Savages ~ Don WInslow

X NO X

Tournament of Books : 2011

The Lacuna ~ Barbara Kingsolver

***** FAVOURITE *****

Orange Award : Winner 2010

Tournament of Books : 2010 (finalist)

The God of Small Things ~ Arundhati Roy

*** LIKE ***

Winner : Booker Prize 1997

Ahhh ! Only in India!!

An eclectic mix of characters from different classes, the outcasts and the impoverished upper class, all sinking slowly into the crumbling mold.

A good read ... more a "slice of life" than a climactic narrative. Written in a different style that well suits the strangeness of the characters and events ... and with a certain lushness that suits the heat and humidity of the setting.

The 19th Wife ~ David Ebershoff

 ** LIKE **

Light murder mystery

Heavy religious background

This was a good read to give insight into the Church of Latter Day Saints ... and especially into polygamy and the fundamental splinter groups that exist today.

The writing seemed a bit jerky with the narrative jumping between the present and the past and back again but it was a good vehicle for showing the history of the church and the cults of today.

The murder investigation was a bit light but the twist was good.

Breath ~ Tim Winton

Wow! At last!

A Tim Winton I enjoyed!

I enjoyed the sense of place and the surf culture background to the story. It was simply written. There was a lot of dialogue with no quotation marks and this sometimes led to some confusion and rereading.

As usual with Winton, all is not sunshine with his characters. In this narrative they dabble with near-death auto-erotica sex games.