Two arrivals for me this week, one via mail for review and the other borrowed from the library’s audio catalogue:

FLAVOURS OF MELBOURNE written and edited by Jonette George

(Smudge Publishing | Booktopia)

344 pages, 38 x 32cm hardcover with dust jacket, coffee table book

Flavours of Melbourne explores Melbourne’s nooks and crannies, upstairs and downstairs and through the complex laneway system. Beautiful photography, history, recipe, street art, restaurants and bars – all come together in this exciting new book about Melbourne’s food and wine scene.

Showcasing restaurants like Guy Grossi’s Florentino and Merchant, Martin Pirc’s Punch Lane and Aaron Whitney’s Portello Rosso are showcased with stories about their history and what makes them legendary today. Bars like Madame Brussells, Rooftop Cinema, Bar 1806 and Emerald Peacock, to name only a few, are also featured, sharing information about their secret cocktails and venues.

For the locals who want to know, and the visitors who want to view Melbourne through the eyes of a local, this book is a must-read, and an exceptional guide to what’s on offer in food and wine.

NOCTURNES: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro – audio

(Amazon | B&N | Kobobooks | Book Depository)

Gentle, intimate and witty, this quintet is marked by a haunting theme: the struggle to keep alive a sense of life’s romance, even as one gets older, relationships flounder and youthful hopes recede.

What books did you welcome into your home this week?

Mailbox Monday is currently being hosted by Martha @ Martha’s Bookshelf.

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Have you entered my current international giveaway of a paperback copy of BITTER GREENS by Kate Forsyth? Winner announced 3rd June 2012.

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INTERNATIONAL BOOK GIVEAWAY
- Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth - Historical, Romance, Adventure, Aussie Author – Paperback – Drawn 3 June
 

Booklover Book Reviews

I am pleased to announce another great international giveaway here at Booklover Book Reviews.

Thanks to Random House Australia I have a paperback copy of BITTER GREENS by Kate Forsyth to giveaway to one lucky reader. 

Synopsis: Charlotte-Rose de la Force has been banished from court by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. She is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of Bitter Greens …
After Margherita’s father steals a handful of greens – parsley, wintercress and rapunzel – from the walled garden of the courtesan, Selena Leonelli, they give up their daughter to save him from having both hands cut off.
Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1513 and still inspiring him at the time of his death, sixty-one years later. Called La Strega Bella, Selena is at the centre of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition.
Locked away in a tower, growing to womanhood, Margherita sings in the hope someone will hear her. One day, a young man does …
Three women, three lives, three stories, braided together to create a compelling story of desire, obsession, black magic, and the redemptive power of love.

Kate Forsyth is the bestselling and award-winning author of more than twenty books, ranging from picture books to poetry to novels for both children and adults. Kate’s books have been published in 14 countries around the world, including the UK, the US, Russia, Germany, Japan, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Poland and Slovenia. She is currently undertaking a doctorate in fairytale retellings at the University of Technology, having already completed a BA in Literature and a MA in Creative Writing. Kate is a direct descendant of Charlotte Waring, the author of the first book for children ever published in Australia.

Read my review of BITTER GREENS.

Giveaway Details:

The winner of this giveaway will be selected at random and entries are open internationally. This giveaway will also be promoted on Twitter (@BLBookReviews).

There are ways to increase your chances of winning a copy of this book:

+2 entries, tweet about this giveaway (providing link to this post) or even easier retweet my giveaway announcement

+4 entries, provide a link to this giveaway entry post on your webpage

TIP: Do the above before filling in the below form, so you have the link/info required to qualify for the additional entries.

The lucky winner will be announced on 3rd June 2012!

Booklover Book Reviews

Bitter Greens Synopsis

Charlotte-Rose de la Force has been banished from court by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. She is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of Bitter Greens …

After Margherita’s father steals a handful of greens – parsley, wintercress and rapunzel – from the walled garden of the courtesan, Selena Leonelli, they give up their daughter to save him from having both hands cut off. 

Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1513 and still inspiring him at the time of his death, sixty-one years later. Called La Strega Bella, Selena is at the centre of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition.

Locked away in a tower, growing to womanhood, Margherita sings in the hope someone will hear her. One day, a young man does …

Three women, three lives, three stories, braided together to create a compelling story of desire, obsession, black magic, and the redemptive power of love. (The Nile – Australia)

BOOK REVIEW

I rarely read the fantasy genre, but the creation of fiction from historical factual seeds is something I find fascinating. In this case the seed is the mystery surrounding the first authors of the fairytale we now know as Rapunzel.

I am hooked on the complexity and compelling tension of stories told within stories, as Forsyth has done in this novel.

In Bitter Greens Kate Forsyth delivers a tale of beauty, strength and gravity. Her fierce respect for the art and power of storytelling shines through every page.

While being effortless to read, Forsyth’s prose has a certain grandness and wonder about it – the world she creates is vibrant, alluring and evocative.

‘So when is your birthday?’

I told her, and she said, ‘Born under the sign of the lion – most suitable given your hair and your eyes. You should call yourself Selena Leonelli. That’s a name with power.’

Selena Leonelli. It rolled around my mouth like the sweetest of jujubes. I smiled at her, and the unfamiliar movement of muscles around my mouth seemed to tug up my heart from the black pit into which it had fallen. A new name seemed to signal the possibility of a new life.

As glorious and cinematic as this novel is, I must give a warning to the faint hearted reader – this is very much an adult fairytale. It deals with love, loss, brutality and violence. It is as emotive as it is enthralling.

You do not need to be a fan of the fantasy genre to enjoy this novel. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction will fall in love with Kate Forsyth’s Bitter Greens, a five star read.

As much as I like reading ebooks these days, this is a title to purchase in hardcopy – it is big and beautiful and has made a lovely addition to my display bookshelf.

BOOK RATING: The Story 5 / 5 ; The Writing 5 / 5

BOOK DETAILS: Bitter Greens (The Nile); Bitter Greens (Amazon – Kindle); Bitter Greens (Kobobooks)

Genre: Romance, Drama, Action-Adventure, Mystery, Fantasy

* This review counts towards my participation in the Aussie Author Challenge 2012 and the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012.

Author Information: Kate Forsyth is the bestselling and award-winning author of more than twenty books, ranging from picture books to poetry to novels for both children and adults. Kate’s books have been published in 14 countries around the world, including the UK, the US, Russia, Germany, Japan, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Poland and Slovenia. She is currently undertaking a doctorate in fairytale retellings at the University of Technology, having already completed a BA in Literature and a MA in Creative Writing. Kate is a direct descendant of Charlotte Waring, the author of the first book for children ever published in Australia.

- Read this article where Kate Forsyth tells us more about the real life of Charlotte-Rose de la Force

- Watch a video interview with Kate Forsyth discussing her motivation for writing Bitter Greens

Other reviews of Bitter Greens: Karen Brooks, Booktopia, Book’d Out, Kill Your Darlings, Adventures of a Bookonaut, All the Books I Can Read

* My receiving this book for free from Random House Australia via the author did not impact my ability to express my honest opinions having read the novel.

Booklover Book Reviews

Thanks to the many people who entered our international giveaway of a paperback copy of Australian author Mandy Sayer’s LOVE IN THE YEARS OF LUNACY,  kindly provided by Allen & Unwin.

The randomly selected winner was…

Ron

Congratulations Ron, you will find an email in your inbox requesting your mailing address. I am sure you will enjoy this great title as much as I did.

A big thank you to all those who helped spread the word about this wonderful title and giveaway online and on Twitter. For those that were not lucky enough to win this time round, Love in the Years of Lunacy by Mandy Sayer is currently available at all good booksellers in Australia (TheNile, Kobobooks), Audible and will be released in paperback later this year in the UK and US (pre-order at a great discount at The Book Depository).

Or, try your luck in my next international giveaway that I will be announcing this evening! Here is a teaser…. Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair….

Booklover Book Reviews

The Golden Scales Book Description

A lost child. A missing hero. A bitter rivalry. In Cairo the ghosts of the past are stirring…

Makana is a former police inspector who fled for his life to Cairo from his native Sudan seven years ago. Down on his luck and haunted by the past, he lives on a rickety Nile houseboat. When the notorious and powerful Saad Hanafi hires him to track down a missing person Makana is in no position to refuse him. Hanafi, whose past is as shady as his fortune is glittering, is the owner of Cairo’s star-studded football team. His most valuable player has just vanished and Adil Romario’s disappearance threatens to bring down not only Hanafi’s private empire, but the entire country. But why should the city’s most powerful man hire its lowliest private detective?

Thrust into a dangerous and glittering world, Makana’s investigation leads him into the treacherous underbelly of his adopted country- where he encounters Muslim extremists, Russian gangsters and a desperate mother hunting for her missing daughter. It becomes a trail that stirs up painful memories, leading him back into the sights of an old and dangerous enemy… (Amazon)

My teaser:

Being something of an optimist, it had always struck Makana that it made a good start to the day to wake up in the morning and find himself still afloat. One of the little pleasures of life on an awama. (Page 3)

Right from these opening lines I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to like this Makana character’. I received this title from Bloomsbury Publishing for review.

Find out more about this title - The Golden Scales by Parker Bilal.

Looking forward to reading your teasers!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 

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Have you entered my current international giveaway of a paperback copy of the wonderful war romance novel, LOVE IN THE YEARS OF LUNACY by Mandy Sayer? Entries close 12 May.

