Replay by Ken Grimwood

Opening Sentence:Jeff Winston was on the phone to his wife when he died.
Synopsis:Jeff Winston was forty-three and trapped in a tepid marriage and a dead-end job, waiting for that time when he could be truly happy, when he died.

And then he woke up and he was eighteen, with all his memories of the next twenty-five years intact. He could live his life again, avoiding the mistakes, making money from his knowledge of the future, seeking happiness. Until he dies at forty-three and wakes up back in college again...
Genre:Fantasy
Rating:@@@@@
Pages:272
BCID:xxx-7003800
ISBN:o-575-07559-7
Year:2005
Format:Paperback
Comments:We have all thought about what we would do differently if we had our life to live over again, but have we really thought through the implications? We think about what we could gain but have we truly thought about what we could lose? And what if we had to live our life over, and over, and over? Could we handle it? Replay is a brilliant book about time wasted and time gained and how we manage what very little time we have. The style is fresh and easy to read and the characters inspire empathy. I found this book hard to put down. Even those who are not fans of the fantasy genre ought to enjoy this book.

The Plague by Albert Camus

Opening Sentence:The unusual events described in this chronicle occurred in 194-, at Oran.
Synopsis:The Plague, which won the Prix des Critiques in 1947, is considered by many to be the author's finest book. It has been described as a 'metaphysical novel the machinery of which can be compared to a Sophoclean tragedy. The plague in question afflicted Oran in the 1940's; and on one plane the book is a straightforward narrative. Into it, however, can be read all Camus's native anxieties, centred on the idea of plague as a symbol.' The symbol is that of the German occupation of France against which Camus fought so heroically during the war.
Genre:Fiction
Rating:@@
Pages:388
ISBN:o-7089-8192-5
Year:1984
Format:Hardcover
Comments:This is an incredibly boring book. I laboured all the way to part three in the hopes it would improve, but I was sorely disappointed. The language is too dense and the style is condescending - I feel as though I'm being talked down to. The blurb states that this book is supposed to be a metaphor for the German occupation of France - I simply cannot see it. anyhow, this is not a book I would recommend.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Opening Sentence:The story that follows is one that I never intended to commit to paper.
Synopsis:Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written, The Historian is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family's past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe - in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled readers around the world.
Genre:Thriller
Rating:@@@@@
Pages:909
BCID:xxx-6583464
ISBN:o-316-06794-6
Year:2008
Format:Paperback
Comments:I loved this book and found it almost impossible to put down. The tale is told in an elegant, graceful style that brings to mind some of the great nineteenth century classics, and the characters are very real and believable. The Historian is set against the background of contemporary communist politics, yet it is filled with the rich details of Eastern European history. I love how we are invited to share the exciting, frustrating, and sometimes mundane life of historians - trying to piece together clues, some incomplete, others so tiny as to be almost missed, and come up with a plausible theory of how things once were. Despite this plodding journey, there is not a page of this book that is dull. Rather it is filled with a lingering feeling of menace, as though something sinister is peering over our shoulder this very minute.

The Dracula legend is old, tired, jaded. Many modern authors have tried to freshen it up by remaking the genre - portraying vampires as mis-understood creatures. Kostova returns to the image of vampires as evil, damned, terrifyingly seductive, yet she has done so in such a way that we are reminded of the bone-chilling fear these creatures can inspire.

I find it hard to believe that this is Kostova's first novel. With a talent this large, we can expect great things from her in future. My only fault with this book is that, after our slow piecing together of the facts, the ending seems a little fast and squashed together. No doubt this will improve as she gains experience.

All in all, I feel The Historian, like Bram Stoker's Dracula, will live on as a classic of the vampire genre.

Lockie Leonard: Human Torpedo by Tim Winton

Opening Sentence:The first day Lockie Leonard saw this town it was raining.
Synopsis:Lockie Leonard, hot surf-rat, is in love. The human torpedo is barely settled into his new school, and already he's got a girl on his mind. And not just any girl: it has to be Vicki Streeton, the smartest, prettiest, richest girl in class.

What chance have you got when your dad's a cop, your mum's a frighteningly understanding parent, your brother wets the bed and the teachers take an instant dislike to you and then you fall in love at twelve-and-three-quarter years old? It can only mean trouble, worry, mega-embarrassment and some wild, wild times.
Genre:Young Adult
Rating:@@@
Pages:132
BCID:xxx-5449769
ISBN:o-14-036651-2
Year:1993
Format:Paperback
Comments:Lockie Leonard: Human Torpedo delves into the mind of an adolescent boy in the throes of his first relationship, while trying to cope with a new town, a new home and a new school. It is well-written and the characters, while a bit cliche, are still convincing enough to hold our interest. This is a decent example of Australian Young Adult fiction, but it does not persuade me to continue with the series.

