Luvvie's formidable fifty for 2013

Number 1

Right this year has surely got to be better than 2012. I've knocked over my first book already. It was Who I am by Pete Townshend. I really enjoyed it. Meaty, Beaty, big and bouncy was my first LP and I thought The Who were pretty fantastic when I was oh...let's say 13 or 14. I guess you could call this a warts and all autobiography. It covers a lot of territory. Pete doesn't try to gild the lily too much. At times he does seem rather self-obsessed but at the same time he acknowledges that. He also reveals an almost manic capacity for working on many enterprises simultaneously. Read it if you would like an overview of this important period in popular music and who knew who, in the biblical and other senses.

Number 2

I couldn't resist reading this. For a start it had "Dunbar" in the title which was the name of our holiday house for many years. And secondly it got a reasonably good review in the paper a couple of weeks back and sounded like my cup of tea - history with a bit of family history thrown in. I've never read Corris before and this is the latest in a long series of stories about PI Cliff Hardy. But I don't think you need to have read any of the others beforehand. I like Corris' easy style and enjoyed reading a tale set in familiar territory (Sydney, Newcastle etc) and the laconic humour. It's a swift read - not even 250 pages....I reckon you could knock it off in a day easily. Modern crime fiction.

Good luck with your challenge and happy reading :-)

I found you! Looks like you're off to a good start...

Number 3

This is one of those books you feel compelled to read as a survivor. Not that I was anywhere within cooee of these fires...I was 1,000 miles away but still...bushfires are strong in the consciousness of Australians. I grew up in Canberra and had holidays in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney where the threat of bushfires was very real during summer. We live at the edge of the bush of Mt Coot-tha in Brisbane. I am perhaps foolishly consoled by the fact/urban myth??? that fire tends to race up mountains and we're at the bottom of the mountain. Anyway the footage of the Kinglake disaster in Victoria is still fresh enough in my memory to want more answers to what seemed to be the mother of all fires. It's a good read and goes at a cracking pace, with the local copper introduced as the central character going about his daily business as normally as he can given the circumstances. The CFA or Country Fire Authority play their role too. But of course the fire itself is the biggest character of all...and indeed one old timer is quoted as calling it "The Boss". I learned so much from this book - about the history of fires, the pyschology or sociology of how people behave in disasters, about fire creating its own weather, about the causes and about how ultimately, your survival is really as much about luck as about you looking after yourself and not relying on a fire truck to come and save you and yours. Read it. You won't be disappointed. I might add that while I write this, it is now teeming and we all look like being flooded....again.

Number 4

Ouf - I've done it! When I sat down on Saturday at the beginning of my long weekend, I received an email telling me that I had to return this book today. I tried to renew the loan but to no avail. I simply had to read it this weekend. So ...I did! Which is really the best way to read a book I think....all in one go. Only this was a bit of a struggle. Not, I hasten to add, because it is a bad book. It's just that the subject matter is a bit wearing to be reading constantly. This is a psychological drama of stupendous proportions set in the 1930s/40s in Sydney, Australia. Laura and Clare find themselves entrapped in the snare of the Bluebeard like Felix, Laura's husband. Will they ever find the courage to leave him and get away? This is not an action packed book but it is a book of the interior i.e. people's innermost thoughts. And the power of one personality over another. Overall I liked Harrower's writing and ideas enormously. There were some passages where I wanted to grab a fellow reader and say "Oy? Does this make sense to you? I don't get this particular sentence." but apart from that, it was a good read. I particularly liked the descriptions of travelling on the ferry and coming in to Circular Quay. Harrower describes all the smells and sounds and feelings of being on board and alighting. It quite makes me wish to go back to Sydney and catch a ferry again. Here is an example of her writing. The scene is a shorthand class at the secretarial school Clare has just joined at the age of 14 - Jean Robertson is the teacher. "Jean Robertson crossed her legs. The girls waited, agog. To be given secrets, the key to the code, by a grown-up not related, was - 'How do you think people make friends? How do you think adults get to know each other?' They had no idea. They appeared to struggle to work it out. They still had no idea. They hardly really even yet expected to turn into adults. They were born children. They had begun to see they might have to turn into taller, older children, but when they warned about changing into adults it was so far-fetched they had to giggle and giggle. Because they knew that just as they had (luckily) been born young and children, grown-us came into being old and made that way.' This book was originally published in 1966 but has been republished by Text Classics with an introduction by Joan London. Good stuff.