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Booklover Book Reviews

Two arrivals for me this week, one the old-fashioned way and one via email, both for review:

NO REMORSE by Ian Walkley

(Amazon | B&N | Book Depository)

His best friend’s daughter, Sophia, has been abducted. Not an ordinary kidnap for ransom. But then, Lee McCloud is no ordinary man. Having witnessed his sister kidnapped when he was fourteen, this is McCloud’s opportunity to deliver some badly needed justice. But things don’t go as planned. Desperate to save Sophia at all costs, McCloud finds himself forced to team-up with Tally, a computer specialist in a secret organization that targets the mega-rich sponsors of terror. Tally wants nothing to do with McCloud either, but quickly they find themselves on a collision course with Sheik Khalid, an exiled Saudi whose ruthless ambitions feature a key role for Sophia. With time running out for Sophia, and their haunted pasts catching up, McCloud and Tally begin to realize where the evidence is pointing, only to find they’re trapped in an even bigger conspiracy. Hunted by enemies on both sides and conflicted by their feelings for each other, they must be willing to trade their lives to save Sophia and stop a horrific plot that will have devastating consequences for an already unstable world.

SNAP: NEW TALENT, #2 Kandesky Vampire Chronicles by Michele Drier

(Amazon)

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Mailbox Monday is currently being hosted by Martha @ Martha’s Bookshelf.

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Have you entered my current international giveaway of a paperback copy of the wonderful war romance novel, LOVE IN THE YEARS OF LUNACY by Mandy Sayer? Entries close 12 May.

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Booklover Book Reviews

Five Bells Synopsis

On a radiant day in Sydney, four adults converge on Circular Quay, site of the iconic Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Crowds of tourists mix with the locals, enjoying the glorious surroundings and the play of light on water.

But just as Circular Quay resonates with Australia’s past, each of the four carries a complicated history from elsewhere. Each person is haunted by past secrets and guilt. Ellie is preoccupied by her sexual experiences as a girl, James by a tragedy for which he feels responsible, Catherine by the loss of her beloved brother in Dublin, and Pei Xing by her imprisonment during China’s Cultural Revolution.

Told over the course of a single Saturday, Five Bells describes four lives that come to share not only a place and a time but also mysterious patterns and ambiguous symbols, including a barely glimpsed fifth figure, a young child. By nightfall, when Sydney is drenched in a summer rainstorm, each life will have been transformed by the events of this day. (Amazon)

BOOK REVIEW

I thoroughly enjoyed another title by Gail Jones, Dreams of Speaking in 2011 – it even made it to one of my ‘best of’ lists. With very high regard for Gail Jones talents as a writer and a synopsis describing strong characterization and disparate but interwoven storylines (right up my alley) I held very high hopes for Five Bells.

The prose itself was again an absolute joy to read. Gail Jones has a real talent at bringing a location to life, finding beauty in dark places, shadows in spotlight, magic within the mundane – making Sydney’s Circular Quay a character in its own right. This description of the iconic Sydney Opera House just one of many notable passages:

It was moon-white and seemed to hold within it a great, serious stillness. The fan of its chambers leant together, inclining to the water. An unfolding thing, shutters, a sequence of sorts. Ellie marvelled that it had ever been created at all, so singular a building, so potentially faddish, or odd. And that shape of supplication, like a body bending into the abstraction of a low bow or a theological gesture. Ellie could imagine music in there, but not people, somehow. It looked poised in a kind of alertness to acoustical meanings, concentrating on sound waves, opened to circuit and flow. Yes, there it was. Leaning into the pure morning sky.

Apparently this novel was inspired by the poem ‘Five Bells’ by Kenneth Slessor. Now having read the poem after finishing this book, I note the similarity of mood, symbolism and sentiment.

Gail Jones’ writing in Five Bells is intense and melancholic with bursts of beauty – like a flower blossoming in a desert.

The individual character stories themselves, all dealing with love, loss, forgiveness and redemption, were extremely moving. My personal favourite was that of Pei Xing.

The story’s intensity built steadily to a climax but ultimately I felt unsatisfied by the conclusion, or lack there of. Perhaps I missed something, but it just seemed like so much more could have been made of the threads available while still retaining a bit of artistic mystery. For me it was like a few New Year’s Eve firecrackers failing to ignite…

Recommended to those who enjoy meditative literature and appreciate artistic and lyrical prose.

BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 4.75 / 5

BOOK DETAILS:  Five Bells (TheNile – Aus); Five Bells (Amazon); Five Bells (B&N)

Genre: Literature, Drama, Mystery

This book review counts towards my participation in the Aussie Author Challenge 2012 and the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012.