Christianity: An Ancient Egyptian Religion by Ahmed Osman

Opening Sentence:One day in A.D. 391, the Roman-appointed Bishop Theophilus marched from his headquarters in the Brucheion Royal quarter of Alexandria, at the head of a large howling mob, heading west for the Serapeum in the heart of the Egyptian quarter of Rhakotis.
Synopsis:In Christianity: An Ancient Egyptian Religion the author Ahmed Osman contends that the roots of Christian belief spring not from Judaea but from Egypt. He compares the chronology of the Old Testament and its factual content with ancient Egyptian records to show that the major characters of the Hebrew scriptures - including Solomon, David, Moses, and Joshua - are based on Egyptian historical figures. He further suggests that not only were these personalities and the stories associated with them cultivated on the banks of the Nile, but the major tenets of Christian belief - the One God, the Trinity, the hierarchy of heaven, life after death, and the virgin birth - are all Egyptian in origin. He likewise provides a convincing argument that Jesus himself came out of Egypt.

With the help of modern archaeological findings, Osman shows that Christianity survived as an Egyptian mystery cult until the fourth century A.D., when the Romans embarked on a mission of suppression and persecution. In A.D. 291 the Roman-appointed Bishop Theophilus led a mob into the Serapeum quarter of Alexandria and burned the Alexandrian library, destroying all records of the true Egyptian roots of Christianity. The Romans' version of Christianity, manufactured to maintain political power, claimed that Christianity originated in Judaea. In Christianity: An Ancient Egyptian Religion Osman restores Egypt to its rightful place in the history of Christianity.
Genre:History
Rating:@@@@
Pages:245
ISBN:1-5914-3046-1
Year:2005
Format:Paperback
Comments:The concept behind Christianity: An Ancient Egyptian Religion is very interesting. Most people accept that there has been some tampering with scripture and orthodox teachings through the ages, as well as natural evolution of acceptable behaviours. However, the basic tenets - the flood, the Exodus, Moses, Abraham, the Virgin Birth, the Holy Trinity, the Resurrection - are rarely questioned.

This book argues that even these most basic beliefs are mistaken, either corrupted through centuries of oral traditions or deliberately altered to suit the politics of the day. The author not only states that the roots of Christianity lie in Ancient Egypt, but that the biggest player in the bible - Jesus himself - was actually a contemporary of Moses, living centuries before the bible places him.

While there are some areas where Osmon seems to be stretching things a bit, this book presents some pretty convincing arguments to support his view. Evidence cited includes modern archaeological findings, contemporary writings and the scriptures themselves - the Bible, the Qu'Ran and Hebrew Scriptures.

This book will likely offend strict Christians, and probably Muslims and Jews as well. However, I found it convincing enough to warrant further investigation.

An Obedient Father by Akhil Sharma

Opening Sentence:I needed to force money from Father Joseph, and it made me nervous.
Synopsis:Ram Karan, a corrupt official in the Physical Education Department of the Delhi school system, lives in one of the city's slums with his widowed daughter and his eight-year-old granddaughter. Bumbling, ironical, sad, Ram is also a man corroded by a guilty secret.

When Rajiv Gandhi, the likely winner of the upcoming Prime Ministerial elections, is murdered, the country is plunged into confusion and Ram, as his department's resident bribe collector, is trapped in a series of escalating, possibly deadly political betrayals. While he tries to protect himself and his family, his daughter reveals a crime that he had hoped would be buried forever. Ram's struggle to survive, and make amends after a life of deception, thrusts him into a world of gangsters and movie stars, riots and morgues.
Genre:Fiction
Rating:@@@@@
Pages:282
ISBN:o-571-20673-5
Year:2000
Format:Paperback
Comments:An Obedient Father is a superbly written, enthralling and deeply disturbing story. Sharma's characters alternately inspire pity and disgust. As in real life, they are neither purely good or purely evil, but beautifully human in their fragility. Thus, while we feel disgust for the abuser, we also feel empathy. And, while we feel empathy for the abused, we also feel disgust.

I feel I should warn readers that there are a few descriptions of sexual abuse in this book that are disturbingly realistic and this book is an emotional roller-coaster. Having said that, I believe this is the best-written book I have read in a while and I will definitely watching for more books by this author.

Splinter by Adam Roberts

Opening Sentence:Hector flew in.
Synopsis:When Hector discovers his estranged father has channelled the family fortune into a bizarre survivalist sect who await the imminent destruction of the Earth, he is wracked by feelings of betrayal and doubt. Things change, however, the night an asteroid plummets from space and destroys the planet, leaving Hector and a handful of survivors struggling for survival on a splinter of the Earth.
Genre:Science Fiction
Rating:@@
Pages:227
ISBN:1-844-16-490-x
Year:2007
Format:Paperback
Comments: Splinter was a very odd book. If you expected an exciting story of survival, you will be disappointed. Much of this novel is spent inside Hector's head. The author probably intended some obscure message about the relationship between father and son, the sociology of survival groups, the formation of new religions, or the behaviour of humans in the face of the unknown. If so, I could not find it - perhaps because the book was so boring, I struggled to pay attention. Unless you are a real sci-fi fanatic, I wouldn't bother reading this book.

