Reo Māori), read it to a child you love, and then start a discussion about what colour "feels" like to them, it might surprise you with what you learn. 

Review: Between the sheets : the literary liaisons of nine 20th-century women writers by Lesley McDowell

Shut eyes to dirty hair, ragged nails. He is a genius. I his wife.
- Sylvia Plath, 1958

Review submitted by: Rachel
Title: Between the sheets : the literary liaisons of nine 20th-century women writers
Author: Lesley McDowell
ISBN: 9781590202388
Publisher: Overlook Press
Published: 2010
Genre: Non-fiction
Age group: Adult
Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: Why did a gifted writer like Sylvia Plath stumble into a marriage that drove her to suicide? Why did Hilda Doolittle want to marry Ezra Pound when she was attracted to women? Why did Simone DeBeauvoir pimp for Jean-Paul Sartre? The author examines the extent to which each woman was prepared to put artistic ambition before personal happiness, and how dependent on their male writing partners these women felt themselves to be. She probes the consequences of the women's codependence and reveals how in many instances, their partnerships liberated unspoken desires, encouraged artistic innovations, and even shored up literary reputations. Fascinating and innovative, this book is an invaluable addition to libraries of literary criticism and feminism.

Picture Perfect

Kitty & Dino by Sara Richard

I've only once in my life reviewed a picture book and that was for an assignment, so I'm not really sure how to approach this. The book in question, however, is worth the effort.

A boy finds a dinosaur egg and brings it home. But that isn't the story. The story is the friendship that grows between Kitty and the dinosaur that hatches. It's a beautiful story, told with only about 12 words (not counting sound effects). In this case it isn't the words that make the story, but the pictures. The illustrations are inspired by Japanese ink paintings (I know this because it says so inside the cover, not because I know anything about art), expressive and warm and rich. I love them. I could stare at them for hours.

I particularly love the cat. It's so cat-like and full of personality that I wanted to take it home.

For a while after I read this book I could only think in exclamation marks. Cat! Dinosaur! Cute! Pictures! Colours! Gah! It was a little overwhelming, but I had a silly grin on my face and warm fuzzies in my belly. This book isn't much good for reading aloud, but it is the kind of book you want to linger over and read again (and again). It is, in short, delightful.

Review: Private and Confidential by Marion Ripley

"Laura got out the photo of Malcolm. He looked so fit and happy in the picture, it was hard to imagine him being ill in hospital. The she had an idea. She would send him a Get Well card, and she would do it in braille!"
- Private and confidential by Marion Ripley

Review submitted by: Sonja
Title: Private and confidential
Author: Marion Ripley
ISBN: 0711220972
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Published: 2003
Genre: Picture books
Age group: Children
Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: When Laura's Australian penfriend goes blind she decides to learn braille so that she can send him a get-well-soon card. They are soon corresponding in Braille, making their letters private and confidential.

How do you write to a friend who can't see?

Review: The Poet's Cottage by Josephine Pennicott

You are invited to a murder. The diabolical event will take place at Poet's Cottage on Saturday 17 August...
- Poet's Cottage by Josephine Pennicott

Review submitted by: Rachel
Title: Poet's cottage
Author: Josephine Pennicott
ISBN: 9781742610894
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2012
Genre: General fiction
Age group: Adult
Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: When Sadie inherits Poet's Cottage in the Tasmanian fishing town of Pencubitt, she sets out to discover all about her notorious grandmother, Pearl Tatlow. Pearl was a children's writer who scandalised 1930s Tasmania with her behaviour.

Haunting...murder-mystery/narrator's path of self-discovery yarn