Book Review: FANCY MEETING YOU HERE by Ali Berg & Mchelle Kalus

     

FANCY MEETING YOU HERE

by

Ali Berg & Michelle Kalus

Publication Date: 30 November 2021

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

About the Book

Sometimes the man of your dreams is standing right in front of you... only ten years in the past. A charming and unconventional love story about trying to rewrite history.

Evie Berry is a thirty-year-old wannabe screenwriter who spends her days managing a London cinema bar and making the podcast Pasta La Vista with her best friend Ben. She's also obsessed with Hugo Hearst. Have you heard of him? Of course you have. He's only one of the most influential and not to mention swoon-worthy bestselling writers of his generation.

When Evie's not hooking up with her on-again, off-again booty call 'Ever-Ready Freddy' (and sometimes even when she is), she fantasises about what might have been if she'd met Hugo years ago, when he was just a struggling writer.

After Evie interviews a psychic to the stars on her podcast, her life is catapulted ten years into the past. But the grass isn't quite as green as she remembers . . .

Fancy Meeting You Here is a hilarious and heartwarming new book from the bestselling authors of the global hits The Book Ninja and While You Were Reading - a love story about reliving your early twenties and testing out that old saying: be careful what you wish for.

***

My Thoughts

FANCY MEETING YOU HERE by Ali Berg & Michelle Kalus is a light-hearted, yet cautionary tale about being careful what you wish for.

Thirty-year-old Evie Berry’s life isn’t bad but she’s definitely lamenting lost opportunities. An interview with a psychic for the podcast (Pasta La Vista) she co-hosts with best friend Ben results in some strange advice that Evie takes up . . . the next thing she knows, she’s travelled ten years back in time. Evie is twenty, living at home, studying film at university, and Ben is still her best friend.

Now Evie can rewrite history, including engineering a relationship with her long-term obsession, Hugo Hearst. It all starts off smoothly, yet the closer Evie gets to what she thinks she wanted, she starts to realise it isn’t what she thought it would be or what’s best for her.  

Fancy Meeting You Here is peppered with plenty of puns (both funny and groan-worthy) and movie references (I made a list). It’s an opportunity for a life re-do – something I think many of us would say yes to. It’s a fun and entertaining read. If you’re a Christina Lauren fan, check out Berg & Kalus. 

Review copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin.

***

About the Authors

Hi there! We're Ali and Michelle. Co-authors, founders of Books on the Rail, professional Book Ninjas and best friends since we ditched play time for writing club in primary school.

Our first two novels The Book Ninja (2018) and While You Were Reading (2019) have been published and enjoyed around the world, and The Book Ninja has been optioned to be made into a film. Our third novel Fancy Meeting You Here was released in December 2021.

When we’re not writing books, Ali is a copywriter and Michelle is a primary school teacher. We both live in Melbourne with our respective families and colour-coordinated bookshelves.

https://aliandmichelle.com/

Book Review: LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus

    

LESSONS IN CHEMSTRY

by

Bonnie Garmus

Publication Date: 29 March 2022

Publisher: Penguin

About the Book

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with--of all things--her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking ("combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride") proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook. She's daring them to change the status quo.

Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.

***

My Thoughts

Without doubt LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus will be one of my 2022 top reads. It’s original and creative; a refreshing and delightful mix of quirky, humorous, and sincere.

It’s the early 1960s and having been effectively barred from a career in science, Elizabeth Zott (a woman and a single mother – gasp!) finds herself the reluctant host of a live TV cooking show. Elizabeth soon becomes the housewife’s superhero with not only her pragmatic and scientific approach to cooking, but her respect for them as intelligent women performing an unappreciated role.  

Things are a little more chaotic in her personal life. She is struggling with episodes of depression, her daughter is insatiably curious about the concept of family, her boss is forever pleading with her to be ‘normal’, and her neighbour is (at first) equal parts judgmental and jealous of Elizabeth.    

