Best Served Cold and The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

During the April school holidays I read the latest two books of a new (to me) British fantasy author Joe Abercrombie. The first entitled Best Served Cold follows the exploits of the main character and her accomplices as she plots and then completes her revenge for both the death of her brother and the brutal and disfiguring handling of herself.  The second book, The Heroes is mainly concerned with the build up to and subsequent three day battle between two very different groups of combatants.

Both books are set in a fictional world populated by fictional characters however I would not identify these novels as typically fantasy genre books.  There are no imaginary fantasy characters and creatures.  Nonetheless the books are rollicking good reads that are very difficult to put down.  The characters are engaging and develop well throughout the stories.  The political background to the plots are intriguing and keeps the reader guessing as to what might happen next.
I must warn you though that Abercrombie's writing is very detailed and the murders of the first book and battle scenes of the second are well written and gruesome, leaving nothing to the imagination.
Paul

Best Served Cold and The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

This is one of those novels that has stayed in my mind long after I finished reading it. Set in Afghanistan and the US it tells the story of Amir, a young boy from Kabul who befriends Hassan, the son of his father's servant. Hassan and Amir are best friends, despite the fact that they come from different socio-economic backgrounds. This friendship is tested, however, when Hassan is horrifically attacked by a sadistic, older boy while defending Amir. Amir, in response, runs away and later betrays his friend.

Years later, when Amir is a teenager, Afghanistan is attacked by the Soviet Union and Amir and his father flee to the US where they start a new and very different life. Amir's once affluent father is now forced to work in a gas station while Amir attends community college in the hopes of becoming a writer and eventually marries. As an adult, Amir gets a phone call from an old friend in Afghanistan telling him about the fate of Hassan and his family. It's here that Amir has the opportunity to redeem himself for the betrayal of his best friend all those years ago.

I loved this book for many reasons. It provides a great personal narrative of life in war-torn Afghanistan and the plight of refugees. Watching Amir's father go from a well-respected man of society in Afghanistan to a struggling non-English speaking gas station attendant in an English speaking country is heart breaking, in a sense, and makes me wonder about the stories of some of the refugees in our own Australian society - who were they and what was their life like before they arrived?

I also loved the personal nature of it. Humans have faults - we can be jealous, afraid, bitter and mean-spirited. Amir and his father encompass all of these traits, but they also hold within them the ability to feel guilt and exercise kindness. It is these raw human emotions that drive them both toward atonement. It's a slightly alternative lesson that I'll never forget.

I've often found it frustrating to read books with central characters that are, in a sense, perfect. They don't feel hatred or jealousy and they never hurt anyone. These books, to me, are just unrealistic. The Kite Runnner represents the good and bad in humans and this is why I feel it's worth reading. Highly recommended.

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

Mornings in Jenin - Susan Abulhawa

This is the first novel from Susan Abulhawa and I have to say it is now on my Top Books list. It follows the tragic story of the Abulheja family, who are forcibly removed from their land in Palestine in 1948. During this removal, one of the grandsons of the Patriarch is stolen from his mother and grows up with a Jewish family, knowing nothing of his origins until he comes face to face with his older brother years later. Through Amal, the youngest granddaughter of the Patriarch we witness a shocking account of the abuses suffered by many Palestinian refugees. While I always knew the facts behind the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, this brings to life the reality behind it – the massacres and the human rights abuses. Abulhawa does not spare the reader and tells the story in such a raw way. For anyone who liked The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, I would highly recommend this book.

Mornings in Jenin - Susan Abulhawa

A Fortunate Life by A. B. Facey

This book has been on my "must read" list for a long time, if only for the fact that everyone around me has read it, never mind its canonical status in Australian literature.

A Fortunate Life is an epic yarn of one man's life, simply told, from the horrors of his mistreatment as a child farm worker to the even greater horrors of his experiences at Gallipoli in World War One. Yet the horrors are leavened with stories of humour and great achievement in farming the unforgiving country of rural Western Australia, raising a big family during the Depression and teaching himself to read and write.

