Book Review of The Dictionary of Lost Words

This is a delightful read about a young woman who grows up and devotes much of her life to compiling the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary – an undertaking which began in 1879 and was completed in 1989. Esme;s father was a lexicographer working in the dictionary, and as Esme’s mother died when she was so young, she divides her earliest years in the kitchen of the household of chief editor James Murray (where she makes a lifelong friend in servant Lizzie Lester) and under the table in the grandly named ‘Scriptorium’ amongst the many words beign considered for inclusion.  It is home to her and becomes a key part of her future.

It kindles her fascination with words, starting when she picks up her first slip discarded by an editor – “bondmaid”.  Fascinated and eventually focussing on on words about women as she grows up, Esme herself continues to collect words into her adulthood, where she too works at the Scriptorium.  She even goes with Lizzie to the markets to expose herself to and collect the kinds of words that would never be included – common bawdy words and slang.

The quest for self-determination is a key concern for all women in the text, as all this takes place amidst the rise of the suffragettes, and Esme must decide if she will take direct and confronting action like her friend and actress Tilda, or focus more on the gentler path of drawing attention to women’s words. The choices she makes here frame the pathway of the rest of her life.

It’s a hard life, but one of beauty and purpose, and I loved reading every minute of this lovely book about women and words.

Impressed Book Review of The Giver of Stars

The Reese Witherspoon book club often provides me with ideas for light reads to listen to on audio, but my latest read, The Giver of Stars, is definitely better than most of what goes on her reading list.

Its starts with Alice, a young English bride who marries to escape a controlling family but finds herself spirited away to rural Kentucky by a handsome groom who has lied about his residence and about his desire for her.  Stranded and desperate in a big old house with his father, Alice impulsively decides to volunteer to help deliver books for the mobile library – which uses horses to distribute books to families in the remote mountains.  It’s a decision that alienates and eventually enrages her new family but changes her life completely – she finally forms real bonds with the women of the library for the first time in her life – women who defy societal rules and live with passion and gumption.  She also meets Fred – the man who teaches her about what love should be… outside of her marriage.

The librarians touch many lives with their books, but also challenge the established power in the town with their liberal ideas and lifestyles.  It’s a clash that the reader knows will come to a head at some point in the novel.

When her closest friend Marjorie, radical, outspoken and good-hearted, is accused of murder, Alice and her fellow librarians must use everything at their disposal to try to clear her name.

This is an epic story of love, friendship, sisterhood and the power of reading.  Thoroughly recommended.

Belated Book Review of The Bookshop of Yesterdays

This is a very belated review if a book I finished more than a week ago. I blame all the Christmas chaos for the delay.

I spotted this one on sale on Audible and thought it sounded like a sweet read, which indeed it was. Miranda – a history teacher- receives word that her beloved uncle has passed away after several years estrangement from her mother. Although they have not seen each other for years, Miranda goes to the funeral to find that he has left her his bookstore as an inheritance -Prospero Books. The store in in serious trouble – and the staff are skeptics of the new owner. But Miranda can’t just think about the financial viability of the store – her uncle appears to be leading her on one of the treasure hunts he arranged for her as a child… at the centre of which is the mystery of his absence for the past few years… it’s a secret that will potentially change many lives.

I cottoned onto the secret pretty quickly but still enjoyed this title and all its bookishness. A solid read.

Book Review of The Starless Sea

Those of us who read Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus were stunned by the epic nature of the adventure, and the intricately detailed, colourful world she created.  This makes her latest novel, The Starless Sea eagerly awaited. And the fact that it is about books makes us all just that little bit more excited.

Most of this I loved – when the main character Zachary Rawlins becomes drawn into the mysterious world of book stories and murder and mayhem after finding a book called Sweet Sorrows in his library and finally opening a door to a magical book land that was first presented to him in his childhood.  Most of it is magical, mysterious and wonderful, a land run by the symbols of bees, swords, feathers and more.  There are fascinating characters like Mirabel the doormaker and Dorian the eventual love interest who are already in this strange world Zach has just entered  There are even multiple storylines running, and extracts from key texts spread throughout.

And then it all went a little strange – when Zachary goes fully into this strange bookish landscape, and on audio I found some of these more surreal elements hard to follow.  The purpose of the book and the mystery itself became more and more murky.  I am wondering if there were some missed opportunities here to take the story in a clearer direction – but then again, perhaps that is not at all what Morgenstern was going for. 