As the story progresses, Elizabeth and her motley crew - including a dog named six-thirty - become a family of sorts. They learn from each other, they lean on each other, and they help each other.

A captivating story from debut author Bonnie Garmus. I am eagerly waiting to see what she brings us next. 

Review copy courtesy of Better Reading (Australia) and the publisher.

***

About the Author

Bonnie Garmus is a copywriter and creative director who has worked widely in the fields of technology, medicine, and education. She’s an open-water swimmer, a rower, and mother to two pretty amazing daughters. Born in California and most recently from Seattle, she currently lives in London with her husband and her dog, 99.

https://www.bonniegarmus.com/

Book Review: THE STONING by Peter Papathanasiou

   

THE STONING

by

Peter Papathanasiou

Publication Date: 01 October 2021

Publisher: Transit Lounge

About the Book

A small town in outback Australia wakes to a crime of medieval savagery.

A local schoolteacher is found taped to a tree and stoned to death. Suspicion instantly falls on the refugees at the new detention centre on Cobb's northern outskirts. Tensions are high, between whites and the local indigenous community, between immigrants and the townies.

Still mourning the recent death of his father, Detective Sergeant George Manolis returns to his childhood hometown to investigate. Within minutes of his arrival, it's clear that Cobb is not the same place he left. Once it thrived, but now it's a poor and derelict dusthole, with the local police chief it deserves. And as Manolis negotiates his new colleagues' antagonism, and the simmering anger of a community destroyed by alcohol and drugs, the ghosts of his past begin to flicker to life.

Vivid, pacy and almost dangerously atmospheric, The Stoning is the first in a new series of outback noir featuring DS Manolis, himself an outsider, and a good man in a world gone to hell. 

***

My Thoughts

The STONING by Peter Papathanasiou is book one in the DS George Manolis series. Manolis is sent to Cobb, a fictitious rural town in outback Australia, to investigate the stoning death of a respected teacher.

Manolis spent his early childhood Cobb, but the few memories he has of the place are far removed from what it is today: a declining town verging on lawlessness, where drug and alcohol abuse is rampant. A town with a nearby refugee detention centre that incenses residents, promoted as a boost to the community, it only seems to have brought a transient workforce and the refugees, who, in the eyes of the residents are better treated than they are.

Reading some interviews and publicity material about the book, it’s clear that the author is well versed in the issues he writes in the book. As a reader, I felt this was both an advantage and disadvantage. The story premise is compelling – the first chapter definitely draws you in - and I was interested enough to continue reading. On the other side, I found the ever increasing agenda-pushing and at times fanciful language (‘wild refugee blood’ . . . ???) became a drawback.

My favourite character was Constable Andrew ‘Sparrow’ Smith. He’s young, Aboriginal, gay, and a police officer. In an insular town like Cobb where racism is widespread, homosexuality is condemned, and the police are despised, Sparrow has definitely got the deck stacked against him. And yet, he still picks himself up, time and again. I would have loved to learn more about him – he deserves his own book.   

This book firmly sits in the ‘outback noir’ genre, and I think fans of this genre will appreciate that the book brings something a little different with an unusual crime and the atypical setting of an insular town sitting alongside a refugee detention centre.  

Book borrowed from my library. I love libraries!

***

About the Author

Peter Papathanasiou was born in northern Greece in 1974 and adopted as a baby to an Australian family. His debut book, a memoir, was published in 2019. Peter’s writing has otherwise been published by The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Seattle Times, The Guardian UK, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Good Weekend, ABC and SBS. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from City, University of London; a Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Sciences from The Australian National University (ANU); and a Bachelor of Laws from ANU specialising in criminal law.

Book review: THE GALLERIST by Michael Levitt

  

THE GALLERIST

by

Michael Levitt

Publication Date: February 2022

Publisher: Fremantle Press

About the Book

James Devlin is a celebrated artist whose past is as blank as an empty canvas. When Jan Bilowski brings a painting, which was a gift to her dead sister, into Mark Lewis’s gallery, she tells him it was created by a seventeen-year-old boy called Charlie. Why then does the work look exactly like a James Devlin—painted a whole decade before the artist’s career began on the other side of the country? 