Dewey: The Small-town Library-cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

Opening Sentence:There is a thousand-mile table of land in the middle of the United States, between the Mississippi River on the east and the deserts on the west.
Synopsis:On the coldest morning of the year, Vicki Myron found a tiny, bedraggled kitten almost frozen to death in the night drop box of the library where she worked, and her life - and the town of Spencer, Iowa - would never be the same.

Vicki is a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm and an alcoholic, abusive husband. But her biggest challenge as the new head librarian in Spencer was to raise the spirits of a small, out-of-the-way town mired deep in the farm crisis of the 1980s.

Dewey, as the towns people named the kitten, quickly grew into a strutting, adorable library cat whose antics kept patrons in stitches, and whose sixth sense about those in need created hundreds of deep and loving friendships.

As his fame grew, fans drove hundreds of miles to meet Dewey, and people all over the world fell in love with him.

Through it all, Dewey remained a loyal companion, a beacon of hope not just for Vicki, but for the entire town of Spencer as it slowly, steadily pulled itself up from the worst financial crisis in its long history. Dewey won hearts and proved to everyone he encountered that unconditional love comes in many forms.
Genre:Biography
Rating:@@@@ 1/2 (Can't decide between 4 and 5, so I'm gonna take the cowards way out and pick halfway between lol)
Pages:304
BCID:xxx-7223458
ISBN:978-0-340-95395-2
Year:2009
Format:Paperback
Comments:This is, in essence, a biography of a cat. Not just any cat, of course, but the most famous library cat in the world. Anyone who has ever befriended or enslaved themselves to a cat will relate to the antics of Dewey. The author tells us that he was charismatic and caring, and one only has to look into his eyes (pictured on the cover) to know that this is no mere exaggeration. The love Vicki feels for this amazing cat (dare I call him a hero?) is evident in every word, and by the end of the book you will love him too. You'll laugh, you'll groan and you'll weep, but one thing you will not do is forget this book, or it's subject - and what more can author hope for?

A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey

Opening Sentence:I was born in the year 1894 at Maidstone in Victoria.
Synopsis:This is the extraordinary life of an ordinary man. It is the story of Albert Facey, who lived with simple honesty, compassion and courage. A parentless boy who started work at eight on the rough West Australian frontier, he struggled as an itinerant rural worker, survived the gore of Gallipoli, the loss of his farm in the Depression, the death of his son in World War II and that of his beloved wife after sixty devoted years - yet felt that his life was fortunate.
Genre:Autobiography
Rating:@@@@@
Pages:323
ISBN:o-14-008167-4
Year:1986
Format:Hardcover
Comments:A Fortunate Life is a first hand account of events that most of us have only read about in history books. Albert Facey has lived the kind of life that would have broken a lesser man. From the time he lost his father to Typhoid on the goldfields, through his time as an illiterate child working for horse thieves, the Depression and both World Wars, Albert has had more than his fair share of tragedy. Yet all through this book he downplays his negative experiences, focusing on the positive and relaying his life in a fresh, humorous style that is both pleasant to read and hard to put down.. This is a uniquely Australian piece of literature and I found myself disappointed when I came to the end. A Fortunate Life is a must-read for all Australians.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Opening Sentence:A squat grey building of only thirty-four stories.
Synopsis:Into the neatly programmed 'Brave New World' of test-tube babies and drug-controlled happiness, misfit Bernard Marx brings the innocent Savage...
Genre:Science Fiction
Rating:@@@@
Pages:213
ISBN:o-582-06016-8
Year:1991
Format:Hardcover
Comments:Aldous Huxley first published his novel Brave New World in the 1930's but the major themes of giving up freedoms through fear, the ethics of test-tube babies and other scientific advances, government control, and thought programming are just as relevant today.

At first glance Huxley's London seems a Utopia. A world without war. A world without violence. No rape, no jealousy, no street crime, murder, domestic violence, abuse. No conflict. The virtual elimination of disease. No unemployment or poverty. No aging. Universal happiness, peace, contentment. Is this not what we all strive for?

Yet the introduction of our 'noble savage' to civilised London shows us just how high a price is paid for this 'perfect' society. For, while all the negative aspects of modern society are absent, so, too, are the positives. There is no love - neither the passion between lovers, nor the intense bond between a parent and child, nor the quiet contentment of the aging couple. There is none of that intense satisfaction of obstacles overcome, and no sense of achievement at having striven towards a goal. There is no true fellowship amongst men. The beauty of art and literature are lost. Even the beauty offered by nature can no longer be appreciated. And one wonders just how content the lower classes really are if the loss of a single days soma ration can cause a riot.

This is a question each of us must answer for ourselves - just how much are we willing to give up in exchange for peace and stability?