Kate de Goldi- Changing Faces, Changing Places

Last Friday night Waitaki District Libraries, along with the Janet Frame Eden Street Trust hosted New Zealand author Kate de Goldi. 

Kate is the author several books for children and young adults, including the award winning 'The 10pm question'. Kate also regularly presents book reviews on radio and televsion. In her talk she mentioned that she reads three books every week as part of this role! I wish I had that much dedication! 

Kate is an awesome speaker. She is so warm and engaging and really gets involved with her characters. One of the big themes of her talk was the importance of place in her writing. She mentioned that her books often feature 'real' places, like her old hometown Christchurch, but may not always be geographically accurate! 

Her style of writing really appeals to me, it is very down to earth but amusing at the same time. I also feel like I can relate to the characters which is always a feature in books I enjoy. If you are wanting to read one of Kate's books, I would recommend 'The 10pm question' which is excellent. You can check out some reviews of it here. 

If you ever get the chance to hear Kate speak, I would highly recommend it. 

The library filling up before the event.

Kate in action.

Weekly inspiration ~ 6-10 May

This week has been super busy, much like every other week of my life! Here are the things that have been interesting, inspiring or motivational to me this week:

Kate de Goldi:   Kate de Goldi will be speaking at the Oamaru Library tonight and I'm really looking forward to hearing her speak. I'm currently reading her YA novel 'The 10 pm question' and really enjoying it. Pictures of the event will be up next week on this blog and hopefully on our Facebook page as well.
http://www.library.waitaki.govt.nz/

ANZ 23 Mobile Things : I'm really excited to be taking part in this great initiative and can't wait to be even more technologically capable :)
http://anz23mobilethings.wordpress.com/

Reading book reviews, rather than actually reading: I've been neglecting my inner book worm lately, so I've been making up for it by reading lots of book reviews on Good Reads, Amazon and random blogs. ( Seems kind of counter- intuitive though, doesn't it?) :)

I'd love to know what events, people or places have been inspiring you this week. Just leave a comment here on the blog or send me a tweet @JuliadeRuiter

Julia 

Book Review: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

I was so excited to finally read the last book in the "The Infernal Devices'"series and I was not disappointed!

Cassandra Clare has written a fantastic finale book. I often feel let down by the last book in a series; sometimes they are anticlimatic, lack a fast paced plot, or just don't end the way I hoped.

The quality we expect from her is the same as her other novels and the plot moves along at a perfect pace. It was really cool to see all the characters fully develop especially Tris. Lots of questions were answered, which I find very satisfying- it's so annoying when a series ends and you are left wondering what happened!

Will was my favourite character in this book, I think, because I admired his strength in keeping his feelings toward Tessa hidden and staying strong for Jem. I like that he is such a mixture of right and wrong, cruel and kind and open but secretive at the same time. Complex characters that you can relate to have always been a seller for me ( think Tris in Divergent by Veronica Roth).

For a YA novel, this book dealt with some pretty strong themes: a love triangle, death, betrayal and trust issues. It's one of my favourite things about most YA books.

Overall, a great read and I can't wait for the next Cassandra Clare novel!

Julia :)

Book Review: Solomon's Oak by Jo-Ann Mapson

This is an excellent novel by Jo-Ann Mapson. She is the author of eleven novels and a book of short stories. I don’t think any book review can do justice to Mapson’s writing. This book was exceptional. I was totally engrossed in this book from start to finish.

Solomon’s Oak follows widow Glory Solomon who is inwardly struggling with the loss of her husband. She holds weddings in the chapel built under the two-hundred-year-old white oak tree on their property to generate extra income for her struggling farm. Then, angry and homeless foster teenager Juniper McGuire turns up on Glory’s doorstep. Because of the disappearance of her older sister Casey several years ago, Juniper has a lot of trust and honesty issues. Glory doesn’t know if she can handle Juniper without her husband. Newcomer Joseph Vigil is a retired police officer who was shot while on duty and now lives in pain. He arrives in California to photograph the giant trees- something he has always wanted to do. The lives of these characters firstly intertwine in subtle ways, finally becoming a very close knit family.