Number 5

Not so impressed with this one of Pym's work. Just didn't laugh the way I usually do and didn't really care for the characters. I've read better.

The spinning heart by Donal Ryan

I really liked this little book (156 pages). Set in contemporary rural Ireland, each chapter is an interior monologue. Some of it's confronting, some of its funny, much of it is tragic. I love books that capture how people talk and think. This is a little beauty.

This was longlisted for the Booker Prize.

Number 7

Nikki Stern Not your Ordinary Housewife

Right. Well. This book is not for the faint-hearted, squeamish or children. It certainly is a page turner. I think this is meant to be a real story. If it is, I feel very, very naive (how do you spell that word???). Anyway it got me wondering if I ever worked with the sound recordist at the ABC - the one that used to work with Nikki in Canberra. Hmmm. If you want 50 Shades of Grey on acid, this is probably it. You can knock it over in a day easily. But be prepared to feel a bit bleagh afterwards. And have a friend read it so you can both go - "You know that bit on page eleventy seven when he...you know...do you think that really happened? And why on earth did she stay with him??????" It is without a doubt a cornucopia for amateur and professional psychologists. Or should that be pornupopia?

Number 8

Kathy Lette Puberty Blues

Yes, it's been the week of sex or smutty books in the Daw household. I finally watched the new series of Puberty Blues on DVD from the library. Hooray!! It is just the best television I have watched in ages....sooooo good (said in suitably teenage drawl). So I had to read the book. It's a snap - you can read it in two hours. It's only 100 pages or so. I liked the TV series better I have to say. Powerful stuff.

The book is written for adults but has become over the years a bit of a - what would you call it ? - book to hide under the covers for Australian teenagers wanting to find out about "it". It exposes all the hideousness of sexual initiation, exploration and identity in puberty. Poor things - it's a blessed relief to be a boring old fart. Except I do miss the wallpaper and shag pile carpet from the 70s.

Number 9

Library Services for Children and Young Adults: Challenges and Opportunities in the Digital Age by Carolynn Rankin

I can't imagine that this book would be of interest to anyone other than library practitioners or maybe those interested in literacy issues. It is edited by two cheerful academics from Leeds Metropolitan University and is a volume of some 250 odd pages. It is published by Facet Publishing which is the publishing arm of CILIP or the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and I imagine may end up being a prescribed or recommended text for some post-graduate courses in the field. A copy was made available to me for review purposes for the Australian Library Journal. I will be writing a more fulsome review for that publication. As a new practitioner in this area, I devoured it gratefully.

Number 10

All that I am by Anna Funder

Didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped. A chore to read really.

Number 11

One on One by by Craig Brown

I had forgotten I'd read this which doesn't bode well does it? But don't be put off by that. This was recommended to me by my father and step-mother. My step-mother was astonished I hadn't heard of it which stung me to the quick and made me order it on from the library quick smart. Apparently it was a real hit in the UK. I like the concept. 1,000 word articles about famous people who are all linked together in some way. Six degrees and all that. So - what was it like? Very readable and amusing. I reckon it would make for fine discussion at a book club.

Number 12

Foal's Bread by Gillian Mears

We read this for bookclub. I had to read it in snatches as others wanted to read it before I finished it. Which is a shame because it interrupted the flow of the book. I didn't like all of it but some of the writing was absolutely beautiful.

Number 13

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

This is a difficult book to review. Rowling writes beautifully. It's easy to read and very clever. What's it about? Small town politics turned really nasty. The structure of the novel and the sense of impending doom reminded me of that fabulous film from the early 90s called Short Cuts. Indeed I note on IMDB that the BBC is making it into a TV Series. It should be a good one. Perhaps something akin to the fabulous Australian series - The Slap - based on the book of the same name.

Number 14

Housesitting in Australia by Nikki Ah Wong

This is a self-published volume and could have done with a bit of editing. It's a fascinating subject but I think would have worked just as well, if not better, as a website.

