Review: The Sleep - Deprived Teen by Lisa L. Lewis

 

This is a great guide for anyone that has moody grumpy teenagers, that are struggling to get out of bed each morning and apply themselves to their school / work day.

Lisa Lewis has done alot of meticulous research into the importance of the sleep in a teenager's daily routine, and exactly how much sleep is required for them to function effectively.

Lisa demonstrates and explains the effects of lack of sleep and how it effects their schooling, education, their sporting abilities, their decision making abilities, driving, and also their mood.

Lisa also touches on areas such as the increased percentage rate of teenage suicides and depression in sleep deprived teenagers.

This is an excellent book, which has been thoroughly researched, and can be a handy tool to any parent of teenagers.

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for this advanced audio. This book is available to purchase from 7 June, 2022

3 Stars: It was a good book and well-crafted. I would recommend it to the right person.

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Review: Dressed by Iris - by Mary-Anne O'Connor

 

My first ready by Mary-Anne O'Connor, and it definitely won't be my last.  Such a wonderfully written novel, that highlights the highs and lows of Australian history.   

Iris is an extremely talented 17 year old young lady, who has hopes and dreams of perhaps one day exhibiting her beautiful dress designs.

The novel starts with an introduction into Iris' family and her home life.   Iris is one of six children, being the 2nd eldest.   They are all raised as Catholic.   It is the 1940's, times are tough, it is the great depression, they are living in a make to shanty/shack in Newcastle.  The shanty has dirt flooring, the walls are made from hessian bags.   Their mother Agnes does the best she can to keep the family fed and dressed.    Agnes makes soup for their dinner consisting of ham bones discarded by the butcher and bread and lard, the bread she bakes herself in their outdoor oven, which is located in the ground inside a termite mound.   The children's clothes are all hand me downs, their shoes are so worn out that the children need to put cardboard in the bottom of them, in place of soles, on the rainy days in an attempt to keep their feet and stockings dry.

Iris is a beautiful young girl, with eyes the colour of a purple Iris flower.  She is in love with John Tucker, a local Protestant boy.   John gifts Iris a beautiful purple ribbon on her birthday that is edged with fine lace.    Iris with her crafty creativeness uses the ribbon to create a rosette on a beautiful felt cloche hat that is gifted on her birthday from her father.   The cloche hat becomes the talk of the town and not long afterwards, Iris is taking orders from the local town women to have similar designs made on their own garment in an attempt to brighten them up and give them a new lease on life.

The relationship between Iris and John is not an easy one, and has been kept in secret as it is frowned upon for two people of different religions to be dating/and or in a relationship together.

Iris' elder brother Jim receives a job opportunity working on the construction of the new Sydney Harbour Bridge.    At the same time John receives a scholarship opportunity to a Melbourne University, an offer to good to turn down in these tough times. 

In Sydney the Mitchell family life changes dramatically,  Iris has a job cleaning a local department store.   Jim's job at the Sydney Harbour Bridge is coming to an end, and he finds another job opportunity as a local bookie, Phar lap is winning the horse races.    They are surrounded by the heavy Sydney underworld crime lords, and come in contact with lots of interesting and unsavoury  characters.

5 Stars: It was amazing. It was compelling, well-researched, entertaining and/or moving and often complex. I will definitely want to read more books by this author.

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Review: Come Here Often? by Ellie Center

 In today's society everybody seems to have anxiety, there is not a week that goes past, when I here somebody say this or that gives them anxiety and stresses them out.  I am not saying that their anxieties are not genuine,  however there are different levels of anxiety.     This novel is quite an eye opener into the world of somebody who is living with high level anxiety, and just how difficult it can be and how much it overpowers their life.

Kat's world is a little messy, her beloved support companion "Lily" a golden retriever has passed away and Kat is missing her terribly.   She has resorted to drinking excessively with her girlfriends of an evening and is getting sloppy in her performance and attitude at her workplace.  

