Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb

This is the 27th book in the "In Death" series by J.D. Robb aka Nora Roberts. For those of you who like to follow characters, this is a great crime series set in New York in the future. Lieutenant Eve Dallas is the main character, a strong woman who believes in justice. If you haven't already discovered this series, it is a great read. She meets her husband in the first book of the series "Naked in Death", so there is a romantic element. Her sidekick Peabody is another great contrasting character in the series. Whilst not essential to read the books in order, as each book can stand alone, I would recommend that you do read them in sequence and enjoy the gradual character development. This series is light, easy to read and great escapism with the futuristic setting adding an interesting element.

The Waterlily: A Blue Mountains Journal by Kate Llewellyn

This is such a delightful book! Kate Llewellyn is an Australian poet who bought a house in the Blue Mountains and wrote this journal for one year. It is filled with love, heartbreak, hope, gardening, fabulous food and cups of tea. Her writing is evocative and I feel as though I too have spent a year in the mountains coming to terms with life and enjoying it through all the ups and downs.

If you love beautiful writing, gardening or food you must read this book. Reserve it here. Also available by Kate Llewellyn are The Mountain, The Floral Mother and other Essays, The Penguin Book of Australian Women Poets, The Dressmaker's Daughter, Honey: Poems and Playing with Water.

The Trout Opera by Matt Condon

The Trout Opera is an epic, Australian novel, spanning the twentieth century. It begins with a Christmas pageant in Dalgety in 1906 and ends with the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics. We follow Wilfred Lampe whose long life is lived in the Monaro and who must come to terms with modern Australia and Aurora Beck whose life is fraught with modern problems and who needs to find a way to reclaim her life.

Australia itself is one of the fascinating characters in this book. From the Snowy to Kings Cross covering history, war, romance and the media. If you like Australian literature you may find this a wonderful experience.

You can reserve The Trout Opera here.

David Golder by Irène Némirovsky

Another wonderful book by Irène Némirovsky. Not beautiful like Suite Française but harsh and bleak. It is a portrait of an old, rich, Jewish man who lives for business. He is thoroughly merciless and almost without love, but for his only daughter. The story takes you to a glittering world of jewels and houses by the sea but doesn't leave you envious as this world is so empty and unsatisfying. While the characters aren't likeable, their story is fascinating right up to the conclusion. A very enjoyable look at capitalism and perceptions of Jewishness in the 1920s.

David Golder is available at the Junee and Cootamundra branches of the Riverina Regional Library.

The pianist

This book is the amazing and moving story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew who survived the horrifying events of the Warsaw ghetto and the Nazi occupation. I read and re-read this book because I found it such an inspiring story of survival, through privations and violence few in western societies today have experienced.
Wladyslaw Szpilman survived ( you will wonder how when you read what he went through) by trusting his instincts and adapting to whatever situation was thrown at him in the unrelenting nightmare of occupied Poland. His family were murdered by the Nazis but he escaped.
It's well written and thus easy to read, but there are some graphic descriptions of violence which some may find disturbing.

Pure Fiction by Julie Highmore

A library related title and cakes on the cover - surely this is a must-read. Pure Fiction is about the members of a book club in Oxford. It is a fast-paced, relationship driven tale about people whose lives are very different but become more and more entwined as they meet each week to discuss books. The characters are realistic, a bit quirky and very modern. A light read, not memorable perhaps, but plenty of fun.

Pure Fiction can be found in the fiction collection at Wagga Wagga City Library.

Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

Irène Némirovsky's story is tragic. She planned this book to be like a symphony with five movements but she had only written two when she was taken away and killed at Auschwitz. Knowing this, and the fact that the manuscript only surfaced in the nineties made the book all the more moving. It is set in France just as the Germans arrive to occupy during World War II. Everyone flees Paris for the countryside and we follow many characters from different walks of life. Némirovsky paints vivid pictures of Paris and the beautiful countryside - cool houses, lavish apartments and fragrant gardens. I became very involved with the lives of the characters and while the book is complete in itself, the notes and letters in the appendices make me wish she could have written more.

A number of copies of Suite Française are available across the Riverina Regional Library. Other available books by Irène Némirovsky are David Golder and Fire in the Blood which is an RRL Book Club book.