His Master's Voice by Ivy Litvinov

This is a detective novel set in Russia in 1926. Ivy Litvinov nee Low was an Englishwoman, who was then living in Russia and married to a Russian. The writing and plot is passable, the main interest is the contemporary view of 1920's Russia. Russia after the Revolution but before Stalin seems very different than post Stalin, the society is not so controlled; the author goes off on little polemics occasionally about the new society cleaning up the debris of the revolution and wars.

His Master's Voice first published 1930

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

Tan is a deservedly well regarded writer, but this story of survival means you go through a lot of shattering events with the main character. So not a fun book even if the ending is very satisfying. Worth reading just for the view of Chinese culture and history in the thirties and early forties, which is presented in an interesting and appropriate way, not at all info dump by sadistic author (I did all this research so the reader must suffer too...). Also has mother daughter relationships and some interesting points on memory.

Incline Our Hearts by A.N. Wilson

This is a well written and interesting novel, written in the first person. Unfortunately the protagonist has a very unattractive way of viewing the world and other people, so it is not always a fun experience to read. There were a few disliked-by-the-protagonist characters I felt were probably quite attractive people in real life. Apparently there are thinly disguised real people in this novel, which is not autobiographical but has a lot of elements from the author's life. Growing up middle class and male in Britain in the forties and fifties seems to have been an endurance test with not many moments of joy.

The increasing maturity and understanding of the protagonist is well done. He is twelve at the start, and as he gets older we get an increasingly nuanced view of his relatives. Interestingly, the objections made in the novel to a fictional biography of a fictional character mirror some of the objections made to Wilson's own biography of C.S. Lewis, published 2 years later.

Incline our Hearts first published 1988

The Sighting by Jan Mark

This is not science fiction or fantasy, even though the cover and title make perfect sense once you have read the book. UFO's do get a mention however. Jan Mark is a very good children's writer, with interesting plots and well differentiated characters and no facile answers to problems.

In this story 2 boys, with help from other family members, attempt to find out why their grandparent's generation became what one character refers to as a "thermonuclear family" - something happened and the brothers and sister never spoke to each other again. I enjoyed this book.

The Sighting first published 1997

Lost Children by Edith Pargeter

This is in some ways typical of a British post-WWII novel, containing a cross-class romance and friendships and social comment, both on class and on the acute shortage of housing in the post war period. It wasn't earnest and polemical about it though, and I enjoyed this book.

The style is a little stilted and wordy occasionally, but I liked the people, and the way there were four main characters and their interactions. I also liked how the novel left their history going on, some problems are solved or at least become manageable and some don't, like life.

The romance was only part of the plot. The title refers to the isolated family situation of several of the characters, the four main are all effectively motherless, and one is illegitimate. You can see the times changing, he is still presented as a sympathetic character!

Lost Children first published 1951

Men of Stone by Gayle Friesen

Finally a decent book from the library! Sometimes it seems only the Young Adult genre is writing interesting books that deal with ordinary people ethical issues - I mean, most of us don't have that many murderers around, or find only we can save the world/country/family.

This book doesn't gloss over the pain caused by death and bad parenting and bullying and hate, but it doesn't make it look like you can't go on from there either. The first half of this book seemed well done but not unusual, but the second half was excellent. This book contains a sensible conversation about reasons for not fighting; and a very old person who actually seems like a real person grown old and not your generic always-been-old stock character. I recommend this book.

Men of Stone first published 2000

What Child is This? by Caroline Cooney

Most fairy stories have the happy ending achieved through a lot of sorrow, pain, hard work and keeping on going. This Christmas story follows that pattern and throws in a few musings on God and choices and what makes a good person. And it shows a few law abiding respectable adults who are not good people.

"Christmas was only a chance: you could take the chance, or you could ignore it. You could open your heart, or just deck the halls with boughs of holly." p146
This is an excellent story which I highly recommend at any time of the year.

What Child is This first published 1997, I read the Macmillan 1998 edition.

Family Reunion by Caroline Cooney

Caroline Cooney is a very prolific author, mostly young adults, but manages to turn out surprisingly good books. Her family relationships and characterisation in particular are excellent, and mostly there is a strong plot. I don't like her horror books, or the simpler thriller books she writes for reluctant readers.

Family Reunion is one of her funnier books, especially recommended for those with embarrassing or irritating relations. I enjoyed it, even though stepmothers and divorce came into it - usually I get bored with teenagers emoting about their difficult times, but not with Cooney. Not quite as funny as Tune In Anytime, (one of the rare Cooney's with not very good parents), but definitely worth a re-read.

Family Reunion first published 1984

Dancing on Knives by Jenny Pausacker

I ending up liking this book, to my surprise. The first 2 pages were boring, and I only kept reading as I had vague memories of hearing Pausacker commented on favourably. The next section, teenage girl (Rochelle) behaves oddly under stress, wasn't all that interesting.

Then Rochelle gets involved at a bookshop that specialises in fairy tales, and starts to think of situations and people she knows in terms of fairytales. This is not an escape from how things are for Rochelle, so much as a tool to help her think. It isn't always easy to apply your mind to your own emotions, and fiction (written and visual arts) can be a help for many people, though used less often in fiction than in real life from my observations.

I wonder if this book would be less or more interesting to people who don't already know lots of fairy tales and myths. There was only one story mentioned I didn't know, an Aboriginal story from the dreaming about how a local bay was made (I live on the other side of Australia to the city on the story). I know from talking to otherwise well read friends that some of the fairytales mentioned are not widely known, such as East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and Rose Red and Snow White.

I borrowed this copy from the library, but I may well buy it. There are lots of books on 'teenager struggles to cope with fallout of parents separating, especially if parent/s aren't coping too', but I liked the references to tales and story telling.

"People say that our lives aren't stories and fiction makes stories out of them, but I think one of the things fiction does is remind us our lives are stories. The trick is, there are three or four or eight different stories going on simultaneously, overlapping and with other crap happening that is not related to one particular story. ... Fiction gives us a sense of perspective, a sense of purpose. We don't have to turn our lives into stories; we just have to dig out the story that's there as a natural result of living." quote from Rosemary Kirstien in an interview.

Dancing on Knives first published 2004