Wot I read: How To Be A Good Wife (a mini review)

I think there's something wrong with me.

I just finished How To Be A Good Wife by Emma J Chapman (read the plot summary here) today which reviewers have been falling over themselves to slather with praise and I was...well, a little disappointed. I kept waiting for a big twist at the end or at least some clarity but there was neither. I think it's one of those endings you're supposed to be left purposely dangling so as to keep you thinking about the characters and I personally have always hated those kind of books. Give me firm resolutions I say!

I also got a little frustrated with the main character Marta, that she didn't come right out and bluntly state her fears to her son, instead easily allowing herself to be moved away from the topic (and go to bed!). I guess years of forced submission will do that to you but oh how I wish she could find the strength she needed to be heard! I guess (semi spoiler alert) she ends up finding that strength in another way...

But the suspense, especially at the beginning of the novel is excellent. Gripping and intense and as someone who doesn't often read books in this genre, damn freaky for me too.  And I LOVED the snippets of good wifely advice that give the novel it's name - so quaintly antiquated now as to be truly comical. (I was given something similar on a tea towel for a wedding present :P).

But yeah, mostly still wanting that firm resolution :P

                                                                      

The astute of you will note this isn't my usual first post for January - rather I normally do a wrap up of fav books from the year just been and other wee highlights. It's coming, I promise!

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

Title: The Help
Author: Kathryn Stockett
Publisher: Penguin
Price: $37.95

It might only be the end of August, but I think I have already found my best read for 2009; a beautiful novel called The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

1960s America is a bleak place if you are Black - and no place is bleaker than Jackson, Mississippi. A Black maid can cook and clean, know every intimate detail of the household and raise white the boss' children but can't use the same bathroom, sit at the same lunch counter or shop at the same stores.

And born out of this oppression is an unlikely friendship between three extraordinary women.

Aibileen - a smart, dignified and perceptive maid raising her 17th white child, Minny: smart mouthed and sassy but boy can she cook and Skeeter, an educated white woman full of hopes and ideals and love for the maid who raised her who has disappeared and no one will tell her why.

Despite the gulf between them, these three women come together to work on a plan that places all their lives in grave danger but will change their town and the small minded attitudes it perpetuates, forever.

I'm a sucker for stories about Southern America. I love the language, the imagery, the oh-so-different attitudes and opinions - and Kathryn Stockett captures these all beautifully as she tells the story in three unique voices. Each voice is strong and true without a single "off note" hit in this softly building but utterly gripping novel.

Needless to say, I loved "The Help." I couldn't wait to find out how it ended (and a warning, you might need a tissue or two along the way) but at the same time, I didn't want it to end at all. I wanted to stay for as long as possible in the world Stockett created with all its love and food, bigotry and pain.

I can't more highly recommend this book. Just buy it and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Out of Character

**Warning: contains spoilers**

I’ve finished reading the latest offering from Marina Lewycka on the weekend. “We Are All Made of Glue” is what we have come to expect from the pen of Lweycka – full of quirky characters who meet in the most unlikely circumstances but ultimately help each other through life’s follies. There’s Mrs Shapiro – the Jewish lady who epitomises the crazy old cat lady label, Wonderboy the marauding tomcat, Georgie recently separated with a teenage sun suffering an existential crisis and Mr Ali and the Uselesses, the Arab immigrants who are great company but terrible “fixitup” men.

The story deals with some pretty meaty issues of modern day life including care of the elderly, the end of the world and the Israeli-Palestine conflict – so not your usual light fiction read. But each issue is handled with finesse and a touching gentleness, as well as the author’s trademark cracking humour.

And then she spoilt it all by making one of her characters do something completely out of character.

**Last warning: stop reading now if you don’t want any spoilers!**

In what I can only surmise was a fit of trying to find a way to wrap everything up neatly, Lewycka kills of the beloved Wonderboy and then has Mrs Shapiro move into a care home that does not allow animals. We are supposed to believe this elderly woman who is so devoted to her furry felines she slept with them, let them have the run of her house (and all the bodily functions deposited about the place that entails) and even wanted them smuggled into the hospital to see her, would just blithely agree to rehome them.

