The Pretty Delicious Cafe by Danielle Hawkins

I am a big fan of Kiwi author Danielle Hawkins and I was hanging out for this third helping from her which I picked up from the lovely ladies at Paper Plus in Te Awamutu before Christmas.  They even found me one of the last remaining copies signed by Danielle on the night of the book launch and kindly pointed out her dedication to them too.  They did offer to sign the book as well... but didn't follow through.


The Pretty Delicious Cafe is a well anticipated follow up to Dinner at Rose's and Chocolate Cake for Breakfast (aka: my happy place), by the author/mum/wife/vet/farmer from Otorohanga.  This is a piece about A Day in the Life of Danielle Hawkins by her publisher, Harper-Collins.  Here is the cover, blurb, a brief (signed!) author bio and the dedication to the ladies at Paper Plus and Danielle's "mint" husband:

Again, this book is set in a small rural town, this time on the Northland east coast, with a collection of interesting locals to add colour to the story.  The central character is Lia, who owns a cafe with her best friend Anna, who is also engaged to Lia's twin brother Rob.  Lia and Rob's mum Margaret also lives in town and they have a much older half-brother, Mike, who visits when he can get away their father's farm down past Taumarunui. 


Other supporting characters include Hugh, who has a crush on Margaret, and Monty, the local mechanic who would rather go fishing than fix cars.  Lia also has an ex-boyfriend, Issac, who just doesn't get the message she is no longer interested.


Then one dark night after Lia has been reading a scary book lent to her by Hugh, a stranger knocks on her door asking for help.  Lia is petrified by this and this reveals a link between Lia and Rob that is a reocurring theme throughout the book and a source of tension between Lia and Anna.


Of course, this is a romance, and my first cat I will let out of the bag is that the stranger, Jed, becomes the love interest for Lia.  However, Issac can not let go and continues to beg Lia to get back together.  The second cat I am letting out of the bag is that there is partner violence - and I am only saying this as I know it can be a trigger for some people.


I really enjoyed reading this and I have lent it to a couple of cousins (one of which who has already read the previous two books) who also enjoyed it.  I have enjoyed it so much I have read it at least six times since before Christmas!  So of course, I do recommend this book.






An aside:
If you have read Chocolate Cake for Breakfast, you will be well aware of the 'date' Helen and Mark have with the dead calf in the cow.  I had a cow go down with calving paralysis, and as I watched the vet insert her arm into the cow to check her out, I asked if she had read Chocolate Cake for Breakfast.  My vet had - and Danielle works for the same vet company my family uses!!  Lovely!!

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

This was my first furore into a book by British author Sophie Kinsella, although I have seen the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic based on her best selling series about the Shopaholic.  Just looking at the front cover of Remember Me? screams chick lit and humour, and I wasn't disappointed.  There is a little drama and mystery to this book too.


Anyhow, here is the front cover and blurb.

The central character is Lexi, who has been in a car accident.  She wakes up in hospital thinking it is 2004, the last thing she remembers is being out for a night with the girls from work the evening before her father's funeral.  However, she is actually in 2007 with designer clothes, straight teeth, a flash hair do, a fabulous job and a husband she doesn't remember.  And no friends - well, at least not the friends she used to have.


Lexi has post-traumatic amnesia.  No one can tell her when - or even if - her memories will return.  Lexi has to learn her life all over again.


After being introduced to most of the main characters while Lexi is still in hospital - her mother, younger sister Amy and husband Eric - Lexi goes home to the appartment she shares with Eric, who is a property developer.  Gradually Lexi understands that her house keeper is scared of her, she eats practically nothing, her clothes are all very corporate and her friends are high-maintenance.  When Lexi makes it to work she discovers all her old workmates/friends hate her and that she is a golden girl to management.


However there are three sticky factors: she feels no connection to her husband, she can not figure out how Jon (her husband's colleague) is connected to her, and something is not right at work.


There are some amusing and embarrassing experiences.  Lexi realising she does know how to drive is one.  Lexi trying to fake her way through a senior management meeting without remembering what they are all referring to is another.  Lexi figuring out why her friends are no longer her friends and how Jon fits into her life as well as what a Mont Blanc is are also quite noteworthy.


This is chick lit through and through.  It demonstrates how a flaky girl turns into an ambitious take no prisoners woman who then realises what she truly wants in life.  A good summer read.

