Man Drought - Bernard Salt

Ah, all is now clear. Good strategies advocated here - steal from other age brackets if you're a woman above your mid-30s as the drought is worst between your mid 30s to early 60s! Here's the Amazon blurb "Why are there so many single women in their 30s? What's an OFFAL? In this entertaining and insightful book, social commentator Bernard Salt answers these and many other pressing questions about contemporary Australia. Drawing on current census data and his own research, he presents a quirky, enlightening tour of the world we live in."

The Twilight Saga - Stephenie Meyer

I only bought this out of curiousity at the "publishing phenomenon". Then it sat on my bedside table for awhile as I wasn't sure I wanted to read a vampire book for young women. But when I finally started it, I was hooked from the first page. Which woman, young or old, would not be enthralled by these heady elements - a superhuman super-attractive good vampire in love with you and you with him; both of you stricken with heart-stopping romantic and sexual tension; a would-be lover who's cool, collected, strong, passionate, self-disciplined, loving, responsible, old-fashionedly considerate? Plus the ever-present danger element? Perfectly delicious!

So, it was natural to get on the emotional rollercoaster ride with the other 3 books in the saga New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, devouring one after the other, trying to stretch them out as much as possible.. (though the sexual tension does get ridiculously protracted into book 3 with no let up - due to the old-fashioned values of this sexy vampire! Hint - There's resolution in Book 4 - read to find out why.) Lots of excitement throughout and exciting thrills including werewolves and other vampires, but the best thing is the down to earth, wry and funny self-deprecating style of the heroine.

The Conjuror's Bird - Martin Davies

Lyrical,historical setting - a present day search for a mysterious lost bird, with an achingly sad ill-fated love story in the distant past as its backdrop. Interesting historical details of renowned naturalist Joseph Banks on his voyage of discoveries, and an elusive woman who haunts his heart.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

I loved this book, captivated by the storyline, Swedish setting and the unusual protagonist Salander, a young antisocial girl with a brilliant untrained mind and delinquent tendencies, and her equally unusual relationship with journalist Mikael Blomvist as they solve a sinister disappearance in the past, somehow connected to the present. The pace starts rather slow but builds up to unputdownable.

The History of Love - Nicole Krauss

A reviewer described it as hauntingly beautiful. I suppose you could say that. The ending is a little cryptic which made me turn a few pages back to see if I'd missed something. Still, I enjoyed the 2 main characters, the octogenarian Leo Gursky and the young teenager Alma Singer, somehow connected by the book History of Love that Leo had written as a young man, and whose heroine Alma was named after.

Free Food for Millionaires - Min Jin Lee

Got this book from Kinokuniya while visiting Sydney - love that bookshop with its mind boggling range and imported titles I never see in the run of the mill bookshops. I found this book interesting in its exploration of race, class, money etc, about a Korean girl from a working class immigrant family. She has been well educated through scholarships and acquired expensive habits, but is ambivalent about success, career, love. She has a wealthy mentor in a highly successful Korean businesswoman but again is highly ambivalent in this relationship. I found her ambivalence, self-sabotage and stubbornness irritating, but the story was an interesting read anyway.

Mantras and Misdemeanours - Vanessa Walker

An Australian journalist leaves her job to pursue her Buddhist spiritual journey and spend a year in McLeod Ganj, the Tibetan outpost in India. She finds herself falling in love with a disrobed Tibetan monk, conscious of the cliche as so many Western women are pairing off with Tibetan ex-monks, but in the process discovering a gentle and rewarding love and observing the beauty and contradictions of life there.

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

A tale with perverted characters and gothic tones . A few chapters in I almost gave it away, but persisted and was rewarded with a rich tale and an interesting twist. A young woman is hired to be the biographer of a famous and enigmatic author whose past is shrouded in mistruths and mystery and is slowly drawn in as the story unfolds.

Sugar Babe - Holly Hill

By an Australian woman in Sydney who, after giving up her job at her wealthy boyfriend's request and being subsequently dumped, decided to place an ad for a sugar daddy. Her adventures thereafter certainly don't give any hope for anyone looking for a sugardaddy. Interesting but not memorable.

My Stroke of Insight - Jill Bolte Taylor

Bought this while visiting Pauline in the US, a fascinating book about a brain scientist who recorded her insights while undergoing a major stroke, and her discovery of the bliss she experienced when her left brain haemorrhaged and her right brain became dominant.

The Book of Secrets - Robert J Petro

An engaging story of how a young man achieves success in his life - a teaching fable more interesting than the usual.

The Wishing Year - Noelle Oxenhandler

As soon as I saw it in Borders, I had to buy it. A beautifully written, gently paced book about wishing and its outcome in one year of the author's life, how different people in her life realise their wishes, and her resistance to applying her wishing in a materialistic way - and how she slowly moves past this resistance. It was a nurturing read, each night I looked forward to moving into its gentle rhythm.

Possession - AS Byatt

Read this whilst visiting my sister Pauline in USA. Slow reading, very densely packed literary style and not quite a light holiday read, but great characterisation and a moving story. A modern love story intertwining with a historical one. I found myself relating to Roland and Maud's solitude. Maud's sensitivity to her charismatic ex who crowded her touched a chord in me. Exquisite is a good word one reviewer used.

