Ducks on the Pond - Anne Summers

The most recent book I've read is Ducks on the Pond by Anne Summers which is an autobiography from years 1945-1976. You may remember Anne Summers from your history textbook,as the woman who wrote Damned Whores and God's Police. An in depth look at the portrayal of women's role in Australian history.

Anne Summer was born in Adelaide to a catholic family, Anne discovered early on she had a passion for writing. After a Catholic School education, Anne realised she needed to escape her father. So moving out she began to work in a clerical work in Melbourne.

After a few years trying to start an independent life, Anne decides to go to Adelaide University. At university she discovers politics and participates in many demonstrations against the Vietnam war.

Moving to Sydney offers Anne many opportunities like joining the Push a group of like minded individuals. In the 1970's helps to establish Australia's first women's refuge Elsie. The book ends with death of her brother in 1976.

Almost French- Sarah Turnball

This year I had a dream that I would live in France so I enrolled in a French language school and bought this book, Almost French by Sarah Turnball. Sarah worked for SBS Tv in the mid nighties . In hope of adventure she goes to Europe and meets Frederic a Frenchman. She agrees to stay with him in Paris.

She stays with on with Frederic. Sarah discovers that French culture is very different to Australian culture. This is highlight, when she attends her first dinner party and is completely ignored. She quickly realises how much Australia has shaped her perspective on life. After the French atomic testing in 1996 in French Polynesia ( which Australia strongly opposed). Sarah was able to gain sponsorship to do European journalist course, allowing her to become a freelance journalist.

Sarah ends up living in Paris and marrying Fredric.

The Lucy Family Alphabet - Judith Lucy

I grew up watching Judith Lucy on the late show. I loved her sarcastic tone. I saw her speak at the 2008 Sydney Writer's festival and got my copy of the book signed. The book is written with each chapter a letter with a topical word from Judith Lucy's childhood.

Her family were a kooky bunch. Her mother didn't liked running water so Judith didn't use a shower till her teens. Her father wore make up. After a childhood of weirdness and devout Catholicism . Judith moved to Melbourne and took up drinking and smoking and after one disastrous Christmas she finds out that she was adopted. This leads to a world trip soul searching and being depressed. When she returns she finds her biological mother (which leads to tension with her mother).

I really liked this book, the alphabet chapters cuts what could be a slightly harrowing childhood into funny awkward read.

Hollywood Wives-Jackie Collins

One of the trashiest novels I've ever read. Hollywood wives is sleazy and brainless, very enjoyable when your sick in bed. I found this book at a charity store and wanted to read some of Jackie Collins' work having read about her in a news article.

The book is mainly about ( you guessed it Hollywood wives) and what the reader believes to be an unrelated psychotic killer. All the main characters are given a chapter where their past is reviled to the reader. Elaine Conti is a devoted Hollywood wife to Ross Conti a sleazy has been actor, who's having an affair with her friend. Montana Gray , married to Neil Gray, a genius director having an affair with Gina Germaine, an overly ambitious actress . Angel Hudson, a naive girl married to Buddy, a struggling actor. They all have one thing in common to survive Hollywood.

The Psycho guy and his plot line are unnecessary boring and predictable. The final chapters are a blur.I had trouble keeping up with what was going on.

Bloodline-Sidney Sheldon

A couple of months back every Saturday ABC2 played a movie starring Albury Hepburn. Sidney Sheldon's Bloodline was the last movie played in the series. The movie started off being incredibly suspenseful ( so much so I had to turn away from the television set ) but ending with many questions unanswered. This lead me to want to read the book. I found the book in the Salvos, some strange coincidence, the day I go to the library to get the book is the day I see it for two dollars, sitting on the front counter waiting for me.

The book starts off with a telephone call to Mr Williams in Istanbul apologising for the accidental death of his boss Sam Roffe, head of Roffe and Sons Pharmaceutical company. Rofe and Sons is a family company. With all members of the male members of the Roffe family having a seat on the board. The board voted to sell the company to shareholders but Sam Roffe voted against it. This is where the contention lies because as we soon discover, through a detailed chapter on every character, that every Roffe has financial difficulties of some kind.

In to the kaos steps Elizabeth daughter of Sam Roffe, who is now company director.Soon finding out that her father was murdered she sets about trying to find the culprit. Everyone on the board is a suspect. Elizabeth soon discovers this after a near death experience. But who is it.......

Fear and Loathing in las Vegas - Hunter.S.Thompson

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a terrific book. I read this book to on another trip to New Zealand ( maybe this is a running theme) .Hunter. S . Thompson , one of the most interesting and controversial American writers of the 20 century, know for his dislike of authority, drug use and being the father of Gonzo Jouralism. He committed suicide in 2005 and had his ashes fired out of a cannon .

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was first published in Rolling Stone magazine in 1971. It is about two characters Raoul Duke a journalist and his attorney Dr. Gonzo taking a trip to Las Vegas to report on the Mint 400( a motorcycle race in the Nevarda desert) and to find the American Dream. They start off by getting a white convertible they nickname "the White Shark" and a bag full of drugs. These they take throughout the whole book resulting in hilarious descriptions of people morphing into iguanas, a waitress having sex with a polar bear and Gonzo filling the entire car with soap from the hotel.

