Category Archives: Book Clubs

Book Review Stone Yard Devotional

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Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

Summary

A woman abandons her city life and marriage to return to the place of her childhood, holing up in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of the Monaro.

She does not believe in God, doesn’t know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive life almost by accident. As she gradually adjusts to the rhythms of monastic life, she finds herself turning again and again to thoughts of her mother, whose early death she can’t forget.

Disquiet interrupts this secluded life with three visitations. First comes a terrible mouse plague, each day signalling a new battle against the rising infestation.

Second is the return of the skeletal remains of a sister who left the community decades before to minister to deprived women in Thailand – then disappeared, presumed murdered.

Finally, a troubling visitor to the monastery pulls the narrator further back into her past.

With each of these disturbing arrivals, the woman faces some deep questions. Can a person be truly good? What is forgiveness? Is loss of hope a moral failure? And can the business of grief ever really be finished?

A meditative and deeply moving novel from one of Australia’s most acclaimed and best loved writers.

Comments

This story is more of an introspection by the main character whose name we are never told. She moves into a little outback convent where she recounts memories and events in her life. In the Spartan religious surroundings where there is a routine of work and prayer she gradually lets go of her past life embracing the simple lifestyle but retaining her atheist beliefs.

There is a huge disruption to the quiet of the convent in the form of a mouse plague which gives the reader insights into the horror of living through such an event.

A recurring theme is how childhood experiences shape and define the people we become and how later understandings may fail to change the results.

Whilst it is well written, most of us did not find any pleasure in having reading the book. One member found it ‘peaceful’ but the rest of us couldn’t see the point of it and didn’t connect or empathise with the main character.

Rating – 4/10

Read by Dundas Readers Book Club

Book Review The woman on the bridge

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Summary

Dublin. The 1920s. As war tears Ireland apart, two young people fall in love amongst events that will bring tragedy and tough choices as they fight for a better future.

In a country fighting for freedom, it’s hard to live a normal life. Winnie O’Leary supports the cause, but she doesn’t go looking for trouble. Then rebel Joseph Burke steps into her workplace. Winnie is furious with him about a broken window. She’s not interested in romance. But love comes when you least expect it.

Joseph’s family shelter fugitives and smuggle weapons. Joseph would never ask Winnie to join the fight; but his mother and sisters demand commitment. Will Winnie choose Joseph, and put her own loved ones in deadly danger? Or wait for a time of peace that may never come?

Ireland’s tumultuous independence struggle is the backdrop for an unforgettable story of courage and heartbreak, in which heroes are made of ordinary people. Inspired by the story of Sheila O’Flanagan’s grandmother, The Woman on the Bridge is the unmissable, compulsive new novel from a bestselling author.

Comments

This is a sad story of inequality and oppression set in Ireland during the time of ‘the troubles’ which is the background for the novel. It begins in 1920 and is based on the life of the author’s grandmother. England’s military presence and the bullying tactics of some of the troops worsen the impoverished conditions of the Irish people and the civil unrest and politics splits families and friendships.

The reader views this through the story of two young people caught up in the activism and the impact that this has on their families as their own relationship develops.

Whilst some of the historical content was interesting to read, we all found this story to be mundane and shallow. It was essentially a romance set in a turbulent time in Irish history.

Read by – Dundas Readers – Rated 5/10

Book Review Romantic Comedy

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Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Summary

Life is (not)* a Romantic Comedy…

After a series of heartbreaks, Sally Milz – successful script writer for a legendary late-night TV comedy show – has long abandoned the search for love.

But when her friend and fellow writer begins to date a glamorous actress, he joins the growing club of interesting but average-looking men who get romantically involved with accomplished, beautiful women.

Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch, poking fun at this ‘social rule’. The reverse never happens for a woman.

Then Sally meets Noah, a pop idol with a reputation for dating models. But this isn’t a romantic comedy – it’s real life.

Would someone like him ever date someone like her?

Skewering all our certainties about why we fall in love, ROMANTIC COMEDY is a witty and probing tale of how the heart will follow itself, no matter what anyone says. It is Curtis Sittenfeld at her most sharp, daring and compassionate best.

Comments

What a great, fun read! Very well written, charming and smart.  It’s a little different to your usual ‘chick-lits’, but thoroughly enjoyable all the same.  There were mixed reviews at the start, some of us loved the detailed workings of how they make a weekly comedy show, others found it a little dry.  However, once we pushed past this onto the next chapter, and the emails back and forth between Sally and Noah, we were hooked.  Rooting for Sally and Noah’s relationship to work within the confines of presidential elections and covid lockdowns.  We quite enjoyed this one. 

Read by Cultcha Club – 7/10

Picture You Dead Book Review

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Picture you dead by Peter James

Summary

Harry and Freya, an ordinary couple, dreamed for years of finding something priceless buried amongst the tat in a car boot sale.

It was a dream they knew in their hearts would never come true – until the day it did…

They buy the drab portrait for a few pounds, for its beautiful frame, planning to cut the painting out. Then studying it back at home there seems to be another picture beneath, of a stunning landscape. Could it be a long-lost masterpiece from 1770? If genuine, it could be worth millions.

One collector is certain it is genuine. Someone who uses any method he can to get want he wants and will stop at nothing.

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace finds himself plunged into an unfamiliar and rarefied world of fine art. Outwardly it appears respectable, gentlemanly, above reproach. But beneath the veneer, he rapidly finds that greed, deception and violence walk hand-in-hand. And Harry and Freya Kipling are about to discover that their dream is turning into their worst nightmare. . .

Comments

This is a well plotted story with a range of interesting characters. As this is the 18th book in the Roy Grace series, some of the characters were familiar to those who had read previous titles in the series and whilst this was not essential to reading this story, it seemed to make a difference to understanding the existing relationships between many of the police.

A missing art masterpiece, which could be worth millions, is found by chance at a car boot sale. This sets off a wild ride into the art world where we meet a master forger, a reclusive art collector and some very unsavoury characters who are dealing in the darkest corners of the art world.

Detective Roy Grace and his team become engaged in tracking down the miscreants in the convoluted plot and ultimately, things are tidily brought together.

The writing has a ‘televisual’ style but some of us found it to be a very long read which we felt could have been condensed.

6.5/10

Read by Dundas Readers

Book Review This wild wild country

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This wild, wild country by Inga Vesper

About the book

Three women. An isolated town. A decades-old mystery.

1933. Cornelia Stover is not the kind of woman the men of Boldville, New Mexico, expect her to be. But, one day, she stumbles upon a secret hidden out in the hills . . .

1970. Decades later, Joanna Riley, a former cop, packs up her car in the middle of the night and drives west, fleeing an abusive marriage and a life she can no longer bear. Eventually, she runs out of gas and finds herself in Boldville, a sleepy desert town in the foothills of the Gila Mountains.

Joanna was looking for somewhere to hide, but something is off about this place. In a commune on the outskirts a young man has been found dead and Joanna knows a cover up when she sees it. Soon, she and Glitter, a young, disaffected hippie, find themselves caught up in a dark mystery that goes to the very heart of Boldville. A mystery that leads them all the way back to the unexplained disappearance of Glitter’s grandmother Cornelia forty years before . . .

Comments

We all found this book difficult to read. The story moves backwards and forwards in time, the multiple storylines are miserable and confusing. There are numerous characters whose lives and stories are based on murders, gold rush fever, 1970s hippy communes, drugs, bikie gangs, misogyny, wife abuse, secrets, lies and deceit.

There were too many unlikeable characters and themes to make this an enjoyable read.

Read by Dundas Readers – Rating 2/10