It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #SundayPost #SundaySalon

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 14 Comments

 

Linking to: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? at BookDate; Sunday Post @ Caffeinated Reviewer; and the Sunday Salon @ ReaderBuzz

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Life…

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Mea Culpa

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What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…

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Shockwaves by Fleur McDonald

The Day Shelley Woodhouse Woke Up by Laura Pearson

The Rivertown Vet by Jennifer Scoullar

Funny Story by Emily Henry

The Fellowship of the Puzzle Makers by Samuel Burr

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New Posts…

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Bookshelf Bounty

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What I’m Reading This Week…

 


It’s never too late to reinvent your life  
Audrey Lamont has happily devoted herself to family life for the best part of 40 years, but lately she’s become aware that she lost herself somewhere between ‘I do’ and the weekly shop.  
Worse, her academic husband Simon has found time for romance – just not with Audrey.  
Feeling invisible to everyone, even herself, she flees to her aunt’s home in rural France.    
While waiting for her sudden absence to spark a change of heart in Simon, Audrey finds solace in the charms of the French countryside and the company of her aged aunt and a cast of eccentric Bretons.    
But soon Audrey discovers going AWOL might do more than save her marriage, it might change her life …  
Audrey’s Gone AWOL is a funny and beautifully observed story about losing yourself, finding yourself, and discovering joy.

xxxxxxx

 

Florence Butterfield has lived an extraordinary life full of travel, passion and adventure. But, at eighty-seven, she suspects there are no more surprises to come her way.
Then, one midsummer’s night, something terrible happens – so strange and unexpected that Florrie is suspicious. Was this really an accident, or is she living alongside a would-be murderer?
The only clue is a magenta envelope, discarded earlier that day.And Florrie – cheerfully independent but often overlooked – is the only person determined to uncover the truth.  
As she does, Florrie finds herself looking back on her own life . . . and a long-buried secret, traced in faded scars across her knuckles, becomes ever harder to ignore.

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Datson Angel is a turbo-charged adventure into the savage heart of 1980s Australia: a place completely alien, yet frighteningly similar, to today.
EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK HAPPENED . . .
At seventeen, Anna Broinowski is precocious, naive and convinced she knows how the world works. But O-Week at Sydney University changes that. She’s suddenly in a hyper-masculine caste system, where future captains of industry terrorise freshers and invade dorms in naked, screaming packs.
Nothing is what she thought it’d be . . . until Anna finds her people. New dreams are made. Playing violin, auditioning for NIDA, losing her virginity. Then Peisley, a gentle giant, talks of a hitchhiking trip up north. And, after agreeing on three rules – never split up, remain platonic, accept every lift that gets them closer to Darwin – Anna decides to go.
Hitchhiking the highways leads her into a dystopian dustbowl on society’s hard edges, where outsiders must adapt or perish, and women teeter on an existential knife edge. In this flyblown asylum, love and danger collide with the toxic misogyny in the guts of the Australian soul. Anna will learn that the line between victim and survivor can be as cruel as luck and as random as a shiny blue Datson on a red dirt road.
Based on her battered travel diary, Datsun Angel is a savage, darkly funny memoir of sex, drugs and violence-fuelled adventure through the brutal 1980s Australian outback. It is a feminist On the Road, told through a #MeToo filter.

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Martha Berry is fifty years old, a spinster, and one of an army of polite and invisible women in 1956 Sydney who go to work each day and get things done without fuss, fanfare or reward.

Working at the country’s national broadcaster, she’s seen highly praised talent come and go over the years but when she is sent to work as a secretary on a brand-new radio serial, created to follow in the footsteps of Australia’s longest running show, Blue Hills, she finds herself at the mercy of an egotistical and erratic young producer without a clue, a conservative broadcaster frightened by the word ‘pregnant’ and a motley cast of actors with ideas of their own about their roles in the show.

When Martha is forced to step in to rescue the serial from impending cancellation, she ends up secretly ghost-writing scripts for As The Sun Sets, creating mayhem with management, and coming up with storylines that resonate with the serial’s growing and loyal audience of women listeners.

But she can’t keep her secret forever and when she’s threatened with exposure, Martha has to decide if she wants to remain in the shadows, or to finally step into the spotlight.