Maybe others who have read this book (are you out there? Tell me your thoughts!) didn’t feel this was the howler I see it as. Maybe it resonated with me because with three furbabies of my own, I am well on the way to becoming a crazy old cat lady in the future and the eccentricities of Mrs Shapiro really resonated with me. Yes, I identified with her. And I could not ever imagine giving up my moggies simply because it would make a convenient ending for someone else’s story.

It also makes me wonder how the author could do it; they know the character so much more intimately then we do, after all they have been living in their heads for the duration of the book’s writing life.

What about you, dear readers? Have you ever been reading a book and thought “wow, the author just dropped a clanger there!!”??

(Other than that, I really enjoyed "We Are All Made of Glue" although I think "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" is her first and finest work. This one drags a little in the middle, getting bogged down under the weight of some of those heavy issues but gets back on track quickly. As always her characterisation is fabulous, Mrs Shapiro will live on in my head for some time to come and I could hear her thick rich accent as I read. I particularly enjoyed her reminiscences of her and her husband's lives).

Not Without You: Some People are Just Destined to be Together - Alan & Irene Brogan

Title: Not Without You: Some People are Just Destined to be Together
Author: Alan and Irene Brogan
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton, 2008
Price: $37.95

It’s not often you find true love at age seven and nine. But that’s what happened for Alan and Irene Brogan. But as the saying goes “True love never runs smooth” and this was certainly the case in Not Without You, the couple’s real life story of life and love in children’s homes in 1950’s and 1960’s England.

Both born in Sunderland and losing their mums at an early age, the children were placed into the unfeeling care system of the day which was strictly regimented, which seemed to aim to make children into automated robots with little time for play, fun or any of the normal delights of childhood. Torn from their families the two children find each other at a home in Rennie Road, Sunderland and solace in finally having a friend who understood them.

But their friendship ultimately costs them their happiness. In the tightly reined in world of children’s care, friendship between a boy and a girl is a dangerous and suspicious thing and an ill-timed perfectly innocent tickled fight proves their undoing.

It is 45 years and many hardships and heartaches before Irene and Alan see each other again but the friendship that bonded them remains.

This charming and entertaining story about the hand destiny deals us is told in alternating chapters between the couple. For me, the early years of deprivation and sadness in the children’s homes which make up the bulk of the book, werea richly detailed and absorbing: it is so hard to imagine anyone could think showing any form of kindness to children in care would be a bad thing. It must have been a staggeringly cold and clinical world for children to be dumped into, often times snatched from the streets and their loving families as in Alan’s case.

Not Without You is a satisfyingly pleasant read, but more importantly, a timely reminder in an often cynical and too-busy-to-care world, true love really can conquer all.

Dewey: The small-town library cat who touched the world

Title: Dewey: The small-town library cat who touched the world
Author: Vicki Myron
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Price: $39.99

It’s not often a cat becomes world famous, but Dewey Readmore Books did just that.

The tiny bundle of ginger fur and purr was found nearly frozen to death by librarian Vicki Myron in the returns slot of a small Iowa town library one bitter winter’s morning and quickly set about charming the staff and patrons.

Two years after his passing, "Dewey: The small-town library cat who touched the world" by Vicki Myron was released, and the book's title really says it all.

Dewey was more than just a cat – he was a friend who touched all who passed through the Spencer Public Library doors. His gentle, affectionate and most of all tolerant nature made him perfect for his very social library life where befriending high powered executives scanning the pages of the Financial Times or engaging with disabled children and snuggling into their laps was all in a day’s work for this handsome marmalade coloured cat. Add in a snooze on a book shelf or an empty box and a snack of his favourite delicacy of rubber bands and Dewey’s happiness was complete.