Number 15

Where'd you go Bernadette by Maria Semple

I enjoyed this. It's not life changing or earth shattering. But it is fun and I did laugh out loud several times. And towards the end I really really liked the writing. Mad characters. But good characters if you know what I mean. For a while there I thought it was too mad and a bit difficult to suspend disbelief but then it worked a treat. Could make a brilliant movie I reckon with the right casting.

Number 16

Mateship with Birds by Carrie Tiffany

I'm afraid I must be a cultural cretin because I didn't enjoy this book at all. I was really hoping to do so. I just ended up feeling that the characters had lived too long in the country and too closely with animals for their own mental health. Very dark. Too dark...even for me. But I'm happy to discuss and be enlightened. Let me know what you thought. I liked the cover design. And I know that sounds facile but I do like it. At least it's one good thing I can say about the book. That and that's it 200 pages.(

Number 17

Boy Lost by Kristina Olsson

Great writing. Favourite quote on page 159 " And how many children do you have? The betrayal of numbers, whatever her reply." Heartbreaking stuff.

Number 18

Eugenia by Mark Tedeschi

Hmmm....I liked the first half...not so much the second half. But I read all of it. The subject is fascinating. Of course it's probably predictable and I will annoy Mark Tedeschi no end by remarking "I wonder what the book would have been like if a woman had written it." But truly - I can't help myself but wonder. Good on him for writing it though and bringing the case to our attention. I think the book does have some salient points e.g. the role of the media in reporting the criminal justice system and the effect reporting may have on juries; the incredibly long time it takes to "process" criminal justice; the changes in the administration of the law - by the police and the courts. There was much stuff of which I was shamefully ignorant e.g. that the trial process is meant to be fair e.g. the barristers are meant to be evenly matched in terms of experience/calibre...I didn't know that.

Some people won't be interested in the finer points of law. There was a bit of repetition - particularly in one chapter - which drove me to distraction. Much of it is conjecture - which frustrated me a bit. But that's the problem with history isn't it? We never really know what the truth is...and no doubt that is because truth is always debatable. I will be forever haunted by that photo on the front cover though. Such pathos in that expression.

Number 19

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson

This book really wasn't for me. I read it because my partner raves about Neuromancer so I wanted to have read some William Gibson. And we were meant to be reading it for the ABC Book Club show - only I was too slow. At first I found it very hard to read but then it got easier. I've given it 3 stars because I don't think Gibson is a bad writer - just cryptic. He certainly created a world for me but I just wasn't that interested in it. It ends up being a kind of mystery - once again not usually my favourite genre. What did I get out of it? I liked the idea of the mirror world. What would we call Australia though? The lake world? The jet lag idea was cute but overplayed. Oh and I now want to see the Russian metro. That's about it really.

Number 20

High Sobriety by Jill Stark

Wonderful. Brave. Witty. Important. Nuff said.

Wow you've been a busy lady! I see a few here to add to my wishlist.

And on my to do list this week is sending some owls home!

Helloooo Paperback Pirate. Lovely to hear from you. Yes, I've been a bit more assiduous about staying on top of my reading....though I'm still 3 books behind target. I may have to choose slimmer volumes! Looking forward to seeing the owls again....it's a bit miserable here weather wise.

Number 21

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

This has been well reviewed for a while and was on my mental To Read list. It moved up a notch when a customer returned it last month. I asked her how she found it and she said "Great!" and that she was rather sorry to put it down and leave that world. What a recommendation!

So I ordered it and didn't really mean to read it this quickly as I had already started two other books.

But it engaged me from the get-go and I found it pretty hard to put down.

It's about an academic, Don, who suffers from Aspergers. Well he doesn't seem to really suffer - in fact, he seems to have it all under control. Don decides he'd like to find a wife - I can't quite remember why - but he embarks on a rather amusing questionnaire process in order to find his ideal partner. He has a "friend" called Gene who is of rather dubious character, being on a quest to shag a woman from every country in the world. Gene is married with 2 kids and a wonderful forbearing wife who gives Don advice on matters of the heart from time to time. Enter Rosie - recommended by Gene, not because she ticks all the boxes - far from it in fact - but because you've got to think outside the square - or some such. Rosie is on a quest to find her "real" father and Don is just the guy to help her out, being a geneticist. It's an unlikely match but makes for a fun ride and I suspect will probably make a great movie.

