April Reading

 As I've got not chance in hell of finishing another book by the end of April, I may as well get my list of books out for the month. 

Once again, I've read eight books over the month. Some great, some good, some not so good, but mostly, they've been enjoyable., 

So, here we go. 

1)  Theo of Golden by Allen Levi - Audio - 4.5 Stars

This is a glorious book with a hell of a lot of heart, not out of the realm of the Fredrik Backman or Virginia Evans' The Correspondent. 

Set in the American South in a university town, Theo, a mysterious old man comes to live in the town. A local artist displays portraits in a local coffee shop. Theo buys these paintings and donates them to the sitter. The people gifted with their portraits come from across society. Rich, poor, mad, sane, happy, sad, Theo gets to hear their stories and ultimately befriending the town and changing lives. 

My description does not do this justice. This book is a big warm hug - like The Correspondent. The characters are well drawn, Theo's story, which we hear in fragments, is memorable. 

I loved this. 

2) A Great Act of Love by Heather Rose - Paperback - 4.5

Van Diemen's Land, 1839. Widow Caroline Douglas arrives in Hobart, with her ward a young boy called Quinn. Caroline leases an old cottage from Mr. Swanston and it has an abandoned vineyard, but how did she end up in the colony full of convicts and including one’s who have earned their ticket of leave.

Caroline has secrets, and the narrative takes you back to divulge all the things that happened to her prior to arriving in Van Diemen’s Land or as we know it Tasmania.

Heather Rose is a Tasmanian national treasure. This book, historical fiction, looks at an enigmatic woman doing her best in the early days of the colony and a devastating family history that circumstance and good fortune help to bring that family back together. 

Rose's prose is effortless. She's awesome. Hunt her out. 

3) When the Red Leaves Fall by Alli Parker - Paper - 3 Stars

This was our April book group book. What looked like an interesting premise turned out to be a bit of a flop. 

Emmy Darling has a secret. She has a few. Her lemon meringue pie is a recipe from a women's magazine, she's always wanted to be a playwright, and the best parts of her husband Sebastian's plays are the scenes she's written during edits. But when charismatic theatre impresario and leading lady, Virginia van Belle, insists Emmy write about her wartime experiences as the lead play in her 1957 season, Emmy is faced with every writer's dilemma.

Because Emmy's biggest secret is that her name is actually Emiko Tanaka. She and her Japanese-Australian family were arrested, brutally split up and held in internment camps by the Australian government after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. And it's this secret that Virginia wants to bring to the masses.

This could have been a lot better if it concentrated on the Japanese/Australian experience rather than Emmy's writing career. I found the whole novel incredible ham fisted. Never to mind, you can't win them all. 

4) State of Wonder by Ann Patchett - Audio - 4 Stars

I know of the anecdotal story around this book - Elizabeth Gilbert had the idea for this book, the characters, the premise, the location - she worked on it for years - then gave it up. Ann Patchett came up with exactly the same book - and according to Gilbert, wrote a far better novel. 

This story of a researcher going down the Amazon in search of answers around the death of a colleague is great. Patchett does a fantastic job of creating the look and feel of the jungle, the river and the predators, wild and human. The audio book had Hope Davis reading this gem of a book. It's worth a look. 

5) A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne - Audio - 5 Stars

I'm a new convert to John Boyne. I've heard there's been some controversies around the author, which I'm tuning out. Boyne wrote The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. This book has a small historical element to it. 

Maurice Swift is an aspiring novelist struggling to come up with the story that will make his name, and he doesn't care where that story comes from. Even if he has to beg, borrow, steal or worse, he will make it to the top. Whatever the cost...

Maurice is evil. He's amazing. Even better, the audiobook really brought this to life. I loved this - and I'm keen to check out more of Boyne's work.

6) Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth - Paper - 3.5 Stars

Local author, Sally Hepworth, brings on this tight thriller based on three women who met when they were in foster care. Their batty, vicious foster mother has left them all traumatised. Years later, when a body is found under the house where they used to live, the girls are forced to go back to Port Agatha and face their demons. 

As thrillers go, this is very readable, tightly plotted and has so many spins and turns. However, this isn't really my genre and I found some of the writing lacking. As a standalone quick read, it's great. It's getting passed to my mother this weekend. Recommended easy reading. 

7) The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood - Audio - 4 stars

This isn't my favourite Atwood, but she's still brilliant. Her mind thrills me. This dystopian novel set in the near future gives an alternative America - and it's very good. 

"Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around—and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in . . . for six months out of the year. On alternating months, residents of Consilience must leave their homes and function as inmates in the Positron prison system. Once their month of service in the prison is completed, they can return to their "civilian" homes. 

At first, this doesn't seem like too much of a sacrifice to make in order to have a roof over one's head and food to eat. But when Charmaine becomes romantically involved with the man who lives in their house during the months when she and Stan are in the prison, a series of troubling events unfolds, putting Stan's life in danger. With each passing day, Positron looks less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled."

Atwood is always fun and thought provoking. Though not her best novel, it's very thought-provoking and entertaining. 

8) The Stranger by Albert Camus - Kindle - 4.5 Stars

Oh my! This small novel - all of 120 pages - was read before seeing the new Francois Odon film in the cinema. I read it in English, but there is a part of me that wants to read it in the original French. Because I'm like that. 

There is a reason why this is a classic. 

First published in 1946, this is the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed the nakedness of man faced with the absurd.

Absurd? Nihilistic? A document showing the internal workings of an autistic person who successfully navigates society for the most part. 

You can read it in one sitting. Just like his other short novel about a pandemic, also set in Algiers, Camus is incredible. I'll be thinking about this - and the film - for a long time to come. 

Today's song: