999 Challenge - July

I have managed to read ten books this month as I have been on holidays. I will only review a select few.
Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult ( General Reading)
Handle With Care is about a family with two daughters the younger being born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) commonly known as brittle bone disease. With the ongoing costs of raising a child with this disease the mother decides to sue for wrongful birth. She feels if digagnosed earlier in the pregnancy it could have been terminated. The conroversy is that the obstetrician is the mother's best friend. The father decides doesn't want to have anything to do with a court case as he doesn't want his daughter to think she wasn't wanted. The older daughter is unintentionally neglected and suffers from bulimia at this time. Sometimes you feel for the mother as she is trying to give her daughter a better future and how overwelmed she is in raising a child with OI but on the other hand to the detriment of the rest of her family. The characters are strong and complicated and of course there are many ethical issues raised. I really enjoyed the book but like all her books of late it seems to go down the same path with a different set health issues and ethical issues.
I recently went to see the film of the book My Sister's Keeper also by Jodi Picoult. I read the book a couple of years ago and was looking forward to seeing the film. It is the story of Anna who sues her parent for the right to make her own medical decisions. Anna was conceived by genetic engineering as a match for her older sister Kate who is suffering from leukemia. The story covers family issues during the trial. The ending was quite a suprise but with the film they completely changed the ending and it was such a let down. My friend who had not read the book loved the film but it left me very disappointed.
The Choice by Nicholas Sparks (General Reading)
The storyline is about a man and woman living next door to each other. Travis the male character in the story is of course perfect in every way, attractive, quick witted, smart, great with children and of course wealthy as he has a venteninary business. New neighbour Gabby bursts through the bushes that divide their houses yelling about his dog getting her dog pregnant. After spending a weekend together they fall in love and of course marry and have the perfect children and marriage. Eleven years along when driving home in a thunderstorm Travis crashes the car. Travis wakes up in hospital but Gabby remains in a coma. After a couple of months Travis is faced with a 'Choice' of a promise he made to Gabby a few years previous that if anything happens to her and she was in a long coma that Travis would turn off the life support. Even though it was a very predictable plot I couldn't put the book down. For a man, Nicholas Sparks writes a very good love story.
The Killing of Caroline Bryne by Robert Wainwright (Crime) This a story of justice and a father's determination of in fnding the truth about his daughter's death. It is also about the testing of the justice system which is taken to the limit. After thirteen years of investigation by police into Caroline's fiancee he was finally bought to justice. Gordon Wood was an arrogant self absorbed man who loved working out in the gym where he met Caroline. Wood chauffered for stock trader Rene Rivkin who at this time was going through a turbulent time himself. The death at the time was treated as a suicide as Caroline was found at the bottom of the Gap a popular place for suicide. The police investigation was botched from the start. Wood's behaviour after Caroline's death was quite bizarre. what finally led to Wood's arrest was science. Scientific test were carried out using police cadets to see if it was possible to jump from a cliff and land nine metres away. It was proved that it couldn't be done. The police thought Wood had an accomplice as Caroline, Woods and another man were seen in Watsons Bay on the day of Caroline's death. Wood was found guilty in November 2008 thirteen years after Caroline's death. Even though I think he did it, it is not without reasonable doubt as there was little hard evidence due to the botched crime scene in the first place. An interesting read. A movie is now in production from this book.
Testimony by Anita Shreve (General reading)
Testimony tells the story of teenage sexuality and the long term ramifications of what happens when a decision is made in the moment.
A video is given to the headmaster of the Avery Acadmey School which features a fourteen year old girl engaging in drunken sexual acts with three senior boys from the basketball team. The scandle shakes this private school to the core and changes the lives those involved forever. Who is to blame was it the boys because of their age taking advantage of the younger girl or was the girl a willing participant? She later claims she was raped. I think that decisions and actions taken in the heat of the moment will change lives forever and there is no going back. I really enjoyed this book a very compelling read.