The first two thirds were preferable to the last two thirds as all the loose ends were being rapidly tied up and I confess to getting a bit lost and not really understanding the ending.

I think this would make a great book club book too.

Number 22

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan

This is like an elegant puzzle. Some might argue that it is a perfect conceit. Set in the early 70s, it deals with a young woman tapped on the shoulder for recruitment into MI5. And then the trouble she gets into. As you do when you're a beautiful young woman working for the spooks.

I like McEwan's writing. Some younger folk might find the style too smacking of reminiscences though and tire of the 70s references.

My suspension of disbelief was stretched a bit with the 21-year old protagonist, Serena, having an affair with a 54-year old lecturer. However vigorous debate at bookclub sided in her favour - citing "that was acceptable in those days".

Much of the time I was impatient with Serena and didn't really like her much. But that didn't diminish my enjoyment of finding out how it was all going to end.

I'm almost tempted to re-read it as I reflect on how amusing it might be to see "in-jokes" after the big reveal.

This book won't change your life but it will make you think a bit. Particularly about the parts we play as writers and readers.

Number 23

Don't get too comfortable by David Rakoff

I can't remember how on earth I found this book or who recommended it to me. Anyway, I'm glad I found it. And I'm very sad to have just discovered that the author died last year.

He writes beautifully. Laugh out loud funny. Biting wit.

So smart.

Fabulous stuff.

I'm ordering more from my local library.

What is it? Oh - essays on the problems of the First World. Musings. Ruminating. But intelligently so.

Number 24

The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne

How can you resist a book with a title like this, I ask you?

Well to a newbie librarian, it was a dead cert for borrowing.

Added bonus was that the librarian in question was working at Salt Lake City Library - lucky guy.

Or is he?

My public library seems a walk in the park after reading some of his stories - but I digress.

It is true that just about every chapter starts with an anecdote about working in Salt Lake City Public Library.

But this book is so much more than that.

I can so see this book as a movie and they'd better cast it properly or I'll be cross.

By and large this book is funny, funny, funny. But as is usually the case with humour, it is set against some tough stuff, which makes the humour more exquisite.

Yes, I did cry a couple of times. But the second time was tears of laughter.

Be prepared to fall in love with this book and its author.

Number 25

No fond return of love by Barbara Pym

I didn't enjoy this book as much as others of Pym's. I found it almost too weird and far fetched. Not that one wants to take Pym's books seriously; one delights in their nonsense. Only this was a bit too much really. I liked the minor characters more than the major characters so maybe that had something to do with it. One of the best opening lines in a novel though I must say.

Number 26

We are not the same anymore by Chris Somerville

I'm not a big short story reader but I liked this book. One of the stories even made me gasp out loud. That's pretty neat to be able to do that. So yes, I'm with the critics, Chris Somerville is a good writer and I'll be looking out for more of his stuff.

Number 27

The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West

I should probably have read this a long time ago. But life is full of unhelpful "shoulds" that don't get you anywhere. I actually think it is better that I read it now - me being ancient and all. The Edwardians is about young Sebastian and Viola, brother and sister, and more importantly part of the aristocracy of England.

It's set in the early 1900s - before WW1. There's much description of house parties, the social scene in London and it ends with the coronation of George V. And really it does seem terribly antiquated and far removed from reality when you read it. A kind of snapshot into another era.

Except I was reading it just as we were waiting for the Windsors to announce the birth of the third in line to the throne, so it added a certain poignancy to the reading. Or vice versa - I'm not sure which.

One is much struck with how much things have changed. And how much they haven't. By the by, I also saw "Before Midnight" yesterday which for the large part was excruciatingly annoying but had a few good moments. One of them was when an elderly gent intoned something along the lines of "Every generation thinks the end of the world is nigh or going to pot or some such". And certainly that is the case with The Edwardians. The older generation is deeply concerned at the loss of the perceived values of the younger set - the rise of the middle classes and the decay of the upper classes. As we sat on our sofas in our lounge rooms waiting for the announcement of the birth we too were tut tutting that the media had ruined everything and how ridiculous it all was - and yet we watched....

