Oh, do I have some fabulous reads for you from last year’s reading!
That Island Feeling by Karina May
This beautiful book is exactly what it says on the cover: a sublime trip to a beautiful setting with incredible food, sun, sand and a slow(ish) burn romance.
The blurb:
A week on Pearl Island is exactly the R&R that perpetual planner Andie Alcott needs. Except instead of sipping pina coladas by the beach, she’s busy throwing her freshly divorced bestie, Taylor, a girls’ trip to remember, dealing with a double-booking fiasco and worrying about her ailing father on the mainland. But it’s cool – she has it covered. After all, everyone would be lost without her, right?
The last thing habitually barefoot local Jack Cooper wants is the headache of managing tourist bookings. But since he’s to blame for the island’s dwindling supply of holidaymakers, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep them happy – in particular, a beautiful visitor named Andie . .
With sun-kissed sands, sapphire waters, oysters and wine, Pearl Island promises the perfect getaway – and maybe even a hot holiday fling. But what happens when the emotional baggage comes in excess, and island life suddenly feels all too real?
My take: I really loved this book. The romance is divine, the banter between the friendship group realistic and funny, and the natural environment beautifully described. What really hit me in the feels, however, was the accurate portrayal of the impact of dementia on family members. Highly, highly recommend.
The Rewilding by Donna M Cameron
I had this on my TBR for quite some time after my fabulous local booksellers The Leaf ordered it for me (side note: support your local indie AND your favourite authors by asking booksellers to chase up their books!) and I delayed reading it for no other reason than I knew it would utterly absorb and enthral me.
Here’s the blurb:
Heartbroken and in fear for his life, corporate whistle blower, Jagger Eckerman, escapes to hide out in a remote cave, but kick-arse radical, Nia Moretti, is furious a ‘capitalist suit’ has taken over her cave. It is hatred at first sight.
Yet Nia is hiding for reasons of her own, ones that drag Jagger closer to death as they are forced on the run together and he is unwittingly pulled deeper into Nia’s reckless mission to help save the planet. But who can save Jagger from the relentless pursuit of the man who wants him dead?
Here’s my take: this fabulous book had me hooked from go to whoa! It’s a love story, opposites attract style, but it’s also a thriller and an incredible example of fabulous climate fiction. Loved it!
The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary
One word: gah! The Butterfly Women was every bit as wonderful as it promised, and then some. Before I get stuck in with extolling its virtues, here’s a pimped up version of the blurb:
It’s 1863, and behind Melbourne’s shiny, gold-fuelled facade is the notorious brothels of Little Lon. When a murderer begins stalking the streets, two women are drawn into the hunt for the killer and romance and mystery intertwine in an unforgettable tale of Australian history.
Here’s my take: I can only imagine the painstaking research behind this novel. I loved the representation of sex work and the juxtaposition between the moralising of the upper eschelons of Melbourne society about social ruin, only to be clients of the brothels in the evening. I also loved the four points of view: Harriet who was respectable and sheltered, bored and protected, Catherine who was the brothel owner, landlord and original girl boss, Johanna, the destitute immigrant and Mary, the constable’s wife who wears his uniform to keep him employed.
What I really loved? the depiction of gold-intoxicated Melbourne. I could feel the lanes, because I know those lanes! This was a delicious mix of historical fiction and crime/thriller with Jack the Ripper vibes. Enjoy!
Ordinary Human Love by Melissa Goode
Hands up if you’re into messy feelings, complicated romantic and familial relationships and grief and loss? Me too!
Here’s the blurb, compressed a smidge for space:
The end of the affair is just the beginning…
Mardie McKee returns to her father’s home after 18 months overseas in the aftermath of both losing her mother and ending her marriage due to her affair with her now-estranged lover, Ian. She’s wanting to reconcile with Ian, or at least seek his forgiveness, but there’s something she’s not telling him about why she left without a trace.
Here’s my thoughts:
This is beautifully character-driven. It’s angsty and filled with self-indulgent introspection- just like ordinary life when we’re wallowing in the consequences of our actions. I read it slowly, savouring the way the words weave into sentences which echoed the way the MC came to understand the ripples her actions of 18 months ago created. It’s vulnerable and fraught and holds a quiet melancholy. Gah, so good!
Frog: The Secret Diary of a Paramedic by Sally Gould
Here’s something you might not know about me, your friendly neighbourhood word nerd: my first degree was a Bachelor of Nursing, and I spent a decade in the world of healthcare. I knew I’d love this book before I even picked it up.
Here’s the blurb:
Life as a paramedic, writes Sally Gould in this candid, witty memoir, can be traumatic, gross, dull, hilarious, magical. To make the cut, you need to be able to think outside the square, keep calm in the midst of chaos, be in possession of a strong stomach, and simply brush it off when patients die. That’s on top of having a profound understanding of the human body, plus the skills to counter its failings. It also helps to have a highly developed and oftentimes dark sense of humour.
But behind the sirens and the life-or-death scenes, and the absurdity of non-urgent callouts, a paramedic’s career is very different to how most people imagine it. Based on years of meticulously kept journals, Frog is an intimate look at the human cost of the job and the cumulative effect of trauma. Sally shares a personal story that is searingly honest and truly inspiring, one which offers a heartfelt tribute to the resilience, courage and camaraderie that define the high-stakes world of emergency medicine.
Here’s my take: this fabulous memoir was so well written, so evocative, so compelling it was actually borderline triggering for me. One scene in particular reminded me of being a student, a patient eyeballing me as they were about to code red, and I yanked the call bell out of the wall to announce the code so hard it flung back and hit me in the forehead. My heart was in my throat as I read about her encounters with people on the precipice between life and death, and I snort laughed at the dry humour: paramedics and nurses share a similar way of finding the funny in the macabre. If you want an insight into a world that many don’t necessarily see, read this. It’s a cracking read. Congratulations, Sally!
And there we have it – five books that floated my boat. I hope you find a read here that you might like, and let me know what you think!