The Body in the Clouds by Ashley Hay

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Genre - General Fiction

A rather lovely story featuring the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Three men see a man falling from the bridge and miraculously he survives. But each man sees this event from different times - the beginning of colonization, the building of the bridge, and in 2010 - and in vastly different ways. This is a story about stories and how those stories play such an important part in your own identity and sense of home.

---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

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Genre - Science Fiction

This was a fascinating story. I loved the oh so very believable future world that Bacigalupi imagined. Set in Thailand in a future world where the sea has risen, genehackers and manmade plagues abound, people are hanging by their fingernails to their very existence. But what impressed me was that this was not an idealist's world. People in this future are competitive, destructive and selfish. They do not seem to have learned from how they have almost destroyed the earth. They fight amongst themselves, scheme and plot to make money at the expense of the general population and the earth itself. From that point of view, this wasn't an uplifting story, but I enjoyed it nevertheless!

---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville

Indelible ink by Fiona McGregor

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Genre - General fiction

This is an interesting story of contemporary family life. Marie King is newly separated from her husband and her children have grown up and away. Despite the concerns of her family she is preparing for the sale of their beloved family home and garden. She has also started to transform her body with tattoos and becomes friendly with Rhys a gifted artist who introduces her to a very different side of Sydney society.

---- Reviewed by Sue, guest

Trespass by Rose Tremain

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Genre - General fiction

A dark tale of revenge and lies set in a beautifully wrought landscape.

---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin

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Genre - General fiction

Baba Segi is a very happy man. He has three wives and seven children and all is good at home. Then he invites Bolanle to be wife number four. She unwittingly becomes the catalyst for major change in the family. What began as a bit of a lighthearted romp, soon changed into a much more substantial story.

---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

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Genre - Horror

Two sisters live with an elderly uncle in a big old house in splendid isolation. They reveal their story little by little throughout the book, and what a story it is! 

---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville

Fall Girl by Toni Jordan

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Genre - General fiction

Fall Girl is a fun read about unconventional people who fall in love. Interesting characters, an unusual plot and set in familiar suburbs of Melbourne and Wilson's Prom. This is a humorous and entertaining book.

---- Reviewed by Sue, guest

Frontier Wife by Margaret Tanner

Genre - Romance


I ordered Frontier Wife off Amazon only because it was an Australian story. Well, what a pleasant surprise was in store for me. Once I opened the first page I couldn't put this novel down.

Set in Australia during the 1860's it is basically the story of the wealthy squatters versus the poor selectors.

Thomasina (Tommy) Lindsay and her brothers arrive from England to a run down farm which they inherited from an Uncle. Their next door neighbour, Adam Munro, considers their farm has been stolen from him and he wants it back and he will do anything necessary to achieve this aim.

He doesn't anticipate falling for Tommy. She isn't the type of woman he had planned to have as the mother of his sons.

Bushfires, feral mountain families, the harshness of the Australian bush, not to mention lust and finally love make, this story a rolicking good yarn. Haven't heard of this author before, but she has written several other books which I intend to read.Highly recommended.

---- Reviewed by Joan, Guest