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Thanks for stopping by!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR @thebookdate #SundayPost @Kimbacaffeinate #SundaySalon @debnance #AudreysGoneAWOL #TheNightInQuestion #DatsunAngel #TheRadioHour

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #SundayPost #SundaySalon

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 45 Comments

Linking to: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? at BookDate; Sunday Post @ Caffeinated Reviewer; and the Sunday Salon @ ReaderBuzz

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Life…

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Grey hair and all, I’m 51 today ! 
(No filter, but I am practically looking at the ceiling to hide my double chin)
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What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…

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Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Mrs Quinns Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

How To Kill A Guy in 10 Ways by Eve Kellman

Sanctuary by Garry Disher

A Brief Atlas of the Lighthouse’s at the End of the World by José Luis González Macías

Shockwaves by Fleur McDonald

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New Posts…

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2024 Nonfiction Reader Monthly Spotlight #3

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What I’m Reading This Week…

When Shelley Woodhouse wakes up in hospital from a coma, the first thing she says is that her husband must be arrested.
He’s the reason she’s in here. She knows it. She remembers what he did. Clearly as anything.
But there are things Shelley has forgotten too, including parts of her childhood. And as those start to come back to her, so do other memories. Ones with the power to change everything.
But can she trust these new memories, or what anyone around her is telling her? And who is the mysterious hospital volunteer who brings her food and keeps making her smile? Is it possible to find your future when you’re confused about your past?

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Local vet Jana Malinski runs a wombat sanctuary with her sister on their family’s serene property by the Murray River. But Jana’s routine is up-ended after a chance encounter with handsome accountant and single dad Mark – the man who broke her heart in high school.
Offered the opportunity to run Wildfell Park, the town zoo that has fallen into disrepair, Jana must push past her hostility to save the local landmark and home to countless native and exotic animals. But working alongside Mark every day isn’t easy, especially given the undeniable attraction between them. While she fights her feelings, a new danger emerges – one that could threaten the very existence of Wildfell Park and Jana’s dreams of an ideal future.
Set in the gorgeous river country of South Australia The Rivertown Vet is a heartfelt and charming tale about community, conservation and kindness.

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It’s never too late to reinvent your life  
Audrey Lamont has happily devoted herself to family life for the best part of 40 years, but lately she’s become aware that she lost herself somewhere between ‘I do’ and the weekly shop.  
Worse, her academic husband Simon has found time for romance – just not with Audrey.  
Feeling invisible to everyone, even herself, she flees to her aunt’s home in rural France.    
While waiting for her sudden absence to spark a change of heart in Simon, Audrey finds solace in the charms of the French countryside and the company of her aged aunt and a cast of eccentric Bretons.    
But soon Audrey discovers going AWOL might do more than save her marriage, it might change her life …  
Audrey’s Gone AWOL is a funny and beautifully observed story about losing yourself, finding yourself, and discovering joy.

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Sometimes finding your place in the world is the greatest puzzle of all…
Clayton Stumper is an enigma.
He might be twenty-five years old, but he dresses like your grandad and drinks sherry like your aunt.
Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by the sharpest minds in the British Isles and finds himself amongst the last survivors of a fading institution.
When the esteemed crossword compiler, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle to him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for his future.
Yet as Clay begins to unpick the clues, he uncovers something even the Fellowship have never been able to solve – and it’s a secret that will change everything…

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Thanks for stopping by!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR @thebookdate #SundayPost @Kimbacaffeinate #SundaySalon @ This week it’s: #TheDayShelleyWoodhouseWokeUp #TheRivertownVet #AudreysGoneAWOL #TheFellowshipofthePuzzlemakers

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Monthly Spotlight #3

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 3 Comments

 

Welcome to the Monthly Spotlight for the

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge!

Each month I highlight some of the reviews shared for the challenge in the linky

Don’t forget to link each book you read as you read during the year!

I encourage you to support all participants who have shared what they are reading for the challenge. Give them a like, leave them a comment, share their posts on Facebook, twitter, or instagram #ReadNonFicChal

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IN MARCH…

 


[MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY]

When I first read the synopsis, I worried this might be a sort of “white savior” type of story, but that’s not it at all. It’s a story about the power of kindness and connection to heal all kinds of trauma…. It’s a beautiful story of the bonds between two very different but damaged women, and the joyful little girls they both love.