Most of the story is taken up with Sebastian's internal struggle to accept his fate as part of the peerage. He chafes at the "prison" that his accident of birth has dictated. He becomes embroiled in a series of unsuitable attachments whilst relishing his role as lord of the estate, tramping through the grounds with his faithful hounds. Will he find a good match? Will he settle down?

I found the last chapter particularly riveting and it concluded very satisfactorily - as often happens in life - with the line "The coach came to a standstill in Grosvenor Square" just as my very own train came to a standstill at Roma Street Station after my holiday in Woodgate. Back to reality and work on Tuesday!

Number 28

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris

This book has been longlisted for the Booker Prize. In my usual fashion I fantasize that I can read the longlist (13 books) before the shortlist announcement is made on 10 September and guess which ones will make it to the shortlist. So far I have managed to borrow or buy 5 of the books: Five Star Billionaire, TransAtlantic, The Spinning Heart and The Testament of Mary.

Thankfully many of them are quite slim volumes.

I read The Marrying of Chani Kaufman on my Kobo. If I had bought the paperback it runs to 350 pages or 36 chapters. The only really frustrating thing about the Kobo version is that the Glossary is not part of the clickable dictionary but is a separate chapter at the end of the text. This does not make checking definitions of the many Jewish words and phrases easy and they are liberally sprinkled throughout.

The book is essentially about two Ultra Orthodox Jewish families and is set in two time periods - contemporary London (or near to contemporary as in 2008) and a generation earlier, much of which is set in Jerusalem. We follow the stories of about-to-be-wed Chani and her betrothed, Baruch as well as Chani's marriage guidance counsellor (for want of a better phrase) Rivka, the wife of the Rabbi and her son Avromi.

At times I became impatient with the writing which tended to be melodramatic and some of the Neighbours or TV-soap-like scenes which stretched credulity.

But by the end I had sympathy for the characters and was genuinely interested in how things turned out.

This novel introduced me to a world of which I was deeply ignorant and so for that I am grateful. But I did keep checking my progress on the Kobo which is never a very good sign for being absorbed in the story.

Number 29

The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin

I just finished reading this yesterday. I really enjoyed Brooklyn but couldn't quite get into this. There's a bit of me that's wondering what the point of it all is. I guess that yes, one could wonder "Why don't we have a Testament of Mary, when we have one from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...?" So yes, it's an interesting idea that maybe we don't have one because she wouldn't agree with them and say what they wanted her to say. If she had been allowed to speak, what would she have said? The writing on Page 74 was very moving. But...and yet I say but.

The best thing I think Toibin captured was that in the midst of something horrific, ordinary things are going on or, what you remember about a particularly horrific event is weird stuff - like the man with the bird in the cage and the bag of rabbits - because to focus on the horrific thing would send you over the edge, I suppose.

I've read two books about religion so far for the Booker - this and The Marrying of Chani Kaufman. Now I'm reading The Spinning Heart. I haven't found my shortlisted book yet.

Number 30

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Iceland. What do you think of when you hear the word Iceland? I think bleak, cold and does anyone live there - really? This book, based on a true story, is about the last person, a woman, executed in Iceland in 1830 for a murder committed in 1828. The book is endorsed on the front cover of my edition by Geraldine Brooks, who the author, Hannah Kent, acknowledges for her guidance. It's a great story - particularly for those like me with a fondness for history and a fascination for that most slippery of concepts - the truth. Kent give us some very beautiful haunting words which provoke deep thought about relationships and how society deals with crime and punishment. I look forward to reading more from this new author.

Number 31



Transatlantic by Colum McCann

4 stars

My first McCann. Stayed with me for days. Always a good sign.

Number 32



Stuff: compulsive hoarding and the meaning of things by Randy O. Frost

4 stars

Easy to read. Amazing stories. Very impressed with author's compassion for his subjects.

Number 33



Red by Libby Gleeson

3 stars

It was okay. I'm not really sure who it's for. It seems to be halfway between two audiences. The tweens and the teens I'm thinking. Not long enough or meaty enough for teens I suspect.