***

My Thoughts

I do love a mystery that involves a work of art, even when it is fictional. In THE GALLERIST, Michael Levitt writes the story about a newly discovered painting that closely resembles the abstract style of James Devlin, a renowned (and fictitious) Australian artist. This find leads to many questions about the painting and it’s uncanny similarity to Devlin’s other works, especially given the painting is dated more than a decade before Devlin’s arrival on the art scene.

The mystery element is what initially appealed to me but it didn’t take long to realise the ‘who’ is obvious. It’s the ‘how’ and ‘why’ that drives the story.  My interest was maintained because the story poses a dilemma to Mark Lewis - art aficionado and gallery owner - the person who believes the newly unearthed painting is a work by Devlin. It’s not a straight-forward investigation given Lewis would potentially be seen to be ‘outing’ Devlin as some type of fraud. Yet what if he isn’t a fraud and there is a reasonable explanation? Lewis would be putting his own reputation and livelihood at risk pursuing any sort of inquiry, especially in the very small art world of Australia where he is minor player.

I am no expert, but Levitt seems to write with significant knowledge of Australian artists, and the book is peppered throughout with examples.

It did take me a while to get used to the writing. It’s measured and at times detached. There’s a formality that I felt obstructed my ability to jump into the story and simply go along for the ride. For me it was worth persisting until I got into the groove.

The conclusion to the mystery is clear-cut, yet the measures taken by characters to do what’s ‘best’ are a little murkier. I think this would make for a good book club conversation.

The book didn’t take me in the direction I expected, but I enjoyed the journey.  

Book borrowed from my library. I love libraries!

***

About the Author

Dr Michael Levitt MB BS, FRACS

Michael Levitt is a practising surgeon and health bureaucrat. He is also a sought-after public speaker who in 2003, was awarded the Centenary Medal (in Australia) for services to public education about colorectal cancer. Michael has been collecting art for many years, has been the invited speaker at the launch of art exhibitions and at the launch of books about art, and has written numerous articles about art and artworks for newspapers, magazines and art exhibition catalogues. An exhibition of selected works from his and his wife, Carolyn’s, personal collection was held at Ellenbrook Gallery in 2021.

Audiobook Review: CAUGHT IN THE ACT: A Memoir by Courtney Act by Shane Jenek

 

CAUGHT IN THE ACT
A Memoir by Courtney Act

by

Shane Jenek

Publication Date: 02 November 2021

Publisher: Pantera Press

Audiobook Publisher: Bolinda audio

About the Book

Boy, girl, artist, advocate. Courtney is more than the sum of her parts.

Meet Shane Jenek. Raised in the Brisbane suburbs by loving parents, Shane realizes from a young age that he’s not like all the other boys. At a performing arts agency he discovers his passion for song, dance, and performance, and makes a promise to himself: to find a bigger stage.

Meet Courtney Act. Born in Sydney around the turn of the millennium, Courtney makes her name in the gay bars of Oxford Street and then on Australian Idol. Over ten years later, she makes star turns on RuPaul’s Drag Race and Celebrity Big Brother UK, bringing her unique take on drag and gender to the world.

Behind this rise to national and global fame is a story of searching for and finding oneself. Told with Courtney’s trademark candor and wit, Caught in the Act is about our journey towards understanding gender, sexuality, and identity. It’s an often hilarious and at times heartbreaking memoir from a beloved drag and entertainment icon. Most of all, it’s a bloody good time.

***

My Thoughts

CAUGHT IN THE ACT is hilarious, heartbreaking, honest, hopeful, and so much more. Shane lets it all out as they take us on a journey of self-discovery from childhood to the present day.