Learn more at Book by Book

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[TRUE CRIME]

If you are into art and especially art history this is probably a book you might want to take a look at. True crime fans might also be interested, but it a bit on the dry side from other true crime books I have read. This was not a bad read, it was interesting and I learned some things from it, but I did find it a little dry and long winded at times.

Learn more at Confessions of a Serial Reader

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[PUBLISHED IN 2024]

Griswold reports …in a dispassionate, objective way, without giving much sign of her opinion about it all. Readers can try to make up their own mind about what is going on. Indeed, although to me the behavior of the pastor and congregation member leading the campaign seemed not only ineffective but unethical, to some they are heroes. Exacerbated by pandemic stress and everything else conspiring to unhinge us these days, the whole situation seems to demonstrate how hard it is to come together and listen to each other, even for those with the best of intentions.

Learn more at Entering the Enchanted Castle

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[TRANSPORTATION]

The writing is articulate and animated, and Goodwin relates his experience in a personable, confiding tone. His descriptions, especially of the people he encounters, are vivid and memorable. Told with humour, pathos and candour, I found Servo to be a highly entertaining read.

Learn more at Book’d Out

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[MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY]

This is a beautiful book. A commemoration of the lives and music of Australian musicians and partners in life Archie Roach (1956-2022) and Ruby Hunter (1955-2010). The book includes photographs, songs, stories, and tributes. The lyrics to many of their songs are included, together with stories about how some of the songs were composed.

Learn more at Tasmanian Bibliophile 

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What will you be reading in APRIL?

If you need some help choosing a book..check out these posts 

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Monthly Spotlight #2

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Monthly Spotlight #1

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Inspiration #History #Memoir/Biography

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Inspiration #TrueCrime #Science

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Inspiration #Health #Food

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Inspiration #Culture #Transportation

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Inspiration #TheFuture #Pets

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Inspiration #Architecture #Publishedin2024

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #SundayPost #SundaySalon

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 21 Comments

 

Linking to: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? at BookDate; Sunday Post @ Caffeinated Reviewer; and the Sunday Salon @ ReaderBuzz

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Life…

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I hope you have enjoyed your weekend.

We are not a religious family so Easter is simply a welcome four day weekend and an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast. I made chocolate and white chocolate fudge this year in lieu of gifting Easter eggs as the cost has become ludicrous. I’d show you but what wasn’t given away is all gone. I think I got one piece, though to be fair I rarely eat chocolate so I don’t mind. I much prefer Hot Cross buns slathered with butter and toasted in the air fryer.

It’s the last (well technically the first- but we’ll just let that slide) Monday of the month, so here’s my challenge update.

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge: 3/12

2024 Linz The Bookworm/ Logophile Reading Challenge: 16/60

The Crossing Continents Reading Challenge 2024: 3/12

2024 Fantasy/SciFi Reading Challenge: 3/12

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What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…

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The Glass House by Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion

The Next Big Thing by James Colley

Pheasants Nest by Louise Milligan

Bloodlust Blues by Luanne Bennett

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

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New Posts…

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Bookshelf Bounty

Review: Someone Else’s Bucket List by Amy T Matthews

Review: Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan

Review: Listen to the Lie by Amy Tintera

Review: Seven Summers by Paige Toon

Review: The Satanic Mechanic by Sally Andrew

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What I’m Reading This Week…

 


A huge-hearted, redemptive coming-of-old-age tale, a love story, and an ode to good food

Nothing could be more out of character, but after fifty-nine years of marriage, as her husband Bernard’s health declines, and her friends’ lives become focused on their grandchildren—which Jenny never had—Jenny decides she wants a little something for herself. So she secretly applies to be a contestant on the prime-time TV show Britain Bakes.

Whisked into an unfamiliar world of cameras and timed challenges, Jenny delights in a new-found independence. But that independence, and the stress of the competition, starts to unearth memories buried decades ago. Chocolate teacakes remind her of a furtive errand involving a wedding ring; sugared doughnuts call up a stranger’s kind act; a simple cottage loaf brings back the moment her life changed forever.