The Cloud Leopard's Daughter by Deborah Challinor

I am a big Deborah Challinor fan and I have reviewed a number of her books previously, including Behind the Sun, Girl of Shadows, The Silk Thief, and A Tattooed Heart.


In November, Challinor released the fourth book in her series The Smuggler's Wife about Kitty, Rian, Amber and the crew of the Katipo, The Cloud Leopard's Daughter.  This book follows on from Kitty, Amber and Band of Gold.  I have read all this series, but The Cloud Leopard's Daughter will be the first in this series I have reviewed.  Perhaps when I get my book collection out of storage I will go back and review these novels from earlier in the series.


Here is the front cover and blurb:

The Cloud Leopard's Daughter picks up in 1863, nearly a decade after Band of Gold, with the crew of the Katipo III entering the Dunedin Harbour enroute to see their old friend Wong Fu from the Ballarat goldfields in Band of Gold.  He has a huge favour to ask of Kitty and Rian and their crew: to find his kidnapped daughter Bao.


Bao has been kidnapped because Wong Fu is the Cloud Leopard, a tong master.  Bao is his heir.  Wong Fu's brother, Wong Kai, however wants the title for himself.  Kitty and Rian agree to find Bao and rescue her from her fate.


The crew of the Katipo III find themselves travelling to Sydney where Rian re-news his aquaintance with Friday and Aria (begun in The Girl of Shadows and again in A Tattooed Heart), the Phillipines and Hong Kong in their quest for rescuing Bao.  They face many dangers from Wong Kai and others, as well as a traitor within their own midst.


It is a riveting read, and I polished off the book quickly (surprise, surprise) because, as usual, Challinor writes a book that you just can not put down at the end of a chapter.  Cliff hangers have you wanting to continue the reading despite starvation and sleep deprivation.  Besides, when you are reading with a view like this to glance up to, you can see I was hardly deprived really....

Poldark: Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham

Jeremy Poldark is the third book in the Poldark series by Winston Graham and carries on where the second book, Demelza, left off in the lives of Ross and Demelza Poldark, their relatives, friends and enemies.

This is the front cover and blurb:

This was a hard book to track down.  I bought the first two books and eventually got round to reading them once work permitted several months later.  Despite having already watched the first series of the BBC 2015 TV series (a second series was commissioned and has aired), I devoured these books quickly and was soon keen to know the outcome of Ross' arrest at the end of the second book and first TV series. 

But, alas, Jeremy Poldark was an elusive book on the shelves of Whitcoulls and Paper Plus.  I would ask, and I would be told that the book was sold out.  But then, at Paper Plus in Te Awamutu, I struck gold with one of the sales team who looked it up on their computer and was able to order me in a copy.  But now I find I can not access the next six books in the series... the seventh book being the only other book available for purchase currently through the Paper Plus website!

As I alluded to earlier, this book deals with the aftermath of Ross being arrested at the end of the Demelza book for murder, inciting a riot and ship wrecking.  These charges weigh heavily on Ross and he nearly sinks his own defence in an effort to remain true to the facts and his own beliefs.  Meanwhile Demelza is determined to help Ross, and endeavours to create new friendships and use her charm to create influence with the court magistrate.

During this time, Francis has a crisis of his conscious in his dealings with the Warleggans and his loyalty to Ross; Francis and Verity attempt to mend fences with each other; Ross and Francis mend their relationship and endeavour to go into business together; George Warleggan attempts to thwart justice and derail Ross financially; Francis and Captain Blamey come to a truce; Verity meets her step children; and Demelza hides the fact she is pregnant from Ross and her jealousy of Elizabeth threatens to derail the love she and Ross share.

Despite the fact that the book is called Jeremy Poldark, he is not mentioned directly until the very end of the second to last chapter.  The book following this book is called Warleggan, but I don't know when I will be able to read it, if at all.

Poldark: Demelza by Winston Graham

Demelza is the second book in the Poldark series by Winston Graham.  The events in this book are also covered in the 2015 BBC tv series.  It carries on from the first book, Ross Poldark, taking up where that one left off.

This is the cover and blurb for the book.

This book covers how Demelza grows into the role of wife of a gentleman and mother.  Julia is born in May and become the focus of the Poldark household as Demelza and Ross adjust to being parents.  They hold a chiristening party for their daughter which Demelza's father and new step mother unexpectedly attend and put the neighbours and guests at odds with her background.