Shane’s openness and vulnerability about the highs, the lows, and the many questions in their life makes for a compelling memoir. It was entertaining. It was certainly educational (be warned: some of the sexcapades veer towards TMI). And while distressing at times, I think it was important that Shane didn’t shy away from the many difficulties of their life.

The personal bonus for me was that the book was also a trip down memory lane. The venues and the Sydney of the early 2000s that Shane mentions in the book are so familiar to me. It certainly put a smile on my face to listen to the book while the bus I take for my work commute trundles down Oxford Street – especially since a good number of the places mentioned in the book are still operating.  

Shane Jenek narrates the audiobook, and does so brilliantly. His personable delivery had me willingly going along for the ride: The fun moments, the sombre moments, and the outrageous moments had my own emotions yo-yoing.  

Thoroughly recommended! 

Audiobook borrowed from my library. I love libraries!

***

About the Author

Shane Jenek aka Courtney Act is a drag artist, singer, advocate and cultural provocateur. She has appeared on reality TV in Australia and overseas, including her breakout in 2003 on the first season of Australian Idol; making the Top 3 on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6; and taking the UK by storm on Celebrity Big Brother, which she won. When Courtney isn’t busy being glamorous on TV and stage, she’s a boy from Brisbane called Shane Jenek.

As a gender-fluid, queer person, Courtney uses her public profile to educate audiences on issues such as gender identity, sexuality, marriage equality, anti-racism and more. As a singer-songwriter she has released a pop EP and entertained audiences in her cabaret shows throughout the world. She currently splits her time following Pride parades and chasing summer between London, Los Angeles and Sydney.

http://courtneyact.com/

Book Review: THE REHEARSALS by Annette Christie

THE REHEARSALS

by

Annette Christie

Publication Date: July 2021

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (UK)

About the Book

In this delightful and romantic debut novel―with a Groundhog Day twist―a couple calls off their wedding after a disastrous rehearsal dinner, only to wake up the next morning trapped in a time loop. Together.

Two people. One wedding. No end in sight.

Megan Givens and Tom Prescott are heading into what is supposed to be their magical wedding weekend on beautiful San Juan Island. But with two difficult families, ten years of history, and all too many secrets, things quickly go wrong. After a disastrous rehearsal dinner they vow to call the whole thing off—only to wake up the next morning stuck together in a time loop. Are they really destined to relive the worst day of their lives, over and over? And what happens if their wedding day does arrive?

A funny, romantic, and big-hearted debut novel, The Rehearsals imagines what we might do if given a second chance at life and at love—and what it means to finally get both right.

***

My Thoughts

Would reliving the day before your wedding – a day filled with demanding relatives, unwanted surprises and a whole lot of stress – make your 12-year-long relationship stronger or would it be the final straw for a situation that just wasn’t meant to be? Megan Givens and Tom Prescott find themselves having to consider this question when they inexplicably find themselves reliving the same day over and over and over.

With a twist on a typical groundhog-day story, it’s not just one character reliving the day, but both Megan and Tom are, with the story being told from both Megan and Tom’s points of view.

The book has funny moments throughout, but in general I found it an engaging exploration of a relationship. Megan and Tom have a great life together and do love each other, but their imminent wedding is bringing up a lot of unwanted feelings, resentment, and anger – at their families, each other and themselves. As frustrated as poor Megan and Tom were, I enjoyed their journey.

Christie has an easy writing style that I enjoyed. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for future books. 

Borrowed from my library. I love libraries!

***

About the Author

Annette Christie is a Canadian-American hybrid with a BFA in Theatre and a history of very odd jobs. She’s had articles published in various online magazines, including HelloGiggles and The Guardian. The back of her head is featured prominently in the film Mean Girls. She currently resides in Alberta with her husband and two children. She is the author and narrator of the young adult romcom LOVE LESSONS (Audible Originals). Her adult debut, THE REHEARSALS, is published through Little, Brown (US) and Hodder & Stoughton (UK).

https://www.annettechristie.com/