Behind the Sun by Deborah Challinor

Deborah Challinor is a well known New Zealand author and historian.  She has written both fiction and non-fiction books, notably historical fiction and history books about Vietnam soldiers and the consequences of their service in the Vietnam conflict on the health of them and their subsequent children.

 

Currently Deborah Challinor is living in New South Wales Australia, writing a series of books based on four girls transported to Sydney Australia as convicts from London.  Behind the Sun is the first of that series.  You can read more about Deborah and her books at her website.

 

Here is the cover and blurb for Behind the Sun:

 

This book took a little bit to get started.  For some characters, we meet them before they end up in the Newgate Gaol and find out how they got there; and for some other characters, we meet them once they arrive in Newgate.  The conditions are vividly described and certainly leave a lot to be desired as far a living conditions go.

In these horrid conditions four young women bond, Friday (a prostitute), Sarah (a jeweller turned thief), Harriet (a seamstress that made a poor choice in a weak moment) and Rachel (a young naïve country girl) and work together to make the most of their meagre opportunities.  All four are sentenced to transportation to Sydney, Australia.

The book follows them and some other Newgate prisoners through the voyage to Australia, bringing in more characters from another gaol, the ship's crew and the first class passengers.  While the ship sails a major event happens that changes one girl's life forever, but also will continue to have ramifications for the other three girls long into the future. 

The story continues through to their first seven or eight months in the new colony.  Some of the women are assigned work placements and leave the Parramatta Factory (the gaol), while others stay for various reasons.  But tragedy will take place for one of the women, and the other three will seek revenge.  Unfortunately, they are not the only ones who know what they did.

I originally was purchasing the second book, Girl of Shadows, but the Whitcoulls sales lady pointed out that it was part of a series.  I have always quite enjoyed Deborah Challinor's books, so it wasn't hard for the sales lady to twist my arm to buy both books.

The first book did take a while to set up the characters, but as the book goes on it brings in more central and secondary characters to develop the story with the main plot and other sub plots.  Challinor is descriptive of Newgate, the voyage on the Isla, and what Sydney and the Parramatta Factory were like.  I found these descriptions added to the feel of the time and the events.

I came across this meme today, and it really does describe how I feel about the characters of a book.  As the story progressed, I became invested what would happen to Friday, Sarah, Harriet and Rachel, celebrating their successes and lamenting their failures.  This attachment deepened as I read the second book of the series.

Once I was engaged in the book plot and the characters, there was no putting this book down, and then I was quickly on to reading the second book, Girl of Shadows.  Read that review soon.

Dinner at Rose's by Danielle Hawkins

Dinner at Rose's was the debut novel by Otorohanga based Kiwi author Danielle Hawkins in 2012.  I previously reviewed Chocolate Cake for Breakfast, the first book by Hawkins I read, but this book I bought because I loved Chocolate Cake for Breakfast and I wanted more of Hawkins down to earth Kiwi chick lit.

 

This is the bio for Danielle Hawkins inside Dinner at Rose's:

 

Danielle Hawkins grew up on a sheep and beef farm near Otorohanga in New Zealand, and later studied veterinary science.  After graduating as a vet she met a very nice dairy farmer who became her husband.  Danielle spends two days a wee working as a large animal vet and the other five as housekeeper, cook and general dogsbody.  She has two small children - and when she is very lucky they nap simultaneously and she can write.

 

It is rather an amusing bio and explains how when she wrote Chocolate Cake for Breakfast she was able to describe the vet practices and calving process so well - so well, one wonders if some, if not all, of those vet experiences were ones Hawkins herself has experienced as a vet/farmer.  It also goes a long way to explain the empathy her books have with the rural lifestyle and work life, as the characters in Dinner at Rose's are again based in a rural town and on farms and lifestyle blocks.

 

So here are the cover and blurb bits for you to admire:

 

We are introduced to our heroine Jo Donnelly as she arrives at her Aunty Rose's house, fresh from her traumatic break with her long time doctor love in Melbourne.  Rose is not really her aunt, but Jo grew up down the road from Rose.... and we all know those close bonds that families who are not related to each other that can form relationships that are like family.