Dewey was also a dear friend to the author, Vicki Myron who infuses this heart-warming tribute to the power of animal friendships with her own story of marriage to an alcoholic, living on welfare, and health problems ranging from the difficult birth of her daughter, Jodi, to breast cancer.

And just as Dewey had captured Vicki's heart and those of the Spencer residents, he began to enchant the media too. News of this lovable library lion spread and soon Dewey was appearing in magazine and newspaper articles and documentaries state and world wide. He had charm and charisma in spades and it leapt through the pages of these publications and drew visitors far and wide to the small town with a population of just 11,000 to come and meet him, often driving hours out of their way to do so.

When Dewey sadly passed away in 2006, his obituary ran in over 250 newspapers world wide.

There’s a proliferation of cutesy animal stories on the bookshelves at the moment all clamouring for buyers dollars, but what makes Dewey; The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron stand out from the pack is its honesty and integrity. Myron might not be the greatest writer in the world but you can be absolutely certain that she loved and knew Dewey like no one else and this adoration shines through in every lovingly written word, every tenderly told anecdote.

Needless to say, as a book and cat lover I adored this book. It's a soft, gentle read that at the same time has you eminently hooked to the very last tear inducing word. I am only sorry I can never meet this one of a kind kitty.

And, as it turns out, I am not the only one that thinks this book is something special: the author received a staggering US$1.2 million dollar advance after an intense bidding war for this novel (and we’re in a recession??), it topped the New York Times best seller list and plans are afoot to turn it into a Hollywood blockbuster staring Meryl Streep.

Dewey even has a facebook page!

What a legacy for an abandoned ginger kitty of indeterminate breed to leave behind.

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If you want to meet Dewey, click here for a you tube clip of a documentary on Iowa's most famous cat.

The Invisible Road

Title: The Invisible Road
Author: Elizabeth Knox
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Price: $32.99

She is one of New Zealand’s most imaginative, dramatic and successful authors for adults and after devouring The Invisible Road, the first novel by Elizabeth Knox I have had the pleasure of reading, I can see why.

Set in the early 20th century, in a place called Southland (a New Zealand-like country), the story revolves around “The Place,” a mysterious land that only a select few “The Dreamhunters” can enter.

Our heroine is Laura whose father was the very first dreamhunter. Following in his famous footsteps, Laura collecting dreams from “The Place” and performs them at The Rainbow Opera Theatre to slumbering patrons.

But the dreams are not merely beautiful images to enchant the public, Laura discovers they are messages concerning the nature of humanity. She must figure out what “The Place” is, and what the dreams caught there are trying to reveal.

This stunning novel is a dichotomy of delight and darkness; Knox conjures up stunning imagery as she described “The Place” and the dreams and nightmares captured there.

But this beauty and inventiveness contrasts starkly with the sinister skullduggery of those who are exploting “The Place” and its treasures.

The Invisible Road (which if you can’t tell, I have fallen completely in love with) was originally published as two separate novels, Dreamhunter and Dreamquake. Repackaged as one seamless novel, this fantasy world for grownups will leave you gasping – in anticipation and bewitchment.

Confessions of a Fallen Angel

Title: Confessions of a Fallen Angel
Author: Ronan O’Brien
Publisher: Hodder General
Price: $37.99

Imagine you can see into the future.

Only it’s not the good stuff you can see, like the winning lotto numbers or who you will marry.

It’s the bad stuff; the deaths of the ones you love most.

That’s exactly what happens to Charlie in Confessions of a Fallen Angel by Irish author Ronan O’Brien.

As a ten year old, Charlie undergoes a near death experience playing football and wakes up to find he is cursed with the ability to foresee the deaths of those he loves most.

These visions follow him into adulthood and after some disastrous attempts to thwart destiny, Charlie must choose whether or not to save the little girl he cherishes and stop the visions once and for all.

As a debut novel, O’Brien has done a great job and has produced a memorable and very witty character in Charlie with an original and thought provoking story premise.