This was my first foray into ‘grown up’ fiction for quite some time and I was pleasantly surprised. This book showed me that contemporary adult fiction can be uplifting and firmly rooted in reality, yet life affirming, rather than cynical and depressing. What really stood out for me was Mapson’s writing. She has a sense of wisdom while still writing with a refreshing take on everyday life. The world she created for her characters was full of life and special moments. I felt like Glory, Juniper and Joseph could be walking down the street, rather than just fictional people in the pages of this novel.

The book leaves you with some unanswered questions which I was very excited to discover are answered in her latest book, the (unofficial) sequel- Finding Casey.

I give this book five out of five stars.

Julia  

 

Book Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

This is a stunning and moving debut by new author Hannah Harrington- I devoured this in two sittings.

Saving June follows sixteen year old Harper Scott whose perfect and adored older sister June has committed suicide. This ( obviously) has shocked Harper and her unstable family, who thought June had everything going for her. Harper meets one of June's acquaintances, Jake, at her funeral. On impulse they, along with Harpers best friend Laney, decide to take a road trip to California ( where June hoped to attend university) to scatter her ashes. Without their parents knowledge, the trio embark on a trip that will change all of them. The road trip becomes a way for Harper to work through her grief and all the questions she has regarding June's death.

This book deals with a lot of things-religion, music, imperfect families, and death. The prose perfectly captures the feelings of teenage angst and rebellion. Old school music like the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix features heavily in the book with a list of soundtracks from the book being included in the back ( one of my favourite aspects of the book). Jake, in particular, uses music as a way of expressing his emotions. If you look deep into the characters, you see that their hidden emotions are reflected in the music they choose to play on the road trip. The book also lends itself to the mysterious side, leaving you with a couple of unanswered questions.

This book really cut straight to the heart of a gritty circumstance which I appreciate. Harrington has crafted this book with skill and I can't wait to read her next novel.

Julia

Book Review: Artichokes Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Here comes book review number nine of my 30 Day Book Challenge which has gone a little over 30 days! I forgot how crazy this time of year can become! Just a brief review this time, taken from Amazon - don't really have the time right now to write a proper one! :(

 

Cursed with the nickname “the Artichoke” after wearing an ill-chosen green jacket to school way back in sixth grade, Rosemary continues to cope with the cool kids’ disdain by making food her friend. It’s a treacherous ally, though, and when she tops 200 pounds, she decides to make radical changes and begins to lose some serious weight. Then, Rosemary discovers that an A-list girl wants to befriend her, the boy she adores returns her feelings, and (most incredible of all) her mother has cancer. Rosemary’s wry first-person narration deftly portrays characters in her single-parent family, her high school, her mother’s beauty salon, and her Tennessee town.

 

Jolted by fears of losing her mother, Rosemary begins to look beyond her previous preoccupations to see other people’s vulnerabilities as well as their more evident flaws. In her first novel, Supplee brings a cast of original characters to life in this convincing and consistently entertaining narrative.

 

While I enjoyed this book;  I'm not as enamoured with it as I was with one of Supplee's later titles- Somebody Everybody Listens To.

 

I'm looking forward to finishing this challenge- though it has been fun!

 

Next ( and last) review coming shortly

 

Julia :)

Book Review: The Unfinished Journals of Elizabeth D by Nichole Bernier

Here comes another review for the 30 Day Book Challenge!

 

I came across this book after I saw it on the trolley of new items for our monthly book chat members. I've been going through a phase of picking out quite melancholy/depressing books e.g.The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted ( Bridget Asher) and Into the Darkest Corner ( Elizabeth Haynes). When I read the back of this book and saw themes of death, family problems and secrets I knew I had to read it.

