Lenny Bartulin’s De Luxe is Book 3 in his entertaining Jack Susko Mystery Series. De Luxe Synopsis For once, Jack Susko is feeling pretty good: his secondhand bookshop is on the up, and the cops haven’t been around in ages….
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions Synopsis Classic of science (and mathematical) fiction — describes the journeys of A. Square and his adventures in Spaceland (three dimensions), Lineland (one dimension) and Pointland (no dimensions). A. Square also entertains thoughts of visiting…
In Murder on a Midsummer Night the fabulous Phryne – the 1920s most elegant and irrepressible sleuth – returns for her seventeenth adventure investigating the death of a man at St Kilda while at the same time trying to find…
The Truth About These Strange Times Synopsis Saul Dawson-Smith can memorise the sequence of a shuffled deck of cards in under a minute; he can recite pi to a thousand decimal places and he remembers every conversation he’s ever had. He…
Boomerang : The Meltdown Tour Synopsis Having made the U.S. financial crisis comprehensible for us all in The Big Short, Michael Lewis realised that he hadn’t begun to get grips with the full story. How exactly had it come to hit…
Tancredi Synopsis : Tancredi was born on the same day that scientists discovered a new star. It was so small it had gone unnoticed for millennia. Stargazers named it Surprise, in the spirit of a little astrological joke. On closer inspection…
Jigs and Reels is international bestselling author Joanne Harris’ first short story collection. Jigs and Reels Synopsis: Each of the twenty-two tales in this enchanting collection is a surprise and a delight, melding the poignant and the possible with the…
Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog is one of the most intelligent and enjoyable audiobooks I have ever listened to. Read on for our full review To Say Nothing of the Dog Book Synopsis Connie Willis’ Hugo and Nebula…
Juliet Naked Synopsis Annie and Duncan are a mid-30s couple who have reached a fork in the road, realising their shared interest in the reclusive musician Tucker Crowe (in Duncan’s case, an obsession as well as an academic career) is…
Julia Stuart’s The Matchmaker of Perigord is a wonderfully quirky mix of opposites – old and new, hilarity and melancholy, mystic fancy and pragmatism.
The Big Ask as with other titles in Shane Maloney’s Murray Whelan Series is a wonderful mix of thrilling action and caustic wit.
Murray Whelan is an underdog who seems to just get up everytime life knocks you down. He makes mistakes – big ones – but he inevitably figures out a way to deliver a bit of his own Robin Hood justice to those who mistake him for a patsy.
I really enjoyed Australian author Toni Jordan’s debut novel Addition because of its quirkiness and refreshing approach to chick lit (read my review), and so I eagerly awaited the publication of her second novel.
In Fall Girl Toni Jordan has created an interesting premise and quirky characters for the reader to be engaged and surprised by.
There is so much packed into this novel that I won’t even try to explain the plot line because I wouldn’t do it justice. Suffice to say this darkly satirical novel was a pleasure to listen to. Narrator Paul Bhattacharjee’s delivery finds just the right balance – playing up the deadpan and ironic humour to great effect while reserving a poignance for elements intended as deeper social commentary.
Annabelle is tired of being the lone failure in a family of overachievers. She’s endured dead-end jobs and a broken engagement. But that’s going to change now that she’s taken over her late grandmother’s matchmaking business. All Annabelle has to do is land the Windy City’s hottest bachelor as her client, and she’ll be the most sought-after matchmaker in town.
Connie Willis’s short novel Bellwether is a wonderfully intelligent romantic comedy.
Researchers Dr Sandra Foster and Dr Bennett O’Reilly, with specialties in fad/trend analysis and chaos theory respectively find themselves thrown together in the chaotic and fad driven HiTek Corporation. They are your classic fish out of water. Add to this melting pot an infuriating admin assistant (sorry, interdepartmental communications liaison), a 60+ page simplified grant funding application form and a flock of sheep and you have ample fodder for comedic moments.
One Day by David Nicholls oozes humour, depth and compassion. Why I recommend the audiobook, consider the movie a poor substitute but love the TV series also.
Has a novel ever made you laugh and want to cry at the same time? One Day did that to me.
Nicholls forces us to fall in love with his lead characters, Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, as we check in with them each year on the anniversary of their first liaison. How can one not feel a connection to these characters when they think the same things we have all thought? How can one not feel empathy for these hapless individuals when we have all made similar mistakes in our own lives?
