July / August Reading 2019

I forgot about this again! So I am doing July and August together, but missing a lot out.

Family Secrets by Liz Byrski
A novel about the family of a recently deceased man. Quite good character development, with only a couple of stereotypes. The plot is a familiar one of endings followed by a quest to find oneself, and I just wish that there could be a few about people doing it on the cheap, rather than going on expensive overseas 'pilgrimages'! It ends a little unexpectedly but still a bit too happy-ever-after for my taste: I don't want books to end in apocalypse but a bit more realism would have satisfied me more.

Rain Birds by Harriet McKnight
A sad and terrifying novel about two women. One is living with and caring for her husband who has Alzheimer's. Hers is the story of losing the man she loved as he changes into a stranger. The other is a young woman living in the thrall of childhood memories. It's really well written, heart breaking, and way too real.

Pacifica by Kristen Simmons
Young adult fiction. Futuristic, almost apocalyptic fiction. Politics, corruption, pirates (not romanticized) and romance but the characters are mostly not black and white. I enjoyed it and will probably read more - I like young adult fiction because it tends to be less descriptive, less detailed in its depictions of sex and violence.

The War of the Wives by Tamar Cohen
When a man dies unexpectedly it turns out he was a bigamist, and this is the story of the two wives coming to terms with the situation. As they find out more about his shady financial dealings, and his mortgaging of his wives' homes, things become a bit frightening. An unexpected ending is great - I thought it was descending into the trite, but, no.

The Shadowfell Novels: Shadowfell, Raven Flight, & The Caller by Juliet Marillier
Fantasy series of the usual storyline - heroine on quest to overthrow evil empire. Yeah, sounds trite and same-old, same-old. And I guess it is, but I really enjoyed it and plan to seek out more by this author. I feel like Australia has produced some of the best fantasy authors, although she was born in New Zealand so in this case we can claim some glory.
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And then I forgot to keep records again, and now it's September!