Author Information: Gail Jones lives in Sydney and teaches at the University of Western Sydney. Her books have won numerous literary awards in Australia. She is the author of two collections of short stories and five novels including Sixty Lights which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Dreams of Speaking which was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and longlisted for the Orange Prize, and Sorry which was longlisted for the Orange Prize. (from Random House Australia)

- Listen to an interview with Gail Jones discussing Five Bells at BlogCritics

Other reviews of Five Bells: Meanjin ; Fancy Goods ; BerkelouW Books ; Musings of a Literary Dilettante ; The Guardian

Booklover Book Reviews

Zen Queen Synopsis

Jess Harper’s personal life is a mess. She hasn’t had a haircut since 2006 and she doesn’t have time to find better friends than the self-centred associates she’s had since University.

And instead of searching for love, she’s settled for ‘friends with benefits’ status with one of her buddies. Yet none of that matters, because professionally she’s living the dream, and has just scored a highly coveted assignment in Japan with the promise of a promotion on her return. But when she arrives in Japan, instead of the smooth integration she anticipated, Jess finds herself wrongfully fired, abandoned and broke in a country where she doesn’t speak the language.

Now she must rebuild her life and clear her name. But the friendly locals and allure of the ex-pat lifestyle soon have her reconsidering her priorities and challenging her views on climbing the corporate ladder. With a new job as an English teacher and the temptation of her cute (but already attached) roommate, Jess discovers that although life doesn’t always turn out as planned, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. (Amazon)

BOOK REVIEW

I’ll admit, it was the super cute cover art that sold this local author’s review request for me. Although Kirsty McManus’ debut novel is titled Zen Queen, do not for one minute expect her leading lady to have things under control… Oh no, she is a hapless single who stretches your average run of bad luck to extraordinary levels to comic effect.

In Zen Queen Kirsty McManus delivers an escapistic romantic comedy without pretense.

While I did not wholeheartedly identify with protagonist Jess Harper, she’s quite unlike me actually, there were enough character traits in both her and the ensemble cast that resonated sufficiently to hold my interest. In particular I think it was the leading lady’s unbridled sarcasm, and at times, an almost slapstick comedic element that I found oddly compelling. After somewhat of a slow start, the story builds well to a satisfying conclusion. There are characters to love, characters to hate, wild goose chases and karma aplenty.

Just like its leading lady Jess Harper, Zen Queen does not take itself too seriously – it is chick lit pure and simple. If what you are lucky for is some light-hearted entertainment on the back of some good natured culture clash humour, Zen Queen could be the novel for you.

BOOK RATING: The Story 3.5 / 5 ; The Writing 3 / 5

BOOK DETAILS: Zen Queen (Amazon); Zen Queen (B&N)

Genre: Chick Lit, Drama, Romance, Humour

Author Information: Kirsty McManus was born in Sydney, Australia and moved to Queensland when she was 14. When she was 25, she lived in Japan for a year with her partner Kesh and worked as an English teacher. This was the inspiration behind her novel Zen Queen. She also spent a year in Canada and then settled back down on the Sunshine Coast in 2008. She now writes part time while designing websites and looking after her young son.

- See Kirsty McManus personal blog and the website dedicated to the novel Zen Queen

* My receiving this ebook for free from the author did not impact my ability to express my honest opinions having read the novel.

Booklover Book Reviews

Hope Road Book Description

A psychological mystery - You can’t change your past. But what about your future?

John Ray, son of crime boss Antonio ‘Tony’ Ray, is the straight one of the family. With a successful business and a lifestyle to match, he wants nothing to do with his father’s criminal world. But what does that world want with him?

A young prostitute is found dead in John’s car, and Freddy Metcalfe, his best friend and employee, is framed for her death. Freddy denies everything but it’s an open and shut case: he’s going down for murder. John sets out to find the real killer.

But things get complicated. A stash of counterfeit money was also found in John’s car, and the police seem more interested in that than in the dead girl. Then Lanny Bride turns up; one of the north’s most ruthless criminals (and an old friend of the Ray family), Lanny is desperate to know who killed the girl. But why? Meanwhile, Freddy is too scared to talk to anyone, even his lawyer.

John’s police detective girlfriend, Denise Danson, has been warned off the case by her boss. But she doesn’t believe Freddy is guilty, and secretly helps John look for the murderer. The problem, though, is that uncovering the shocking truth about the girl’s death will force John to confront his own criminal past and risk destroying his future, as well as losing the only woman he’s ever loved. (Amazon)

My teaser:

He sighs, knowing that however much he enjoys watching her slither into a pair of jeans, it also means that the metamorphosis is in progress: lover to copper; from Den to DC Denise Danson. Each time she disappears inside her work clothes it’s like saying goodbye to an old friend and hello to one of those acquaintances you wish you didn’t see half so often. (Page 11)

I received this exclusively ebook title from author John Barlow for review.  Hope Road is the first title in a planned 9 title crime series set in current day Leeds.

Find out more about this title - Hope Road by John Barlow.

Looking forward to reading your teasers!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 

Booklover Book Reviews