The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger

Another of my necessary mindless light reads. It's been sitting on the shelf for many many months, so it was time. Seeing as the movie has also come & gone. Quite painful to read about the protagonist's trials with a dragon/devil of a boss in a job "a million girls would die for". Interesting peek into the fashion publishing world.

The Stranger House - Reginald Hill

Hugely satisfying. I've only read one other of his books -- Singing the Sadness, starring Joe Sixsmith. I've never read any of his famous Dalziel and Pascoe ones. This doesn't feature any of his usual characters, so has a novel-like flavour. Very mysterious, gothic, atmospheric - the past and present intertwining in complex twists and turns. To paraphrase an Amazon review "Aussie math whiz Samantha Flood has fiery red hair and a fierce determination to learn the truth about her paternal grandmother, an orphan shipped from her native England to Australia under suspicious circumstances. Sober Spaniard Miguel Madero, an ex-priest who experiences ghostly visions is researching English Catholics during the Reformation.. Samantha and Mig, an unlikely duo, are drawn to one another as each discovers secrets simmering beneath the surface of Illthwaite's deceptively serene facade."

In A Sunburned Country - Bill Bryson

Read this months ago, but forgot to record it. I've been listening to a lot of audiobooks by Bill Bryson recently, but this is the only one I read in print. It's one his best - well researched, interesting and quirky bits of history and trivia, and very funny! Here's an amazing thing so close to home and I'd never heard of it ".. southwest Gippsland, home of the world's largest earthworms (up to 12 feet in length)." And I loved his description of John Howard..

If You Could See Me Now - Cecelia Ahern

The whimsy was a bit too light and fluffy for me, although I did enjoy A Place Called Here, another whimsical book by this author. At times I couldn't help feeling like I was reading a children's book. The story idea is interesting - Luke's invisible friend becomes visible to his aunt, 35 yr old Elizabeth who doesn't realise that others can't see this person. A romantic interest develops. A few feel good scenarios, but I couldn't get into them.

Deceived - Sarah Smith with Kate Snell

A harrowing and incredible true story about a young woman who lost 10 years of her life on the run, hiding in poverty and terror from her would-be killers, thinking the man who'd taken her away was a British secret agent protecting her from IRA terrorists. One naturally wonders how the people involved could so gullibly have given away their trust and so much money, but reading this helps you understand the mechanics of brainwashing, fear, and the charisma of a con man.

The Last Chinese Chef - Nicole Mones

I prefer the Australian book cover art (not the one shown here) -it evokes the delicacy and poetry of the food and love written about so beautifully in the book. The book is a captivating journey into food - the layers of meaning, history and literary allusions there are in the Chinese-Chinese food that the protaganist an American food writer begins to fall in love with, so different to the American-Chinese food she has known, and the life she has known.

Deja Vu - Susan Fraser

A debut by an Australian author married to a French man, like in the story. I thought of The Time Traveller's Wife when I first saw this, but it's quite different. The couple have found themselves with their current awareness but in the bodies & circumstances of their past about 14 years back, when they first met, retracing past events with new and painful revelations and with the benefit of hindsight & foresight, possibly with a different outcome. It's quite evocative. I enjoyed it.

What the Dead Know - Laura Lippman

My first Laura Lippman experience, and not disappointed. After fleeing a car accident, a middle-aged woman with no ID is questioned by police and hints that she is the younger of two sisters, Heather and Sunny Bethany, who disappeared decades ago. She knows both too much and not enough about the case, leading Baltimore police on wild goose chases. The narrative tracks back & forth in time, with suspenseful little glimpses into the mystery of what really happened.

Too many to remember...

It's been awhile and the books I've read in the meantime have blurred in memory. A few I remember:
A Certain Chemistry by Mil Millington
This was my light read but it turned out to be a slightly disturbing and funny look at rampant adulterous behaviour and its consequences when the protagonist who's ghostwriting for a TV soapstar begins an uncontrollable affair with her.

Four Souls by Louise Erdrich
Hard to describe - in part beautiful, haunting, slapstick, wise, mystifying. About a native American woman who goes in search of the lumber baron who stripped her land.

Handbags and Gladrags by Maggie Alderson
Another chick lit type and another look behind the scenes of the fashion world. I found it interesting for the latter reason, though the writing and story line was engaging too.

Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones
A children's story by the same author as the book which Hayao Miyazaki based "Howl's Moving Castle" which I so fell in love with for its amazing animation, story and style. Since then I bought the other 14 Hayao Miyazaki movies on DVD too. This book is meant to be a sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, but there is only a very passing reference to Wizard Howl & Sophie towards the end. A nice children's story. Not a patch on Howl though.

Utopian Dreams by Tobias Jones
Explores alternative communities - like the better known Damanhur in Italy, and also a few unknown (to me) ones. I skim read this. Partly because the library return date was overdue, partly because I only found bits interesting.

Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwartz
A tragic atmospheric read about hidden secrets of the past and love.