But sadly the novel loses its way, becoming entirely predictable and worse still, exaggeratedly mushy and phony during the great love story that develops in adult Charlie’s life. While I am all for romance and warm fuzzies, I found myself skim reading to get through the romantic drivel and for the inevitable visions of the death of his beloved to begin and get the novel back on track.

Thankfully it does.

But Confessions of a Fallen Angel it is still well worth a read, with plenty of crackling wit that shows the huge potential Ronan O’Brien has. With a bit of practice and polish, I think his future novels will garner the same enormous popularity as those greats of the comedic/drama genre, Roddy Doyle and Nick Hornby.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Author: Mary Ann Shaffer
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Price: $35.00

I wouldn’t be surprised if Guernsey Island, off the coast of England, experiences a surge of tourist popularity on the back of the release of this most enchanting little book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer.

With descriptions of stunning, sea swept scenery and old fashioned story telling at its uplifting best, this small sweet story is the best tourism brochure imaginable.

And a charming novel as well!

It follows author Juliette as she shrugs off her World War II persona of Izzy Bickerstaff, who writes lighthearted fluff to brighten the moods of those embroiled in the despair of war and searches for a new novel topic to re-launch her career.

Along the way she befriends the inhabitants of Guernsey Island and learns of their many joys and sorrows as the only part of England invaded by the Nazis in WWII, how books unified and saved them and how one woman taught them all what bravery, love, and cunning really was.

Unusually, this small but delightful novel is a series of letters sent amongst the enigmatic cast of characters. It does take a few pages to get used to this different style but your perseverance will be rewarded.

It’s the type of book that stays with you long after you close the last page. In fact two weeks since I put the book down (after devouring it in one sitting) I still wonder how the characters are fairing and what they might be up to now. And in this way, Mary Ann Shaffer, who sadly passed away before the book was published, has done the incredible; she has not only made you care about her rag tag cast, she has made them feel like life long friends.



One other thing to note about this book. Like a diary, it comes complete with a red ribbon book mark bound into the binding - a genius idea if you are like me and constantly misplacing your book mark as you wander about the house reading.

Oh and yes, I am planning a stop in Guernsey during my OE too!

Worth a Detour

Title: Worth a Detour – New Zealand’s Unusual Attractions and Hidden Places
Author: Peter Janssen
Publisher: Hodder Moa
$29.99

Going for a tiki-tour around the country-side is as kiwi as Watties tomato sauce and mince pies.

Noted New Zealand travel writer Peter Janssen has compiled the perfect book to guide you around the nation’s more obscure landmarks and places of note.

Worth a Detour highlights the unusual delights around the country that you wouldn’t find in your standard tourist manual but are treasure troves for the canny traveler to discover – and avoid the usual tourist hoards.

Each scenic delight includes a brief synopsis, contact and opening hours details (where appropriate) and instructions to find these hidden gems.

The author promises “something for everyone” from the collection of old Morris Minors in Haumoana, Hawkes Bay to the New Zealand Malt Whiskey Company in Oamaru.

Here in the mighty Waikato, Janssen has uncovered some home grown charms that are probably well known and well loved by locals but probably of by the general public.

Highlights include the beautifully isolated and scenic Marokopa waterfalls near Waitomo, the Te Awamutu museum’s True Colours exhibition exalting the town’s most famous sons, Neil and Tim Finn and Tokoroa’s “Talking Poles,” beautiful carvings doted throughout the township.

With the summer holidays coming up, now is the perfect time to grab a copy of Peter Jenssen’s “Worth a Detour” and plan your next trip around Aotearoa to take in some of these hidden jewels off the beaten track.

The Life and Death of Laura Friday and of Pavarotti her parrot.

Remember a while ago I posted about a soon-to-be-released book by a kiwi author with perhaps the most outlandish plot I had ever come across?

Well, I finally got my hands on a copy and here is my review/10 cents worth...