the 999 Challenge - June

Well here I am at the half way point. I have a bit of a mixed bag this month.
In My Fathers Den by Maurice Gee (Books made into movies)
I happened to come across this little gem when looking for books for my mother. This author is a well known New Zealand author and the story is set in New Zealand. As a young boy Paul Prior is allowed into the inner sanctum of his father's shed/den where a world of books await him. The den is is a bonding place for Paul and his father and a place to get away from Mum and his brother. Paul's past and family history turn him into a loner. Paul emotions run strong for a girl named Joyce with whom he shares a poem called Celia, unaware of how it will effect their future. Paul's friend Charlie steals Joyce from him and Paul moves away and becomes a teacher. Years later he returns to Wadesville to teach at the school where Joyce and Charlie's daughter Celia attends. Paul befriends Celia through their love of books. A murder takes place and Celia is the victim. It is here the story begins and retraces the steps that leads up to this senseless murder. When I finished the book and saw on the back cover that it was a film I went straight to the video shop to hire it. The film pretty much follows the book except Paul has a diffrent profession in the film, why do they do that? The story covers deceit, family and sins from the past. This book drew me in from the start and kept my interest to the chilling end.
Dear Fatty by Dawn French ( Biography)
The title is actually the name of Dawn's best friend and longstanding comedy partner Jennifer Saunders (because she is the thinner one). The book is set out in a series of open letters especially to her late father who committed suicide when she was 19. She wants to let her father know what has been going on in her life since he has been gone.It is a hilarious (as you would excpect) and moving collection of letters from her childhood, moving around as an Air Force family, to the agonies of the teenage years, to the death of her father, meeting Jennifer Saunders and the start of her career as a comedian, to her marriage to fellow comedian Lenny Henry, the adoption of their daughter Billy and her wonderful career. You can almost here her speak in this bright, honest and amusing book.If you engoy watching Dawn French you will love this book.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by Scott F Fitzgerald (Books made into movies)
This is a very strange short story written in 56 pages made into a film that runs nearly three hours. Benjamin is born an old man and ages backwards as the story progress. There are lots of issues arising from aging this way especially when he goes to college and he is fifty years old while the other students are seventeen. Years later he is attending a party with his father as they are now the same age, when he meets and falls in love with Hildegarde Moncrief a younger woman and they marry. However as time goes on and Benjamin becomes younger, healthier and happier his wife ceases to attract him. He goes off to fight in the Spanish-American war and when he returns his marrige deteriorates even further. In 1910 he hands his company over to his son and heads off to Harvard, as he now has the appearance of a twenty one year old. By the time he is in his senior year he can not cope with academic work load as he is now sixteen. As time goes on he progess through his early teenage years and he is now looked after by his son who is not happy about the situation as he looks younger than his own grandson. Eventally he loses his memory of his earlier life and becomes a baby than all goes dark.
The book and the film differ greatly as the only thing they have in common is the name and the aging process. I must say I enjoyed both the book and the film.
Fishing for Stars by Bryce Courtenay (Australian)
The story continues on from the Persimmon Tree with the end of World War Two it finds Nick Duncan living on Beautiful Island in the Pacfic. He finds himself caught between his two loves Anna Til who is exploting the riches of the world for profit and the older Marg Hamilton fighting to save the environment. Nick is suffering from post traumatic stress so Marg arranges for him to see a specialist in Sydney. Nick and the specialist don't hit it off and storms out of the office and is hit by a car on the street. When the specialist vists Nick in hospital he encourages him to write about his experinces as a form of therapy. He sets out to write of his love for Anna who he met in his late teens and draws us into his life in the post war days, the building of his shipping company and of the two women who inspire him.
I really enjoy Bryce Courtenay's books for their history content but I found this one a little repeditive of the first book.