Her long term boyfriend, Sam, of 5 years had gifted her a membership to a fancy new gym, and one day Kat decides today, is going to be the day I am going to make some changes.  She goes to the gym and registers, does a tour of the fancy gym,  which has multiple different classes, a cafe, a bar, a child care, massage rooms, swimming pool etc.   Once Kat has finished the tour, she decides to hop on the exercise book for a bit, after a brief 4 minutes she is exhausted and then her phone rings it is her work number.     Kat is terminated from her job effective immediately.     She is furious and decides to do a few more rounds on the bike, taking out her frustrations on the bike.

Kat decides to give Sam a call, tell him that she is at the Gym, as he would be proud of her, for taking the plunge.   Sam is unhappy with Kat, after a big fight they had the previous evening, and says it has been coming, and he then proceeds to break up with Kat, as he says she is not the same person she was when they were first dating. 

By now Kat is at a complete loss, and is falling apart, she does not know what to do next or how to control her emotions,  she attempts to leave the health club, but finds her anxiety is kicking in highly and she cannot force herself to take the last few steps out the front door. 

Kat decides to wander around the gym, she discovers Yummi's cafe, the bar where she orders herself some drinks.     She relaxes by their swimming pool, has a spell in their Sauna.   The gym also has massage rooms, a hairdresser and beautician, a shop that sells clothes, shoes and underwear, a child care centre.  This Gym has everything, so much in fact, you could practically live there.

I found myself getting cranky at the character Kat, at times I wanted to shake her and say come on, you can do this, and at other times I was in tears with her, feeling her pain and stress levels.   

It is extremely sad to see how she turned to alcohol in her times of needs, and the thoughts of Zanax were never out of her mind.

Kate Hanford did a great job as Narrator and make the novel, interesting and a pleasure to listen to.

This books shows us the difficulties and the strains of living with high level anxiety.   

Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture Audio and Bookouture a for this advanced audio. This book is available to purchase from  May 23rd, 2022 

3 Stars: It was a good book and well-crafted. I would recommend it to the right person.

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Review: Betts & Walker : Books 1 & 2 (Kindle Edition) by Jonathan McPherson

 A fast paced, action packed novels from the very first page.

Prior Violations is the prequel to Brazen Violations.

Prior Violations starts with action, blood, shooting and crime on the very first page, from the minute you start the book, you are engrossed into the world of Betts and Walker. 

Mitch Walker is a Hero, he attempts to stop a robbery gone wrong, he looses his job because he is then late to work after trying to stop the robbery.

With Mitch now being, in-between jobs, he offers his help to his sister and nephew.  His nephew has leukaemia, and his sister has just been injured in a hit and run accident.   Mitch assists with his nephews daily needs whilst his sister is recovering.      

Whilst caring for his nephew, Mitch discovers that his leukaemia is terminal but there is a new drug on the market which can help his nephew, but the cost of the drugs is ridiculous.   Mitch goes above and beyond to save his nephews life and makes a horrible decision to become a drug mule.

As you can imagine Mitch comes across some unsavoury characters, and his life is always on the line.  

The book is full of thrill and action, blood, guts and gore.   It is fast paced and keeps you wanting more.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and was left wanting more.

I really enjoyed the Narrator of the audiobook Tom Campbell.   He did a marvellous job with all of the different characters.

Thank you NetGalley and City Beach Books for this audio. This book was available to purchase from  1 January, 2022 

4 Stars: I enjoyed it and would recommend it to people who like the genre. I will definitely want to read more books by this author.

Review: The Illusion of Simple by Charles Forrest Jones

I used the Audiobook version of this novel.   I found the narrator was not engaging, and my mind tended to wander a lot, and it was very difficult to concentrate of the book itself.      The story seemed like a good one, but I honestly couldn't even tell you what was happening after the first two narrated pages.

Thankyou Netgalley and University of Iowa Press for my advanced copy of The Illusion of Simple.

This book is just not the right book for me, I would prefer to move onto another book, then waste my time on a book that wasn't engaging.

