Sail by James Patterson

Find this book at your library

Read more reviews at NoveList

Genre - Thriller

In an attempt to bring her family back together after the death of her husband, Katherine Dunne plans a sailing trip with her three children and her brother in law, Jake. Her new husband, Peter Carlyle is too good to be true and we soon find out he is not to be trusted. It doesn’t take long for things to go wrong on board the family yacht and their relaxing holiday at sea is set to become a battle for survival. If you like lots of action and don’t mind a few too many coincidences then you will enjoy this fast paced thriller from this popular author.

---- Reviewed by Sue, Knox

The Beach House by Jane Green

Find this book at your library

Read more reviews at NoveList

Genre - Family Fiction

This is a good book to read whilst holidaying at your own beach house. Jane Green is a popular author and she has written another easy to read story full of interesting characters. She brings to life the seaside town of Nantucket and introduces us to a number of flawed relationships. The story revolves around eccentric Nan and her lovely old house. She has decided to rent out rooms for the summer to help make ends meet when her son Michael returns home after extricating himself from a messy affair with his married boss. Daniel needs holiday accommodation to be near his estranged wife and beloved daughters and newly divorced Daff is having some much needed time for herself. I enjoyed following the various dramas which unfolded for these people even though I found it a bit too contrived when they discovered a family connection and all wound up on vacation at Windermere.

---- Reviewed by Sue, Knox

Where the streets had a name by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Find this book at your library

Genre - Fiction

This is a moving and topical story about the Palestinian experience from a child’s perspective. Thirteen year old Hayaat and her family deal with many obstacles in their daily lives. There are curfews and checkpoints, travel restrictions and dangerous public protests. They live in a small apartment as the family home was confiscated to make way for a new road which is now on the other side of the wall that divides the West Bank. When her grandmother falls ill, Hayaat decides it is important for her to once again touch some soil from her beloved Jerusalem. So she sets out on a curfew free day with her best friend Samy, who loves football and X factor. Although they are only venturing a few kilometres for this handful of dirt it is a long and dangerous journey as they pass through numerous checkpoints without correct travel permits.
This story gives us a very personal insight into the reality of life for so many people who live in the turmoil of war and is based partly on the authors own experiences of travelling in Palestine.

---- Reviewed by Sue, Knox

Oxford menace by Veronica Stallwood

Find this book at your library



Genre - Mystery


Kate Ivory is a novelist living in Oxford who has a habit of becoming involved in murder. A local scientific laboratory has become the target for demonstrations by an animal rights group. A small bomb is detonated causing a little damage; graffiti is scrawled on walls & one person receives a letter bomb. When Kerri, the young woman who received the letter bomb, is killed in a hit & run accident, Kate thinks it could be murder. The lab is under pressure from the pharmaceutical company funding its research to get results, & there are several people who suspected Kerri of being a spy for the animal rights group. Kate’s personal life is also complicated with her current boyfriend wanting commitment & her mother mysteriously planning a holiday. This is an atmospheric series of mysteries set in a beautiful city. Recommended for anyone missing Inspector Morse.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Marie-Therese by Susan Nagel

Find this book at your library

Read more reviews at NoveList

Genre - Non Fiction


When Louis XVI & Marie-Antoinette were guillotined during the French Revolution, they left two children behind in the Temple Prison. Their son, the little King Louis XVII, died soon after of neglect & abuse, but their daughter, Marie-Therese survived. She escaped from prison on her seventeenth birthday, but her experiences during the Revolution affected her for the rest of her life. She was tormented all her life by rumours that she was an imposter & that her brother had survived. After her escape, she lived in Vienna with her mother’s family, but, apart from short periods back in Paris when her uncles were restored to the throne, she was in exile from France for the rest of her life. Marie-Therese married her cousin, the Duc D’Angouleme, but had no children. She became a mother to her orphaned niece & nephew, & was known as a kind, charitable woman, but with an indefinable sadness caused by the shocking experiences of her childhood.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Murder on a midsummer night by Kerry Greenwood

Find this book at your library



Genre - Mystery


Melbourne at the beginning of 1928 is suffering through a heatwave. Phryne Fisher, private investigator, becomes involved in two very different cases. Augustine Manifold’s mother is convinced that his death by drowning was murder, not suicide as the police think. Kathleen Bonnetti has died a rich woman, leaving her fortune to her children, but she hasn’t specified that only her legitimate children can inherit, and there was a missing year in her youth when she may have had an illegitimate child. Phryne is a perfect fantasy figure, rich, young, beautiful & clever. With her adopted daughters, Jane & Ruth, faithful companion, Dot, gorgeous lover, Lin Chung & the rest of her friends, she sets out to illuminate the mysteries of Melbourne in the 20s. Kerry Greenwood’s descriptions of clothes & food are very seductive & this is an exciting fast-paced mystery for lovers of the traditional crime novel.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

La's orchestra saves the world by Alexander McCall Smith

Find this book at your library






La (short for Lavender) goes to live in the country when her marriage breaks down. She’s a young woman & with WWII about to break out, she wants to do some war work. She helps out at a poultry farm where she meets Feliks, a Polish refugee, who has been a pilot in the RAF, but is now grounded. La falls in love with Feliks, but she has doubts about his background at a time when everyone is looking for spies. La helps to start up an orchestra in the village along with men from the local air base & people from the nearby town. The orchestra provides a focal point for the members during the worst times of the war with their plans for a victory concert when it’s all over. The descriptions of life in the country during wartime are wonderful, the threat of air raids & the reality of rationing. McCall Smith’s gentle style of storytelling is perfectly suited to this story of a woman trying to overcome sorrow & get on with her life.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Becoming Queen by Kate Williams

Find this book at your library



Genre - Non Fiction


Queen Victoria was never meant to be Queen of England. Her cousin, Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Prince Regent, was the heir to the throne. Charlotte’s tragic death in childbirth meant that George III’s many children had to scramble to marry & have legitimate children, one of whom would inherit the throne. Although George III & his Queen had fifteen children, when Charlotte died, there were no other legitimate heirs. The royal Dukes had illegally married unsuitable women or kept mistresses & had over 50 illegitimate children. There was an undignified rush to ditch their partners & find respectable princesses to marry. The Duke of Kent married Victoire of Saxe-Coburg & Victoria was born. This fascinating book tells the story of Charlotte & Victoria. Charlotte’s childhood was unhappy as her parents hated each other & used her to score points off each other. Victoria’s childhood was dominated by her mother as her father died when she was a baby. Victoire came under the influence of Sir John Conroy, who ran her household. They were determined that Victoria would not rule alone & made plans for a regency if her uncles should die before she was eighteen. Victoria was equally determined to rule without her mother or Sir John. Her childhood was one of virtual imprisonment as her mother schemed to promote her daughter to the public as the heir to the throne. An interesting picture of the formative years of a Queen.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters