Daily Archives: 10 September 2014

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

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Second Tuesday Book Group – September 2014

 

Summary

burial

Set against Iceland’s stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.

Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes’s death looms, the farmer’s wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they’ve heard.

Riveting and rich with lyricism, BURIAL RITES evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others

 

 

Comments

  • Story about Agnes Magnúsdóttir who was condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of two men in Iceland in1829.
  • Really liked the book, interesting, emotional; devastating end.
  • Wonderful; great writing good descriptive on relationships. Showed what life really was like for the time; hardship.
  • The writing was very vivid and took the reader on a great journey.
  • One of the best books read this year. Very different, good insight into the way of living and different class of living standards.

March Violets by Philip Kerr

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First Wednesday Book Group – September 2014

 

Comments

  • Good story. Did not like style of writing-too many similes. 2 out of 5 stars.
  • Enjoyed the book. Setting interesting & background also. Dialogue good.
  • Historically fairly accurate. 3.5 stars, would recommend.
  • Found Bernie Gunther captures Berlin well in 1930s. Depicts corruption & brutality of Nazis. Marries history and fiction well. Episodes in book gel with actual history. Liked Bernie Gunther. 4 stars, would recommend.
  • Enjoyed Berlin, fascinating. History of time accurate. Did not like references to women; sexist. Dark corrupt, hopelessness portrayed well. 3.5 stars
  • Set the scene well of pre-war era. See the horror beginning. Fascinating! I would not have picked up prior to reading group; so grateful for that. 4 stars
  • Wisecracking, irritating. Lost track of some characters enjoyed back story. 3.5 stars.
  • Put off by similes (too many). Good descriptions without similes. Plot too wide? 3 stars.

I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

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Second Tuesday Book Group – August 2014

 

Summary

malalaI come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday.

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

 

Comments Continue reading →

Sinning Across Spain by Ailsa Piper

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First Wednesday Book Group – August 2014

 

SinningSummary

Sinning Across Spain is the story of Ailsa Piper’s 1300 kilometre walk from the southern city of Granada to Galicia, “the bathtub of Spain”, in the far northwest, carrying an unusual cargo. Aside from 10 kilograms of practicalities, she also lugged a load of sins in her swag.

In the tradition of medieval believers, or scammers, who paid others to carry their sins to holy places, and so buy forgiveness, Ailsa asked her colleagues and friends to donate a sin. She then shouldered them across country, being taunted and tempted by them along the way, and trying to discover the mysteries of faith. What is faith? Did she have it? Could she get it? Would she know it if she saw it?

Sinning across Spain celebrates the call of the road, the possibilities for connection, and the simple act of putting one foot down – and then the other, and repeat – for more than a thousand kilometres of dusty road.

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My God! it’s a Woman by Nancy Bird

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Last Thursday Book Group – July 2014

Book Summary

Nancy Bird’s training began in 1933, at the age of seventeen, in Sydney, where she was one of Charles Kingsford Smith’s first pupils. Despite many obstacles, including being too small to reach an aeroplane’s controls without the aid of cushions. Nancy was determined to fly, and in 1935, she became the youngest Australian woman to get a commercial pilot’s licence.

My God Its a Woman spans Nancy’s flying experiences in the Outback, her travels in Europe and the USA, her association with famous aviators such as Jean Batten and Amy Johnson, and her flying comeback in the 1950s. In 1966, Nancy was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her support of charities, and in 1990 her significant contribution to aviation and her courageous work in the Outback was recognised with an Order of Australia. Qantas named its first A380 jet in her honour, in 2008.

Comments

  • Read a few chapters and found the book too crowded – too many different characters and couldn’t get into the book.
  • Hard to get into.
  • Liked the book – Nancy Bird was one of the first women pilots in Australia and did flights similar to the Flying Doctors. Found the book interesting.
  • Nancy Bird had limited schooling and then helped her father in his shop. After a couple of years Kingsford Smith started a flying school and Nancy started flying lessons and passed at a very young age. Nancy became the first female pilot to fly passengers.
  • This book is a great testament to an extraordinary person, who happens to be a woman.