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Reviews by Cloggie Downunder

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The Dinner
by Herman Koch
compelling, thought-provoking novel (7/7/2014)
The Dinner is the sixth novel by Dutch actor, television and radio producer, newspaper columnist and author, Herman Koch, and the first book to be translated into English. Two brothers and their wives meet for dinner at an expensive restaurant to discuss the management ofmore
Juliet, Naked: a novel
by Nick Hornby
A delightful read. (7/7/2014)
Juliet, Naked is the seventh novel by British author, Nick Hornby. Thirty-nine-year-old former teacher, Annie Platt is curator of the museum in Gooleness, a dead-end seaside town in the north of England. Duncan, her partner of some fifteen years, is a teacher and themore
Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel
by Jacqueline Winspear
excellent mystery (7/7/2014)
Messenger of Truth is the fourth book in the Maisie Dobbs series by British-born American author, Jacqueline Winspear. When the death of controversial artist Nicholas Bassington-Hope, from a fall whilst setting up his latest exhibition, is ruled as accidental, his twinmore
Bobcat and Other Stories
by Rebecca Lee
masterpiece (6/24/2014)
Bobcat and Other Stories is a collection of seven short stories by Canadian-born author and professor of creative writing, Rebecca Lee. In this masterpiece of contemporary fiction, Lee gives the reader a wide range of topics, settings and characters: there is enough varietymore
Summer House with Swimming Pool
by Herman Koch
A brilliant novel (6/24/2014)
Summer House With Swimming Pool is the seventh novel by Dutch actor, television and radio producer, newspaper columnist and author, Herman Koch, and the second book to be translated into English. Dr Marc Schlosser, a General Physician whose patients appreciate the time hemore
The Invention of Wings
by Sue Monk Kidd
A powerful and moving novel (6/16/2014)
The Invention of Wings is the third novel by bestselling American author, Sue Monk Kidd. In it, Kidd takes the bare facts surrounding Charleston’s famous (and infamous) 19th century abolitionist/emancipist sisters, Sarah and Angelina Grimke, and, as she puts it, graftsmore
The Confabulist
by Steven Galloway
imaginative, intriguing and ultimately, very moving (5/28/2014)
The Confabulist is the fourth novel by Canadian author, Steven Galloway. Martin Strauss admits upfront to being an unreliable narrator; after all, his doctor has just told him “Yours is a rare condition in which the damage that is being done to your brain does not destroymore
Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel
by Maria Semple
clever and very funny (4/23/2014)
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? is the second novel by American author and TV writer, Maria Semple. When Bernadette Fox disappears two days before Christmas and a scheduled family trip to Antarctica, her fifteen-year-old daughter, Bee is determined to track her down. She ismore
Pardonable Lies
by Jacqueline Winspear
enthralling historical mystery (4/9/2014)
Pardonable Lies is the third book in the Maisie Dobbs series by British-born American author, Jacqueline Winspear. Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator, uses her unique skills to tease from a thirteen-year-old girl the circumstances of her “uncle’s” death. Avrilmore
Birds of a Feather: A Maisie Dobbs Mystery
by Jacqueline Winspear
intriguing plot (3/26/2014)
Birds of a Feather is the second book in the Maisie Dobbs series by British-born American author, Jacqueline Winspear. Now in a new office in Fitzroy Square with Billy Beale as her permanent assistant, Maisie Dobbs is still under the generous patronage of Lady Rowan Compton,more
Ghostwritten: A Novel
by David Mitchell
a brilliant debut novel (3/26/2014)
Ghostwritten is the first novel by British author, David Mitchell. Told by nine different narrators, with a plot spanning centuries and continents, this is an amazing debut novel. The narrators are a member of a doomsday cult who releases poison gas in a subway in Tokyo,more
The Childhood of Jesus
by J. M. Coetzee
a unique experience (3/18/2014)
The Childhood of Jesus is the twelfth stand-alone novel by award-winning author, J.M.Coetzee. David and Simon are newly arrived in the town of Novilla, after being processed at a camp where they were arbitrarily assigned new names and birthdates, and learned some basicmore
Maisie Dobbs
by Jacqueline Winspear
a moving and thought-provoking read (3/18/2014)
Maisie Dobbs is the first book in the Maisie Dobbs series by British-born American author, Jacqueline Winspear. The story starts in 1929, when thirty-two-year-old Maisie is setting up her own private investigation business. She has taken over the business of her mentor,more
Noah's Compass
by Anne Tyler
funny, moving, thought-provoking, brilliant as always (2/26/2014)
Noah’s Compass is the eighteenth adult novel by American author, Anne Tyler. When sixty-year-old Liam Pennywell is retrenched from his job as a fifth-grade teacher, he decides to downsize his life, moving to a smaller apartment with less possessions; he even considersmore
An Unnecessary Woman
by Rabih Alameddine
This beautiful novel has a wonderfully uplifting ending (2/25/2014)
An Unnecessary Woman is the fourth novel by Jordanian-born Lebanese author, Rabih Alameddine. Aaliya Sobhi is an elderly divorced woman living alone in an apartment in Beirut. For fifty years, she has translated novels into Arabic, usually starting a new book on the firstmore
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
very moving (1/18/2014)
The Book Thief is the fifth novel by Australian author, Markus Zusak. The setting is Nazi Germany just before the start of World War Two, through to 1943, and the story is narrated by Death. Death was decidedly overworked during the war, but he informs the reader that hemore
Norwegian by Night
by Derek Miller
Funny, moving, exciting and thought-provoking (1/18/2014)
Norwegian By Night is the first novel by American-born author, Derek B. Miller. When 82-year-old American widower, Sheldon Horowitz goes to live with his granddaughter, Rhea and her Norwegian husband, Lars, in Olso, the last thing he expects is to find himself on the runmore
Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro
rather tedious (1/3/2014)
Never Let Me Go is the sixth novel by Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro. It is narrated in an almost conversational style by Kathy H., a thirty-one-year-old carer. Kathy reflects back on her life so far: her childhood at Hailsham School, a transitional period at The Cottagesmore
Instructions for a Heatwave
by Maggie O'Farrell
A brilliant read (12/4/2013)
Instructions For A Heatwave is the sixth novel by British author, Maggie O’Farrell. On a July Thursday at the height of Britain’s 1976 heatwave, Robert Riordan goes out as usual for the morning paper but doesn’t return. When no trace of him can be found, his wife, Grettamore
Murder in the Dark: A Phryne Fisher Mystery
by Kerry Greenwood
Delightful mystery, as always. (12/4/2013)
Murder in the Dark is the sixteenth book in the popular Phryne Fisher series by Australian author Kerry Greenwood. It is the end of the year, and Phryne, somewhat reluctantly, accepts an invitation to attend the Last Best Party of 1928, spurred on to do so when severalmore

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