"Lyrebird by Cecelia Ahern"

 "Lyrebird by Cecelia Ahern"

In the south-west of Ireland, rugged mountains meet bright blue lakes and thick forests. Deep in the woods, a young woman lives alone, forever secluded from the world, her life a well-kept secret. She possesses an extraordinary talent, the likes of which no-one has seen before: a gift that will earn her the nickname Lyrebird.

When Solomon stumbles into Laura’s solitary existence, her life is turned on its head. Pulled from her peaceful landscape to the cacophony of Dublin, she is confronted by a world desperate to understand her.

But while Solomon knows the world will embrace Laura, will it free her to spread her wings – or will it trap her in a gilded cage? Like all wild birds, she needs to fly free…

Lyrebird is a thoughtful, deeply moving love story; a story of the wild heart in us all and the quiet that lies underneath the world’s noise.

This book was chosen by the book club my mother attends in the UK.  Honestly it wouldn't be one I would have chosen for myself, but I am glad I read it.

This is a story of Laura who for all her life has lived in a solitary world, with very little contact with the outside world.  Through no fault of her own she is pushed into the spotlight and the world of showbusiness.  What happens next is in parts inevitable and is a lesson which everyone in her world learns the hard way.

I felt sad for most of this book knowing what was happening to Laura, I just wanted to pluck her out of the city and plop her back into her country cottage where she is the happiest.  She has people on her side, but first she has to get away from the others, who are trying "to help her."  Though in reality they are helping themselves more.

Meanwhile there is a complicated love story and an even more complicated back story to explore.

Stars out of 5 : 4 It's a different story, that's for sure.  It always amazes me the depth of authors imaginations when it comes to developing book ideas.  I am glad I read this book.  As I said at the beginning of this review, this would not be a book I would have personally chosen.

This book was borrowed from the library and the review are my own thoughts.

"The New Farm, by Brent Preston"

"The New Farm, by Brent Preston"

The inspiring and sometimes hilarious story of a family that quit the rat race and left the city to live out their ideals on an organic farm, and ended up building a model for a new kind of agriculture.

You know those books where the city folks move to the country and have all kinds of crazy misadventures? Where the barnyard is a place of bucolic harmony and each passing season brings the author closer to understanding his proper place in the natural order? You know those books where the primary objective is not so much farming, but writing about farming?

This isn’t that kind of book.

It’s true that Brent Preston and Gillian Flies did leave the city and move to the country, and they did make a lot of stupid mistakes, some of which are pretty funny in hindsight. But their goal from the beginning was to build a real farm, one that would sustain their family, heal their environment, and nourish their community. It was a goal that was achieved not through bucolic self-reflection, but through a decade of grinding toil and perseverance.

Told with humour and heart in Preston’s unflinchingly honest voice, The New Farm is the story of one family’s transition from die-hard urbanites to bona fide farmers and passionate advocates for a more just and sustainable food system. It’s the story of how a couple of young professionals learned not just how to grow food, but how to succeed at the business of farming. And it’s the story of how a small, sustainable, organic farm ended up providing not just a livelihood, but a happy, meaningful and fulfilling way of life.

I don't remember how it came about that I ordered this book from the library, but must say I am glad I did.  I mean the Prologue of the book is titled: Euthanasia for Dummies.  You just have to read that part if nothing else.  I mean, despite the fact there is a loss of life, it is a funny chapter.

I was a bit misty eyed about this whole book as when we lived in the farmhouse we lived quite close to this farm.  Although I don't know any of the people in the book personally there were a couple of people mentioned who I knew about.  Places mentioned, events mentioned all brought back good memories of living in the area.  

Brent and Gillian were ahead of their time with their farming practices.  What they did then, is not as unusual now.  Their devotion to being organic should be applauded; as lesser people would have thrown in the towel.

Stars out of 5 : 5 A solid five as I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It reminded me of the stupid things we did when we moved to the farmhouse...................boy I regret selling that house........{{{SIGH}}}

This is my own review; I borrowed the book from my local library.

"Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly"

"Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly"

New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.
 
An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.
 
For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.
 
The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.
 
This is not my normal book I would read as I don't want to have nightmares about what was done to those poor people interned in the concentration camps; however I thought I would give it a go and I am glad I did.  This book is inspired by actual events and real people and is set in World War Two.  

You'll understand the character's of Herta and Kasia right away, but will be probably left wondering why Caroline is involved in all of this when she is in America; but the more you get into the book the clearer it will become.  I didn't figure out why the title of the book was "Lilac Girls," until very close to the end when I picked up the connection.

This book has a lot of depth and detail in it that makes it a book that I couldn't read for long periods of time.  I read this book over a few days, to let the story sink in.

Stars out of 5 : 4.5 Glad I read it, I learned a number of things I didn't know about.  As always read the author's notes at the end; very interesting.  I have requested Martha's other book "Lost Roses" which is set in World War One and involves Caroline's mother.  Looking forward to reading that as well.