the 999 Challenge - May

This month I have been on a bit of a crime binge.
Lady Killer: how conman Bruce Burrell kidnapped and killed rich women for their money by Candance Sutton (Crime). Police conducted one of the biggest manhunts that lasted over ten years, after the disappearance of Kerry Whelan who vanished on her way to a beauticians appointment in Parramatta in 1997. Her husband receives a ransome note the next day demanding a payout of one and half million dollars for Kerry's release. Bruce Burrell a friend of the family and also worked for Bernie Whelan becomes the prime suspect in the case. Burrell turned up at the Whelan house three weeks before Kerry disappeared. It was thought that he intended to kidnap her then but her son was home from school sick. Burrell's property at Bungonia south west of Goulbourn was searched relentlessly by police over a matter of months but no body was ever found. What police did find was any empty chloroform bottle that was recently purchased and notes on the kidnap and ransome plan. Denis Bray the police officer in charge of the case would not give up as he also thought Burrell killed an elderly widow Dorothy Davis two years previously. Dorothy was a close family friend of Burrell's then wife. Burrell had borrowed a large amount of money from Davis and when she asked for the money back she disappeared.
After a hung jury and two trials later Burrell was finally convicted of both murders.
This book was quite an eye opener for me as I did not understand why the police were so hell bent on Burrell as the person of interest. I did not realise there was a suppression order on the evidence so that Burrell could given a fair trial. I really enjoyed the book and felt it was well written by Constance Sutton and Ellen Connolly journalists who followed the case from the start. They painted a sinister picture of a seemingly ordinary man who loved money and didn't want to work for it.
Behind the Night Bazaar by Angela Savage (Crime) Jane Keeney is an Austrlian working as a private detective in Bangkok. After running in to trouble with a case she decideds to take time out and goes to visit her good friend and cosy mystery reader Didier de Montpasse in Chiang Mai. Montpasse is accused of murdering his lover and it is claimed by police that he tried to escape when they were questioning him so they shot him dead. Jane of course does not believe this and sets out to find the truth. The story is dominated by corupt police lieutenant Ratratarn and his men. Angela Savage displays a deep understanding of Thailand, its culture and customs. It was an enjoyable thriller. I picked up this title in the good reading magazine.
Monster by Allan Savage (Crime) In 1984 Josef Fritzl drugged his teenage daughter Elisabeth and imprisoned her in an underground cellar beneath his home for twenty four years. In this time he raped and abused her. She bore him seven children of which one died. Three of the downstairs children as they were known were left on the doorstep upstairs with a note claiming there mother who had supposedly joined a religious sect, had abandoned them and left them for her mother and father to raise. The other three children were left downstairs were the Elisabeth raised them in appalling conditions. When I first heard this story I wondered like everyone else why didn't Elisabeth's mother know what was going on. Fritzl was a very cunning man bordering on genius. Fritzl owned a guesthouse in an other district which his downtrodden wife ran for at least three months of the year along with Elisabeth's siblings. He had started building the cellar long before he abducted his daughter and as he was an engineer he was able to make sure the cellar was well sound proofed. In hindsight neighbours and friends now realise they saw things they should have been reported. As he was aging he was trying to find a way to bring his downstairs family out of the cellar. Before he had a chance to achieve this the eldest daughter downstairs became exremely ill. Elisabeth begged her father to take her to hospital. The rest is history. The ramifications of living underground with no sunlight, poor ventilation and a poor diet has left the downstairs family with many health issues along with the mental issues. It not only affected the downstairs family but also the upstairs family who thought there mother had abandoned them and to find their grandfather was really their father. This story was well written and researched. It will be interesting to see how the family progresses in the future as I'm sure someone will write a continuing story.
Breaking the Spell by Jane Stork (Word of Mouth)
Jane was raised in Western Australia in a loving Catholic family. Jane married at twenty one and had two children by the time she was thirty. It was at this time she was experiencing difficulties in her marriage. Jane and her husband sought the help of a psychologist. The psychologist was involved with the Rajneesh movement led by Baghwan Shree Rajneesh. Jane and her husband become devotees of the Baghwan's teaching. They gave away all their worldly possessions and moved to the Baghwan's ashram in India. Like most cults there was free love and casual relationships which lead to the breakdown of Jane's family unit. The movement decides to move to Oregon in America were the cult constructs a new centre called Rajneeshpuram as the central town and commune. Jane is drawn deeper into the cult by the second in charge Ma Anand Sheelah and all their leadership struggles. Jane is caught up in the attempted murder of the Baghwan's doctor and the plot to kill the US Attorney of Oregon. Jane serves time in jail for her part in the crimes. When released she settles in Germany. Jane starts to find her way back to personal freedom. She finds love again and marries and reconciles with her children who are now living back in Australia. Her family welcome her back with open arms. When everthing seems to be back on track her son develops a brain tumor.
I found this an interesting book into the teachings of the Baghwan 'The Rolls Royce Guru'. This was a very big cult all over the world and at its height during the seventies and eighties. Cults seem to draw in people who are looking for a prop to hold them up and are therefore easy to manipulate. I felt sad for Jane who ended up sacrificing her life, marriage, children and family for so long. There is redemption in the end of the story. Jane was lucky she had a loving family who were there when she finally came to her senses. Maybe there are other members out there that didn't fair as well.
This is another book I found in the Good reading magazine.

