Book Reviews

Book Review | PILGRIM by Carolyn Gillespie

Publisher: ‎ Study Girl Books
Published: December 16, 2021
Paperback: 307 pages

My Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Description:

When faced with an empty nest, Kari decides to spread her own wings. Giving up a job she loves, she sets off to walk across a whole country. A big one.

A contemporary take on an ancient experience, Pilgrim is an entertaining and moving memoir of Kari’s 900km walk to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. In classic pilgrim fashion, she meets and befriends an array of companions along the way, from all walks of life, united by a common sincerity of purpose. Battling through sun and snow, mud and mountains, blisters and bedbugs, her real destination turns out to be “deep peace”.

Initially unsure of the difference between a long walk and a pilgrimage, Kari and her friend, are not sure what to expect as they embark on the Camino de Santiago. Sleeping in hostels and carrying all their belongings on their back takes some getting used to and they are sorely tested by the unrelenting physical challenge of the ‘great trudge’. In the early days they are preoccupied by the external journey.

But soon, like a modern-day Canterbury Tales, Kari and Ali find themselves swept along by a motley band of pilgrims whose stories touch the heart and awaken the soul. Pilgrim brings to life, in vivid detail, the kindness of strangers, the warmth of village hospitality and the sisterhood of the Sturdy Girls. With San Miguel adopted as their patron saint, the Camino becomes filled with beer, laughter and a return to the carefree joy of childhood. There is an unburdening, a sloughing off of the things that don’t matter. Only what counts is left behind.

Pilgrim celebrates communitas, friendship and the resilience of the middle-aged women who keep going when those around them buckle, who bandage the broken, make them dinner and get them back on their feet. Encouraged by the ghosts of pilgrims who have walked the Way for a thousand years, and with no real choice in the matter, she finally slows down, and the pilgrimage becomes a journey to the interior. As she walks her defences are broken down and her heart opens.

On a transformational journey that takes her from the snowy mountains of the Pyrenees, through the dry winelands of Rioja, the mysticism of the Meseta, to the Green farmland of Galicia, a spiritual reawakening occurs. She revels in the utter joy of a frosty sunrise with shadows a hundred meters long, the frogs, and the cuckoo that follows them for miles. The body may be broken but nature has the cure.

Pilgrim is a coming-of-(middle)-age tale. The story is ultimately one of transformation, of rebirth and redemption. Written with warmth and honesty, Pilgrim shows what can happen when we jump off the path we are on and step onto a new one, where nothing looks the same. The question is no longer what do I want to do with the rest of my life? The question is who do I want to be?

My Review:

I listened to the audio version of this book and it was a delight to hear Kari’s voice, telling us about her pilgrimage. As I listened, my own (solo) Camino experience flooded back. As I kept listening, I felt like CAMINO WANDERING had come to life, with Kari’s Study Girls replacing my own Lovelies. The idea made me laugh.

But I have to admit, I wanted MORE. I wanted Kari to go deeper, talk less about the washing and cooking (the logistics) once we got past all that. And, when Kari did go deeper, it was about her relationship with God. (Granted, it is in the Religious Travel category.) As I looked over the Goodreads reviews, someone wrote: “Too twee and too much God.” I kind of agree with that. Yes, it’s about the relationships between women but it’s also about her relationship with God. And that’s fine. It’s just I wasn’t expecting it.

On the relationship front, it was clear who she was pissed off with, who she wanted to spend more time with, and what she found inconvenient, without her blatantly saying who/what. You could tell by her tone. I found that refreshing. Maybe it’s women’s intuition to read between those lines?

But it made me realise, for one thing, why I wrote CAMINO WANDERING as a fiction, rather than a memoir. I could go deeper into the character’s stories without it being my own admissions.

As an empty nester myself, I felt Kari’s longing for her children, but she wouldn’t know as a parent at that stage of life, that the relationship continues – and it evolves – mainly because she didn’t have a relationship with her own parents. Not a good one anyway. She does talk a little about her relationship with her mother and I think that’s the Cruz de Ferro moment for her. Letting go. Forgiveness.

I wanted to know if she’d discovered what was next or if she discovered who she wanted to be…but you don’t really realise that after after you go home. I just thought that would have been discussed more in the epilogue.

Given there will be more books to come, I guess that’s really the answer. I look forward to whatever else STURDY GIRL BOOKS delivers. Overall, it’s a good book. It’s worth reading – or listening to. For me, I’m taking note of her spa idea in the cities for my next Camino!

Note: I gave this book 5 stars when I may have normally given it a 4 star. Carolyn Gillespie is another female Camino author, and she’s been very supportive of my book, so I wanted to give her some props. Especially since it’s hard to sell books as an Indie author!

Be sure to check out my interview with Kari here.

