Me and Mr Booker by Cory Taylor

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Genre - Teenage

Teenage genre but I think this is one of those books that crosses to the Adult boundaries.

Well written, its a modern story set in an Australian town of a young sixteen year old girl desperately waiting for her life to begin when there isn't really anything happening. Anyone with a small town upbringing can relate as you really empathise with the character as she battles within a very dysfunctional family environment that drives her into the arms of a middle age man...maybe a sexual predator that seduces her into thinking he is the love of her life thus experiencing some kind of life experience and meaning.

---- Reviewed by Leonie, Ringwood

Kaitlyn by Kevin Lewis

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Genre - Family

Kaitlyn is about a boy who is removed from an abusive home and not his sister and how it affects everyones lives.

---- Reviewed by Tracey, Boronia

The pattern in the carpet by Margaret Drabble

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Genre - Non Fiction


The subtitle of this book is “A personal history with jigsaws”. Drabble reminisces about her childhood visits to her Auntie Phyl, who lived in a B&B on the Great North Road, the main route from London to Scotland. Assembling jigsaws became one of the pleasures of these childhood holidays & they continue to enjoy it on many later visits until Phyl’s death. Drabble intended to write a history of the jigsaw puzzle & she has done this, but the picture she draws of her childhood in the 40s & 50s & Phyl’s life as a schoolteacher & later helping her parents run the B&B is the most interesting part of the book. Jigsaws began as dissected maps that could be assembled as an aid to teaching children geography. It wasn’t until the 20th century that they became a pastime that everyone could afford. Drabble’s research into the history of art, mosaics & children’s toys is fascinating but the heart of the book is her relationship with Phyl & her memories of a happy childhood.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

The diary of a provincial lady by E M Delafield

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This classic comic novel is the story of the Provincial Lady (we never know her name), her husband, Robert, children & servants, living in an English village between the wars. Our heroine has constant run-ins with the obnoxious Lady Boxe who lives at the Big House & is the sort of woman who always knows best. Cook is constantly threatening to hand in her notice, muttering darkly about the freshness of the fish & the vagaries of the Range. Robert spends the evenings falling asleep behind the newspaper. His only contribution to the household is to complain that his breakfast porridge is cold & the toast burnt. The Diary was originally published in a weekly magazine & the entries are in a breathless, witty style as the Lady rushes from one potential disaster to the next.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Crossed wires by Rosy Thornton

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Genre - Romance


Peter Kendrick is a Cambridge lecturer, a widower with twin daughters. When he narrowly avoids running over the neighbour’s cat but doesn’t avoid a tree stump, he rings his insurance company & finds himself talking to Mina Hepponstall, a single mother living in Sheffield. There’s an immediate connection between these two lonely souls &, after Mina rings Peter at home to reassure him about his no-claim bonus, they become friends over several Sunday-night phone calls. This is a lovely, gentle romance, with the story moving between Peter’s life with his daughters, neighbours, research student & dog, & Mina’s worries over her younger sister, Jess & her daughter Sal’s lack of friends. The details of family life are beautifully observed, with lots of humour & just a hint of tragedy. A perfect Sunday afternoon read.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

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Genre - Family Saga



What a great book. Short listed for the Booker. A rampaging, rolling Australian family saga that will keep you entralled all through the 700 plus pages. The Dean family are all intelligent but mad as hatters. They will lead you on a merry dance from Australia to Europe to Thailand and back again. I and out of prisons and mazes and weird adventures and romances. A wonderful book for a first novel. Like Gail Stone's "Sorry" it destroys my creative writing spirit - how could one better such creative writing and turns of phrase?

---- Reviewed by Bruce, Guest

Things I want my Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble

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Genre - Family

Lisa, Jennifer, Amanda and Hannah have lost their mother, Barbara to cancer. Each one of them is going to miss her terribly as they face the trials and triumphs of their life without her. Before Barbara died she wrote letters to her four daughters to help them to cope with their loss and to give them just a bit more of her advice and wisdom. For such a bleak subject this story is full of love and warmth and humour as Barbara writes down her memories of the early years of marriage and children and her thoughts on relationships and love. It is a celebration of life filled with people we can identify with and care about.


---- Reviewed by Sue, Knox

The Christmas Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini

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Genre - Family saga

Very good

---- Reviewed by Eileen, Guest

Broken by Ilsa Evans

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Genre - Family saga



This book will certainly open anyone's eyes to the true reality of domestic violence.It may be about someone who is ficticious but the patterns, the decisions, the actions are all very real.Mattie is but one of many who have had to deal with the realities and the scars both physical and mental of Domestic violence.A book everyone should read.

---- Reviewed by Melissa, Guest

The Spare Room by Helen Garner

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Helen Garner’s first novel in 15 years is a moving, funny account of a woman dying of cancer and her friend, who tries to help her. The novel begins as Helen gets her spare room ready for Nicola, who is coming down from Sydney for three weeks to undergo an alternative treatment in the hope that it will cure her cancer. Helen’s skepticism about this radical treatment which leaves Nicola exhausted and in pain, is contrasted with Nicola’s determined optimism. Helen feels inadequate to cope with Nicola’s pain and helpless in the face of Nicola’s refusal to accept that she is dying. One of Helen’s friends describes the situation when he says, “Maybe she wants you to be the one… The one to tell her she’s going to die.” There’s a lot of humour in the novel and, as always in Garner’s work, beautiful descriptions of domestic life. This book is an emotional journey which raises questions about love, friendship and honesty.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Friday nights by Joanna Trollope

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Eleanor, a retired administrator, sees two young single mothers aimlessly walking up and down her London street. Her determination to alleviate their loneliness, and her own, leads to a group of women meeting at Eleanor’s house on Friday nights. The friendships that develop between Eleanor, Lindsay and her sister Jules, Paula, Blaise and her business partner Karen, become an important part of their lives. The dynamic of the group changes when Paula wants to introduce her new boyfriend, Jackson, into the group. Jackson is polite, unthreatening, confident yet detached. He affects every one of the women and changes the way they relate to each other. This is a novel about friendship, and the way in which it has become, for some people, the new family. The domestic details and the conversations are beautifully observed.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

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Genre - Family


This book is set in 1970's Afghanistan. It follows a child’s journey to adulthood. The book revolves around a kite fighting tournament which twelve year old Amir is desperate to win. He believes that winning the tournament will bring the love and approval from his father which he is continually seeking. However the tournament turns out to be the biggest event in Amir's life, he allows his friend to be brutalised so that he is able to win. This act haunts him his entire life, as he knows that he has ruined his friend’s life. The Russians invade Afghanistan and Amir and his father flee to the USA. The book is based on the idea of redemption in the modern day world, and what it means to be a good and moral person. A truly unput-downable book!

---- Reviewed by Tegan, Guest

Broken by Ilsa Evans

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Genre - Family


After years of abuse from her husband, Mattie decides that she has had enough and decides to move out to a nearby unit. However, her husband, Jake, is not willing to see her leave the family home and causes many more problems. Mattie discovers the joyless search for a job and Centrelink benefits for her two children. This book looks at the serious problem of domestic violence and how it effects both the wife and children.

---- Reviewed by Julie, Ferntree Gully Library