With her baking star rising, Jenny struggles to keep a lid on that first secret—a long-concealed deceit that threatens to shatter the very foundations of her marriage. It’s the only time in six decades that she’s kept something from Bernard. By putting herself in the limelight, has Jenny created a recipe for disaster?

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Are you on a date that doesn’t feel right?

Can’t shake that creepy guy at the bar?

Worried you’re being followed home?

Message M.

After one too many terrifying encounters, Millie Masters sets up a hotline for women who feel unsafe walking home alone at night: Message M.

But very quickly she realises that there’s much more to be done to help the women who call in. Because the men just do it again the next night, and the next, and the next…

And when her own sister is assaulted on a night out, the temptation to take the law into her own hands becomes too much to resist.

Because M can also stand for murder…

A deliciously dark, hilariously twisted serial killer thriller with a villainous female lead readers can’t help but root for, perfect for fans of Bella Mackie’s How to Kill Your Family, Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer, or who enjoyed watching You and now wants to take revenge.

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A thrilling new standalone set in regional SA, from one of Australia’s most esteemed crime authors.

Grace is a thief- a good one. She was taught by experts and she’s been practising since she was a kid. She specialises in small, high-value items-stamps, watches-and she knows her Jaeger-LeCoultres from her Patek Philippes. But it’s a solitary life, always watchful, always moving. It’s not the life she wants.

Lying low after a run-in with an old associate, Grace walks into Erin Mandel’s rural antiques shop and sees a chance for something different. A normal job. A place to call home.

But someone is looking for Erin. And someone’s looking for Grace, too. And they are both, in their own ways, very dangerous men.

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Detective Dave Burrows returns in a page-turning new novel of rural suspense from Voice of the Outback, Fleur McDonald.

Detective Dave Burrows has longed for the top job in the Stock Squad but never thought he’d be acting in that role while his partner and best mate, Detective Bob Holden, is treated for melanoma.

Bob is keen to get back on the road and Dave can’t wait to go bush either, expecting the trip will be much the same as usual.

But the trip doesn’t play out that way.

Multiple bomb blasts in the small country town of Kallygarn send shock waves through the state of Western Australia, and Dave and Bob are once again drawn into the criminal underworld.

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Thanks for stopping by!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR @thebookdate #SundayPost @Kimbacaffeinate #SundaySalon @debnance I’ll be reading #MrsQuinnsRiseToFame #HowToKillAGuyInTenWays #Sanctuary #ShockWaves.

Review: The Satanic Mechanic by Sally Andrew

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 2 Comments

 

Title: The Satanic Mechanic {A Tannie Maria Mystery #2}

Author: Sally Andrew

Published: 7th July 2016, Text Publishing

Status: Read February 2024

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My Thoughts:

Though it was way back in 2015 that I read the first book of Sally Andrew’s debut cozy mystery series featuring Tannie Maria, an agony aunt for a rural South African newspaper, who dispenses advice and recipes, when the Crossing Continents Reading Challenge called for a book set in Africa, the series immediately came to mind.

The Satanic Mechanic picks up not too long after the end of Recipes for Love and Murder. Maria has grown more comfortable with her role as the Love Advice and Recipe Column for the Klein Karoo Gazette, a position which she takes very seriously, dispensing common sense and comfort to those who write in, always coupled with a recipe that reinforces her support. If you are a foodie, the dozen or so recipes Andrews includes in Satanic Mechanic including West African Chicken Mafe, Venus Cake and Mosbolletjie Bread, will surely delight.

Maria’s romantic relationship with Detective Henk Kannemeyer has also progressed, however Maria, who experienced terrible domestic violence at the hands of her late husband, is finding intimacy difficult due to PTSD. Recognising her need for help, Maria joins a somewhat unconventional support group run by a man nicknamed the Satanic Mechanic, who has an interesting backstory. Andrews writes sensitively of Maria’s issues, and her struggle to resolve them.

The PTSD support group is the setting for one of the murders, which is preceded by the poisoning of a Bushmen representative involved in a legal stoush with corporate interests at a local fair. Finding herself at the scene of both events, Tannie Marie can not help but get involved, much to the chagrin of a worried Henk. To be honest I felt the mystery plot didn’t have the impact it probably should have, but it still held my interest.