You can find more about the book here:

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Book Review | THOSE PEOPLE by Louise Candlish

Publisher: ‎ Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 1 July 2019
Paperback: 400 pages

My Review: 🌟

Description:

MEET THE NEIGHBOURS YOU’LL LOVE TO HATE Until Darren and Jodie move in, Lowland Way is a suburban paradise. Beautiful homes. Friendly neighbours. Kids playing out in the street. But Darren and Jodie don’t follow the rules and soon disputes over loud music and parking rights escalate to threats of violence. Then, early one Sunday, a horrific crime shocks the street. As the police go house-to-house, the residents close ranks and everyone’s story is the same: They did it. But there’s a problem. The police don’t agree. And the door they’re knocking on next is yours.

My Review:

I have to be honest here: I REALLY struggled with this book.I wanted to like it. I really did. And even though I finished it and didn’t throw it out the window as a DNF, it was one that had me thinking “well, that was a complete waste of time”. And when it comes to books, that’s hard for me to say …

It was a very slow read, and there was nothing to hook the reader at all. It just kept going on and on and on.

The characters were extremely unlikable, and when I finally realised there was one character I liked, the plot twisted and she became a completely unrealistic character. It could have been the redeeming factor of this whole book had she been written differently.

It was simply a laborious read. I wouldn’t bother.

You can find more about the book here:

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Book Review | EVERY SUMMER AFTER by Carley Fortune

Publisher: ‎ Penguin Publishing Group
Published: May 10, 2022
Paperback: 320 pages

My Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Description:

Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.

They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.

Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.

For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.

When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.

Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever.

My Review:

I devoured this book. I hope Carley Fortune keeps writing because I will read whatever she writes next.

This was a book about teenagers and consequences and moving on. It’s writing with a split timeline. “Now” (when they are adults) vs their teen years.

The thing I loved about this story was that it didn’t try and make the teenagers ultra aware of life and how the decisions they make can have lasting consequences.

Sure, there was one character who showed restraint, mostly because he was worried about what a change in relationship would do to the friendship. But overall the storyline was about enjoying each moment, raging hormones, enjoying the sunshine, spending time in and around the lake, working shifts in the restaurant, all blessedly before technology took over the teenage life.

I was immersed in the story, despite working out early what the twist would be (I am really starting to hate that – but now look at it as ‘I know what’s going to happen, let’s see how the writer creates the twist’). I loved the nature elements to the storyline. The relationships between the boys and their down-to-earth Mum. I loved the quirkiness of the main character’s parents. I loved how bookish the main character was, and even though she was an only child, pretty and spoiled by her parents, she wasn’t written off a spoiled brat. Indulgent maybe, but not that bitchy cliché.

And now? Now I’m off to find a lake house in Canada for either a writing retreat or a full time abode.

You can find more about the book here:

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Book Review | THE BOOKBINDER OF JERICHO by Pip Williams

Publisher: ‎ Ballantine Books
Published: July 23, 2023
Paperback: 448 pages

My Review: 🌟🌟 1/2

Description:

It is 1914, and as the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, women must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who live on a narrow boat in Oxford and work in the bindery at the university press.

Ambitious, intelligent Peggy has been told for most of her life that her job is to bind the books, not read them—but as she folds and gathers pages, her mind wanders to the opposite side of Walton Street, where the female students of Oxford’s Somerville College have a whole library at their fingertips. Maude, meanwhile, wants nothing more than what she has: to spend her days folding the pages of books in the company of the other bindery girls. She is extraordinary but vulnerable, and Peggy feels compelled to watch over her.

Then refugees arrive from the war-torn cities of Belgium, sending ripples through the Oxford community and the sisters’ lives. Peggy begins to see the possibility of another future where she can educate herself and use her intellect, not just her hands. But as war and illness reshape her world, her love for a Belgian soldier—and the responsibility that comes with it—threaten to hold her back.

The Bookbinder is a story about knowledge—who creates it, who can access it, and what truths get lost in the process. Much as she did in the international bestseller The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams thoughtfully explores another rarely seen slice of history through women’s eyes.

My Review:

I’m not usually a reader of historical fiction, but have found myself reading a couple in the genre this year. This one came highly recommended and since the author is Australian, I felt compelled to read it.

But I have to admit, I wasn’t enthralled. I listened to this book on Audible, and while it was lovely to step into that world through the accents, and imagine life on a longboat during that time, I just couldn’t get into the story as much as I wanted to. I mean, how many times do we need to hear how to fold and gather pages? I understand what was Peggy’s world, but it was ad nauseam after a while.

I would have loved to have learned more about Rosie and Lotte and Bastiaan, but it was very much a ‘poor me, I’ll never get anywhere as a “Town”’ storyline (vs Gwen’s character’s opportunities as a “Gown”). The story was set during WWI and it’s obvious Peggy lives in a bubble and this was her world, but she was so naive and selfish with everything else going on – war and the Spanish flu!

The story was supposed to be about growth and not giving up, but she was given opportunities because of the people she met and pushed by those around her. It was painful. No, it was infuriating.