This is surely worth a look to readers and fans of The Night Circus – and maybe one too detailed for me to have attacked on audio.  I’d be keen to start a conversation with someone who really loved it to see if the written work was the missing component here.

Book Review of The Girl Who Reads on the Metro

Sometimes you know exactly what kind of book you are in the mood for – something light but that speaks to you on the emotional level that only books about books can whisper to you. So on a whim I purchased (instead of borrowed from the library) Christine Feret-Fleury’s The Girl Who Reads on the Metro.

It’s not a page turner, nor a powerful read in any way… in fact it will likely be fairly soon forgotten amongst all the other books in my head… but it was charming in its own way and anyone who enjoys books will find it so. I just wish the plot was a little more powerful and its conclusions and message a little more direct.

Delighted Book Review of While You Were Reading

Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus are becoming masters of the Melbourne bookish novel. Last year’s The Book Ninja was a charming story of a young woman who seeks true love by leaving her favourite books on Melbourne public transport – with her phone number.  What better way to connect than over a book?  It was charming and sweet – and led to a whole movement of ‘Book Ninjas’ leaving books for other readers to find all over Melbourne.  I’ve done it myself!

But While You Were Reading is a step ahead again – a gorgeous, sweet and absorbing read about friendship, love and taking chances.

Bea upends her life when she accidentally reveals her best friends infidelity on their wedding day.  Off to Melbourne, she takes an job in publishing that doesn’t get her any closer to the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, nor does she make many friends.  The best part of her day is grabbing a coffee at The Nook and chatting to the owner Dino.

When she comes across a second-hand book with fascinating annotations – the search in on to find who could be her soul-mate.

And when he appears by coincidence and is a handsome single man, could it be too good to be true?  Dino certainly thinks so.  Or is he objecting to Bea’s romance for his own reasons, despite his partner Sunday?

This was a beautiful brain break – I got it from the library but am dying to own it and re-read some time. If this is novel 2 for these ladies, bring on novel 3.

Book Review of The Binding

The premise for Bridget Collins’ novel is an intriguing one – but the promise was greater than the final product.

It is set in a world slightly behind ours in some ways, one which is still technologically behind ours.  Emmett is a farmer who has been mysteriously ill – and is apprenticed out by his relieved family to a Binder.  Emmett believes that this is simply a maker of books, although notes that his family is very much against the reading of books, and so finds this apprenticeship an odd one.  Soon, Emmett learns two things… firstly that all books are essentially life stories that have been removed from the mind of the teller, and secondly, that it appears he has been bound, and had some of his memories removed.

Then we move back in time, which was confusing on audio to begin with.  In the past, Emmett meets a character with whom he has already come to dislike – and they fall in love. I tip my hat here to Collins for writing such a beautiful love story between two men… this really was the best part of the novel.

Later, Emmett burns his book and recovers his memories… but finds that his lover too has been bound and does not remember him.

There are good things here, but also some unevenness. The capacity to read for example is not necessarily congruous with the rural setting, nor did I find binding as a trade (i.e. people selling their life stories) particularly comfortable.  It’s odd for a writer to produce a book which diminishes the art of storytelling so much!  But some of this still works well and largely the narrative kept me engaged.

Delighted Book Review of The Book Ninja

Frankie Rose has all but given up on love – and almost on herself too.  Once a budding author with the Melbourne literary world at her feet, she now works at a bookstore with her best friend, where they amuse themselves by guessing the preferred genre of each patron as they enter, with a $5 prize to the winner.

But then she gets a genius idea, sure to attract a man with the most important quality there is – good taste in books.  To find him, she starts dropping her favourite books on public transport, with a note and her email address seven pages from the end.

As the dates roll in, she starts a blog with all her experiences… and the blog begins to trend.

In the meantime she meets handsome and sweet Sunny, an artist healing from a broken heart.  There’s just one problem – he only reads YA fiction.  In true Pride and Prejudice fashion, Frankie will need to either overcome her literary snobbishness, or risk losing out on a chance of love.

Despite all the good press, I wasn’t sure how I was going to enjoy this in the opening chapters… I was after something light and easy to read, but wasn’t sure this wasn’t going to be on the trashier side of light.  But as it progressed, I found myself utterly charmed.  The Book Ninja is incredibly sweet, and the perfect relaxing read for bookish girls such as myself.

Endearing.  Spend a rainy weekend with it.