Number 34



We need new names by NoViolet Bulawayo

3 stars

This was one of those books that I struggled to finish. Not necessarily because it was a bad book but just because it was so strange for me. But on reflection I think the author was trying to convey the strangeness of moving to another land, another country, another language. Some of the writing is beautiful. For me, Chapter 16 was the best and contained powerful writing....e.g. "And when these words tumbled from their lips like crushed bricks..." or "...when we spoke our voices came out bruised. When we talked, our tongues thrashed madly in our mouths, staggered like drunken men.....When we were alone we summoned the horses of our languages and mounted their backs and galloped past skyscrapers." Wonderful stuff.

Number 35



The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

There's a bit of me that wants to give this book 5 stars actually....5 stars because I knew it wasn't going to end well but I couldn't or didn't guess how and that has to be worth 5 stars yes? But there's a bit of me that holds back because I think some people will just groan as they read this book and be frustrated with the central character and her self absorption cum low self esteem...that they will want to figuratively throttle her so they can get a good night's sleep and not have to worry about her anymore. I reckon this book would be great for book club. Discussion could go in any direction....what is love? What is a life well lived? What is art? What should it be? How should we behave? What is reality? On and on....oh heck, I'll go back and give it five stars.

Number 36



My James: The Heartrending Story of James Bulger by His Father by Ralph Bulger

4.5 stars

Yes, yes, I can hear you saying "Why on earth would you want to read this?" And no, it's not great writing in the literary stakes but that's not why you read this sort of book is it? You read it because you couldn't bear to read about it at the time in the papers because your children were the same age as James and it was too much to bear...even though it didn't happen to you. So, out of a kind of misplaced Catholic guilt, you think the least you can do is be brave enough to read the book twenty years later and try to discover why two ten year olds might do what they did and how a parent survives this kind of tragedy. Ralph Bulger does not pretend to have the answers. He does not apologise for his beliefs. I found it gripping reading on many levels - and learned much about the lack of support for victims of crime and the impenetrable "wisdom" of the justice system. Not to mention the stoicism and tremendous strength of character of the author and his family. If you have ever lost a child - even if only for a few seconds or a few minutes - you cannot help but feel for James' family and wish with all your heart that this had never happened.

Number 37



The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan

5 stars

I loved this little book. It looks like poetry when you first open it and I was a bit put off. I don't really do poetry. But it's not poetry. Well maybe it is. Anyway, I could read it. It's about a girl from Poland who comes to live in Coventry. She and her Mum have come to find her Dad. She's learning to live in a new culture as well as the foreign territory of adolescence. Will she drown or swim like a fish? There are beautiful phrases or thoughts captured in this book. I liked the description of her frustration at being dragged around by her mother "like a human dictionary". Or..."I do not want to have dreams like this lying next to my mother". I love it when a writer captures our innermost thoughts or articulates what we mere mortals can't articulate. Great stuff.

Number 38



Under the Wire: Witnessing War with Marie Colvin by Paul Conroy

3 stars

This is a difficult one to review. Mostly because you feel a cow for giving a book like this three stars when the author risked life and limb to write it. But there were a few too many tunnels and bombs and rockets for me - as indeed for the poor author I imagine. I was left feeling both gobsmacked and unsatisfied at the same time. Gobsmacked that someone would willingly do this for a living. Unsatisfied at the same time because I still wonder why. I wanted to know more about what drives people in this most dangerous of professions. Maybe I will just never "get it". But I'm still glad I read it.

Number 39



Unexploded by Alison MacLeod

4 stars

This was one of the books long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. I hadn't read Alison Macleod before this. She has also written The Wave Theory of Angels and The Changeling. I do remember hearing some murmuring about The Wave Theory, so I might look that one up now. The Man Booker website tell us that Macleod was "raised in Canada and has lived in England since 1987". She lives in Brighton, where this latest novel is set, but in a different time period - May 1940 to be exact. England is at war with Germany and Geoffrey, Evelyn and their young son Philip explore what it means to live in fear; how relationships change and the choices you make in those conditions. Oh and it's about art. What does art make of all this or what do we make of art?