At the end of the audio version, the author talks for thirty minutes about her research. I can see where she wanted to go but it lacked depth in the characters. It could have been great. But she missed the mark.

I really tried to like this book. I really wanted to. But this was not the book for me.

You can find more about the book here:

Goodreads

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Book Review | OUR MISSING HEARTS by Celeste Ng

Publisher: ‎ Macmillan Australia
Published: 26 October 2021
Paperback: 333 pages

My Review: 🌟🌟🌟 1/2

Description:

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in Harvard’s library. He knows not to ask too many questions, stand out too much, stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve ‘American culture’ in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic – including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.

Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is drawn into a quest to find her. His journey will take him through the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.

Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can turn a blind eye to the most searing injustice. It’s a story about the power – and limitations – of art to create change in the world, the lessons and legacies we pass onto our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact.

My Review:

This novel needs to be a textbook and every American needs to read it. It was hauntingly real, frighteningly close to reality with the laws being passed in the U.S. today. Women’s rights, gay right, book banning… it’s just the beginning and this book shows what it could become.

This novel reminded me of “The Handmaids Tale”, but upon closer look, it’s something that is probably more realistic of becoming reality than Handmaids will.

The reason I gave it 3 ½ stars is because it took me a bit to get into the story, since it starts out with Bird’s perspective (the son) which seemed rudimentary. Plus, it wasn’t the ending I expected (I can’t say it any other way without it away.) But otherwise, this is a novel that will stay with me for a long time and have me signing petitions and attending as many protests that I can, for the rest of my life.

You can find more about the book here:

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Book Review | BIG MAGIC by Elizabeth Gilbert

Publisher: ‎ Penguin Publishing Group
Published: September 27, 2016
Paperback: 304 pages

My Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 1/2

Description:

From the worldwide best-selling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls: The path to the vibrant, fulfilling life you’ve dreamed of.

People of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives.

Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.

My Review:

This is a special book. I listened to it on Audible, where it’s narrated by Liz Gilbert herself. She weaves her points between stories of her life, emphasising how BIG MAGIC truly works.

I came away with a lot of precious nuggets:

> Let fear ride along side you.

> Be open to the universe and let creativity in. Don’t block it. If the idea is not for you, release it back into the world.

> Ask yourself why you create. Do you do it to make money (pfft)? Or, do you do it because it’s a part of you? That you don’t feel complete unless you are creating (hand raised here)?

> Do you love writing (Yes). Does writing love you? Now that question was an eye opener. I don’t love every part of writing – rewriting/editing is a beast for me – but if I don’t allow the writing to love me, then what’s the point of writing? It’s part of it. There are ways for me to love it. Then I thought of other ways I’m creative: Sewing. Painting. Drawing. I love those for the creativeness. To play. So why not treat writing that way?

> What other people think of you is none of your business. I loved this. Don’t worry whether someone is going to like what you create. Create it anyway.

There were some negatives in this book. She rambles. She repeats. And, she name drops (a lot). She is a bit woo-woo, but then so am I with this kind of stuff (hello – I didn’t name my website the Crackpot Writer for nothing!).

And, to be honest, I love being called an artist. It’s just a word that conjures magical beauty.

You can find more about the book here:

Goodreads

Amazon

Book Review | DAUGHTERS OF EVE by Nina D. Campbell

Publisher: ‎ Allen & Unwin
Published‏: ‎ Mar 29, 2022
Paperback ‏ : ‎376 pages

My Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 1/2

Description:

When a high-profile murder lands literally at her feet, Detective Emilia Hart sees a chance to expand her caseload beyond the endless succession of domestic violence matters she is forced to investigate. But this is no simple investigation.

Another body turns up, then another. Then more – a lot more. All men, all shot, with a similar MO. It’s not until a manifesto taking credit for the crimes is published by a group calling themselves Daughters of Eve that Hart confirms a link between the victims: all of them had been perpetrators themselves. All had offended against women or children. Few had been charged with those crimes – and none convicted.

As panic sets in and chaos rules the streets, the police draw ever closer to the Daughters of Eve, but the serial killer continues to elude them. Again, Hart sees something that everyone else has missed. And what that is, she cannot believe.

A stunning debut that will take you to the edge and dare you to look down.

My Review:

What an incredible debut novel. This novel explodes off the page and I do believe this is an author to watch out for.

But this is a book that will haunt you and make you question what you can do to change this all-too-realistic atrocity. It will also make you cry but also make you scream, desperate to do something about the reality of it all.

I read this book in one sitting. While I figured out the twist in the first few pages (hate that… one of the drawbacks of the job), I could not put it down. It was very much a character driven novel, as much as it was about the subject. And it’s not a subject to overlook.

I wish I could say more about it but it would be giving too much away.

This novel not for the feint of heart, and it desperately needs trigger warnings.Since there are no trigger warnings, I will add them: This book contains domestic and sexual violence against women and children, as well as blatant misogyny.

You can find more about the book here:

Goodreads

Amazon