One of the main elements I really appreciate in this series is how well the story’s are grounded in their setting. Not only with regards to descriptions of Tannie Maria’s physical environment, but also how smoothly Andrews interjects snippets of Afrikaans into the narrative. In Satanic Mechanic Andrews also touches on some of the cultural and political issues that affect the country, particularly with regards to tension surrounding the rights of Bushmen (or San peoples).

I enjoyed revisiting this series, and though I don’t feel immediately compelled to move on to the last two published books featuring Tannie Maria, I would like to read them eventually.

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Available from Text Publishing

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Review: Seven Summers by Paige Toon

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 2 Comments

 

Title: Seven Summers

Author: Paige Toon

Published: 28th March 2024, Random House UK

Status: Read March 2024 courtesy Penguin UK/Netgalley

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My Thoughts:

Seven Summers is a heart wrenching contemporary romance from Paige Toon about love, loss, family, and fate.

The summer Liv meets Finn, tragedy binds them, and then tears them apart. Liv’s life is in Cornwall where she tends bar, creates sculptures, and watches over her brother. Finn’s life is in LA where his career as a singer/songwriter is taking flight. Forced to part as the season turns, the lovers make a solemn vow, if they are both single when Finn returns a year from now, they will renew their romance, setting the scene for a love story seven years in the making.

Moving between the present day and the tumultuous events of the six previous summers, Seven Summers is an emotional journey that charts the course of Liv and Finn’s relationship. Toon elicits smiles as the couple make the most of the time they are together, and tears each time they part. Their romance is passionate, sweet, and all-consuming, and I was wholly invested in it. But eventually something has to change and when Liv meets Tom, she is forced to make a choice. To Toon’s credit, Liv and Tom’s relationship is equally as compelling, and ultimately as heartrending. It’s a unique twist on a love triangle trope that makes a statement about soul mates and second chances.

While Seven Summers is a romance at its core, it’s also much more than just that. In some ways it’s a coming of age story, as Liv is only just in her twenties when the story begins, and as a consequence of her loss, she gives up on her plans and becomes sort of stuck. With the immediacy of the first person perspective, the narrative is quite intimate so that the reader shares in Liv’s journey as she navigates her grief, guilt and yearning.

Poignant, wistful and hopeful, Seven Summers is another heartfelt novel that will give you all the feels.

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Available from Penguin Books UK

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Review: Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 4 Comments

 

Title: Listen For the Lie

Author: Amy Tintera

Published: 14th March 2024, Bantam UK

Status: Read March 2024 courtesy Bantam/Netgalley

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My Thoughts:

Lucy Chase murdered her best friend, at least that’s what everyone thinks, including the voice in Lucy’s head, even though she remembers nothing, and the police can’t prove it.

Listen For the Lie by Amy Tintera is a darkly hilarious mystery in which Lucy reluctantly returns to her hometown for her grandmothers birthday at the same time as a popular true crime podcaster, Ben Owens, decides to open an investigation in an effort to solve the five year old case.

Lucy is a fantastic character, and carries the book effortlessly with her first person narrative. I delighted in her acerbic wit and bold attitude. Not surprisingly, Lucy always has her guard up, except around her grandmother, who is equally outspoken. Their bond is a delight, and Beverley nearly steals every scene they share. It’s Beverley who convinces Lucy to cooperate with Ben.

Transcripts from the podcast are used to provide details about the crime, and the interviews reveal new pieces of the puzzle. The residents of Plumpton have plenty of secrets and I enjoyed how the mystery played out. It’s not a complex plot but there is plenty of drama and intrigue, and separating gossip from truth to determine what really happened the night Savannah was murdered is a challenge.

Despite all the humour Tintera does touch on serious issues including domestic violence, PTSD, and obsession. The tension develops well as Lucy and Ben grow closer to learning the truth, and there is an exciting and satisfying climax. Short chapters and snappy dialogue support the fast pace of the novel.

A fun, quirky and compulsive mystery, I found Listen For the Lie to be a delightful read.

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Available from Penguin Books UK

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Review: Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 2 Comments

Title: Women of Good Fortune

Author: Sophie Wan

Published: 3rd March 2024, Ultimo Press

Status: Read March 2024 courtesy Ultimo Press

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My Thoughts:

Women of Good Fortune is a fun and engaging debut from Sophie Wan.