Rose has a nephew called Matt, Jo's best friend from childhood.  Something though has happened in their past to give their childhood friendship a twist.  Aunty Rose and Matt's younger sister Kim are bent on getting Jo and Matt together, despite Matt's mother Hazel trying to set him up for marriage with Cilla (aka Farmer Barbie).

Rose comes down with a life threatening illness and Jo, Matt and Kim band together to care for her, despite Hazel's unhelpfulness towards her own sister. 

Family secrets are revealed, as are past crushes and loves, new love is found and friendships strengthened as this book progresses.

I loved Chocolate Cake for Breakfast so much I re-read it again within three weeks of the first read... and I don't think it will be long before I will be re-reading Dinner at Rose's again too.

(I just finished reading it again.... even though it was only four weeks ago that I read it.... I feel the urge to read it again!!  28 January)

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Like I said in my previous review The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I jumped on the bandwagon for this series after watching Catching Fire at the movies.  Having read the first book a few weeks ago, I went and purchased the second book... and soon I will be on the hunt for the third book.

So here is the front cover and the blurb on the back cover:

As I said in the review of the first book, there are things that you read in the book that can not always be accurately portrayed in the movie.  The book will describe to you what a character is thinking, seeing and doing in a more specific way; whereas the film will tend to 'show' you visually.

So reading the movie after the book I of course picked up on some big differences of things that were and were not in the movie compared to the book; and I was filled in on some of the thinking Katniss was having.

Right from the beginning of this book I was engaged in the torment Katniss is experiencing from her time in the Hunger Games arena.  You are soon under no illusions that President Snow does not believe that Katniss is in love with Peeta and he is worried about the implications of what Katniss and Peeta did to win the Hunger Games. 

As Katniss and Peeta tour the districts they discover an uneasiness, and then the worst possible thing that can happen to all the living victors of the Hunger Games takes place - the Quarter Quell.

Right to the end you are invested in what will happen to Katniss and Peeta.  New characters are introduced and you are not sure which way their alliances lie or how trustworthy they are.

The ending of this book gives some satisfaction, but mostly is a cliff hanger... needing you to go to the next book to find out the outcome of who lives and loves in the future.

Right... I better be off to purchase the next book then and put myself out of this misery!!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I had not heard of The Hunger Games series of books until the lead up of the first movie based on the books being released in 2012.  A colleague had been talking about how the books had gotten her mid-teen daughters back into reading that summer. 

 

I accidentally watched the first movie on Sky Movies one day, and thought, oh yeah, it's ok.  I started watching the movie just before the point when Katniss volunteers in the place of her sister... so I kind of didn't get the setting of the book and that affected my understanding of the main ideas in the movie.  Then a few weeks ago a friend suggested we go and watch the second movie Catching Fire.  It was epic!!  I really enjoyed the second move and it helped me understand the first movie more.

 

 

But, as good as the movie may be, there is nothing like reading the original text it is based on.  So I was in The Warehouse and saw The Hunger Games on special and purchased it. 

 

And here is the front cover and blurb on the back of the book: 

 

 

 

 

Previously I had resisted reading this series as when the first movie came out there was a lot of publicity about the violence that the teenagers in the books/movies have to engage in as part of the games.  I remember discussing this with my colleague I mentioned earlier whose daughters were engrossed in the books.  Even though the content of the book was rather questioned at the time for the violence factor, she thought the fact that it engaged her teenagers compensated for this detail.

I was also trying to avoid the hype and jumping on the bandwagon when a book becomes a movie.  Well, guess what?  I'm on the bandwagon now.

The book captured my attention and kept it till the bitter end.  Like I said above, reading the original text is usually way better than the movie itself.

There are things that you read in the book that can not always be accurately portrayed in the movie.  The book will describe to you what a character is thinking, seeing and doing in a more specific way; whereas the film will tend to 'show' you visually.

The great thing about the book of course is that it filled in all the bits that were missing for me from the viewing of the movie The Hunger Games.  It filled me in on the bits that came before I started watching, but also on how Pamen and the districts came into being as well as the personal circumstances of the characters and their families.