1 Star: I did not enjoy the book and may not have been able to finish it. I would not recommend this book to others.

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Review: The Mother by Jane Caro

The Mother  is a very well written and entertaining debut novel by Jane Caro

Miriam is a mother of two adult daughters, Fiona and Alley.  Fiona is happily married with a daughter Molly, and Ally has just met the "man of her dreams", after multiple dead end boyfriends.   Miriam and her husband Pete both feel that Nick, Ally's future husband, is lovely, kind, he has a great career, ie. Veterinarian.   He is always polite and chatty the few times that they have met him.   

Ally and Nick had a whirlwind romance, get married, and move to Dungog NSW.   Nick gets a job at the local Vet clinic and Ally ends up volunteering there as a receptionist, in her spare time between her uni studies. 

Meanwhile, back in Greenwich, Sydney, Miriam owns her own successful Real Estate Business, which keeps her busy and her spare time is spent tending to her well loved garden.     Miriam's life as she knows it, is shattered when her loving husband Pete suddenly dies, and Miriam is left to learn how to live again without her Pete.

Life for Ally in Dungog is accelerating rather quickly,  before she knows it she is pregnant with their first child, she has quit her university studies, she is busy at home learning to be a mother in a new town with no family or friends around, and is feeling the pressure.        Miriam reaches out to Ally, to try to come and spend time with her new grandchild and youngest daughter, but Ally keeps refusing and has multiple reasons as to why she can do it on her.    

This story uncovers the truths behind domestic violence situations, and how easy it is to go undiscovered by the closest of family members and friends.

Without giving away too much of the story line, so that you are able to experience the book for itself.   What Ally and Miriam both go through in this situation is terribly scary and unfortunately believable.  

Ally is bullied, and becomes a slight shadow of the confident woman that she once was before she was married.   She looses faith in herself, and has convinced by her husband to the point of believing that she is insane and going crazy.      Ally's mother Miriam is a bad ass Mum, a Mum that will go to the end of the earth to protect her daughter. 

As  a mum of a young adult daughter myself, I found this book extremely relatable, and difficult to put down.  

Thankyou to Allen and Unwin for my advanced copy, in return I am offering my honest review.  Book first published in March 2022.

4 Stars: I enjoyed it and would recommend it to people who like the genre. I will definitely want to read more books by this author.

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Review: The Surgeon's Daughter by Audrey Blake

Nora Beady, desires to be surgeon, however it is early in the 19th century whereby it is frowned upon for a women to have a career, as they all should be at home being housewife's, and looking after their children.

Nora (Eleanor) was raised by the infamous surgeon Dr. Horace Croft and his love of his work, has influenced Nora. Nora was assisting in Dr. Croft's surgeries, which was shunned upon. Nora then had to leave London and travel to Bologna Italy whereby she is recruited by Dr. Perra at the Bologna University and received a position in the Medical School. Although Nora is accepted as a student, she is treated poorly by the staff and the students, as after all she is a female.

Nora meets a female Dr. in Bologna, Dr. Magdalana Morenco, she is a highly skilled surgeon and has performed multiple surgeries including caesareans. Dr. Perra reccomends to Nora to request to be trained and tutored by Dr. Morenco to assist with accelerating her doctorate.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for this advanced audio. This book is available to purchase from May 10th, 2022

3 Stars: It was a good book and well-crafted. I would recommend it to the right person.

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Review: The Spy's Wife by Fiona McIntosh

 

This is a book that talks directly to my heart. Historical Fiction, Romance, Thrill, Mystery and my favourite flowers - Cherry Blossoms.

Evie Armstrong and her younger sister Rosie, work at the Train Station where their father Alf is the Station Master. The two girls have made their own café, whereby they serve cakes, tea and coffee to the passengers when they alight from the trains.

Evie is a widow, whose former husband died in a train accident, wherein he was attempting to save a child who had wandered out onto the tracks. Evie now spends her days assisting her father at the Station, where she makes her own cherry cakes, cherry jam, and glace cherries from the Cherry Blossom Trees that align the station which her father planted many years ago.

Evie and her sister Rosie have both been admiring a handsome stranger, who has become a regular traveller to their station recently. Rosie is outgoing and has been flirting with the handsome gentleman, however it is Evie the older sister who has captured his attention.

Evie and Roger Hall have a whirlwind romance, and fall deeply in love with each, and become engaged. Evie telephones her father to announce the wonderful news of her engagement, but it is at this moment that Evie discovers that her new Fiancée Roger may not be the man that Evie thinks he is.

Hitler's reign is on the rise and the talk of a possible war is increasing rapidly. Evie and Roger are both living in Germany due to complications with Roger's employment.

This book kept me intrigued and on the edge of my seat, the entire time. I loved Evie she is a strong witted heroine and her love for her Fiancé is a force to be reckoned with.

The history in this book is wonderful, Hitler and his army, the SS of Germany and Britain. The history of Porsche motorcar family.

Fiona McIntosh is a brilliant writer, I cannot wait to read more of her masterpieces.

5 Stars: It was amazing. It was compelling, well-researched, entertaining and/or moving and often complex. I will definitely want to read more books by this author.

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Review: Searching for My Daughter by Liz Trenow

I read the Audiobook version of this book. It was narrated well and easy to listen to.

It is 1945 and Miriam has survived the horrible prison camps. She is searching for the only surviving member of her family, her daughter. She has been lining for hours at the checkpoint, for potentially travelling into England. The guard counts the people in the queue, they reach their quota for the day and they turn Miriam and the rest of the crowd away. Miriam is devastated, she has been travelling on foot for weeks now, with no food, no clothing or shelter, the only thing she has to live for is the hope of finding her daughter. A voice inside her head tells her to be brave, the voice of her daughter. She stands up to the guard and begs him to let her into the checkpoint, and he obliges.

Once inside Miriam is requested to wait, before she can be attended to, it is warm and quiet inside, Miriam accidentally relaxes and falls asleep. She is awoken by a guard and discovers that everybody has left, for the day. She is told she must leave and return again tomorrow to try again. Miriam refuses to do this, and begs to stay there, she insists she wont be any trouble. Miriam meets an officer Jack, whom as it turns out has previously met Miriam's daughter Rosa. With Jack's help, Miriam may actually have a slight chance of potentially finding her daughter Rosa.

I found the story itself was good. The book tells two stories, Miriam's story and also Rosa's story, which keeps it interesting. Both ladies have had a very tough life, but Rosa's is incredulous, she is a very strong lady, who is brave and fearless.

Rosa's and Miriam's journey had me in tears, there is a special moment in the book that had me a blubbering mess. The book takes a little while to get going, but after a while you are hooked.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this advanced audio. This book is available to purchase from May 15th, 2022

3 Stars: It was a good book and well-crafted. I would recommend it to the right person.

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Review: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a fantastically wonderful book.

Amir lives with his father Baba. His best friend Hassan lives on the property with his father Ali who is their servant.

Amir's feels that his father looks down upon him, as Baba and Amir do not have much in common with one another, Amir is not good at playing or spectating at sport, Amir is more focused in reading books and he does not stand up for himself in the street when he is being bullied by the other children. Amir's mother passed away when she was giving birth to Amir, which adds to his alleged resentment of his son.

Amir and Hassan do everything together, almost like they are brothers, they go to movies together, they play together, Amir reads books to Hassan as Hassan cannot read or write. Amir is reading a book to Hassan, and decides to mix the book up a bit, play a little trick on Hassan and starts creating his own version of the book. Hassan loved the book, told Amir it is the best book he has read to him in a long time, which gets Amir thinking, and Amir then writes a book of own. Amir tells his father of the book that he has written, but his father is not interested, Rahim Khan takes pity on Amir and reads the book the boy has written. He then tells Amir it is a wonderful book and congratulates him on his efforts, that he will make a great writer one day.

