You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
the_plodding_historian's Reviews (41)
I stopped only because I’ve got so many other books to read and I’m basically not interested in Paris history beyond the 16th century. But the brief history of that century was actually not too bad. Given my absorption in it for the past 20 years, I can attest to the author’s historical accuracy. It included a brief couple of lines about my hospital and the very important thing that happened in 1505. I would definitely recommend it for somebody who was just wanting to find out, as the title says, the brief history of Paris.
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
I have just finished this, so I’m struggling to formulate my thoughts. Not in a bad way. This book will be heading to my bookshelves, not to the secondhand bookshop. It’s set in Melbourne post all their COVID-19 lockdowns. Three characters, Bernard, Goldie and Minh, are struggling with grief and attempting to regain some semblance of life after what was effectively two years of lockdown for Melbourne. I struggled with Goldie’s character, even as the source of her grief was revealed. Can someone really change after what was pretty much 65 years of self-protection against trauma and rejection? It was hard to warm to her seeing how her distance was impacting Bernard’s own grief and mental health. And of course, being the romantic I am, I had to keep reading to the end, even though the late night would mean struggling through my workday, because I needed a happy or at least a hopeful ending. As I turned the pages, the ones to the left growing and those at the right dwindling away with no sense of hope or happiness looming, my throat and chest tightened with anxiety. When I read what turned out to be the final few lines, a deep breath of release and a welling at the tear ducts.
This is one of those books that you don’t even realise is well written because it’s so well done and the story and the characters have got into your being that you are oblivious to all that technical business and become lost in the narrative, only being pulled back into the real world when you have to turn to the other side in bed or move the book to your other hand or get up to go to the loo. But that is only a momentary disruption because two or three sentences and you’re right back in there.
The wee blurb on the back cover mentions pineapple undies, so I thought comedy, not taking in what is effectively a warning, this book is a touch ‘Fleabag’. I mean for goodness sake Lisa, it even says, “tragi-comedy”. As you can tell, I’ve been left a little emotionally discombobulated.
But that’s okay; I like it. I will be returning to this one. And I will be telling other people to read it; especially us 50-somethings who have found ourselves as much disorientated by the events of the past five years as all the young people, but left with little sense of hope that there is time; it all might just be too late to regroup and find a Plan B. Okay. Obviously, I need to read the last couple of chapters again; get that little glimmer of hope I had 22 minutes ago back!
This is one of those books that you don’t even realise is well written because it’s so well done and the story and the characters have got into your being that you are oblivious to all that technical business and become lost in the narrative, only being pulled back into the real world when you have to turn to the other side in bed or move the book to your other hand or get up to go to the loo. But that is only a momentary disruption because two or three sentences and you’re right back in there.
The wee blurb on the back cover mentions pineapple undies, so I thought comedy, not taking in what is effectively a warning, this book is a touch ‘Fleabag’. I mean for goodness sake Lisa, it even says, “tragi-comedy”. As you can tell, I’ve been left a little emotionally discombobulated.
But that’s okay; I like it. I will be returning to this one. And I will be telling other people to read it; especially us 50-somethings who have found ourselves as much disorientated by the events of the past five years as all the young people, but left with little sense of hope that there is time; it all might just be too late to regroup and find a Plan B. Okay. Obviously, I need to read the last couple of chapters again; get that little glimmer of hope I had 22 minutes ago back!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I’m not really a crime thriller person, but I wanted to support Ronni Salt and her debut novel. I really got into this. I had to force myself to put it down last night, but tonight, work be damned, I needed to finish it. I loved the small town nucleus of the story; it all rings true and so Australian. Loved the tie-in with 1970’s Australian politics. And yes, Ronni, Gough was robbed!, As I learned around the kitchen table at my great grandparents!’ house in the 80s. I wouldn’t call this a gripping read, but it captured my interest and the three characters who for me I felt where the core of the cast, I just loved them and wanted to stay with them. Would highly recommend this. Congrats to Ronni!
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A love story and a lament for love
lost, country stolen, connection purposely and viciously severed, and lives taken cruelly and violently. Set during the Bathurst Wars when Governor Brisbane declared martial law allowing the colonial invaders to murder Indigenous people indiscriminately. Through the love story of Miina and Irish convict, Dan, Prof Anita helps the reader understand the depth of connection to country and how intrinsic this is to every part of life and soul for the first peoples of this country. For anyone who knows even a little of the history of the colonial invasion by the “white ghosts” from England, you can feel the moment when the shift happens and terrific violence is unleashed upon the Wiradyuri. I wanted to put the book down because, even though the massacres were not described in great detail, it was enough for the heart to feel the horror and sorrow. But I kept reading because it’s the least I can do. Truth telling and reconciliation involves listening, hearing, acknowledging and understanding. Always was. Always will be.
lost, country stolen, connection purposely and viciously severed, and lives taken cruelly and violently. Set during the Bathurst Wars when Governor Brisbane declared martial law allowing the colonial invaders to murder Indigenous people indiscriminately. Through the love story of Miina and Irish convict, Dan, Prof Anita helps the reader understand the depth of connection to country and how intrinsic this is to every part of life and soul for the first peoples of this country. For anyone who knows even a little of the history of the colonial invasion by the “white ghosts” from England, you can feel the moment when the shift happens and terrific violence is unleashed upon the Wiradyuri. I wanted to put the book down because, even though the massacres were not described in great detail, it was enough for the heart to feel the horror and sorrow. But I kept reading because it’s the least I can do. Truth telling and reconciliation involves listening, hearing, acknowledging and understanding. Always was. Always will be.
slow-paced
If your sense of worth is based on your attractiveness and intimate relationships with men/women/genderfluids, then this book is for you.
If you are approaching, or have already reached your, what I call, F-wording Fabulous 50s, and you’re looking for guidance that is more life, the
universe and everything, this book is not for you. Even the chapters that you think may be a bit more general about work, life, socialising, are simply slightly different differently worded and thought out angles about sex and dating and intimate relationships.
If you are approaching, or have already reached your, what I call, F-wording Fabulous 50s, and you’re looking for guidance that is more life, the
universe and everything, this book is not for you. Even the chapters that you think may be a bit more general about work, life, socialising, are simply slightly different differently worded and thought out angles about sex and dating and intimate relationships.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I am really enjoying Prof Anita’s series of romance novels. Different cultures, different experiences within the same geography, but we are all ‘just girls standing in front of boys asking them to love us’. Following Lauren’s fear and reluctance to move to New York and then her need to get home, began to appreciate what this whole idea of connection country really means and how important it is to First Nations people in this country. You can understand things on an intellectual level, but reading Lauren’s story, it just took it from a conceptual idea to thinking about connection to country in the everyday; how It influences and motivates and empowers a person. Come for the romance and learn a little too. Off to Paris with Libby next!
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
I don’t know how to explain why I loved this book. The only reason I put it down this afternoon I had to go to work. I didn’t want to put it down. I wanted to stay in that hotel room in Paris. I wanted to stay with Hortense and the writer. This book is staying in my collection as I know I’m going to have to read it again.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Feeling completely miserable and in a self-pity party for one mood, I went into the bookshop looking for a cheer me up book. Spotted this one in the kids section and figured I’d give it ago. While this is intended for an audience way younger than me, the ending and the scientific explanation about the blob fish and their sad faces, well, it did indeed cheer up this 51-year-old. I felt a lot less woe is me by the end. Highly recommended for readers of all ages. Story and illustrations both gorgeous.