Sappho's Leap by Erica Jong

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Genre - history


This is a book to be read on a hot sunny day in the shade of an olive grove, or failing that, a sacred ti-tree grove, while eating pomegranates and sipping wine, near the sea, (where you may even see Aphrodite rising from the foamy waves).
Jong has researched the few available facts that have been recorded about Sappho the poetess, and woven an adventurous historical tale, combining Greek mythology, poetry , fact and fable in an imaginative easy read.

Sappho flourished in Lesbos circa 600BCE and was a contemporary of Aesop, Heraclitus and Nebuchadnezzer .

Sappho was a fiesty, intelligent and passionate woman. Jong has used the remaining fragments of her poems and songs to take us on an absorbing journey through Sappho's loves, fame, political intrigues and tragedies, while incorporating the rich and complex culture of archaic Greece.

---- Reviewed by Clare, Mooroolbark library

Unexpected Elements of Love by Kate Legge

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Genre - Family

I picked this book up after seeing it listed as one of the great books set in Victoria on The Summer Read list from the State Library this year. It is a novel about love and family and provides an insight into the lives of two women, Beth and Janet, and their extended families. Janet is a working wife and mother, torn between the demands of her work as a weather presenter and her anxious, unpredictable son, Harry. After 50 years of marriage, Beth is coping with warning signs of dementia in her husband, a famous sculptor facing the end of his career. This novel concentrates on the details of domestic life and relationships within the broader setting of the Australian climate.

---- Reviewed by Sue, Knox Library

The Devil You Know by Mike Carey

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Genre - Mystery


Felix Castor, known as "Fix" to his friends, is an exorcist whose main weapon is a tin whistle allied with a cutting, witty tongue. He lives in a modern-day London which is becoming inundated with the spirits of the dead and various other denizens of the underworld. After an unsuccessful attempt to exorcise a spirit from a close friend he has sworn away from his chosen career but a need to pay the bills makes him take on a seemingly simple ghost-busting job. However all is not as simple as it seems. What follows is a hilariously chilling noir thriller as Felix fights off various demons, succubi and gangsters who try to stop him discovering the secret of the scarlet shrouded ghost haunting the Bonnington Archive.

---- Reviewed by Paul, Administration

Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child

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Genre - Thriller


This is the 11th Jack Reacher adventure from this bestselling author and this series is not for the faint hearted. Lee Child novels are action packed blood and violence! Jack Reacher is an ex army special investigations officer with no permanent address, he's a drifter and a loner who doesn't go looking for trouble but always ends up knee deep in it. This time he gets a cryptic message to get in touch with one of his past colleagues and learns that someone is killing off members of his old military unit. Reacher springs into action, gathers together his old team and methodically tracks down the villains to seek vengeance for his buddies.
Another escapist thriller with an addictive no nonsense style which keeps you up all night reading!

---- reviewed by Sue, Knox library