Yes, it’s winter in Australia and while we mostly don’t get snow, it can be cold and bleak. I live in Perth, Western Australia and being used to sunshine, the cold grey days can really get me down. TV holds a few programs that interest me. So, I snuggle up with a hot drink and a good book .

My reading has been less predictable than usual, as I simply read books that caught my eye, ones I’d been waiting for or ones that appealed to me.

The Overlook by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch 13

In his first case since he left the LAPD’s Open Unsolved Unit for the prestigious Homicide Special Squad, Harry Bosch is called out to investigate a murder that may have chilling consequences for national security. A doctor with access to a dangerous radioactive substance is found murdered in the trunk of his car. Retracing his steps, Harry learns that a large quantity of radioactive cesium was stolen shortly before the doctor’s death. With the cesium in unknown hands, Harry fears the murder could be part of a terrorist plot to poison a major American city.

Soon, Bosch is in a race against time, not only against the culprits, but also against the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI (in the form of Harry’s one-time lover Rachel Walling), who are convinced that this case is too important for the likes of the LAPD. It is Bosch’s job to prove all of them wrong. First published May 22, 2007

My Review.

I watched the first two seasons of Bosh on TV and enjoyed them. A friend loaned me this book. I hadn’t realised it was number thirteen in the series so there were quite a few gaps in my knowledge of the back story. It was still easy to follow the main story. Given the time it was written, America’s preoccupation with terrorists seems justified. But never discount a cop’s instincts. Even though the evidence points one way Harry senses there is more to the case. Teaming again with Rachel sometimes pits them against each other and at other times they are allies. Interesting dynamic.

Suddenly Single At Sixty by Jo Peck

An uplifting, witty and hilarious memoir about the road from the shock and despair of a sudden marriage break-up to a fabulous new life.
Dumped by her husband of twenty-five years, Jo Peck-smart, successful and sixty-is totally floored. There’s the complete bombshell of the news, the cliche of a younger woman-a much younger woman-there’s the disappointment of cancelled retirement travel plans, and there’s the foundation-rocking loss of her sense of identity-if she’s no longer Rex’s wife, who the hell is she? She’s lost and angry and hurt and confused. But not for long! There’s the comfort and support of excellent friends and newly forged connections with extended family, there’s therapy. And there’s internet dating.
This inspiring, witty and at times hilarious memoir tells the story of the road from shock and despair to an unexpected new life, of friendship, romance and  racy sex, proof that being suddenly single at sixty is not the end, it’s an opportunity for a fabulous new beginning.

My Review.

I wouldn’t quite describe it in terms of the burb. I think being suddenly single and dumped is a fairly common experience no matter what our age. Of course, it was a shock and Jo was lucky enough to have supportive friends who rallied around as well as a fairly comfortable lifestyle and income. I found her online dating experiences relatively tame, having fished in the same swamp!

A Snowball in Hell by Christopher Brookmyre.

Each society gets the serial killers it deserves…
How sick are you of our vapid celebrity culture, reality TV shows and tawdry talent contests? Not as sick as Simon Darcourt—but let’s face it, nobody is as sick as Simon Darcourt. A deranged but inventive killer with a genuinely wicked sense of humour, he is busy creating his own celebrity talent show, one that is generating more publicity than its contestants have ever had in their lives. The catch is that those lives won’t be very long.
With the police losing the ratings war, they turn to Angelique de Xavia, a cop who has crossed this psycho’s path before. Having given the best years of her life to a thankless career, concluding unfinished business may be the only motivation keeping her in the job. However, the police are not the only people who want Darcourt, and ruthless measures are engaged against Angelique asleverage in determining his final destination. Now she’s faced not only with tracking down her quarry and spiriting him from under the noses of her fellow cops, but the even more daunting task of ensuring she doesn’t end up dead once she’s served her purpose.
Scared and alone, Angelique knows she’s got a snowball’s chance of pulling this off, which is why she’s going to need a little magic…
A viciously dark satire, a breathlessly exhilarating thriller and a most unlikely romantic comedy: this is Christopher Brookmyre at the very top of his game.

My Review.

Manipulations and misdirection are the name of the game, but who knew that more than one person was playing? Better keep your wits about you to follow the twists and turns of this meticulously plotted thriller. If you like your humour dark, Christopher Brookmyre delivers, as well as thought-provoking reflections on our obsession with celebrity culture and who qualifies as a “Celebrity.” The mirror he holds up to our society isn’t an edifying one.

The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns.

 A feel-good romantic comedy by Australia’s bestselling romance writer, ideal for fans of Emily Henry and Marian Keyes.

Named after a famous fictional character, librarian Bridget Jones was raised on a remote cattle station, with only her mother’s romance novels for company. Now living alone in Fremantle, Bridget is a hopeless romantic. She also believes that anyone who doesn’t like reading just hasn’t met the right book yet, and that connecting books to their readers is her superpower. If only her love life was that easy.