Title: The Life and Death of Laura Friday and of Pavarotti her parrot.
Author: David Murphy
Publisher: Penguin
Price: $26.99

A severed penis, a femme fatale assassin, broken hearts, cannabis and convent girls – first time author, New Zealand’s own David Murphy packs them all into his farcical comedic romp.

And it’s a cracker read.

When the local electrician’s boy bits are cut off in a coffee table accident only to be saved by a selfless transplant offer from his transgender brother, the world media descend on the sleepy fiction New Zealand town of Bullock for the story.

Fitz Kennedy is an aspiring writer and journalist for the Bullock Telegraph who gets the scoop then looses it and his heart to the feisty and determined Frankie, the hot shot journo from London sent to cover the action.

Fitz’s revenge is sweet; he writes a best selling novel, basing his assassin lead character Laura Friday on the bewitchingly beautiful Frankie.

But writing a string of novels based on your broken heart means that Frankie is always with him. So Fritz decides to do something about it.

A former policeman and advertising executive, David Murphy has written a stellar debut “bloke-lit” novel that is packed full of laughs, outlandish situations and even more outlandish characters.

Sure, you have to suspend belief in a Forest Gump kind of way (it’s the first time I have ever heard of a swearing, dope growing, Nun) but who cares when you can be so deliciously and thoroughly entertained that you frequently snort with laughter?

Still Missing

Title: Still Missing – more unsolved missing persons cases in New Zealand
Author: Scott Bainbridge
Publisher: Penguin
Price: $37.00

It’s grim to read in the introduction of “Still Missing” by Scott Bainbridge that New Zealand national police statistics show that 14,000 kiwis go missing every year, whether run aways, misadventure or by foul play.

And grimmer still to learn that around 70 of those missing 14,000 are still unaccounted for one year later.

“Still Missing” is investigator, freelance journalist and PR advisor Bainbridge’s follow up to his successful 2005 book “Without Trace.”

It covers 16 cases of missing persons in New Zealand, from modern day mysteries like the disappearance of Iraene Asher in Piha in 2004 which brought about radical changes to the police 111 system to long forgotten whodunits such as the 83 year old case of Nellie Mouat. Contradictory evidence suggests the missing Nellie was either killed at the hands of her husband or disappeared voluntarily after discovering he was writing bad cheques all over Christchurch.

Some of the cases will be familiar and readers will remember the publicity surrounding them, but this book goes deeper, giving insider information into the case’s background, the searches, suspicions, police theories, photos and other evidence not made public before.

It’s a fascinating read into the saddest of situations which leaves those left behind with the agony of not having a body to bury and grieve over and forever asking questions: where is the missing person? Are they dead? How did they die? Could that person on the street with the same eyes be your missing loved one?

The release of Still Missing ties in nicely not only with New Zealand book month, but also the hugely popular and controversial telly series Sensing Murder which has covered some of the cases in Still Missing.

And hopefully it will jog people’s memories to come forward with any information, no matter how long ago the cases were, to help end the constant questioning of the grieving families.

Can We Help It If We're Fabulous?

Title: Can We Help It If We’re Fabulous?
Author: Peta Mathias
Publisher: Penguin
Price: $35.00

Peta Mathias is better known for culinary creations with hard to pronounce names featuring ingredients from far flung places. But proving she is a woman of formidable talents Peta has downed her pinny and pinot noir to create a fabulous book for women and in praise of women in Can We Help It If We’re Fabulous?

Sharing her own life experiences, Peta covers the spectrum of womanhood from sex, happiness, fashion, travel to beauty, food and men – it’s all there interspread with dos and don’ts necessary for every woman to be happy, independent and successful. It also features interviews with Peta’s friends for their views on the topics, giving the book a nice rounded feel, not just one woman’s spieling on life as the fairer sex.

I got the distinct impression that Peta had an absolute ball writing this book and has “been there, done that…and would do it all again!” if she had the chance. It felt like having a crazy/cool aunty dishing out witty and wise advice while the rest of your family looks down their noses at her sometimes outrageous, always hilarious offerings with her acid dipped tongue. Shrinking violets picking up this delightful book should prepare to have their sensibilities affronted.

