Vegie Patch by Alan Buckingham

Completely and authoritatively adapted for Australian conditions and Australian gardens. How to grow fruit and veg all year round in your very own vegie patch. For tasty, delicious fruit and veg that hasn’t travelled halfway around the world, you can’t beat home grown produce from your own vegie patch. Here’s how to ensure your plot provides fresh, healthy food all year round. Easy-to-follow advice on what to do in your vegie patch and how to do it. Pick up time saving tips and techniques on everything from pruning to dealing with pests. There’s clear guidance on when to sow, plant, and harvest for excellent results (from the publisher).
I'd been searching for some time for a book like this, something that suited the Australian climate and an easy, yet comprehensive what-to-do-and-when. The chapters are month by month and covers everything from where to plant to how to store your produce.
Rating - I give this 4/5 GREAT!!
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Reviewed by Michelle @ admin

Velvet Pears, by Susan Southam

It was a great pleasure some years ago to visit Foxglove Spires, the country garden Susan Southam lovingly created at Tilba Tilba on the NSW south coast

And it was lovely to renew my acquaintance with this gorgeous garden through the pages of Velvet Pears, the book Susan has written about her endeavours in turning a sheep paddock around her old house into a place admired by thousands of visitors.

A lavishly illustrated and deeply personal story, Velvet Pears is an inspirational book about family life and gardening that is also full of practical ideas.

Not just another gardening book, it captures the essence of living simply and with the seasons, within a small local community and with a sustainable lifestyle.

I'm looking forward to another visit someday. Meanwhile, I'm off to buy my own copy of this book and enjoy the loving descriptions and photos of roses, pear arbours and all manner of other lovely things - without the backbreaking work.

Rating - I give this 5/5
GREAT!!

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Reviewed by Jan @ Ballarat

The Inner Circle, by Mari Jungstedt

Scandinavian mythology, archaeology and death come together in this gripping crime novel by Sweden's Mari Jungstedt.
Two young girls find a pony dead and beheaded - with its head missing.
An international group of young archaeology students uncovering a Viking fortification works and parties hard but the good vibe turns to horror when one of their group, 21-year-old Martina Flochten disappears. Her naked body is found hanging a short time later and her injuries indicate she is the victim of a ritual killing.
Before Inspector Anders Knutas and his team can solve the mystery, the horse's head is found at the home of another victim.
The Inner Circle is the third in Jungstedt's series featuring Inspector Knutas and it's no wonder they are so popular. The characters are believable, the plots are pacey and intricate and each of the books I have read has been a real page-turner.
Knutas isn't nearly as dark and brooding in character as that other famous Swedish policeman, Kurt Wallander and the background of life in Sweden and the relationships between characters make these less-than-standard whodunnits even more interesting.
Rating - I give this 4/5
GREAT!!

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Reviewed by Jan @ Ballarat branch

Beautiful bodies, by Gerald Stone

This is not a novel about celebrities - it's the tragic tale of the first major shipwreck of the convict transportation era.

In August 1833, the Amphitrite, a small ship sailing from England to the Australian penal colonies, was wrecked in a storm on the French coast. She carried 102 female prisoners, 12 children, the captain, crew, medical officer and his wife. Only three survived, and as an English journalist at the scene wrote: "I never saw so many fine and beautiful bodies. The French and English wept together at such a horrible loss of life."

Author Gerald Stone is strong in his condemnation of a journey that was a bungle from beginning to end and of the authorities and the ship's captain and medical officer he sees as responsible for the tragedy.
Stone has written an absorbing book about a terrible event in history and rather than using footnotes to back up his statements, has confined himself to endnotes so as not to break up the flow of the narrative.
And in recording the names of the convict women who undertook that fatal voyage, he restores the individuality and dignity denied them during nearly 200 years of anonymity.

GREAT!!

Rating - I give this 4/5
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Reviewed by Jan@ Ballarat branch

Julie & Julia, by Julie Powell

If you were fed up with life, the universe and everything, would you leave your job and/or your husband or take on a self-imposed assignment to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the art of French cooking in one year in your small, inadequate kitchen?

New Yorker Julie Powell opts for the latter, punishing herself and husband Eric as she squanders hours, money and serious quantities of butter in her mad quest.

There's some fabulous food, and some disasters, in Powell's life as she gains weight - and fans as she blogs about her sessions.

It's a tough way to change your life and get the publishing deal that resulted in this book but I guess someone had to do it.

Powell is a trouper who can cook, write and isn't finicky about the cleaning up. If you're squeamish, skip the bit about the maggots in the kitchen. This is an enjoyable book that makes me want to eat fabulous food - but cooked by someone else, thanks.

Rating - I give this 4/5
Not bad!

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Reviewed by Jan @ Ballarat branch

Made by Me by Jane Bull

What a gorgeous book this is. Full of colour and with pages of projects to tackle, it will inspire young girls who love to stitch or get mums and daughters making things together.

For me, it brings back memories of stitching with my mum and hoarding pretty braids, ribbons, buttons and fabrics to make something special.

Each of these projects - which include lavender bags, felt flowers and cupcakes, knitted purses and embroidered T-shirts - is easily achievable, with full pages of photos and step-by-step instructions. It's ideal for beginners as there are how-to instructions for embroidery stitches and knitting - and all the projects are done by hand, no sewing machine required. A real winner for young crafters.
GREAT!!

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Reviewed by Jan@ Ballarat branch

Angels & Demons DVD

In Ron Howard's thrilling follow-up to the Da Vinci Code, expert symbolist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) follows ancient clues on a heart-racing hunt through Rome to find the four Cardinals kidnapped by the deadly secret society, the Illuminati. With the Cardinals' lives on the line, and the Camerlengo (Ewan McGregor) desperate for help, Langdon embarks on a nonstop, action-packed race through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, and the most secretive vault on Earth(from the publisher)!
I enjoyed this book more than the Da Vinci Code, and so hoped the movie would also be better than the last one. I was left feeling disappointed. Especially when they left out the one action sequence/stunt near the end of the book that I was really looking forward to see in the movie!
Rating - I give this 3/5 Nothing Special
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Reviewed by Michelle @ admin

Lambs to the Slaughter by Debi Marshall

July 1969, police discover the mutilated body of 12 year-old Yvonne Tuohy off a lonely bush track at Victoria's Westernport Bay. Within hours, they have charged Derek Ernest Percy, a hightly intelligent 20 year-old royal Navy seaman, with the heinous crime. During the ensuring investigation, police link Percy's name to another eight unsolved child abductions and murders in different states (from the publisher).
Was Percy responsible for the abduction/murder of the three Beaumont children, the Wanda Beach murders, and the abduction/murder of Linda Stilwell? Is he Australia's most prolific child serial killer?
Author Debi Marshall takes us on her own personal journey into the mind of Derek Ernest Percy. Interviews with family, friends, work colleagues, victim's families, psychiatrists, and police officers help the reader gain some insight as to how Percy has become the man he is today and how he has confounded the top psychiatrists in the country.
An extremely informed, well written, not too graphic account of a most disturbing individual.

Rating - I give this 4/5 GREAT!!
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Reviewed by Jan @ admin

The Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly

IT BEGAN WITH SIX STONES. Jack West Jr and his loyal team are in desperate disarray: they've been separated, their mission is in tatters, and Jack was last seen plummeting down a fathomless abyss. IT FINISHES HERE. After surviving his deadly fall, Jack must now race against his many enemies to locate and set in place the remaining pieces of The Machine before the coming Armageddon. WHO ARE THE FIVE WARRIORS? As the world teeters on the brink of destruction, he will learn of the Five Warriors, the individuals who throughout history have been most intimately connected to his quest. OCEANS WILL RISE, CITIES WILL FALL. Scores will be settled, fathers will fight sons, brothers will battle brothers, and Jack and his friends will soon find out exactly what the end of the world looks like... (from the publisher).
Another action packed, seemingly impossible death-defying escapes, and baddies-wanting-to-kill-goodies, great fun book. The Jack West Jr books, while they still make for a must-keep-reading sort of book, somehow lack some of the magic that is to be found with Reilly's other popular hero, the Scarecrow.
Rating - I give this 4/5 Not bad!
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Reviewed by Michelle @ admin

No time to wave goodbye

I can't say I've been waiting with bated breath for a sequel to Jacquelyn Mitchard's debut novel, The deep end of the ocean, 13 years ago.

Having enjoyed that book, which focusses on a family in crisis following the abduction and eventual return of their three-year-old son, I was keen to read the follow-up when I happened across it.

I'm not sorry I did - but I'm sorry Mitchard felt a sequel was needed. It's not nearly as engrossing as its predecessor and is overcrowded with characters and with references to the original story.

Twenty-two years after Ben was abducted, the Cappadora family is still in crisis. Mother Beth is fragile, father Pat finds solace in work and Ben - called Sam by the man he regards as his father, the husband of his kidnapper - has an uneasy connection with his birth family. Vincent has always felt blamed - and blamed himself - for Ben's disappearance. Only daughter Kerry, a baby when her brother was taken, seems relatively unscathed by the past.

Now the troubled Vincent has emerged as a film-maker, capturing hearts with his acclaimed documentary No Time to Wave Goodbye. The film, focussing on five families whose children have been abducted and whose fates are unknown, attracts unwanted attention too, throwing the family into a repeat of that earlier horror.

Despite the action, despite the storyline, I found it difficult to care about the Cappadoras and their plight. Read it, by all means, but read The deep end of the ocean first.

Rating - I give this 3/5
Not bad!

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Reviewed by Jan@ Ballarat Branch

Signspotting by Lonely Planet

Absurd and amusing signs from around the globe!
Anyone who has spent time on the road knows that you often have to depend on signs... to navigate through a town, locate your hotel, even obey the law. A scary thought if you've ever come across any of the publicly posted absurdities that appear in this book. Signs about as easy to understand as a Swahili auctioneer (to a non-Swahili speaker) or as well-planned as the dance steps in a mosh pit.
With the help of signspotters around the globe, we've assembled a collection of some of the most unintentionally entertaining postings on the planet - we hope they confuse and amuse you (from the publisher)!
I'm sure we have all seen these types of signs over the years on shows like Hey Hey it's Saturday and Rove. Many meanings can really be lost in translation. Or some things just haven't been thought through properly - an open house fun day at a funeral home for example.
Rating - I give this 5/5 GREAT!!
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Reviewed by Michelle @ admin

The Mascot by Mark Kurzem

As a five-year-old during the Second World War, Alex Kurzem had watched from a tree as the entire Jewish population of his village, including his family, were murdered by a German-led execution squad. He scavenged in the forests of Russia for several months before falling into the hands of a Latvian police brigade that later became an SS company. After one soldier discovered this young boy was actually Jewish, Alex was made to promise never to reveal his true identity - to forget his old life, his family, and even his name. The young boy became the company's mascot and part of the Nazi propaganda machine responsible for killing his own people. After fifty years of holding onto this childhood secret, Alex had an overwhelming need to share the remarkable truth about his past (from the publisher).
An amazing story of survival considering his age when he was taken in by the Latvian army. He only had two words from his old life that he could remember - Panok and Koidanov - but he did not know what they meant. The way that these two words opened the door to his past before the war is unbelievable, considering the setbacks along the way - the 'warnings' from some of the Latvian community, and the belief by some experts that he was making the whole thing up.
Rating - I give this 4.5/5 GREAT!!
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Reviewed by Michelle @ admin

Scurvy by Stephen R. Bown

In the days of tall ships, scurvy killed more mariners than any other illness. James Lind, James Cook and Sir Gilbert Blane undertook to solve the riddle of Scurvy. Their achievements heralded a new age and cracked the greatest medical mystery of the Age of Sail (from the publisher).
Apparently, in the days of tall ships, scurvy killed more mariners than any other illness, wartime period, shipwrecks and man-over-boards combined. I'm not sure what compelled me to read a book of this topic but this is a very interesting book. Every time a ship set off on a long voyage, the number of men was doubled as it was expected that they would lose at least 50% of them to scurvy. There is one story of 3 ships setting off together, and only one made it back - 90% of the men had died from scurvy. Scary stuff. Interesting reading through all the 'cures' too (sea water was one), and how the politics of the time influenced such cures. The idea and proof of oranges and lemons as a preventative and cure faced a difficult time of being accepted.
Rating - I give this 4/5 Not bad!
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Reviewed by Michelle @ admin

Better Homes and Gardens (magazine)

That’s right it’s almost that time of year again. The time of year when we deck our halls, put partridges up pear trees and make sure all of our mice are good and quiet. Christmas. To help you get things ready we have released our December issue, which is packed full over 70 fabulous festive ideas for food, gifts and decorations for you to try (from the publisher).
This magazine covers a huge range of topics from recipes and garden ideas to pet tips. The magazine pictured is the December issue and naturally has Christmas information, but the last few years there has been a special Christmas edition as well. If they continue with that this year, no doubt it will be full of great tips, ideas and recipes.
Rating - I give this 4/5 GREAT!!
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Reviewed by Staff name @ library name