This is my own review; I borrowed the book from my local library.

"A Good Wife, Escaping the Life I Never Chose," by Samra Zafar

"A Good Wife, Escaping the Life I Never Chose," by Samra Zafar

At 15, Samra Zafar had big dreams for herself. She was going to go to university, and forge her own path. Then with almost no warning, those dreams were pulled away from her when she was suddenly married to a stranger at 17 and had to leave behind her family in Pakistan to move to Canada. Her new husband and his family promised that the marriage and the move would be a fulfillment of her dream, not a betrayal of it. But as the walls of their home slowly became a prison, Samra realized the promises were empty ones.

Desperate to get out, and refusing to give up, she hatched an escape plan for herself and her two daughters. Somehow she found the strength to not only build a new future, but to walk away from her past, ignoring the pleas of her family and risking cultural isolation by divorcing her husband.

A Good Wife tells her harrowing and inspiring story, following her from a young girl with big dreams, through finding strength in the face of oppression and then finally battling through to empowerment.

I read this book in one sitting as it was such a good book.  It will stay with you a long time after you have read it.  This book is a memoir and most of what happens in Canada is close to where we used to live in Brampton, Ontario.  So what was mentioned in this book does not surprise me.  However I must say this sort of abuse could and does happen in other nationalities.  

The cruelties and abuse she had to deal with from her in-laws was awful, how she put up with it is terrible.  However after talking to someone; she said the mother-in-law rules the roost in the home, and what she says go.  I thought that when the mother-in-law told Samra how she was treated as a new bride, it would have made the mother-in-law want to treat Samra better and not put her through the same pain and misery?

You have to admire Samra's courage and perseverance; as to achieve what she did was nothing short of a miracle.  I now wonder though what her inlaws think of this now she has written a book about what they did?  To my mind also this book portrays her ex-husband as a bully (which he was), but also a very weak man.  

Stars out of 5 : 5 A must read, it is interesting to see what happens in the South Asian (Pakistani & Indian) communities and what is classed as acceptable.  Women are treat in some cases no better than animals.

This is my own review; I borrowed the book from my local library.

Bleaker House by Nell Stevens

"Bleaker House", by Nell Stevens

Twenty-seven-year-old Nell Stevens was determined to write a novel, but somehow life kept getting in the way. Then came an irresistible opportunity: she won a fellowship to spend three months, all expenses paid, anywhere in the world to research and write a book. Did she choose a glittering metropolis, a romantic village, an exotic paradise? Um, no. Nell chose Bleaker Island, a snowy, windswept pile of rock off the Falklands. There, in a guesthouse where she would be the only guest, she imagined she could finally rid herself of distractions and write her 2,500 words a day. In three months, surely she'd have a novel, right?

     It's true that there aren't many distractions on Bleaker, other than sheep, penguins, paranoia and the weather. But as Nell gets to work on her novel--a delightful Dickensian fiction she calls Bleaker House--she discovers that an excruciatingly erratic Internet connection and 1100 calories a day (as much food as she could carry in her suitcase, budgeted to the raisin) are far from ideal conditions for literary production. With deft humour, this memoir traces Nell's island days and slowly reveals details of the life and people she has left behind in pursuit of her art. They pop up in her novel, as well, as memoir and novel start to reflect one another. It seems that there is nowhere Nell can run--neither a remote island nor the pages of her notebook--to escape herself.

Have to say it was no surprise as to how this book will end.  However the journey along the way with Nell made it interesting.  I would have liked to have read more about life on the Falkland Islands.  Although I had heard of the Falkland Islands I had never heard of Bleaker Island prior to reading this book.  I had to look it up, and you can read more about it here.

Despite what Nell went through, I am very interested in the Falkland Islands and would love to visit there.  I think everyone should try the whole spending time to find themselves thing.   

Stars out of 5 : 3  Read better books, but didn't mind it.  Learned something new, so that is always a positive.  I will never been a writer, but I am guessing if you want to write a book, this book would benefit you with the thought process.

This is my own review; I borrowed the book from my local library.

"Transcription, by Kate Atkinson"

"Transcription, by Kate Atkinson"

In 1940, eighteen-year-old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathizers, she discovers the work to be by turns tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past forever.

Ten years later, now a radio producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat. A bill of reckoning is due, and she finally begins to realize that there is no action without consequence.

Transcription is a work of rare depth and texture, a bravura modern novel of extraordinary power, wit, and empathy. It is a triumphant work of fiction from one of the best writers of our time.

This is one of those books that I think would benefit from being read twice.  As I found it a confusing book.  A lot of it didn't make sense to me, until I got close to the end, and then I had, "oh I get it," moment.  Make sure you read the author's notes at the end, as that also helps.

Stars out of 5 : 3 It's a short review as I honestly have no idea what to say about it.  I think if I read it again, I might get more from it.  However I am in no rush to read it..........

This is my own review; I borrowed the book from my local library.