I wasn’t expecting to laugh out loud or be so captivated I couldn’t put it down and raced through it in one night. But I loved it so much I firmly believe it’s a must read for the women of New Zealand to learn to love and embrace what being a woman in the 00s is all about.

The ten best days of my life

Title: The Ten Best Days Of My Life
Author: Adena Halpern
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Price: $39.99

Life after death looks pretty good for our 29-year-old heroine in Adena Halpern’s novel “The Ten Best Days of My Life.”

After being hit by a red Mini Cooper while out walking her dog, Alex Dorenfield finds that her life so far has qualified her for admission to seventh heaven – the highest level of heaven.

Or has it?

Just 24 hours after seeing her beloved (deceased) grandparents again, moving into her dream home with a gorgeous single man next door and more designer clothes than she could ever wear in a wardrobe as big as a bedroom, basically everything she has ever wanted, Alex’s guardian angel appears to tell her that, well, maybe there has been a mistake.

Yes, questions are being asked by the higher-ups as to whether Alex actually led a fulfilling life deserving of her spot in seventh heaven.

She is given just two weeks to prove her worth by writing an essay on the ten best days of her life.

Failure will mean an eternity in a lower level of heaven where the men aren’t so cute, the clothes not so trendy and no visits from family.

This debut novel from Marie Claire magazine writer Adena Halpern is pretty light on brain cell challenging content with heavy emphasis on the beauty/fashion/shoes/men/fluff filled world of the spoilt princess Alex. It has moments of sparkling humour and real character growth though that redeems it from becoming just another mawkish chick lit novel.

A frivolous read that would be great for whiling away a rainy weekend, it also inspired me to think about my own version of seventh heaven – an endless supply of books and passion fruit cheesecake sounds pretty heavenly to me.

Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

Title: Where in the world is Osama bin Laden?
Author: Morgan Spurlock
Publisher: Harvill Secker
$37.99

You gotta love Morgan Spurlock.

The man sacrificed his own health on a month long diet of nothing but McDonalds to bring us the documentary Supersize Me.

Having now shed the 11 kgs gained and recovered from the liver dysfunction and depression that resulted from his Mac Attack, Morgan has decided to do the one thing that the American military cannot; find the world’s most wanted man – Osama bin Laden.

The impetuous for travelling to some of the most “hostile” nations on earth is the impending arrival of Morgan’s first baby. Is it safe to bring an infant into today’s world when anti-Muslim and anti-American feeling runs so high and the threat of terrorism invading people’s consciousness like never before?

Morgan decides to find out, starting at the scene of the largest attack on US soil since Pearl Harbour, New York City. Osama isn’t likely to be hiding there (or if he is, he has a very good disguise!) but NYC does have many experts who can give Morgan the knowledge of who Osama is and what they think makes the man tick and why extremist groups the world over have so embraced him.

And so from there to England, a country that for decades lived with IRA terrorist attacks as a part of daily life, France, Egypt, Morocco, two of the most contentious countries in the Middle East Israel and Palestine, Osama’s birth land Saudi Arabia, the first battle ground for the “War on Terror” Afghanistan and the deepest, darkest lawless tribal lands of Pakistan.

The book is a fabulous way to break down the misconceptions and prejudices many westerners hold on to towards the Muslim world. Through Morgan’s experiences we see that fundamentalism is just a tiny proportion of the population, most are the most generous kind-hearted people you could hope to meet. After all, how many westerners do you know that live in such extreme poverty they are one meal away from starvation yet are willing to share their meagre food resources with a complete stranger – a stranger that some in your home land would say was your deadly enemy.

And of course all this serious political and religious stuff is infused with the wonderful dry wit only Morgan Spurlock can bring. And the odd tender, emotional moment too as he thinks of his heavily pregnant wife back home.

Does he answer the question of Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? Well maybe not, but sometimes the journey is more important than the destination and this is certainly true of this book.

