This was a very good book with excellent character development and what I believe was an accurate picture of what went on in the field hospitals of WWI. The view of the war through the eyes of two Australian nurses who are sisters stretches from Egypt, where the sisters deal with the aftermath of the battles at Gallipoli, to France, where the casualties of the Somme relentlessly fill the hospitals. Along the way love and loss find the sisters and bring some variety to the daily struggle to help combatants survive.

I put off finishing this book because I feared that it wasn't going to end well, but I did finish it and I heartily recommend Daughters of Mars to anyone who enjoys historical novels. Be warned that the descriptions of war wounds are pretty graphic, but don't let that dissuade you from reading this great book from a great author.

Genever has suffered a loss that has haunted her for eight years. Unexpectedly, a woman shows up at her door with a message that fills her with painful hope and an almost frantic desire for the truth. From this point on the story takes twists and turns that make the reader wonder about Genever's sanity and safety. Befriended by a man she dares to trust, together they seek the truth about what happened to Genever's baby. I enjoyed this book very much, it was a real page-turner and hope to read more by this author.

The pace of this book is very languid, and I put it down a couple of times. However, the dilemmas encountered by the protagonists kept drawing me back to read further to see what choices they made. I have always been fascinated by the "art world", and this book gives a bit of insight into the authentication process, and the angst of artists who don't quite make the grade on their own merits. I can't say too much about the conflicts encountered here without giving away the plot, but suffice it to say this book is well worth the effort to read. I do recommend it to art aficionados and others wanting to understand how the lines between ethical and unethical behavior can become seriously blurred.

I really did enjoy this book. The protagonist, Hildy, was so real to me, I wanted to smack her for some of her poor decisions. She reminded me so much of some of the people I worked with when I was a secretary/receptionist at a Chemical Dependency Unit at a local hospital. You really can justify almost anything to yourself rather than face the truth. Her daughters struck me as naive, though, in believing that she remained in recovery so easily.

I really like the sense of place this novel possesses. This, along with the author's wry sense of humor, kept me happily turning pages until, all too soon, I reached the end. The hints about the supernatural are also intriguing: Does Hildy have a gift? Is there something to the witchiness hinted at throughout the story? I would heartily recommend this novel to my "booky" friends and to anyone else who wants a good read.

The lovely steady pace of this novel leaves time for musing about its themes – forgiveness, redemption and the rekindling of old love.

When recent retiree Harold Fry receives a letter from a former co-worker telling him that she is thinking of him while in hospice with terminal cancer, he immediately writes her a letter in reply. But on his way to the post box, Harold can't bear to mail his letter, feeling it is not adequate to tell her how much her friendship means to him. So, he just keeps on walking. He telephones the hospice and asks them to tell his friend, Queenie, that he is walking to see her and that she must not die before he gets there. Never mind that he has to cross the better part of England to get there. And what about his wife, Maureen? They have been emotionally separated for a long time, and at first she is confused about what he is doing, and then alarmed. She begins to realize how much she misses him, and with the help of their neighbor, a recent widower, she follows Harold's trek to the north of England on a map and worries about him. Harold persists and meets many people who aid him and cheer him on, and undergoes a few changes of his own. To say anymore might spoil the ending, but let it be understood that I loved this book.

The is the story of a young girl on the edge of adolescence whose world is changed by an unprecedented global event. The rotation of the earth has begun to slow and no one knows why it began nor how to stop it. Julia is a sensitive girl whose loneliness suffuses this book with a gentle sadness. It is neither science fiction nor post-apocalyptic fiction, though it borders on both. One feels that the apocalypse has begun, but the end is not yet in sight. I really liked this book, but wanted more answers to the scientific questions it raised. I realize it is more about the sense of loss and confusion of people who can no longer take day and night for granted, but it left me hanging somehow, with no sense of conclusion. I would recommend this book to others for both enjoyment and discussion.