Books

Despite the tough discipline, the students at the International School in Moshi are free to run wild. For this motley cohort of ex-pat Europeans, Indian Tanzanians and wealthy Africans, it’s all about getting high, getting drunk and getting laid.

Samantha is tough on the outside, but underneath it all she’s lost. Her parents don’t get on, her teachers hate her and she’s at that age when boys only want one thing. She has lived in Tanzania since she was three. Her father is a mercenary, her mother downs gin and tonics under the midday sun. Ignored and misunderstood, Samantha learns quickly that affection comes at a premium, however hollow the “love” on offer. Before long, her reputation precedes her, losing her friends as quickly as it wins her admirers.

Exile is the first of three powerful and gritty novels about growing up as an ex-pat in Tanzania in the ’80s, where the ordinary teenaged pressures are magnified by post-colonial tensions and the easy availability of drink and drugs.

I started reading Exile on the plane to Melbourne, something I don’t normally do. Usually I’m not prepared to take the risk of being stuck with a book that I’m not that into while being interstate. However, the synopsis had intrigued me and I didn’t have anything else to read that I hadn’t read before.

It was interesting, as it had been translated to English, and so the first few pages were me getting used to the writing style and the slightly choppy nature of the sentences. That said, the shorter sentences really suited the story and I found myself invested in the characters really quickly. Knowing that this book is part of a trilogy I had high expectations and I wasn’t disappointed at all.

Having to wait until 2012 for book two and 2013 for book three have me ever so slightly annoyed however. I like to read trilogies all at once, because I am terrible at waiting for the next book in a series. Forever impatient, I want to know RIGHT NOW.

Argh.

Samantha is a great character and I really enjoyed reading the book from her perspective. She is beautifully flawed and I found myself invested in her story.

I can’t say much more without giving too much away, but parts of the book are totally unexpected and as the reader, it kept me on my toes. A great book, and I really hope that book #2 continues with the same quality and intensity. Now to chew my fingernails while I wait.

Exile will be published on November 1st 2011. RRP $32.99

Nourishment is nurture. That’s what Andie learned from her grandmother and what she’s always believed about cooking. But somehow, since marrying Ross, she’s allowed her love of food to take a back seat and given up her dream of becoming a chef.

Lately she’s been craving more. And when her marriage falls apart, she’s determined to find herself again and take back control of her destiny.

The first step is taking a job in the kitchen of renowned chef Dominic Gerou. The brooding Englishman is more than Andie bargains for, but the new Andie is ready for anything,even a bad-tempered chef who makes it clear he won’t tolerate mistakes.

That is the basic synopsis of Diane Blacklock’s new book The Secret Ingredient.

I read the book in an evening and it was a quick easy read. I’m not sure what I was hoping for, but I felt that the synopsis and blurb weren’t quite adept at summing up the book. It isn’t about cooking so much as it is about Andie (the main character) and the relationship she holds with the people around her. Not that there is a thing wrong with that (and it made the book quite enjoyable actually) I just felt like the blurb was setting readers up for false expectations.

It feels like quite an introspective book and I was a little startled to find that real cooking and the “guts” of the story didn’t actually happen until midway through the book. Not that it is a slow story by any stretch of the imagination, just that there are other things happening within the first half of the book and other threads being tied together.

I like that Andie and her supporting cast of characters are believable and they feel fully fleshed out and the writing of the book in itself is great. I didn’t get bored and put the book down and wander off, I read through steadily and enjoyed it, which when you’re as easily distracted as I am, is a good recommendation.

A little predictable in places, it is the kind of book I would recommend for holiday reading. It’s pleasant and enjoyable and doesn’t require too many brain cells.

The Secret Ingredient is Diane Blacklock’s eighth book and will be released on November 1st. RRP $25

 

I haven’t read a copy of the Guinness World Records since I was in school and we would laze around the library on wet lunches, reading out snippets of records and talking. It’s been quite a few years, in fact.

I’m not sure who was more excited by the book, me, Nathan, or Amy. Nathan because he hadn’t looked through a copy for years (’97 is the last one he remembers reading), Amy because it had PICTURES (and books arriving for Mummy in the mail rarely have pictures) or me, because come on, records are cool.

I am such a geek.

Needless to say, the book has gotten a lot of reading time lately, with Amy extra interested in the animals in the book and why they’re there, Isaac with the cars (CARS, OH MUMMY, CARS!) and Nathan with everything.

It’s been interesting to read through the records with the kids and I suspect this will be one of the books we keep returning to, over and over again.

Especially once Amy learns to read.

I’ve said before that the best bit about working alongside Pan Macmillan is that when I’m reviewing books, I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone and reading from genres that normally aren’t my first choice.

This was the case with Violent Exposure from Katherine Howell.

Murder mysteries aren’t usually my thing. Maybe I read too many cliche mysteries when I was first dabbling in the genre, but I will normally bypass them for something with magic, or YA fiction.

That said, I picked up Violent Exposure, read the first chapter and didn’t stop reading. I wanted to know what happened next, as soon as I could, thank you very much. It was really well written, and not predictable.

Fast paced and exciting, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, considering that mysteries haven’t been my thing for a while. If more murder investigation novels were written like this one, I would be a convert.

“A women has been stabbed to death in her home, her husband missing. A tragic case of domestic homicide is the initial theory.

However, as the investigation progresses, things get more complicated and not all of the evidence adds up. Why is there no record of the husband before he met his wife? Why has a teenager who worked for the pair disappeared too?”

Exciting, fast paced and brilliant. I really enjoyed this.

Violent Exposure is due to be published on the 1.10.11.

When I buy a book, I normally buy based on recommendations from my friends, which means I rarely read new releases, unless they’re from a series I’m already invested in, or an author I have a prior relationship with.

This probably means that I miss out on a lot of good books. Since having children, I don’t have the time, nor the money, to peruse the New Release section of a book shop, or even enter a book shop at all.

Of course, since Pan Macmillan started sending me books, I’m read more new releases, from authors who are completely new to me and this is a good thing. It also pushes me out of my comfort zone and forces me to think a little harder about WHY I enjoyed/didn’t enjoy a book and then articulate that in a way that leaves everyone happy.

Today’s book was The Invisible Ones, by Stef Penney and I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting of it. The cover has absolutely nothing to do with the content of the book, so in that case, cliche fulfilled and you should not be judging the book by its slightly out of place cover.

I started reading it last night, when I was struck down by the flu and too hot/cold to sleep and too achey to do anything internet related. I finished it this afternoon, so it wasn’t a heavy, or involved book by any count, and that suited me perfectly.

Ray Lovell is a private investigator, who is hired to find Rose, who disappeared sometime after marrying Gypsy, Ivo Janko. Rose’s father hasn’t heard from her in seven years and would (finally?) like some closure regarding what happened to his daughter.

Ray himself is half Gypsy, which appears to grant him access to the Gypsy family involved, in a way that someone else wouldn’t be.

Through twists and turns, Ray uncovers more and more pieces of the puzzle, and seems to end up with more questions than answers.

Fear not however, the book manages to tie up all of the plot twists and intrigues into a nice little bundle at the end, leaving me feeling satisfied with the entire book.

I’ve not read anything else written by Stef Penney and mysteries aren’t normally my genre of choice (see above: re pushed out of my comfort zone), but the author made this a highly pleasant reading experience for me, someone who isn’t enamoured of the mystery genre.

I found myself sucked into the story completely and wanting to keep reading, so that I could find out what happened next.

You can buy the book from The Book Depository, or any good book store.