The Tree of Man, 47/81, 2nd Round.

The Tree of Man by Patrick White, global reading category

Wow, what a chunk of a book! 499 pages. And I don't know why that feels so big, as I have read some for the challenge that were even bigger, but it just felt like a really big book.

The book is all about an Australian couple, Stan and Amy Parker. It is sort of an epic, a great Australian novel, as it were. They build a home, work on their farm, raise cows, have a couple of kids, survive a flood and a fire, meet the neighbors. Stan goes off to war. Their son turns out to be a weak criminal type; their daughter a social climber. They both get old. Stan dies.

And believe it or not, that is really the whole book. Why did it take 499 pages? I'm not entirely sure. It's certainly not because of the dialogue. Both Stan and Amy are taciturn by nature.

Perhaps this is White's way of portraying the basic honest type of person who is always at the heart of a thriving nation. The Parkers are not every anyone special. But their lives are still important.

I didn't really love this book, but I did enjoy the style. I'm not sure if it's the writer or because he was Australian, but there are just small differences in the way the story is told. I had to read it a little more carefully, because he says so much without saying it straight out. So much of the story is implied in just a few words, which means the reader has to extrapolate and decipher the littlest clue.

I don't know if I will read more by this author or not, but this was certainly a change from what I normally read.

The Book of Lies

The Book of Lies
Brad Meltzer
fiction
Grand Central Publishing
mmp June 2009
432 pages

from the back: "In chapter four of the Bible, Cain kills Abel. It is the world's most famous murder. But the Bible is silent about one key detail: the weapon Cain used to kill his brother. That weapon is still lost to history.

In 1932, Mitchell Seagel was killed by gunshots. While mourning, his son dreamed of a bulletproff man and created Superman. The gun used in this unsolved murder has never been found. Until now. Today in fort Lauderdale, a young man named Cal Harper encounters his long-missing father--who has been shot with the same gun that kidded Siegel. But soon after their reunion, Cal and his dad are attacked by a killer tattooed with the ancient markings of Cain. What does Cain, history's greatest villain, have to do with Superman, the world's greatest hero? And what do two murder, committed thousands of years apart, have in common?"


This is my first Brad Meltzer book. Picked up for the cover, purchased because it sounded interesting but it would have gone on my library list if I didn't need a "New to You Author" book. I wasn't sure how quick I could get it at the library or if I'd feel like reading it when it came....

Normally, I can get into a book and finish quickly, even with other stuff going on. This one was different. Not because it was bad, but because it has that so-scary-it-could-be-real feel to it. All the characters were alive to me and I needed to take breaks to get them out of my head. Surprises and twists kept me guessing and I'm extremely glad I kept reading, the ending was fantastic and not rushed, leaving us just enough unanswered questions to wonder about. I inhaled the last third, without even potty breaks :)

5 stars

#32/81 COMFORT FOOD by Kate Jacobs

The premise of this book is a TV Chef who reaching the age of 50, is confronted by the network owner with a young, beautiful, ambitious newcomer who is to co-host her weekly program. The supporting characters are her grown children (with problems of their own), a reclusive neighbor, and few boyfriends who can't quite figure out whose girlfriend is whose. A comedy of errors ensues. I especially loved the teambuilding experience with everyone not wanting to participate and the camp counselor getting the participants involved in childish games. The characters are well-integrated and the plot twistS are entertaining.
The finish was somewhat predictable but enjoyable just the same.

The Uncommon Reader - 29/81

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, from LT/Good Reads category

Her Majesty the Queen is at home one day when the dogs decide to explore a bit and find the Mobile Library parked outside the palace kitchen. She investigates and feels that since she is there, the least she can do is borrow a book. She takes a book by an author she remembers meeting and feels obliged to read it.

This little act sets up a chain reaction that has quite the consequences. The Royal household is rather shaken to find Her Majesty reading when she ought to be doing Something Worthwhile.

There really isn't much more to this book than what I just said, but it's a short little book and rather amusing.

15/81 - The Spellman Files

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz, from Library Thing/Good Reads category

In the Spellman family, it's perfectly normal to be suspicious of everyone. Privacy is nonexistent. Trust no one.

Unsurprisingly, this attitude has profound consequences for the relationships in the family. David is a perfect child, and as a very smart guy takes the first chance he can to get out of the house. Izzy is the wild child, but her rebellion stops short of actually moving away. And Rae grows up thinking everything is a matter for negotiation and expects to be paid for taking a shower.

The reason the family is so messed up is that they are all private investigators. After years of following suspects, digging through their trash, taking surveillance photos, and illegal wiretapping, they have no idea how to have a normal family.