Duke and Gonzo manage to miss most of the Mint 400 race but get an assignment to write about a police drug conference happening in Las Vegas. This they attend completely on drugs and paranoid. The police being told how to identify a drug user do not detect Duke and Gonzo.

This is so much more than I have written in this post, the only way your going to find out is to read the book. If your not a book reader the movie is very faithful to the book.

Breaking Dawn- Stephanie Meyer

The last book is divided into three "books". The first one from the perspective of Bella, the second from the perspective of Jacob and then back to Bella.

The book starts off with Bella and Edward's wedding. The honeymoon follows with Edward keeping to his promise of having sex. This leads to Bella founding out she is pregnant. Edward urges Bella to get an abortion but she refuses even though the unnaturally fast growing child in her womb is slowly killing her.

The second book from Edward's perspective is pretty boring it just details Bella weakening state and him trying to convince her to abort the baby. The baby breaks many of her bones and she slowly dies, this forces Edward to turn Bella into a vampire. the child is born and called Renesmee.

The third book details Bella's transformation into a vampire, which she loves. The child is soon discovered and the Volturi are told of her where abouts. The Cullens are forced to gather a collection of vampires to convince the Volturi not to kill Renesmee. This part of the book drags on for ages so I can't remember much. They convince the Volturi not to kill the child and we presume happy every after.

The first book will be released as a movie this year. Watching the Trailer, I don't believe that it looks very good but I'll probably go and see it anyway.

The third book Eclipse starts with reports of disappearances and violent murders in Seattle. This is discovered to be the work of Victoria, mate of the tracker from the first book who died, creating an army to ultimately kill Bella.Victoria blames Bella for the death of her partner. Bella and Edward also start to decide what Bella will do after school is over.

Bella tries to have sex with Edward but the refuses citing that he could kill her if they tried. This leads to Edward proposing to Bella and promising to have sex once they're married. ( the post martial sex idea maybe due to the author being a Mormon). Bella excepts half heartedly because she thinks marriage for teenagers is old fashioned and doesn't like to thought of being like her mother, who got married early.

The Cullen and Jacobs gang ( who the readers found out can morph into werewolves) devise the a plan to destroy Victoria's advancing army. They destroy the advancing army but Edward is hurt and is saved by Carlise ( Edward's father) .

New Moon- Stephanie Meyer

The second book in the series, New Moon I loved in New Zealand but I reread at home and didn't like as much as the first one. I will admit to being addicted to them, when I first read them but on second reading I wasn't so sure. I think Meyer's writing gets annoying, in the first one you can't tell what nationality she is but in the rest of the books she writes with an annoying American edge.

The second one starts off with The Cullen's hosting a birthday party for Bella(who has this really annoying habit of being so over modest that in my view she offends everyone in her life and becomes tedious to readers.) , where she gets a paper cut and Jasper ( one of the Cullen aka vampire brothers) tries to kill her. After this near fatal incident, the Cullen family decide to leave Falkes.

This leads to what seems like a million chapters of Bella feeling depressed and introduces a minor charater from the first book who becomes a major character Jacob ( I hate him, he's the boring moral one). I don't really remember what he does in this book, so I won't write about him.

Edward thinks that Bella has commited suicide, so goes to Italy to try and have the Volturi ( the vampire monarchy) kill him. Alice, Edward's sister and Bella go to Italy to find Edward. When the Volutri finds out that Bella, a human knows their secret, they order her to be killed or be turned into a vampire. The Cullen family then vote to have Bella turned into a vampire but at a latter date.

Twilight- Stephanie Meyer

I read this book in New Zealand and due to extreme boredom, I loved it. This is the best one of the series. This book is massively popular and was on the New York Times for some ridiculous amount of time. Anyway Twilight came out in 2005 but I jumped on the bandwagon late and read it this year.

The book is about Isabella "Bella" Swan, an anti-social teenage girl,who moves from sunny Phoenix Arizona to rainy Falkes, Washington. Where her dad Charlie lives. She starts going to the local high school and notices this strange family , the Cullen-Hale family. Bella instantly feels an attraction to Edward Cullen. Edward pretty much ignores Bella until she almost dies in the school car park. Edward saves Bella and escorts her to the hospital. She questions how he saved her and he tells her that she must be in shock.

Anyway they fall in love and then Bella guess what the strangeness about Edward is ..... he's a vampire and can read minds, all except hers. They become inseparable. Then they meet these other vampires who are carnivorous. Oh I forgot to tell you that the Cullen-Hales don't drink human blood and call themselves vegetarians. Anyway they meet this group of vampires who do drink human blood. One of the vampires has the gift of being able to track anything. It decides to track Bella and tricks her to go to her house in Phoenix Arizona. Bella is bitten and Edward saves her from death.

The author Stephanie Meyer has promise a book called midnight sun which is Edward's perspective of the whole of the first books events but may not go ahead after the book was leaked to the internet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_series

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html