Tag Archives: Parramatta Library

Queen of the Tearling

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Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Abstract

Kelsea Glynn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised in secret by foster parents after her mother Queen Elyssa, as vain as she was stupid was murdered for ruining her kingdom. For 18 years, the Tearling has been ruled by Kelsea’s uncle in the role of Regent however he is but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress tyrant of the neighbouring realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea’s 19th birthday, the tattered remnants of her mother’s guard each pledged to defend the queen to the death arrive to bring this most unregal young woman out of hiding.

Comments

I had been waiting to read this book for so many months, after seeing it on some list. I waited a few months after publication to read it because I really wanted to savor the moment and I am really happy to say I LOVED it.

I can’t believe it is Erika Johansen’s first book. She has done such a brilliant job. There are many aspects that contribute to make this such a GREAT READ. The storyline was interesting, while it read like it was set in the Middle Ages, it was actually set in the future; such a fantastic idea.

From the very first page the character of Kelsea grabbed hold of me and I loved her straight away. The way she grew in confidence with each chapter and interacted with all the other character in the book makes it a winner.

I loved the character of Lazarus and can’t wait to find out his whole story in the next two books (I hope). Father Tyler, Pen, Andalie, Marguerite, Javelin are all great support characters who add so much to the story.

I really can’t wait to read the next book in the series it will be one I read the minutes it is published.

Read by      Jody

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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.

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.

 

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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.

The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal

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First Wednesday Book Group  – Comments

264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox: potter Edmund de Waal was entranced when he first encountered the collection in the Tokyo apartment of his great uncle Iggie. Later, when Edmund inherited the ‘netsuke’, they unlocked a story far larger than he could ever have imagined… The Ephrussis came from Odessa, and at one time were the largest grain exporters in the world; in the 1870s, Charles Ephrussi was part of a wealthy new generation settling in Paris. Charles’s passion was collecting; the netsuke, bought when Japanese objets were all the rage in the salons, were sent as a wedding present to his banker cousin in Vienna. Later, three children – including a young Ignace – would play with the netsuke as history reverberated around them. The Anschluss and Second World War swept the Ephrussis to the brink of oblivion. Almost all that remained of their vast empire was the netsuke collection, dramatically saved by a loyal maid when their huge Viennese palace was occupied. In this stunningly original memoir, Edmund de Waal travels the world to stand in the great buildings his forebears once inhabited. He traces the network of a remarkable family against the backdrop of a tumultuous century and tells the story of a unique collection.

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