This Charming Man

Title: This Charming Man
Author: Marian Keyes
Publisher: Penguin
Price: $38.00

The undisputed queen of chick-lit returns with a queen sized novel.

Marian Keyes new book This Charming Man comes in at a colossal 676 pages and tells the story of four women and the one man they all have lusted for.

Paddy de Courcy is Ireland’s answer to Bill Clinton. Sauve, handsome and devilish he is the toast of Irish politics who captivates every women he sets his eyes on.

And breaks their hearts.

Fashion stylist Lola, hard nosed journalist Grace, home maker Marnie and Paddy’s wife to be Alicia, all bear the scares from loving this very charming man and each of these very different women tell the story from their own perspective, starting with the announcement that Paddy – Ireland’s most eligible bachelor – is to marry.

Yes, it’s a long and at times rambling novel that could have done with a strong editing hand and occasionally it feels like a rehash of ideas from some of her previous novels.

But my biggest criticism would be for the character of Lola. A more irritating figure in literature I am yet to come across. I understand that Marian was trying to make her four characters voices ‘distinct’ but the first 100 pages of Lola’s staccato, incomplete sentences and self pitying madness very nearly had me throw the book against the wall (and being such a chunky novel, you can imagine the dent it would have made and the sizable chunk my landlord would have deducted from my bond.)

But that aside, it is also vintage Marian Keyes.

It’s full of the warmth and humour, love and laughter that we have come to expect from Ireland’s premier women’s author, coupled with a layer of dark undertone that focuses on important modern social issues.

20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth

Title: 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth
Author: Xiaolu Guo
Publisher: Random House
$34.99

20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth. An unusual title for an unusual book.

Xiaolu Guo tells the story of Fenfang, a peasant class girl in China who leaves her potato growing village to move to the bright lights, big city of Beijing in search of fame and fortune as an extra actress.

A disastrous romantic life, interfering “cocks and hens” for neighbours, a continuous diet of instant noodles and jobs with titles like “girl on bridge pushing bike” characterises Fenfang’s life as she struggles to find her way in life and in her nation’s capital. But as frustrating as her career prospects may be, life is infinitely better in Beijing than in her home village which Fenfang is reminded of when she takes a trip home at Chinese New Year.

A short read at just 200 pages long, it is also not one that is likely to linger with you for long. Fenfang, while astute in her observations on life in China, witty and likeable is not, however all that memorable. Written ten years ago but only published now, 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth - despite its unusual, eye-catching title one of those books you will read but instantly forget the moment you return it to your shelf. It is a real shame as Xiaolu Guo is capable of so much more as evidenced in her stunning debut novel Village of Stone.

The Journal of Dora Damage - Belinda Starling

Title: The Journal of Dora Damage
Author: Belinda Starling
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
$41.99

With unscrupulous money lenders baying at the doors and her husband crippled with arthritis, Dora Damage does the unthinkable in 1860s England; she takes over her husband’s book binding business.

Her delicate and attractive designs soon catch the attention of the dashing Sir Jocelyn Knightley who charges Dora with the task of binding his personal books. But what starts out innocently quickly turns to indecent when the books change from medical texts to pornography, shocking the demure Dora who cannot fathom the apparent enjoyment exhibited by the women and men depicted.

That is until she meets Din. He is a handsome Black slave freed from America who begins working in Damages Bookbinders - now flourishing thanks to the lucrative nature of dealing with such insalubrious materials. Dora is drawn towards this dark stranger and discovers a well of lust hidden deep within herself bursting to be released.

This is a gripping book full of intrigue and drama, and of course Victorian porn. The characters and descriptions of London are full and richly detailed – you can almost smell the stench of waste on the streets and hear the rustle of layers of skirts swishing as the women hurry by. And there is action a-plenty for our heroine Dora who is feisty and strong, a woman determined to save her family from despair as they lurch from one calamity to another.

Sadly this dazzling debut novel will be the only book published by Belinda Starling; she died last year - three weeks after securing a publishing deal. She was 34.