Demelza's adjustment to society as a gentleman's wife, her relationship with Ross and his wider family are a running theme throughout this book.  But Demelza's beauty, charm and warmness endear her to not only the people who rely on Ross for their livelihoods, but the neighbours of his class.  Ross' relationship with authority, his cousin Francis and the Warleggan's, which could cause his downfall in a variety of ways is another constant theme.


Ross' friends Mark and Dwight (the doctor) also feature strongly in this book and befall their own scandals.  Tragedy befalls the Poldarks and pushes Ross to be careless, which puts his freedom and everything he has at risk.

Despite having watched a large part of the action of this book during the first television series, I could barely put this book down and was very keen to read the following book.  This book is followed by Jeremy Poldark.

Summer Reading Oddessy

I love reading books and can't imagine a life without reading.  As a child I loved books and relished the opportunity to buy or be given a new book, and the Lucky Book Club (Scholastic) leaflet was always anticipated with delight because my Mum (pretty much) always let us order one or two books each time. 


This has not changed as an adult.


I love getting a book for Christmas or birthday presents.  I can rarely go through a mall without browsing Paper Plus or Whitcoulls or any other bookshop that I pass.  I love buying books and I have favourite shops I frequent.


As a teacher I also love children's books and have a huge number.  I have my own collection of books I love.  I have books I share with the students for them to use as part of my reading programme.  I have books I have purchased to support various units I love to teach (I have a large number of books about Anzac Day for example).


The benefits for children and adults of reading books are outlined below in this awesome graphic (see credit bottom left of graphic):

After finishing some pretty heavy reading for my Masters I headed into the summer with some books lent to me by a friend, two gifted as Christmas presents (one I specifically asked for), one I bought for myself, one I wanted to re-read and one that my Dad got for Christmas.

The only book missing from the list is the one I re-read to get my happy place... I've lent Chocolate Cake for Breakfast to my sister in law.  This book is fabulous.

I was feeling a bit lost for a few weeks without a book to read, but my Dad finished another book and passed it on to me.  This is what I am reading currently:

I have a backlog of reviews to complete and publish.... so prepare for the onslaught of what I've been reading.  And here are a few quotes about reading that explain what reading and books mean to me....







Enemy Camp by David Hill

I am a big David Hill fan, and over the last few years I think he has written some great books explaining life during times of war for young readers.  Enemy Camp is David Hill's 2016 offering.

I picked this book up from the teacher's table of a class I was relieving in, and for the second time this year, I was so enchanted by the book that teacher had, I went and bought it.  I have previously reviewed two other David Hill books: My Brother's War set in World War One about conscientious objectors and the conscription of soldiers, and Brave Company set during the Korean Conflict about a teenage boy in the New Zealand Navy.

Enemy Camp is set in the New Zealand town of Featherston during the second World War, where the Japanese prisoner of war internment camp was sited.  The book starts in late 1942 and followed events through until after the traumatic events of 25 February 1943 at the camp.

Here is the front cover and blurb:

The central character is Ewen, who is at primary school.  His teacher has asked the students in his class to keep a diary or journal of their lives, as he believes they are living through a very special time.  Therefore, the story is written in Ewen's voice in the format of a journal.  Some days he writes about quite mundane things, and other days he writes about some very dramatic events and how he views and feels about them.

Ewen's father works at the internment camp after returning from the Battle of Greece due to injuries sustained in battle.  Ewan and his friends Barry and Clarry (who is suffering from the after affects of polio) are fascinated by the inmates in the internment camp and take every opportunity to visit the camp.  This eventually results in the boys taking lessons in the Japanese language and ettiquette from one of the Japanese officers at the camp.

However, not everyone in Featherston feels so friendly towards the Japanese and they rail against any form of positive contact with the prisoners or their culture.  The prisoners of war also rail against what they consider to be unfair and struggle with the shame of being POWs, because now their families will shun them if and when the war ends.  They consider that death is more honourable than being a live POW.

This all combines to one of the most dramatic episodes of the war on New Zealand war, which Ewen, Barry and Clarry are in the middle of.  This event was so traumatic the New Zealand government suppressed it for a number of years for fear that if the Japanese government found out about it, they would mete out unfair treatment to the POWs in their care from New Zealand.  But New Zealand was yet to find out how truly terrible the treatment of POWs by the Japanese really was.

I would definitely recommend this book to boys from age 9 or 10 to read.  I will be adding this to my collection of books for ANZAC day and reading this to a class in the future.  It's a great Christmas gift for a boy aged ten and up.