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.

Return to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez

Return to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul is a sequel to the book The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul which was an international best seller written by Deborah Rodriguez which I have not read.  However, I can now say I have read the sequel and I will be hunting out the original book over the summer to read.

My friend lent this to me to read after I had completed some very full on Master's level assignments and she knew I needed to escape to another reality.  Mission completed.

Here is the front cover and the blurb:

Apparently most of the characters from the original are back, except for one main exception, and there are some new characters introduced.

The book essentially centres around six women and girls in Afganistan and the United States.

Sunny is struggling to readjust to life back in the US after leaving her coffee shop behind in Kabul, the capital city of Afganistan.  Her life takes another dramatic twist in adjustment from losing her soulmate and then dealing with his affairs, taking her to the Screaming Peacock Vineyard, his dream property.  There Sunny meets a trio of men, Sky, Joe and Rick, who will take her life, and those of some of her friends, in new directions.

Yazmina is now runing the coffee shop in Kabul and is bamboozled by her mother-in-law's absences with her young daughter.  Halajan and Yazmina's daughter Najama are having adventures all over Kabul, some that would be frowned upon by her son and the wider community.  Meanwhile her son and Yazmina's husband, Ahmet, is opening up his mind to new possibilities for Afganistan at the university while also looking forward to the birth of their first child together.

Yazmima's younger sister Layla has gone to the US to learn English and is unhappy.  She is brought to the Screaming Peacock Vineyard by Candace for Sunny to look after.  Sunny employs Kat, a girl who had immigrated to the US with her mother as a child, to teach Layla English.  This is confronting to Kat, who, for dramatic reasons, has been trying to leave her Afgani past far behind her.

Then there is Zara, who is in love with Omar, a friend of Ahmet's, but her family has been asked to consent to Zara's hand in marriage with a powerful man who will not take no for an answer.  This will have a devasting affect on Zara's family and the future of Yazmina's family too.

While I have labelled this book as chick lit for the post, it is not a simpering love story that plays for laughs or soppiness.  It is a book more aimed at women than men, but it brings up some challenging themes such as how do you carry on when you lose the one you love the most, arranged marriages, the conflict of cultures, and day-to-day life in what is pretty much still a war zone.

I enjoyed the book and will definitely be searching out the first one to read so that I understand how these characters got to where they are now.

Poldark: Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

Ross Poldark is the first book of the Poldark series by Winston Graham.  In the 1970s there was a tv series based on the book, and in 2015 the BBC released a new tv series that covered the events covered in the first two books of the series.

This is the cover and the blurb for the first book:

The book naturally introduces the major characters, the places, tensions and themes of this series in the opening chapters.  Ross Poldark, a young man who had run ins with the law in his youth, has returned from the American colonies after the English armies were defeated in the American Independence War to find his father is deceased, his servants are drunken and his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth, is married to his cousin, Francis.

Ross sets about putting his house, farm and servants to rights, and then turns his attention to his derelict mines.  During this time he also rescues a young girl, Demelza, from a brawl.  He then takes her home to be his scullery maid.  His cousin Verity complicates Ross' life when she falls in love with Captain Blamey, who her father and brother consider to be an unsuitable match for Verity and ban her from associating with him.

Ross discovers that his cousin Francis is poor at business and is more inclined to gamble and drink his time away with his friends the Warleggans.  The Warleggans, originally blacksmiths, have become money lenders, and the majority of the landed upper classes and mine owners seem to be indebted to the Warleggans at various levels.  The Warleggans have become wealthy from their business dealings and use this wealth to elevate their status in society.  However, Ross takes an instant dislike to George and his uncle Cary, and does not trust them in business either.

This book is followed by the book Demelza in the series.  There are eleven books in the series.

It is a delightful look into the Georgian era, post the loss of the American colonies and for those who have read a wide range of Jane Austen books, you will be able to contrast the two eras and compare and contrast the manners and social expectations of the times.  And you always find the book better than the movie or tv programme based on it.

The Sacred Bones by Michael Byrnes

I dug this 2007 novel out of my Dad's bookshelf over the summer to read.  I had never heard of Michael Byrnes, and I believe this may be his only novel.  It was a book that captured my attention and I had to read to the end - and it was raining at the beach, but I couldn't put it down on the sunny day either, so I finished it as I lay on the lawn and sat on the deck soaking up the sunny day.

Here is the cover and blurb for you to read:

This book begins in the days of the Crusades to the Holy Land.  The Knights have lost their fortress to the ways of Egyptian Mamluks who overwhelmed them in a six week long siege.  This particular Knight is in a jail, at the mercy of the Pope and those loyal to him.

The next chapter opens with a daring raid on a secret room in a mosque in the heart of Jerusalem's Temple Mount complex.  The artefact taken has implications for the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths, and the reader would benefit from having a good working knowledge of the history of Christianity, but also the beliefs and traditions of the Jewish and Islamic faiths.

Chaos erupts in Jerusalem and there is conflict between Israeli security officials and the Palestinians responsible for the Temple Mount.  A high ranking mediator of the Islamic world, Razak bin al-Tahini, is brought in to facilitate communications between the two, and a British archaeologist, Graham Barton, is also engaged to verify what was taken from this secret room and why.  The two must rely on each other to uncover what happened and why.

Meanwhile, at the Vatican, Charlotte Hennesey, an American genetic scientist, has arrived and is introduced to an Italian anthropologist, Giovanni Bersei, is a well equipped, high tech laboratory.  The Vatican cleric then rushes off to meet Salvatore Conte, mastermind of the Jerusalem raid, who has the artefact for Charlotte and Giovanni to examine.  Conte watches their every move as they examine, photograph, sample and test the artefact to ascertain its origin.  Neither Charlotte, Giovanni nor the cleric realise that their lives are in danger when they confirm the artefact to be what they suspect it to be.

The book has plenty of action, double crossing, mystery, subterfuge and thrilling mind challenging ideas to keep a reader coming back to the end of the book.

I found this book to be quite fascinating because it gave me a lot more knowledge about the Temple Mount and early Christian practices and how these relate to Islamic and Jewish beliefs.  I read another book with a similar theme not long after, and viewed a number of documentaries on Constantine, the life of Jesus and early Christian practices, and it created a lot of thought for me about how Christianity works, and religions world wide.  I've come to the conclusion that organised religion just is too corrupt for my tastes.

If you like your beliefs to be challenged and you are open to expanding what you know, books like this can be a catalyst to viewing or reading material you otherwise would consider boring and not worth your time.  While this is a book of fiction, it did open my mind to further reading and viewing on the topic to help me further crystallise my personal beliefs on religion.  It is also a rollicking good adventure with thrills, chills, murders and action a plenty.