A standout section for me was the author's recollection of his six months on a cattle drive through central Western Australia in 1909 when he was not yet 15 years old. This included a harrowing week lost and alone in the bush, surviving on grass and scavenged kangaroo meat, culminating in an encounter with Aboriginal Australians that not only saved his life but altered his perceptions.

Facey genuinely feels "thrilled" looking back on his life, despite the terrible hardships endured, because he relished a challenge and never faltered in his belief at "having a go at something", always "ready to take a risk and try something new. If it worked out, well good, if not I would just try something else." And he had a go at plenty of things: farming, fencing, dam building, boxing, soldiering, droving, house building, tram and truck driving, union delegate ...

A few chapters into this book and I was shaking my head, asking myself "How much more can this bloke stand?" He meets some wonderfully supportive people along the way, yet is also quite up front with the reader regarding those who mistreated or took advantage of him, including his mother who pretty much abandoned him when he was eight years old. I was amazed at his resilience, not just in surviving but in creating such a full and fulfilling life, a life that encompassed some of the iconic periods of modern Australia.

Highly recommended. A must read, that's if you haven't read it already.

A Fortunate Life by A. B. Facey

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is the moving first novel of Mary Ann Shaffer, a former librarian who tragically died before being able to see her book in print.

The book is an epistolary novel as it is made up of letters, with the story being told through the correspondences between various characters. This is a writing style that I find intriguing and if done well, like in the case of this particular novel, impressive.

Set in the aftermath of World War Two the novel tells the story of writer Juliet Ashton and a group of people from Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands that was invaded and occupied by German forces during the war.

Juliet is struggling to come up with an idea for her next writing project when she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams, a man from Guernsey who happened to acquire a book that was once Juliet’s. Through the correspondence that follows between them, Juliet discovers that Dawsey belongs to a literary society on Guernsey. The society began during the war and united a range of Guernsey people, providing them with something positive to focus on during the bleak years of the occupation. Members include the matriarchal Amelia, free spirited Isola, fisherman Eben, would be chef Will Thisbee and the loyal, strong and brave Elizabeth.

Juliet soon has a number of society members corresponding with her and discovers that she may have just found the perfect subject for her next writing project. However as Juliet gets to know more and more about the society and its members her attachment to them increases and the journey she makes to Guernsey to finally meet them all will alter the course of her life forever.  

The novel tells a moving story that depicts the very best and very worst of the human race, as well as the amazing strength and resilience of the human spirit in times of utter hardship and oppression.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Shadow by Michael Morpurgo

Looking for something enjoyable to read for our Summer Reading Club?
This story will take you on the treacherous journey of young Afghan refugee, Aman, and his mother. They are accompanied part of the way by a stray dog, who we eventually learn is actually a highly credentialed K9!

Aman and his mother face great tragedy and sadness on their journey but also experience the joy of true friendship and compassion. This moving and uplifting story, told by three different people, tells of the many challenges faced by refugees and asylum seekers. The story of Shadow is accompanied by illustrations to appeal to the young reader.

Debra Engadine Library

Shadow by Michael Morpurgo

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, was recommended to me by a work mate after I mentioned I liked Tomorrow when the War Began. The story takes place in the future. The (former) US is run by a totalitarian government (based in the Capitol). There were originally 13 districts that rebelled against this government with all rebellions being put down. District 13 was completely destoyed while the other districts are forced to enter a randomly selected male and female between the ages of 12 and 18 in the Hunger Games each year. The Hunger Games basically involve throwing the contestants into a huge arena where the objective is to kill each other. All of the games are streamed live in the form of a reality show. Enter Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of our story. Katniss is 16 and volunteers to take part in the games in place of her 12-year-old sister. Katniss is used to survival, having hunted for her family for years - however, she is not comfortable with the games. To make matters worse, the other entrant from District 12 is a boy (Peeta), who once helped Katniss and her family avoid starving to death. Since then, Katniss has felt she owes him and doesn't want to kill him. What follows is an extremely fast paced, nail-biting story.

