Category Archives: Recommended Reading

The Rosie Project

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9781922079770The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion

Abstract

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. Then a chance encounter gives him an idea. He will design a questionnaire-a sixteen-page, scientifically researched document-to find the perfect partner. She will most definitely not be a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker or a late-arriver. Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is strangely beguiling, fiery and intelligent. And she is also on a quest of her own. She’s looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might just be able to help her with-even if he does wear quick-dry clothes and eat lobster every single Tuesday night.

Group Comments

We absolutely loved it! It is beautifully written and gives a great insight into the autism spectrum by allowing the reader to see the world through the eyes of a man with Asperger’s. We can relate to the characters.. we all have a little bit of Don in us. Don reminded us of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory! It’s a bit like Forest Gump meets Sheldon.
The characters were very likeable and the non-conventional love story will tug at your heart strings. The plots within the story will make you laugh out loud.
We also liked the unexpected twist at the end.
Overall, a wonderful book! We are looking forward to reading the next installment.

Rating – 10/10

Read by – Cultcha Club Book Club

Sapphire Skies

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9781743099117Sapphire Skies – Belinda Alexandra

Abstract

2000: The wreckage of a downed WWII fighter plane is discovered in the forests near Russia’s Ukrainian border. The aircraft belonged to Natalya Azarova, ace pilot and pin-up girl for Soviet propaganda, but the question of her fate remains unanswered. Was she a German spy who faked her own death, as the Kremlin claims? Her lover, Valentin Orlov, now a highly-decorated general, refuses to believe it. Lily, a young Australian woman, has moved to Moscow to escape from tragedy. She becomes fascinated by the story of Natalya, and when she meets an elderly woman who claims to know the truth behind the rumours, Lily is drawn deeper into the mystery. From the pomp and purges of Stalin’s Russia through the horrors of war and beyond – secrets and lies, enduring love and terrible betrayal, sacrifice and redemption all combine in this sweeping saga.

Group Comments

One reader found the Russian history very interesting but didn’t find the writing style was good. The book was an easy read and different aspects of the dual storyline and the topics raised, eg. Moscow Metro, animal rescues. This book was recommended by the BBC Book Club in 2014 and it was an easy book to read. One reader found the enduring love of Valentin for Natalya touching and sweet. The trauma of life under the various political regimes was very clearly depicted.

Read by – The Second Tuesday Evening Book Group.

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Aside

Ebooks

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Time and Time Again

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9780593073575Time and Time Again
Ben Elton

Abstract
It’s the 1st of June 1914 and Hugh Stanton, ex-soldier and celebrated adventurer is quite literally the loneliest man on earth. No one he has ever known or loved has been born yet. Perhaps now they never will be.
Stanton knows that a great and terrible war is coming. A collective suicidal madness that will destroy European civilization and bring misery to millions in the century to come. He knows this because, for him, that century is already history.
Somehow he must change that history. He must prevent the war. A war that will begin with a single bullet. But can a single bullet truly corrupt an entire century? And, if so, could another single bullet save it? Continue reading →