the 999 Challenge - April

I realise the four books I have read this month all have the theme of going from the present to the past and back again.
The Gathering by Anne Enright (Man Booker Prize Winner). Veronica Hegarty looses her much loved brother Liam, an alcoholic who commits suicide by drowning. Veronica reflects on the family history. The story is set in Ireland and involves many themes, family secrets, sexual abuse, alcoholism, suicide and absentee parents. It is filled with love and hate. The story deals with the difficulties of relationships within the family. There is more than one story going on at one time as it jumps from the past to the present and back again with no warning. I really struggled with this book although there were some good parts the book for me overall did not hold my interest. Maybe it was one of those books one needs to re read if only there was the time. Sorry too many good books out there to read.
Look Me In The Eye by John Elder Robison (Word of Mouth). This was a most interesting read by the brother of Augusten Burroughs (Running with Scissors) who is a favourite author of mine. John has lived with Asperger's Syndrome all his life. Not only was he bought up in a totally dysfunctional family but Asperger's Syndrome was not even heard of when he was growing up. He could not make eye contact, he said whatever came into his mind whether relevent to the conversation or not and he could not express appropriate emotions. Everyone thought he was weird, lazy and arrogant. His saving grace was that he always connected with machines. He firstly got into the rock scene at sixteen where he created the smoke-exploding guitars for KISS. He fitted into the rock scene as he felt they were misfits like him. Next he thought he would try the corprate world where he created talking toys, after a while he felt he didn't fit in. He always loved tinkering with cars so he decided to set up his own business of repairing epensive European cars. He has been very successful in this business which he still has today. At age forty his friend a therapist told him he thought he had a form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome which was only diagnosed in the 80's. He realised he wasn't a freak after all and was able to use his logical mind to asertain certain responses that enabled him to live in the 'normal' world. He hopes his story will help other children to grow up a little less lonely. I loved this book.
The Forgotten Garden: a novel by Kate Morton (Word of Mouth) The novel opens in 1913 where a young girl has been left on the dock sitting on her suitcase. A dock worker finds her and takes her home to his childless wife. They name her Nell and she grows up in a very happy environment. When she turns twenty one her father tells her a secret that changes her life. She begins a lifetime quest of trying to find out who she is. This is also the story of Nell's grandaughter Cassandra who inherits Nell's house and forgotten garden in Cornwell after she dies, that nobody knew she had. Cassandra starts to uncover long hidden family secrets. The story is interwoven in three parts from 1913 to 2005 from Australia to London to Cornwell.
Kate Morton has an easy to read storytelling style and her mystery elements will hold you to the end. I really enjoyed this book, I found it hard to put down and sorry when it ended.
The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif by Najef Mazari (Word of Mouth) This is a story of Najef's journey from Mazar-eSharif in Afganistan to Woomera Detention Centre in Australia. During his time in Woomera awaiting to see if he is accepted into Australia he reminises of happy and unhappy memories of life back in Mazar-e-Sharif. What a resilient race of people these Afagani people are, there is always a parable to be told to understand the hardship of their lives. There are some humorous moments in the book when Najef is trying to understand our culture like queue jumping and queue forming as it is unheard of in his country,also the breaucracy of the government in Canberra, where the man who is the keeper of the special stamp that stamps the visas. Najef arrives with only one shoe the other lost at sea and the time he spend at Woomera he only ever has the one shoe. He helps out in the kitchen to give himself something to do and as he says everyone knows Asians like rice but noodles would be nice for a change. He eventually gets his visa approved and opens a rug shop in Melbourne.
We don't realise how hard it must be to leave the country and culture you are bought up in and to search for a place to live that enables you peace and security. I really enjoyed this book as Najef always had hope and despite everything that has happened to him and finds good in everything around him.

the 999 Challenge - March

This has been a really busy month for me but I still managed to do a little reading so here are my books for March.
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink (Books made into movies) This story is set in three parts. The first part is when Michael a fifteen year old boy meets Hanna a thirty six year old woman on his way home from school when he takes ill and Hanna helps him. When Michael goes around to thank Hanna they start an affair. As part of their routine when they meet Michael reads to Hanna. One day Hanna disappears without a trace and Michael is left with the memory of Hanna that taints all his relationships with other women. The second part sees Hanna on trail for a war crime of letting a group of women in transit between camps that she is guarding, burn to death in a locked church. Michael is following the trail for his law studies. During the trail Michael realises that Hanna is illiterate. Hanna is sentenced to prison.
Part three sees Michael recording all his favourite books on to cassette and sending them to Hanna in prison. The prison governor writes to Michael to tell him Hanna is to be released and would like Michael to visit, which he does for the first and last time.
This is a book about the horrors of the Holocaust, consequences of illiteracy and hopes for forgiveness. I really enjoyed the book now looking forward to seeing the movie.
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell ( Classic reading) Cranford started out as a series of stories published in the magazine Household Words. Later it was compiled into a book. It certainly lacks a plot but has some funny moments in this quaint English village set in the mid nineteenth century. The town seems to be full of unmarried or widowed women living in idyllic domesticity. The story mainly centres around Miss Matty Jenkyns and her sister Miss Deborah two middle aged spinsters living with dignity in reduced circumstances. It is dominated by the friendships of the women in the town. It is quite different from the television series that was made up from the book Cranford and two of Mrs Gaskell's novelas, Mr Harrison's Confessions and My Lady Ludlow.
It was a charming book well worth a read but I enjoyed the television series better.
Bad Karma: confessions of a reckless traveller in South East Asia by Tamara Sheward (Word of mouth) This story tells of two young girlfriends who decide to travel to parts South East Asia where hardly any other foreigners would be, it would be exciting and beautiful. This a hilarious account of their travels and what can go wrong, does. Very enjoyable and funny read.