When handsome Italian barista Fabio progresses from flirting with love hearts on her coffee foam to joining the book club she runs at her library, Bridget prays her romance ‘curse’ won’t ruin things. But it’s the attention of her cranky neighbour Sully that seems to be the major obstacle in her life. Why is he going to so much effort to get under her skin?

With the help of her close friends and the colourful characters who frequent her library, Bridget decides to put both men to the test by finding just the right books to capture their very different hearts. She soon discovers that not all romances start with a meet-cute, but they might just end in happily ever after…

Written by Australia’s most beloved romance writer, The Other Bridget is a delightfully uplifting book about books, and a gorgeous celebration of the power and pleasure of romance novels throughout the ages.

496 pages, Paperback Published January 30, 2024

My Review

A book featuring books and libraries is an almost automatic choice for me. This one has a plethora of book recommendations for adults and teens… I got my copy via Borrow Box and was disappointed to find the complete reading list wasn’t included. It is however available online.

Imagine being called Bridget Jones, a joke that was funny once but not when repeated a thousand times. No wonder she chooses to call herself Bee.

Bee believes herself as cursed as Bridget with a disastrous taste in men until the Fabio the sexy Italian Barista chats her up. Life appears to be looking up but for her, apart from her interactions with her grumpy and annoying neighbour Sully. Can she break her relationship curse?

Venus with Pistol By Gavin Lyall

ASSAULT, GUNFIRE AND MURDER’ New York Times

‘COOL SMOOTH STYLE COMBINED WITH HOT PACE. A GRIPPER’ The Sun

For a skilled art smuggler like Kemp, the job looked easy.

All he had to do was sneak a few extremely valuable paintings over the border from France into Switzerland—a simple task for a man of his experience.

But when Kemp wakes up in a Zurich park covered in blood and without the priceless Cézanne he’d been carrying, it’s clear things have gone badly wrong.

To add to his problems, Kemp has no memory of the attack—and no idea who carried it out.

The next day Kemp runs into Harry Burroughs at the airport. Kemp suspects this is no coincidence—because Burroughs is a fine art dealer and an even finer crook.

If Burroughs really is mixed up in all this, then Kemp knows that from now on he will have to earn his money the hard way—or he will lose more than just his fee.

My Review

In one part of the book, a character criticises a John Le Carre novel saying, “Not enough guns.” It’s not a criticism that can be levelled at this book, especially as our ‘anti-hero’ Bert is a dealer in antique guns. For the majority of the book, I  pictured him as a grumpy middle-aged man. The story is plot-driven with little emphasis on character. I enjoyed the bits of art history. Of its era.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.

Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.

If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

My Review

I enjoyed this book with its enemies-to-lovers trope. The characterisation was good, the banter was top-notch, while the sex was sizzling. Of course, there were problems and misunderstandings and a will they, won’t they moment. Additionally, for me there was the bonus of the book-related content. 

Storm Child by Michael Robotham Cyrus Haven 4

My Review.

While it would be possible to read this as a standalone, I wouldn’t recommend it. So much of the story relates to Cyrus and Evie’s shared past traumas and how they have come to a calmer place.

A rare day out for them spirals out of control when bodies start washing up on the beach. What follows is a tale of secrets, of lies, menace and murder.

Fast-paced, compelling reading. But have we seen the last of Cyrus and Evie?

Loving My Lying, Dying, Cheating Husband: A Memoir of a Whirlwind Romance Gone Wrong by Kerstin Pilz.

Kerstin is childless by choice and married to her job when Gianni, a charming Italian, turns her life into a champagne-coloured fairy tale.
Soon after their runaway wedding, Gianni is diagnosed with cancer and Kerstin becomes his dedicated carer. But when she discovers that he has been cheating on her all through their relationship, she is faced with a difficult walk away, or continue to care for the man who betrayed her. She turns first to wine and then to therapy, eventually ending up in a Buddhist monastery. There she realises that finding a new way of loving her lying, dying husband might offer a chance to grow from her pain rather than be crushed by it – and to avoid liver damage.

My Review.

An interesting book that prompts self-reflection. Initially, it reads like the start of a fairytale a whirlwind romance, with an appealing Italian man. But like most fairy tales there is darkness at its core. In this case, Kerstin discovers that her new husband has cancer. The details of illness and disintegration are realistic and hard to read. Most damaging of all she learns that he has been seeing other women throughout their relationship. This gives her a choice, to leave him when he needs her most or to stay. It’s a choice that many women would baulk at.

After Gianni dies she is deep in grief and finally allowing herself to feel all the feelings she suppressed. For me, this is the book’s most honest and thought-provoking part.

Its the weather for staying home and for comfort and that is what I’ve been doing,apart from attending an art group, and a writing group and an occasional coffee catch up with friends.

A little over a week ago I noticed that Annabelle wasn’t eating much and didn’t seem her usual self.I wasn’t too concerned ,as she was only fourteen and most of our cats live until around the 20 year old mark. Sadly, it was bad news and I had to say goodby to Annabelle. I miss her, I miss her quiet presence, and her feisty independence .There is an Annabelle shaped hole in my heart.

Apologies that this post was delayed a few days.