Wonder what to read to kids under 5 years old? Well, Antonia, one of our children’s librarian is going to talk about it in the ‘Books for Kids’ series
Book Review: Force of Nature by Jane Harper
Force of Nature by Jane Harper
Book Summary
Five women reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking along the muddy track. Only four come out the other side.
The hike through the rugged Giralang Ranges is meant to take the office colleagues out of their air-conditioned comfort zone and teach resilience and team building. At least that is what the corporate retreat website advertises.
Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a particularly keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing bushwalker. Alice Russell is the whistleblower in his latest case – and Alice knew secrets. About the company she worked for and the people she worked with.
Far from the hike encouraging teamwork, the women tell Falk a tale of suspicion, violence and disintegrating trust. And as he delves into the disappearance, it seems some dangers may run far deeper than anyone knew.
Comments
A Library Book Club choice and a good one too. Federal Police, Aaron Falk and his offsider Carmen, are investigating a company fraud when their informant, Alice, who works for the company goes missing with four other employees on a team building exercise. The setting is dense forest in the Giralang Ranges in Victoria. The women lose their way and after a harrowing time only four of them emerge. What has happened?
This is a real page-turner. Jane Harper has complete control of the narrative throughout and she maintains the suspense while creating a cast of well-drawn and interesting characters.
Read by
Dundas Readers
Librarians’ Choice – April 2019
This will be the final Librarians’ Choice Top 10 picks – the service is ceasing with this months release. Never fear though the City of Parramatta Libraries staff will still be releasing their recommendations, reviews and lists of must read books. So without further ado the final books as voted for by Library Staff around Australia.
- The Place on Dalhousie – Melina Marchetta (Librarians’ Choice Favorite)
- Gravity is the Thing – Jaclyn Moriarty
- Eight Lives – Susan Hurley
- The True Story of Maddie Bright – Mary-Rose MacColl
- River of Salt – Dave Warner
- The Sparkle Pages – Meg Bignell
- Australia Day – Stan Grant
- Under the Midnight Sky – Anna Romer
- Growing Up African in Australia – Maxine Beneba Clarke
- The Artist’s Portrait – Julie Keys
Podcast – Celebrating Women
Parra Pods – Episode 11
Katherine, Nisa & Yi discuss some recent releases all about ‘Celebrating Women’.
We wanted to mark International Women’s Day: More Powerful Together (2019’s motto) in this Podcast by reviewing three women focused titles.
What follows was a robust female focused discussion that sheds light on the current state of women’s lives in the world today and the progress we still need to make to achieve equality.
Some of the books mentioned in this Podcast include:
Germaine: the Life of Germaine Greer by Elizabeth Kleinhenz, 2018
Betraying Big Brother: Feminist Awakening in China by Leta Hong Fincher, 2018
The Women’s Atlas by Joni Seager, 2018
Thanks for listening,
Katherine, Nisa & Yi
Book Review The Other Wife by Michael Robotham
Book Summary
A secret wife. A secret life. A killer who knows. The new bestseller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until its shocking climax, by multi-million-copy selling author 
Michael Robotham.
William and Mary have been married sixty years. William is a celebrated surgeon, Mary a devoted wife. Both are strong believers in right and wrong.
William and Olivia have been together twenty years. Olivia was once a tennis star, but her career has long since faded.
Clinical psychologist Joe O’Loughlin knows only one of these stories to be true. But when he is called to his father’s hospital bed after a brutal attack, everything he once knew is turned upside down. Is it possible his father, the upstanding citizen, was leading a double life?
And who is the strange woman crying at William’s bedside, covered in his blood – a friend, a mistress, a fantasist or a killer?
A confronting psychological thriller from one of the greatest crime writers of today, Michael Robotham, the bestselling author of The Secrets She Keeps.
Comments
We enjoyed this book. While this is apparently book no. 9 in this series, it’s the first one we have read and we don’t think you need to have read any of the previous novels. This can be read as a standalone. We loved the main character, Joe O’Loughlin and the backstory with his girls, Charlie and Emma. It was a compelling storyline that sparked our interest immediately and short sharp chapters that kept us moving along. There were lots of twists and turns which kept us guessing to the end. None of our readers picked ‘whodunit’. We got a lost a little towards the end with a flurry of turns but overall, we found this a good book that would make a good holiday read.
Read By
Cutcha Club – 7/10