In ten months former restaurant hostess Lulu is to marry one of Shanghai’s most eligible bachelor’s, it will be the event of the season, attended by everyone who is anyone. Lulu should be deliriously happy, or so her mother insists, but instead she is miserable and longs to escape. Her best friends are similarly unhappy with their lives, Rina is continually overlooked for promotion at work, and as such the pay rise she needs to in order to preserve her fertility, while Jane, convinced her appearance has doomed her to a life of mediocrity, desperately wants plastic surgery. When Jane floats the outrageous idea of stealing the generous cash gifts expected at the wedding as a solution to all of their woes, the temptation proves irresistible and the friends plan a daring heist.

Told from the alternating perspectives of Lulu, Jane and Rina, Women of Good Fortune unfolds over a period of about a year. As preparations for Lulu’s wedding continue under the dictatorial rule of her monstermother-in-law-to-be, the trio also work feverishly to devise a foolproof plan to get away with the cash.

The plans for the heist are pretty complex but it’s fun to see how the women go about solving each challenge, from enlisting the services of a counterfeiter, to flirting with the best man. I enjoyed the bursts of humour, and there are some tense moments too, with last minute complications threatening to ruin everything.

The three friends are interesting women, all quite different from each other. Lulu is the most sympathetic of the character’s, while Jane is probably the least likeable. The story is well grounded in its cultural setting, from the casual mentions of social touchstones, to the descriptions of traditions, yet Wan manages to communicate the universality of women’s experience as her protagonists grapple with their issues. Wan explores subjects such as the value of friendship, the management of family expectations, the desire for independence, and the importance of self worth, among others.

I found Women of Good Fortune to be an entertaining, smart and satisfying novel.

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Available from Ultimo Press

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Review: Someone Else’s Bucket List by Amy T. Matthews

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 4 Comments

 

Title: Someone Else’s Bucket List

Author: Amy T. Matthews

Published: 31st January 2024, Simon & Schuster

Status: Read February 2024 courtesy Simon & Schuster

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My Thoughts:

“My dying wish is for you to finish my bucket list. I refuse to die without knowing this list will be completed. And I refuse to die without knowing my family will be okay…”

Someone Else’s Bucket List by Amy T. Matthews is an unexpectedly delightful read given that it’s a story that revolves around grief and loss.

An extrovert who parlayed her love of adventure into a successful career as an influencer with millions of followers, Bree Boyd was the life of every party, and her younger sister Jodie feels her loss every day. At the Boyd’s first Thanksgiving dinner without Bree, they are stunned when her best friend, Claudia, shares an Instagram reel recorded before Bree’s death. In it Bree challenges Jodie to complete the last seven items on Bree’s unfinished bucket list, with the help of a corporate sponsor, and in doing so free their family from the crippling medical debt accrued during Bree’s treatment for Leukaemia.

Jodie’s first instinct is to refuse Bree’s request, unlike her sister, Jodie is shy and introverted, however the opportunity to clear the family’s debt, and her desire to honour her sister’s last wishes, means she can’t say no. The bucket list tasks are reasonably benign, for example – 17. Plant a tree…, 74. Perform a walk-on cameo in a Broadway musical…, 99. Fly over Antarctica…, but they take their toll on Jodie. Jodie inspires sympathy, and I really liked the thoughtful development of her character. While she slowly grows in self-confidence, becoming less critical of herself and requiring more of others, Jodie’s increased sense of self-worth is fragile, often resulting in a ‘two steps forward, one step back’ situation. This is particularly evident in Jodie’s romantic relationship with Kelly Wong.

Grief is the main theme of the book. Matthews writes with compassion for the complicated process of dealing with loss, and how that journey is different for everyone. But this is also a story about hope, courage and love, and there is a sincerity to the emotion in this story that I found wholly believable. The author also makes some subtle commentary about the positives and pitfalls of social media, the ethics of corporate sponsorship, and the disgrace that is the user-pays American healthcare system.

Thoughtful, entertaining and poignant, Someone Else’s Bucket List really tugged at my heartstrings, I laughed, and teared up, I mourned and I celebrated.

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Available from Simon & Schuster

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