My Book Reviews

THE HOUSEKEEPER + THE PROFESSOR by Yoko Ogawa, Review

BOOK REVIEW: Exquisite minimalism. I’ve always been a believer that good things come in small packages and this novel by Ogawa is a perfect example. The characters, a mathematics professor with special needs, his housekeeper and her son, are developed in an understated manner, through their actions. The mathematical concepts are explained with artful simplicity and woven into the telling of the story to great effect. I found Ogawa’s writing style refreshing – words are not squandered but chosen carefully to extract maximum value

MY BRILLIANT CAREER by Miles Franklin

BOOK RATING: The Story 5 / 5 ; The Writing 5 / 5 BOOK REVIEW Exceptional. Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career truly deserves all the accolades it has received over the last century. It was a ground-breaking novel when it was published…

Book Review – THE APPRENTICE by Tess Gerritsen

Chilling. This novel is fast paced and a true thriller. Tess Gerritsen’s female protagonist, Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli, is a very real character. She is strong and opinionated, but she has baggage that influences her – from a previous murder case and from being one of the few females to have succeeded in a male dominated profession.

SEND FOR PAUL TEMPLE by Francis Durbridge

BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 4 / 5 BOOK REVIEW: Vintage mystery. This little tale by Francis Durbridge was a delightful audiobook to listen to. The narrator Anthony Head does a marvellous job conveying the…

NO THOROUGHFARE by Charles Dickens & Wilkie Collins

BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 4 / 5 BOOK REVIEW: Captivating. This story was originally written as a play, and perhaps because of that has a succinctness that I found very enjoyable. At only 134 pages (PDF)…

Book Review – A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Charles Dickens

Amazing. What can I say that will do justice to this classic other than, “Why didn’t I read this years ago?”. Of course I watched Dickens’ The Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist movies many times as a child, but this is the first Dicken’s novel I’ve actually read – a travesty I know, off with my head!

THE #1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY Book 5 by Alexander McCall Smith

BOOK RATING: Story 4 / 5 ; Writing/Narration 5 / 5 BOOK REVIEW: This was my first experience with both an audiobook and Alexander McCall Smith’s writing, and I was very impressed on both accounts. What a great story framework, setting and group…

Book Review – THE COURILOF AFFAIR by Irene Nemirovsky

BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 5 / 5 BOOK REVIEW: Powerful. Don’t let the lack of words used (only 168 pages) fool you – Nemirovsky delivers a powerful message through the telling of this story….

TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE by Mary Higgins Clark

BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 3 / 5 BOOK REVIEW: Intricate and compelling. This is the first Mary Higgins Clark that I’ve read and I’ve found her to be a skilled story crafter. The subjects…

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, Review

Extraordinary. Stieg Larsson’s thrilling novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo really does deserve the praise it has been given and its place atop the bestseller lists. It is different to any other crime novel I have read. Larsson tells…

DIRTY LITTLE ANGELS by Christopher Tusa

BOOK REVIEW: Compelling. Tusa’s debut novel Dirty Little Angels is gritty, and really something out of the ordinary. I usually find myself propelled through a book because I can empathise with the characters or find some parallel to my own…

THE FRONT by Patricia Cornwell

BOOK REVIEW : Having read this book, my first ever from Cornwell, I’m somewhat perplexed. I’d heard great things about this author, and this wasn’t at all what I had expected. To begin with, this is the shortest book I…

PANTS ON FIRE by Maggie Alderson

BOOK REVIEW : In this story Alderson introduces a diverse mix of outrageous, larger than life characters – in locations ranging from the streets of Sydney’s Kings Cross to the pristine Australian Outback. The flaw in some chick lit these…

KILL STORY by Jerome Doolittle

BOOK REVIEW : This story just was not as interesting as I expected from the blurb. The best thing about the book was Doolittle’s leading man, Tom Bethany – an appealing character, part hired gun with a shady past, part…

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy

BOOK REVIEW : Now I know this won the Booker Prize and it received rave reviews, but I was really disappointed by it – perhaps I’d expected too much. It was as many said, compelling, emotive and deeply complex, but…

B IS FOR BURGLAR by Sue Grafton

Kinsey Millhone, Grafton’s no-nonsense, gutsy female private investigator is the benchmark in the crime/detective genre. Although the settings are a little dated now, the book having been written over 20 years ago (back when people sent letters and checked through paper records rather than online databases) this doesn’t detract from the story. While the plot is strong, snappy and filled with clever linkages and details, it remains an easy, relaxing read. Grafton writes dialogue very well and doesn’t let descriptive narrative get in the way of a compelling story. Great author, great book!

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