While the storyline is extremely far-fetched, it is still entertaining and made me think a bit about what I'd do in the same situation. At first I thought it was a little slow, but once they entered the arena, I found I couldn't put the book down as the pace just got quicker and quicker and there were surprises around every corner. Suzanne Collins creates a great atmosphere of trepidation leaving the reader on the edge of their seat. There is also a lot of gore in this book so those with a weak stomach should maybe skip over these parts.

The only part of the book that I felt let it down was the growing romance between Katniss and Peeta. I just found these parts to be extremely slow and a little boring. This, however, may be more reflective of my anti-romantic personality than the quality of the book itself. The whole plot was perfectly planned and I couldn't have come up with a better ending if I tried. There are two other books in the series and I'm eagerly waiting to borrow the second book from the Library.

The Hunger Games

When the Hipchicks went to War

This teen novel by Pamela Rushby was recommended to me by a High School Teacher Librarian. She assured me I would not be disappointed and I wasn't.

Kathy is sixteen and enjoying living in the sixties with miniskirts, the Beatles, discos and her fab new boots. The world is in turmoil and her brother is away fighting in the Vietnam War. Kathy just wants to enjoy life and experience a world beyond the suburbs. She jumps at the chance to join a couple of girls and leave Australia to dance with an entertainment troop in Vietnam. She slips on her boots, walks away from school and heads off to war. Thrown into the very harsh reality of war Kathy soons learn there's more to life than just song and dance.

This is a great novel that certainly opens the readers eyes to what impact the Vietnam War had on many Australian lives.

When the Hipchicks went to War

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The author has received glowing reviews and some reviewers predict this book will be the most popular for book groups this year. We have noticed that interest in Caringbah. Several people from book groups have put their names on the list.

Mary Ann Shaffer was born in 1934 and died last year before the book was finished and published. Her niece, Annie Barrows completed it for her. It is too bad she never got to see her success.


The story is about a journalist and writer from London who starts corresponding with residents from Guernsey soon after the 2nd World War. They and their stories intrigue her and she sets off to meet her new friends and research the island's war history under Nazi occupation. As the story develops the focus hones in on Elizabeth McKenna and her young daughter. Elizabeth was one of the founders of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It is fascinating to read of the very modern and tolerant attitudes displayed by the islanders in the 1940's and 1950's.


I won't give the rest of the story away except to say that it tugged on my heart strings and I definately would now like to visit Guernsey and the rest of the islands, who by the way don't pay their taxes. As one reviewer said: "There's romance, suspense, tears and laughter".


- Caringbah Library

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Tomorrow, when the War Began

In the spirit of the soon to be released movie, I thought it would be good to review John Marsden's Tomorrow, When the War Began. This book was first published in 1993 and is book one in a series of seven. Set in rural Victoria, it follows 17-year-old Ellie and her friends as they go on a weekend camping trip and return to realise their country has been invaded and their families all taken hostage. Rather than turning themselves in, they decide to fight back - hiding out in the bushland surrounding their homes by day, and conducting guerilla style attacks at night. They have to face the idea of killing another person and losing their homes, families and way of life.

It's easy to see why this book is one of the most popular Australian novels for Young Adults. It has a great mix of action, adventure and drama suitable for all types of teens. I liked the fact that while the character's are hero's in a sense, they do not act like cold hearted killing machines. They still have their hangups and uncertainties and are in no way perfect - I think this is what makes them so easy to relate to. The book also makes you think about what you'd do in the same situation. Would you fight? Would you hide? What would you do? Not to mention, there are some great action scenes.


Overall, I think this is one of the best Australian books ever written and I'd highly recommend it.

Tomorrow, when the War Began