I enjoyed this book. Izzy is a crazy character, but I found myself sympathizing with her. I thought it was funny the way she had case files on her ex-boyfriends. I loved Rae. But I really couldn't understand the parents. They treated their children as suspects. That's just wrong.

When I first heard of this book, I had the impression that it was a teen book. It's not. It's not that it's inappropriate for teens, really. There is drug and alcohol abuse and references to casual sex and the language is a little rough. But that's found in many teen books. It's just that it's written from Izzy's point of view as a 28 year old adult.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn't exactly deep, but it kept me up late last night, waiting to see what happened. I am extremely glad that my family is nothing like the Spellmans.

Red Dress Walking by S A Jones (3/81)

The dress haunts my steps. Flashes of red on the street mesmerise me. I am alive to red cars, red shoes and the red of Suella's lipstick. It is silken laudanum that has thrown a distorting film over everything. The dress flutters through my dream life like a taunting red banner. Dreams innocuous and surreal are sure to be punctuated by a crimson flash. Sometimes there is just the barest hint of it so I am not even certain that it flared at all.This is the story of an intimate circle of friends and one couple, Will and Emily, who are very much in love with each other. But one day Will gives Emily a stunning, deeply sexy red dress, and somehow everything changes. A thought-provoking novel of beauty, books, love and desire, Red Dress Walking is a playful, clever and sexy novel about men and women, breakdowns and break-ups, the fierce friendships that women have, and what certain books mean to us.

Ok the cover is lovely but the story is lacking .....

I think I will start with what I didn't like about this book then finish with something abit more positive ...

I have to admit that I skipped alot of the last few pages mainly because I really couldn't be bothered to read it ... There is alot of bad language and I lost count how many times the F word was mentioned ... There are a few graphic sex scenes as well ... I did have a few high hopes with this novel but I was sadly disappointed ... Not to give to much away but one of the main characters has a break down about half way through the book but it doesn't really portray why? And you are sort of left with feeling is she really having illusions as a form of escape or is she just suffering some sort of mental breakdown ...

OK now for what I liked about the book there where a couple of things ... Firstly the book is divided equally between two characters Emily and Will ... This is very cleverly done and you do received a different insight into both the Male and Female prospective ... A classic example is when Emily received the RED DRESS and puts it on she feels fat, short and unattractive while at the same time Will thinks she is the most beautiful creature he has seen ...

The other bit that I liked was the mention of reading books in the novel ... As avid book readers they would never scribble in the margins and pages turned down at the edge was a big "no no" In the words of the author " Were the stuff of nausea" and stating that "the real book lover will sever long and abiding friendships over the sacrilege of books not returned or returned with dog-eared pages and scuffed spines" .....I can completely relate to that ...

For me I picked the book for the cover and the back entreated me but it is a book that has a few moments that are good but it is overshadowed by bad language and crudeness ... Which is a shame ...

I rate this book 1*

The Cup of Light by Nicole Mones (2/81)

When a young porcelain expert flies to China to evaluate a collection of artwork up for international sale, she lands in circumstances vastly different from what she expected. Lia Frank finds greed, deception, and political turbulence instead of clarity when she tries to learn the origin of a huge collection of priceless porcelains. From the slightly shady Hollywood Road antique district in Hong Kong, to the professional underworld smugglers who move art illegally out of the mainland; from the rich Western art lovers who don’t ask questions, to the Chinese museum officials who want to bring back every piece taken out by Western marauders, each player in the game carries his own secret. It’s Lia’s job to find the truth. As she sorts out the puzzle and uncovers the true history of the collection, she also yearns to have a relationship with more than an inanimate work of art. As the story unfolds, she gets her chance.

I was drawn to this book mainly for the cover it was so inviting and pretty .... I have to say that it is quite an easy read and interesting ....

It is amazing how a small porcelain cup could fetch over 3.5 million in an auction and more amazing that someone would pay that even on the black market and let it have a pride of place in their home but not let anyone know that it was there ... I would be itching to show it to people ... But that would be me !!!

The detail in the book about the porcelain pieces is lovely and fascinating and it is nice to see an author who really does alot of research ... And it shows ...

The story is basically about a woman Lai who is goes to china to authenticate porcelain pieces to see whether they where from The Forbidden City and once belonged to the Emperor ...

Even though I liked the book and it was an easy read I did find that there was something missing ... I just cannot put my finger on it I think that I was expecting something more to happen in the storyline which never happened !!! There where some story lines that where mentioned but never developed ... And at the end of the book I was abit disappointed as I felt it sort of just ended ....

But all in all it was a nice easy read and I would be interested in reading some more of her books in the future !!

I rate this book 3***