Amir very excitedly ran downstairs to wake up his best friend Hassan and read the book to Hassan, Hassan also agreed it was a wonderful book, but could also see a plot error. At this very moment the boys world as they knew it had changed for ever, there were loud gun shots heard (in the middle of the night) and the sky was lighting up with sheets of gun fire. The happy Afghanistan that the boys had grown up in, had henceforth been changed.

Amir and his father Baba escape from the destruction of Afghanistan for America, their journey is an extremely difficult one, they experience tragedy and loss along the journey.

Once they reach America, Baba and Amir, struggle to make ends meet, they were wealthy and well respected in high society in Afghanistan and in America they are bordering on the edge of poverty. Baba works hard a petrol station, as a manager to make ends meet, and to give his son Amir the best possible life he can. On weekends they visit garage sales, and buy all the bargains then head to the flea markets on a Sunday and try to make a profit on their purchases from the day prior.

Amir has graduated High School, and living his dream of studying to become a writer, but Amir is always thinking of his friend Hassan. Hassan has had such a big impact on his life, that he misses his friend, and regrets the way they went their different ways and their friendship ended.

Decades later, Amir is a grown man he is married and house a house of his and has established a comfortable life for himself. He receives a surprise phone call from an old family friend from an Afghanistan, who only has a few days left to live, he says to Amir to come "there is a way to make things right again"

What walks into when he return to his old home town, can destroy a person, his old hometown is not what he remembers, it is destroyed by the war and overrun by the Taliban. Amir is given an impossible mission, which has next to no chance of survival.

I read this book when it was first released 17 years ago, and have decided to re-read again, it had a big impact on me then, and it's intriguing to see that the impact this time is still massive, but in an entirely different way.

To know and understand what has happened in Afghanistan since this book was released, and then what has become of Afghanistan now today in 2021 with the American troops being pulled out of there, makes the story not only relatable but visionary, it shows the hope and desperation the people of Afghanistan had for the return of their country to what is was, and here we other 17 years later, and things are only getting worse, but not for lack of trying.

This is not a book about war, it is a book about family, love, kinship, relationships, loss and suffering, it is heart breaking and heart warming at the same time.

The Kite runner by far is probably one of the best books I have ever read.

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Review: The Immproblable Life of Ricky Bird by Diane Connell

 What an absolutely wonderful book.

I decided to give this one a try, as I was looking for an audiobook I could listen to in the car, during my long drives each day to and from work.   This one was a winner!   It had me laughing, and crying along with little Ricky.

Ricky (Victoria) is a 12 (almost 13) year old girl.  Her parents are going through a divorce, and Ricky is forced to move from her hometown Brixton to Camden with her Mum and little brother Ollie.

The story is told by Ricky, how she sees the world through her eyes.  Ricky is loosing a father who she absolutely adores, and is completely heartbroken.  She blames her mother for this and feels that if her Mum just treated to her Dad better they may still be together as a family.     

Her little brother Ollie falls sick, and spends a lot of time in hospital have lots of tests done.  Ricky does not know what is wrong with him, but makes her own assumptions, and her creativeness is adorable.    

Due to her little brother Ollie's sickness, her Mother spends most of her time at the hospital caring for Ollie, Ricky is at home, on school holidays, she spends her mornings at the local community centre doing a creative writing class, and her afternoons are spent wondering around her unit block, or assisting in a garden.  She is being cared for by Dan, her Mum's new partner whilst her Mum is at the hospital with Ollie.

Ricky is a bit of a tom boy, and refuses to grow up to be a "lady" in fact she changes her name to "Ricky" from Vicky or Victoria because she does  not want to be known as a girl.   She wants to be strong and brave like a boy.   

Ricky is extremely smart and her creative mind is adorable, I enjoyed reading the book from Ricky's eyes on the world, she is an amazing young girl who I really admired her courage and strength whilst enjoying the book.

This unbiased review is from an audio copy provided by NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Australia.

5 Stars: It was amazing. It was compelling, well-researched, entertaining and/or moving and often complex. I will definitely want to read more books by this author.

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