Shanghai Tango

Title: Shanghai Tango
Author: Jin Xing
Publisher: Atlantic Books Limited
$37.99


If someone had written a non-fiction novel with the plot line of Shanghai Tango, chances are the outlandish tale would never have been published. But sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and that is definitely the case with this deeply personal memoir by Jin Xing.

A colonel in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and one of the country’s foremost male ballet dancers, Jin Xing became China’s first sex change operation patient and went on to become the Shanghai Ballet Company's prima ballerina.

As a child Jin Xing excelled at dance. Selected at just nine years of age to leave his family and begin his training, his talent and dedication are clearly evident. But Jin has always felt alien in his own body. Drawn to the beauty and strength of the male body, he knows he is different from other boys. With his fine features and delicate frame he also knows he could be a very pretty girl.

But it is not until Jin wins a dancing scholarship to America in his late teens that he discovers that gender reassignment surgery is actually possible. Returning home Jin not only faces a painful and radical transformation but the deeply conservative Communist China authorities.

This book is quite simply, amazing. Jin’s grace, poise and beauty as a ballerina shines through in her personality and writing. Told with searing honest even the hardest heart would fail to be moved by the yearning Jin feels to find his true self and the lengths she went to in order to find herself.

Touch Wood

Title: Touch Wood – Confessions of an Accidental Porn Director
Author: Anonymous
Publisher: Little Brown Book Group Limited
$36.99

In his thirties with a dead music career, what’s an anonymous bloke to do but launch a new career around the one thing he knows best: porn. And thus the book Touch Wood – Confessions of an Accidental Porn Director was born.

With equal parts hilarity and vulgarity, we are treated to the author’s every bumbling step in his fledging adult entertainment career. His idea is to create hard core films that (shock! horror!) actually have plots, characters and dialogue – something completely foreign to the flaccid British porn industry at that time (and let’s face it, largely still is.)

His exploits come thick and fast. From trying to deal with the “talent,” and convincing his mates to lend him their swanky houses for locations to shooting in public places without being caught (because funnily enough, most city councils won’t give you permission to shoot porn at the local river walkway).

All this while trying to keep his live-in girlfriend and vicar father unawares.

It’s not a book for the prudish or diffident and I don’t recommend you lend it to your mother. But once you get over the very liberal use of the language of porn it’s actually an eye-opening look into a business most people know little about. After all, did you know that you can show toes inserted in an anal sex scene but not a whole foot inserted? (Yes, he really did film that!) And did I mention that it’s funny? It is a fabulously laugh out loud read that romps along at a cracking pace and will serve as a nice distraction from study in the build up to exams.

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First published in Nexus Magazine. Reproduced with kind permission.

The Last Lecture

Title: The Last Lecture
Author: Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
Publisher: Hachette Livre Australia
$34.99

In September 2007, Computer Science professor Randy Pausch gave a stirring and emotional last lecture at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. What made it so special was that Randy, at age 47, was not retiring or moving to another university; Randy was dying. This was his last chance to impart his short life’s worth of accumulated knowledge and wisdom to that packed the lecture hall to hear him.

So inspirational, warm and humorous was this one hour lecture that it became a YouTube sensation and Randy was convinced to recreate his slideshow presentation in manuscript form. The result is the uplifting, emotional and thought provoking book “The Last Lecture.”

Randy talks frankly about the cancer which is slowly consuming his body, of all the things he knows he will miss out on, how he will not be there for his young children (all aged under 7) and wife in the future. He teaches the reader of the lessons he has learnt in life that he would like to pass on to his children but which he will be unable to do so. He reveals many personal thoughts and memories to illustrate these lessons.

It would have been easy for Randy to become maudlin in his misfortune at having lived a healthy, active life yet be dying so young. Instead he has created a work that is not only a must-read guide on how to live a great life that will empower yourself and those around you to achieve your dreams but will also serve as a wonderful lasting legacy for his family.