So now I am on a roll of reading humours books the next two are biographies on Australian women comedians. I have almost read my quota of 9 books in the biography category which is my favourite group.

All that happened at number 26 by Denise Scott (Biography) In 1983 Denise with her husband, new baby, his circus equipment, a futon with no base and no savings moved into number 26. It was the worst house in the worst suburb. The daily challenges of children with eczema, a mother with Alzheimer's, the circus equipment that kept multiplying, the futon that went mouldy and on top of all that Denise was trying to forge a career in comedy and keep the husband and children happy. This is a funny book that also touches the heart at times. Another funny read.
The Lucy Family Alphabet by Judith Lucy (Biography) Judith Lucy has built her career on telling jokes about her family life until one day someone asked did she despise her family, Judith was shocked, as really deep down she loved them. Ann and Tony Lucy her parents were quite dysfunctional. Dad wore his pajamas to work under his suit and wore makeup claiming it was sunblock. Mum glad wrapped everything in the house and lived on ford pills. alpine cigarettes, ryvitas and cottage cheese as she was obsessed with dieting. After one drunken Christmas (of which there were many) her sister in law told her she was adopted, she was twenty five years old. Her parents were never going to tell her. She wrote this book to enable her to make peace with her relationship with her parents. The book is set in random chapters of dysfunctional alphabet hilarity. Some of the chapters include C is for cleaning, H is for heart attack, N is for nuts (to do with a falling out over testicles, R is for review ( to do with the nuts). Judith tells it straight, very funny and extremely moving at times. I loved it.

the 999 Challenge - February

Here I am into my second month of the challenge and Scarlett has left me to take up a new challenge of her own in a new job.
This is a selection of the books I have read this month.
The House at Salvation Creek by Susan Duncan. (Biography) Continuing on from her last book Susan is now married to Bob and living in Tarrangaua the house built for Dorathea Mckellar. In this book Susan has quest to find the architect that designed the house. It also continues on, of her friends and neighbours that live at Lovett Bay. I now have an afilliation with Lovett Bay as my daughter and family live there. I am a frequent visitor and have now met many of the people in the book. It is a wonderful community. Great read.
Wolf at the Door by Augusten Burroughs. (Biography) This another disfunctional family biography by the author of Running with Scissors. This book centres mainly on his alcoholic father who constantly fights with his mentally fragile wife and his disinterest in his sons.It is a dark and twisted tale. I have enjoyed all of Augusten Burroughs books.
Unkown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan. (Australian Author) A twenty six year old pole dancer meets a man in the crowd while watching the Sydney Mardi Gras. She has a one night stand with him. In the morning she wakes and he is gone and she never sees him again. The next night she sees on the news a picture of a wanted terrorist (her one night stand)and his female compainion. The female being her. She thinks it is a joke until she realises that the police are seriously looking for her.
It is a powerful book that tells of what terrorism fear can make people do and how the media manipulates the truth. I really enjoyed this book.
Young Widows Book of Home Improvements by Virginia LLoyd.(Biography) This is a lovely story of Virginia and her hushand John. John dies of cancer two years after they are married. Virgina has her own personal 'renovation' as she renovates the house that she and John lived in. A very moving and emotional memoir that is both funny and sad.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. (Crime) A different slant on serial killers. Dexter is a serial killer which is recognised by his adoptive policeman father at young age. He guides Dexter in how to only kill people who get away with crimes and how to cover his tracks. A gruesome but also humorous book. I enjoyed both the book and the T.V. series.