More Great Reads from Hastings Library Book Chat

Hastings Library Book Chat has been loving the sessions at Waiaroha as building upgrades continue at Hastings War Memorial Library. And as usual there’s been no shortage of good books to talk about.

Psychological thrillers continue to be popular with the group. First up was The Hiding Place by Kate Mildenhall in which Eve convinces friends and her sister to help buy up an abandoned mining town for weekend and holiday breaks in the bush. But soon things turn problematic with buried secrets and niggly neighbours, and before long there’s a death. This was an interesting story, but an average read according to one reviewer.

Another reader recommended the books by Sally Hepworth, particularly enjoying The Soulmate, a story about Gabe and Pippa, who live with their family at a picturesque cliff-top home. Here Gabe has become a hero for talking down several would-be suicides. But when one woman falls to her death Pippa has doubts about what happened leaving her relationship with Gabe strained, particularly when secrets emerge.

T M Logan is also great for an easy, fast read and in The Daughter, he describes a parent’s worst nightmare. Lauren is looking forward to catching up with daughter Evie, following her first term away at uni. But when she goes to collect her, Evie’s not there – nor has she been seen for weeks. Lauren finds allies in unexpected places, but as she begins to follow clues as to Evie’s whereabouts, it throws herself and her family into even more danger.

Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent takes domestic violence as a theme, following the privileged ease of Oliver’s and Alice’s lifestyle, but which hides a darkness. What is it that causes Oliver to attack his wife, surprising even Oliver? The story weaves back over several decades to fill you in on why Oliver is like he is, with some shocking revelations. Even so, Oliver is difficult to like, and you feel sorry for Alice in this three-and-a-half star read. Our reader also commented that Strange Sally Diamond by the same author, is the better book.

Author Frieda McFadden is insanely popular right now and her book Dear Debbie was very much enjoyed by one reader. What happens when a long-respected advice columnist’s life begins to spiral out of control. With her teenage daughters causing concern and a husband keeping secrets, who can she turn to? Maybe it’s time to take her own advice.

A couple of the group’s readers have been continuing with NZ author Ian Austin, this time with The Second Grave. This Dan Calder mystery takes the ex-copper back to UK to help out when his friend’s daughter is arrested and faces a murder charge. There are skeletons in the cupboard, things Dan had thought he’d escaped from, old scores to settle and new enemies. As usual, this was a brilliant story, ending on a cliffhanger, somewhat marred by poor editing.

We’ve been reading the D S Cross crime novels by Tim Sullivan avidly since they came out, and several of us are eager for the next book (The Tailor, due out later this year). One reader caught up with the most recent, The Bookseller, which delves into the rivalries of rare book dealers. Investigating the murder of a bookseller in his shop, George is distracted by his father’s recent illness.

Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister was a clever mystery that starts off when a 22-year-old girl disappears – last seen on CCTV entering a dead-end alley. Julia is the detective in charge of finding her in a case that will take her away from her own family, threaten to expose a terrible secret and become much more personal than she’d expected. Julia is given an impossible choice.

Then there were the books we might term contemporary fiction, which included The Frequency of Living Things, a saga about a messy family by Nick Fuller Googins.  We read about Bertie, who has raised her daughters to be resilient, but decades after their music fame, Ara is detoxing in prison, her twin Emma thinks a jailhouse record could be a winner, while younger sister Josie is the only one in the family who can keep them all in order. This was an enjoyable debut novel for our reader.

My Sister and Other Lovers by Esther Freud similarly follows a problematic family. Picking up with the characters of Freud’s break-out novel Hideous Kinky, we’re with Lucy who has grown up with her fierce and exacting sister in a world where adults behave badly. We follow Lucy’s battle to build a career as an actress, through relationships and starting a family, told in beautifully restrained prose. This one got mixed reviews at the table but for the right reader is worth picking up for sure.

Libby Page’s novel This Book Made Me Think of You was warmly reviewed as a lovely, feel-good read. Here we have a grieving Tilly Nightingale, called to collect a package from a favourite bookshop – a gift from her late husband. Joe died months ago but has left her a book for every month of the year, each one carefully selected to help Tilly on a reading-inspired and healing journey. Can Tilly learn to live and love again?

One reader spotted Antti Tuomainen at last year’s Auckland Writers Festival and has been passing around his books ever since. The Moose Paradox follows Henry, an insurance mathematician on the spectrum who takes on an adventure park’s equipment supply company. A messy situation arises that doesn’t gel with his particular set of problem-solving skills. This book is the second in The Rabbit Factor series and was described as very clever by our reader.

Bethnal Green by Amelie Skoda was a brilliant historical read that takes you to Penang in 1971, where Suyin boards a boat to England to take up a place as a trainee nurse in London’s East End. She’s taking her sister’s place, living a borrowed life in this strange new city. How she builds a career and makes a new life for herself is a brilliant story, recommended.

Another character making a journey to a new life in a new country is Nancy who goes from Gambia to a Swedish winter on a scholarship in Bitter Honey by Lola Akinmade-Akerstrom. The story takes us from 1978 as Nancy meets Lars and dares to dream she’s found her place in life. Then we’re in 2006 with Tina, who has had fame as a Eurovision pop princess, but is desperate to know more about who she really is. A novel about mothers and daughters over four decades and spanning three continents, this was a really interesting read.

Another period novel, Time of the Child by Niall Williams, takes us to a small town in Ireland in 1962. Ronnie has grown up in the shadow of her doctor father, a spinster who has lost her only chance at love. It’s approaching Christmas when an abandoned baby is left in their care. How this affects Ronnie, who with her father wants to love the child but has to deal with small-town gossip, makes for a brilliant story. This one’s highly recommended.

One Would Think the Deep by Claire Zorn has us in the fairly recent past – 1990s Australia, where Sam is dealing with the sudden loss of his mum. He’s rescued by relations, in particular, cousin Minty who teaches him to surf. This book was great to read for its insight into family relationships as well as giving wonderful descriptions of surfing.

The group also enjoys the odd fantasy or speculative fiction novel. The Grace Year by Kim Leggett is a dystopian story with something of The Handmaid’s Tale about it. It is about a community with religious strictures and where men rule. Young women are released into the wild for a year before they can return home, supposedly to free them of “dangerous magic” that can destroy men’s self-control. This was a mostly interesting, average read that seemed to lack some credibility in the middle.

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by Wellington author H G Parry was a surprising delight for one reader. It follows Charley, who has a hidden and sometimes uncontrollable power – being able to bring characters from books to life. Which would be fine, if only said literary characters didn’t cause mayhem around the city. Older brother Rob is a lawyer hoping this weird family secret will disappear but realises he and Charley will have to work together to nip impending doom in the bud.

Finally, the book everyone’s talking about: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, particularly with the recent release of the movie it inspired. The story follows Ryland Grace, the sole survivor of a failed space mission – to prevent an extinction threat to the human race. The clock is ticking and he’s light-years away from any human help. Readers will find plenty of science which they might not get the gist of entirely, but it doesn’t matter as the story whips along and there’s also a very likeable main character.

Hastings Book Chat meets at 10:30 on the third Wednesday of the month usually at Hastings War Memorial Library, but currently at Waiaroha due to temporary building works.

Posted by JAM

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