So it is above all a thoughtful book. It is not a gazillion pages long, thank heavens. Some of the writing is great. Evelyn, in the madness of war, is seeking consolation or answers in literature - namely Virginia Woolf. She attends a lecture given by Woolf and is fascinated by the author's appearance, describing her ink-stained lips as "stained as if she'd been feeding herself on words." I liked the intersection of war-time propaganda phrases cut into the story like subconscious thoughts e.g. "She strode higher, towards the course, watching her step a a matter of habit, on the lookout for the wild orchids and moon daisies of late summer, but only the rangy husks of toadflax clung on. (Is your journey really necessary? Think before travelling!) It is a somewhat different take on the Jewish question than many I have read to date - a complex weaving of the clash of typically restrained English personalities and rigid class structures in a resort town "closed for the war", uncomfortably hosting a labour camp which houses "foreign" "degenerates".

Yes, Unexploded is a tragedy. And I think it is cleverly crafted, as tragedy often is, keeping you on the edge of your seat - knowing it is not going to end well, but not quite sure how.

Number 40



Worse things happen at sea by William McInnes and Sarah Watt

4 stars

Just imagine two of the loveliest people in the world writing you letters. They're not pretentious, they're not goody two-shoes, they have lovely self-deprecatory humour...above all they're normal. Gentle, whimsical, laugh out loud funny sometimes and poignant....all wrapped up in love for humanity and our world - suburban though it may be at times.

Number 41



Almost English by Charlotte Mendeson

3 stars

I'm in two minds about this book. It wasn't earth shattering but it wasn't dreadful either. I think it might have been too long and a bit too overdone. Both mother and daughter characters were excruciating in their ineptitude and the ending defied belief really. It was a kind of study of English constipation really. Quite funny in parts but mostly excruciating to watch the characters' inner self torture. Maybe too close to the bone for me?

Number 42



Maggie and Me by Damian Barr

5 stars

Loved this book. It was an easy read - as in I carried it in my handbag and wanted to be reading it all the time - but not an easy read in many ways because of the content. This is a memoir of growing up gay in Scotland. Give me a Scottish accent and I'm like putty in your hand. Hopeless. So I loved reading the lingo "Puir wee bairn" and "How are you hen?" et al - but of course it's so much more than that. There's political history of which I was ashamedly ignorant but am now a bit more informed. There was the gift of remembering silly stuff from school - waiting for the tv set to warm up before we watched a tv program - the small white dot coming to life. And beautiful writing to make your heart break. I will now follow Damian Barr on Twitter. End of story. Or not, as the case mebbe.

Number 43



The first phone call from heaven by Mitch Albom

2 stars

Sorry. Call me cynical but I just didn't go for this. I have read The Five People You meet in Heaven which I remember quite liking....but this was a a bit of a chore.

Number 44



Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

4 stars

I loved this book. I was not conscious of reading a YA book at all. It was authentic without being cringe-worthy. Lovely without being soppy. Good stuff.

Number 45



Village Christmas by Miss Read

3 stars

I am not sure how I came by this book. Was it a stocking gift? Did I buy it myself because it was cheap? Had I read it before? Well if I had, I couldn't remember it. Sweet and very English. Christmas fare.

Number 46



Who was changed and who was dead by Barbara Comyns

3 stars

Hmmm... a weird little book...sometimes I thought I was reading Lewis Carroll...sometimes I thought I was reading Camus' The Plague. The grandmother was truly scary.

Number 47



Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

4 stars

How do you review a book like this? It's absolutely visceral. Tiny but packs a punch.

Number 48



A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym

4 stars

Not one of her best in my opinion but not bad either.

Number 49



Tortoise by candelight by Nina Bawden

I liked it. A bit unusual but not too unusual. Easy to read.

Number 50



The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

5 stars

Ooh....I've got a new favourite author. What a delight. Read my review here...http://completebooker.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/alexs-review-of-penelope-fitzgeralds.html

So if I had to choose my favourite five from the year they would be as follows:

Maggie and Me by Danny Barr

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

Kinglake 350 by Adrian Hyland

The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan

High Sobriety: my year without booze by Jill Stark

Goodreads tells me that I've read 13458 pages and that the books I read were published from 1930-2013, with the majority being published this year.

You made it to 50!!! Congratulations and Happy New Year!