 

This book follows two friends- Kate and Elizabeth and is set in post 9/11 America. When Elizabeth passes away from cancer, Kate is left wondering how to cope without her best friend. She finds Elizabeth's journals and begins to read through them. As she does, she realises the Elizabeth she knew was very different to the real Elizabeth as portrayed in her journals.

 

 

What I liked about this book, was that it was very real. The way the characters dealt with grief was real. The relationships bewteen husband and wife and parents and children were real. Elizabeth's journals seemed real. Bernier writes with insight- something I've grown to appreciate in the books I've been reading lately. If you're after a read with some substance, I'd recommend this.

 

I'd love to hear what you think of the blog and of the books I've been reading/reviewing. Just leave me a comment here on the blog or send me a tweet @JuliadeRuiter

 

Julia

 

P.S. I think this might be the longest post title ever!

Book Review: The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones

Here comes another 30 Day Book Challenge review! This is another great book written by one of my favourite authors, Nicole Mones. The Last Chinese Chef follows a widowed American food writer, Maggie, who travels to Beijing to find out more about her late husbands secrets. Her trip also doubles as work, as she is asked by her editor to profile Sam, a half Chinese American who is the last in a line of gifted chefs going back to the imperial palace. I read this in a weekend and really enjoyed it. I love reading about food and Mones has satisfied my literary cravings. As she describes the food, I feel I'm eating it alongside the character.

 

" According to the classical pattern he started with a few lacy-crisp deep-fried dishes: pepper-salt eel fillets like translucent little tiles...and an aromatic stir-fry of yellow chives studded with tiny. delicate fried oysters. Back in the kitchen, he stir-fried tender mustard greens with wide, flat tofu-skin noodles and plump, fresh, braised young soybeans. These glistened on the platter in a light crystal sauce. After that there were lamb skewers, delectably grilled and crusted with sesame".

 

The thing I liked most about this book, was how Mones described traditional methods of Chinese cooking. Publishers Weekly described the book as 'Sumptuous' and this is how I would describe it too.

 

A satisfying read but have some snacks ready to alleviate the cravings that are sure to happen!

 

I'd love to hear what you think of the blog or any of the books I've been reading for this challenge. Just leave me a comment here on the blog or send me a tweet @JuliadeRuiter

 

Julia

Book Review: Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

Right, book review number one of the 30 Day Book Challenge! I took the wrong book with me away this weekend so the Nichole Bernier book should be my next review :)
 
I really enjoyed this book. As I've mentioned previously, I'm really loving reading books about Chinese/Americans and their struggle to find their cultural identity.
Dreams of Joy follows mother and daughter Pearl and Joy.
At the beginning of the book, Joy finds out that her father committed suicide because of her and that her mother really is her aunt and her aunt is her birth mother. Shocked and betrayed by the secrets her family kept from her, she decides to leave Los Angeles and go back to China. The story is set in communist China and provides a fascinating yet shocking account of what the citizens of China at that time had to go through. Lisa See has written in haunting yet realistic prose, the memories and scenes she captured in the book will stay with me for a long time. I can't wait to read another of her books. 5 out of 5 stars!

I'd love to hear if anyone has read this and what you thought- just leave a comment here on the blog or tweet me @JuliadeRuiter

Julia

Sneak Peek

30 DAY BOOK CHALLENGE:

For my own organisation I thought I'd post the list of the books I'm planning on reading for my 30 Day Book Challenge:

1: The Unfinished Journals of Elizabeth D by Nichole Bernier ( fiction)
2: Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford ( non fiction)
3: Artichokes Heart by Suzanne Supplee ( young adult)
4: Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances Dowell O'Rourke ( young adult)
5: Dreams of Joy by Lisa See ( fiction)
6: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis ( non fiction)
7: Three Summers by Judith Clarke ( young adult)
8: Making a House your Home by Clare Nolan (non fiction)
9: The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson ( fiction)
10: The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones ( fiction)

Let me know if you think there are any others I should read! :) I'm very excited about this challenge!!

Julia