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Reviews by Cloggie Downunder

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A God in Ruins: A Todd Family Novel
by Kate Atkinson
Another brilliant Atkinson novel! (1/12/2016)
A God in Ruins is a book of the Todd Family by award-winning British author, Kate Atkinson. Teddy Todd: younger brother of Ursula, favourite son of Sylvie, model for his Aunt Izzie’s best-selling books, the young man whose life was cut short when he was shot down overmore
Life After Life
by Kate Atkinson
Another brilliant offering from this exceptional author (1/4/2016)
Life After Life is a book of the Todd Family by award-winning British author, Kate Atkinson. Ursula Todd is born during a snowstorm on the night of 11th February, 1910. She does this again and again, and this fact (amongst others) remains constant throughout the telling ofmore
The Carnivorous Carnival: Book the Ninth (A Series of Unfortunate Events)
by Lemony Snicket, Brett Helquist
much appeal for younger readers, (12/14/2015)
The Carnivorous Carnival is the ninth book in A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author, Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler). As we once again join the unlucky Baudelaire orphans, they are trapped in the trunk of Count Olaf’s car as it travels to the Hinterlandsmore
Slade House
by David Mitchell
another excellent offering from this talented author. (12/13/2015)
Slade House is the seventh novel by British author, David Mitchell. Slade House is a haunted house with a difference. It is not easily found, nor can just anyone get in. But once every nine years, at the end of Otober, a guest enters from Slade Alley through a mysteriouslymore
Above the Waterfall
by Ron Rash
A brilliant read. (11/9/2015)
“Though sunlight tinges the mountains, black leather-winged bodies swing low. First fireflies blink languidly. Beyond this meadow, cicadas rev and slow like sewing machines. All else is ready for night except night itself. I watch the last light lift off level land. Groundmore
If I Fall, If I Die
by Michael Christie
A remarkable debut. (11/8/2015)
“Since he’d been Outside, he’d learned that fear was only a default setting, like how the TV always starts at channel 3 when you first turn it on. That everyone is born afraid of everything, but most people build calluses over top of it”

If I Fall, If I Die is the firstmore
The Lake House
by Kate Morton
A brilliant read (11/3/2015)
“We are all victims of our human experience, apt to view the present through the lens of our own past”

The Lake House is the fifth novel by Australian author, Kate Morton. DC Sadie Sparrow has had to take leave from the job she loves. She got so deeply involved in a case,more
Wyatt
by Garry Disher
a brilliant read (10/30/2015)
Incredible as it may seem, I had never read any of Garry Disher’s Wyatt series, so I had no idea of the depth of reading pleasure in store for me when I started his latest offering, “Wyatt”.
Wyatt has been away; now he’s back. The plot begins with a planned jewel heist butmore
The Zig Zag Girl
by Elly Griffiths
an excellent murder mystery (10/26/2015)
The Zig Zag Girl is a stand-alone novel by British author, Elly Griffiths. Brighton, England, 1950: the young woman had been sawn in three; the parts, contained in black wooden boxes fastened with brass clips, were discovered in the Left Luggage room of the railway station.more
Recipes for Love and Murder: A Tannie Maria Mystery
by Sally Andrew
a stunning debut (10/23/2015)
“Recipe for Murder
1 stocky man who abuses his wife
1 small tender wife
1 medium-sized tough woman in love with the wife
1 double-barrelled shotgun
1 small Karoo town marinated in secrets
3 bottles of Klipdrift brandy
3 little ducks
1 bottle of pomegranate juice
1 handful of chillimore
The Secret Chord: A Novel
by Geraldine Brooks
a joy to read (10/19/2015)
“And there is one chord, one perfect assembly of notes that no other hand can play. The sound of it – pure, rinsing sound, void so that your spirit seems to rush in to fill the space between the notes”

The Secret Chord is the fifth novel by Pulitzer prize-winning Australianmore
Crucifixion Creek: A Belltree Mystery
by Barry Maitland
An excellent Aussie crime page-turner. (10/18/2015)
Crucifixion Creek is the first book in The Belltree Trilogy and the fourteenth novel by Scots-born Australian author, architect and urban design expert, Barry Maitland. A former member of the Crows bikie gang shoots his girlfriend during a siege at Crucifixion Creek, inmore
Us: A Novel
by David Nicholls
Another brilliant Nicholls offering! (10/8/2015)
Us is the fourth novel by British author, screenwriter, and actor, David Nicholls. With his seventeen-year-old son, Albie soon to head off to college to study photography, Douglas Petersen is looking forward to growing old with his beloved, beautiful and artistic wife ofmore
The October List
by Jeffery Deaver
Original and very imaginative. (8/21/2015)
The October List is a stand-alone novel by popular American author, Jeffery Deaver. Early on a September Sunday evening, Gabriela McKenzie waits nervously in a “safe” apartment with minder, Sam Easton, for news of the negotiation with her daughter’s kidnapper. She is hopingmore
Go Set a Watchman
by Harper Lee
It’s not To Kill A Mockingbird, but it’s still a good read! (8/11/2015)
Go Set a Watchman is the second published novel by American author, Harper Lee. It was written before To Kill A Mockingbird, but not published until 55 years after that book. Now twenty-six years old and living in New York, Jean Louise Finch travels to Maycomb for hermore
Nothing Gold Can Stay: Stories
by Ron Rash
Rash’s stories are pure gold. (7/26/2015)
“I’d fish until it was neither day nor night, but balanced between. There never seemed to be a breeze, pond and shore equally smoothed. Just stillness, as though the world had taken a soft breath, and was holding it in, and even time had leveled out, moving neither forwardmore
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay: Neapolitan Novels
by Elena Ferrante
A compelling read (7/22/2015)
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay is the third book in the Neapolitan Novels series by Italian author, Elena Ferrante. This installment takes up the story of Lila Cerullo and Elena Greco when they are in their mid-twenties (1969) and relates the events of their lives untilmore
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
by Fredrik Backman
Funny, sad and truly heartwarming (6/30/2015)
“…storytelling is the noblest profession of all. The currency there is imagination; instead of buying something with coins you buy it with a good story. Libraries aren’t known as libraries but as ‘banks’ and every fairy tale is worth a fortune”

My Grandmother Sends Hermore
Second Life
by S. J. Watson
Another thought-provoking page-turner. (6/13/2015)
“I realize with sudden clarity that we’re wearing masks, all of us, all the time. We’re presenting a face, a version of ourselves, to the world, to each other. We show a different face depending on who we’re with and what they expect of us. Even when we’re alone, it’s justmore
River of Smoke: Ibis Trilogy, Part 2
by Amitav Ghosh
Another excellent read (5/30/2015)
“Opium is like the wind or the tides: it is outside my power to affect its course. A man is neither good nor evil because he sails his ship upon the wind. It is his conduct towards those around him – his friends, his family, his servants – by which he must be judged. Thismore

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