Tarts: sweet and savoury by Maxine Clark

Maxine Clark’s upbringing in Scotland has stood her in good stead when it comes to pastry making and she comes to the fore in her new book, Tarts, Sweet and Savoury. Tarts cross a wide spectrum from delicacies served at cocktail parties to casual lunch or supper dishes and as a comforting finale to a meal and Maxine runs the whole gamut here (from the publisher).
There are a lot of great recipes in this book that I am keen to attempt at some stage. Photographs accompany step by step descriptions as to how to make your own pastry for your tarts as well. May just buy this book...
Rating - I give this 4/5 Not bad!
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Reviewed by Michelle @ admin

Australia's open gardens: national garden guide

Since 1987 Australia's Open Garden Scheme has given garden lovers the opportunity to explore a variety of private gardens. Grand, tiny, community, organic, arid, lush ... there is something to interest everyone and you can learn so much for your own garden by seeing how other people do it. The 2009-2010 guide is available from the library now and you can use it to plan a year's worth of visits in your locality or travel further afield for a weekend away. Make the most of the spring weather by packing a picnic basket and heading off for a sticky-beak!

Rating - I give this 4/5 GREAT!!

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Reviewed by Julie @ Wendouree library

Being Human (DVD)

Meet Mitchell, George and Annie. Flatmates by day - undead by night. Being Human follows three housemates as they do their best to live their lives as normally as possible despite their strange and dark secrets. But with unwelcome intruders into their world, rumblings about an impending revolution from the vampire underworld and constant threats of exposure - on top of the usual issues faced by young people surrounding love, work and mates - the only thing they may be able to rely on in their heightened world is each other (from the publisher)...
I had heard that this was a great series. I sat down to watch it and those around me left after half an episode. I gave it a chance by watching the whole season (only 6 episodes) but, unfortunately it didn't get any better for me.
Rating - I give this 2/5 Nothing Special
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Reviewed by Michelle @ admin

The collector by John Fowles

In this chilling archetypal tale of good and evil, a beautiful, idealistic young woman studying art in London is kidnapped by a startlingly ordinary young man who wants only to keep her--like the butterflies he has collected before her. James Wilby is superb as the collector, by turns angry, indignant, whining, and threatening, and the terrified, but defiant, prisoner waging war against her captor while in secret journals struggling to come to terms with her past and present.

This is a seriously creepy book! It had me appalled, repulsed and disturbingly fascinated all at once. One that will stay with you for quite some time.

You might like to watch the video of the discussion about The Collector on ABC TV's First Tuesday Book Club hosted by Jennifer Byrne.

Rating - I give this 4/5
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Reviewed by Julie @ Wendouree library

The Relic by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston

Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human...
But the museum's directors plan to go ahead with a big bash to celebrate the new exhibition, in spite of the murders.
Museum researcher Margo Green must find out who--or what--is doing the killing. But can she do it in time to stop the massacre (from the publisher)?
This book is the first of many written by the authors. Many of the characters, and in particular FBI Special Agent Pendergast, frequent their other books. There is something about these books that successfully draws you in, keeps you guessing until the final twist. There is an element of sci-fi - it is a monster, of sorts, that is killing people, and the story just seems to work!
Rating - I give this 4.5/5 GREAT!!
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Reviewed by Michelle @ admin

Dreams from my father by Barak Obama

I first became acquainted with this book after hearing him read from his book on radio national. His accents were brilliant and he really had me spellbound. The book jumps from Hawaii to Indonesia in his early years. Obama has had a colourful upbringing and he manages to create a sense of the characters that he grew up with. Over and over again Obama stresses the need for integration of people and races, undoubtedly due in large part to his colourful upbringing that introduced him to different cultures at an early age.
I am glad to see that the world is in such good hands and it's a pity other world leaders haven't had his upbringing to give them a more holistic approach. I found the part about how he gave up his well paying finance job and risked everything to become a community organiser the most exhilarating part of the book. His work in the south side of Chicago was amazing considering the conditions of the area.
The book ends with his return to his ancestral homeland of Kenya. This was a very personal journey for him and while it was easy to see how important this was for him, it didn't engender the same interest for me as his work in Chicago.
A very well written book.
Rating - I give this 4/5 GREAT!!
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Reviewed by Sven @ home