Humour Archives - Page 3 of 4

Book review: Something to Live For by Richard Roper

June 2, 20194 min read

Something to Live For by Richard Roper is being billed as ‘the most uplifting and life-affirming debut of the year’. And given it’s about a man whose job it is to visit the homes of recently deceased who have no obvious family / friends, to try to find a single person who knew them or a will (or money to pay for the funeral); it could be very depressing.

But it’s not. It’s a reminder that while there’s crappy stuff happening in the world and… yes, people die alone all of the time, there are still kind and generous people to be found. Not to mention the fact that people live small, rich and happy lives, or sad and loud lives we may know nothing about.

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Book review: Look Alive 25 by Janet Evanovich

November 13, 20182 min read

It’s kind of depressing knowing we’re not going to get a final book in the Kinsey Millhone (alphabet) series by Sue Grafton – following the author’s death last year. It was one of my staples – along with Robert B Parker* Spenser & Jesse Stone series’, JD Robb’s In Death series, and Jane Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books.

Thankfully Evanovich and her ‘bail enforcement agent’ are still in partnership and continue to offer we readers enjoyable respite from the tedium of our lives.

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Book review: The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village by Joanna Nell

October 20, 20183 min read

This blurb on the backcover of this likens it to the TV show Grace and Frankie and book The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. None of which I’d watched or read, or really found appealing.

That’s not to say I don’t like books about ageing ‘disgracefully’ or the quirks that come with old age. One of my favourite books is one called Elizabeth is Missing, about a woman grappling with dementia, in addition to Fredrik Backman’s books about grumpy old men and women (A Man Called Ove and Britt-Marie Was Here).

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Book review: Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce

April 19, 20183 min read

This delightful book was not on my radar until a friend mentioned she’d read several positive reviews about it. I’d received a copy so opened it tentatively… normally eschewing ‘historical’ fiction in favour of psychopathic serial killers. And similar.

However, (un)surprisingly, AJ Pearce’s debut novel – through its characters and charm and beguiling prose – won me over and I lapped it up in a sitting.

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Book review: The Book With No Pictures by BJ Novak

October 8, 20172 min read

I went to my friend’s house last weekend to ‘interview’ (using the term loosely) my godson about a book I’d been given for review. (In related news, check out our Finn and Puss book review, if you missed it.)

While I was there 6yr old Pickle dragged out another story he wanted me to read. As it happened his mother had already told me she’d bought this book, and I suspect I’d come across it via the same person / site as I’d recently heard of it for the first time as well.

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Book review: The Mummy Bloggers by Holly Wainwright

September 19, 20173 min read

Almost everyone I know has loved this book. They’ve raved about it. So I expected to like (or at least, to relate to) this book more than I did.

It’s not the sort of book I’d usually read and I hadn’t requested it for review, but a friend of mine bought it and asked if I wanted to borrow it. Despite my hefty TBR pile I said yes and spent a bit of time with it on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

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Book review: Amber and Alice by Janette Paul

June 23, 20173 min read

I think if I’d known rom-com author Janette Paul was also Jaye Ford – Australian suspense / crime fiction author I might have tucked into this book earlier. And not wavered quite so much in the early stages.

I’m afraid I may have been put off by the cover… which was way too glossy and bright (for me!) and reminded me of a UBD or travel guide or something. Of course that latter part is probably with good reason, because the book does offer a bit of an insider’s guide into the Northern Territory and central Australia.

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Book review: The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion

May 6, 20174 min read

For reasons unknown this book wasn’t on my radar when it was released in Australia in 2016. Like many I’d loved Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project, but was not quite as enamoured with the sequel, The Rosie Effect.

It wasn’t until I mentioned I had an electronic copy of this book that a friend commented that she’d read it last year. And she wasn’t a fan, which made me a tad reticent. As it happens, I can understand her antipathy but enjoyed elements of the book nonetheless…

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