I could soon see why my young teenage friends were enjoying the books so much.  It was a riveting read that kept you on alert yourself, in case of a deadly ambush as you read.  The themes of oppression, poverty and starvation as well as survival of the fittest and smartest were also very relevant to keeping me hooked.

So the next time I'm in town, I guess I will be buying the follow on book... and the third.

The Peco Incident by Des Hunt

Des Hunt is a New Zealand author.  He was a teacher, and now writes books for children with strong themes about nature, science and technology.  I first heard about Des Hunt when I was teaching on the Coromandel, where Des also has taught and lives, and many parents and teachers talked about how great his books are and what wonderful books they are to get boys reading.  Go to Des Hunt's web page to find out more about him.

 

For Christmas 2012 I bought one of Des' books for my young cousin Sam as a present.  This Christmas I got him The Peco Incident.  I started reading the first few pages as I wrapped Sam's present and then decided that the concept of the book was quite engaging and that I wanted to read it too, and that it would be a great book to read to my class as well.

 

So here is the front cover and blurb on the back cover of The Peco Incident:

 

 

This book was quite engaging from the start.  Danny's cousin Nick arrives from the North Island to stay with Danny and his mum and dad near the albatross colony near Dunedin.  Danny doesn't know Nick too well, and Nick is rather a handful due to having ADHD.

What follows is an adventure tale that would be a New Zealander's worst nightmare - an eco-terrorist who is hell bent on destroying New Zealand's pride and joy - its native birds - to prove a warped idea against factory farming of poultry.

I'm going to read this to my class in 2014 because it brings up a lot of really important themes that I think are important:

• native birds
• factory farming of poultry
• bio-security
• eco-terrorism
• ethical protesting
• cruelty to animals
• safety of animals

I believe this book would create a lot of critical thinking and discussion in my class.  Also Des Hunt (according to his website) is willing to interact with classes about his books, so I think this would add a wonderful dynamic to reading the book with the class.

I really enjoyed this book, and I am an adult.  It brought up a lot of ethical questions as I read it and also gave me further insight into our bird species of New Zealand (a favourite topic I like to teach).  I think it is a book that people of all ages would enjoy, but especially boys aged 11+ could independently read and hook into this book and enjoy the adventure aspect of it.

Sunset Ridge by Nicole Alexander

I purchased this book on a bit of a whim from The Warehouse.  I am a bit of a browser in the book section most times I enter The Warehouse, just like at Whitcoulls or Paper Plus or my other favourite book stores Pennys (Chartwell Square) and Wright's Bookstore in Cambridge and that fantastic bookstore in Matamata that truly only has books!

 

I think what attracted me to this book, Sunset Ridge, was the cover, soldiers silhouetted in an obvious World War I setting.  I have to confess to being a bit of a historical novel junkie, and when you throw a World War in I'm generally hooked.

 

So here is the cover and back of the book blurb:

 



I haven't read this author before, but apparently Nicole Alexander is a best selling author in Australia and had a book called The Bark Cutters shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Award in 2011, and yep, she is an Australian.  To find out more about Nicole Alexander and her books, click here.

It took a little bit for me to get into this book.  It starts out in 2000 in the Queensland outback on the road.  The introductory character, Madeleine, is rather prickly and not initially an easy character to connect with. 

Then, before you know it, you are flicked back into France, behind the Western Front, 1916.  You get introduced to a whole lot of new characters. 

Then you're in the Queensland outback in 1916 meeting more characters, Madeleine's forebears.  The novel flicks back between these settings and times throughout.  It gradually fleshes out the characters and their relationships and backstories and why they are who they are.  It also gradually puts together how an outback family and a French family have connections.

While it took me a good 200 or so pages to connect with this 472 page novel, I did eventually get invested in the characters and their story.  It also reaffirmed to me what a terrible war WWI was in terms of what mankind can do to each other, how the first industrial mechanical war could cause such havoc and have an effect long after it ended to the land and the people.  It also was interesting to see a side to the war that we don't often reflect on, how those with German ancestry in Australia (and most likely in New Zealand too), no matter how tenuous, were treated during that time.