Aussie Readers discussion

Will be interesting to read your review Phrynne!

"Its dark out - are you sure it's safe for you to go alone?"
"I won't be alone. I'll have a supernaturally intelligent attack dog and a Sig Sauer P220."
He almost smiled. "Tough luck for the hungry gators."
She hid her frown. Alligators. She hadn't been thinking about things like that. Well, she'd stay away from the water. And hopefully Kevin had trained Einstein for more than just human attackers.

The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer

At home, Tilly sat by the fire with a glass of beer and a cigarette, thinking about her schooldays with dumpy little Gertrude, who had had to wear extra elastic in her plaits because her hair was so thick. At lunchtime Tilly would sit on a wood bench at the boundary of the playground and watch the boys play cricket. In the far corner little Gertrude, Nancy, Mona and some other girls would play hoppy.

The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham

Brenda wrote: "At home, Tilly sat by the fire with a glass of beer and a cigarette, thinking about her schooldays with dumpy little Gertrude, who had had to wear extra elastic in her plaits because her hair was s..."

I'll be interested to see what you think of this one, Brenda.

I've just discovered this thread. It's a great idea :)

Just started this one, Triptych by Karin Slaughter.

"Michael stepped carefully around a red stiletto shoe that was flat on the stair, looking as if someone had sat down and slipped it off. The next step up had the perfect outline of a bloody hand gripping the tread. The next stair had another handprint, then another, as someone had crawled up the stairs."

Marianne wrote: ""Its dark out - are you sure it's safe for you to go alone?"
"I won't be alone. I'll have a supernaturally intelligent attack dog and a Sig Sauer P220."
He almost smiled. "Tough luck for the hungry..."

I picked it up from the library, I read the first chapter and it was good, looking forward to reading the rest of the book

Michael Connelly

"What do you want me to do?" "I want you to find someone for me, someone who might never have existed."

Sharon wrote: "Brenda wrote: "At home, Tilly sat by the fire with a glass of beer and a cigarette, thinking about her schooldays with dumpy little Gertrude, who had had to wear extra elastic in her plaits because..."

Not overly impressed Sharon - will be writing my review soon ...

This week my teaser is from Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton

“…We were surrounded by some of the wildest, most desolate country I’d ever seen, with mountains looming on all sides, barren, craggy, majestic. They took my breath away, but also left me feeling uneasy. This was a harsh, unforgiving place. I suspected it would not deal kindly with weakness and, given half a chance, it would kill the unwary...”

I'm going to post another ;) From a book I'm enjoying very much though I'm not far in... The Perfumer's Secret by Fiona McIntosh

I took one long last draught of freedom and on the air I tasted my beloved Grasse, picking out its flavours with ease as though I was pointing to each on a store shelf. They were imprinted on my memory and I could select them as I chose, and yet when they reached me fresh of a morning it was as though I smelled them for the first time.

I am reading the same book as Marianne The Chemist

If she lived through the next week, and nothing changed in regard to her working relationship with the department, she was going to have serious financial issues. It wasn't cheap changing lives on a triannual basis.

Also, it was revealed, Abbott’s loyal staff went on a bit of a shredding spree, presumably just to tidy the place up and definitely not in a mean-spirited attempt to make life more difficult for Turnbull’s team to work out where things were at with regards to upcoming appointments and reappointments, or much less unimportant things like outstanding Freedom of Information requests.

— On events in Parliament House after Prime Minister Turnbull took office in September 2015.

From The Curious Story of Malcolm Turnbull, the Incredible Shrinking Man in the Top Hat by Andrew P. Street

Michelle_Mck wrote: "Marianne wrote: ""Its dark out - are you sure it's safe for you to go alone?"
"I won't be alone. I'll have a supernaturally intelligent attack dog and a Sig Sauer P220."
He almost smiled. "Tough lu

I picked it up from the library, I read the first chapter and it was good, looking forward to reading the rest of the book..."

I've almost finished, loving it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

I'm currently reading this delightful christmas theme novel called A Gift to Remember by Melissa Hill -


Page 198 -
She felt that sadly, technology stores and their wares were beginning to take the place of bookstores or libraries as a place for kids to spend time. How could any piece of kit ever replicate the feel and smell of a real book or the joy of turning the pages and creasing the spine? A book was so much more than words on a page.

Susan, such sour grapes Abbott had!

B the BookAddict wrote: "Susan, such sour grapes Abbott had!"

Oh yeah, and that episode was just the beginning!

I keep forgetting this on Tuesday's so I will come in early for next week as I know you will all appreciate this one! :)

From The Serpent and the Pearl by Kate Quinn

Turning to face me in a swirl of purple cassock, he proffered my knives back to me in a hilt-first steel nosegay. “What do you say to my offer, Leonello?”

“I have a condition.”

His brows drew together. “You are hardly in a position to name conditions.”

“This house you speak of, for your sister and the mistress,” I said, ignoring him. “Does it have a library? And can I use it?”

He laughed. “Yes. And yes.”

“Then, Your Excellency”—I gave my most elaborate courtier’s bow, taking my knives back from his hands—“I am your man.”

Phrynne wrote: ""The wind from his feathers beat against her hair and - for but a moment - his shadow elongated against the shop's wooden floor. Cath's heart stuttered as she remembered the ominous shadow that had..."l

Yikes!!

*** sighed. "You're going to want to make this a moment, aren't you?"
"What's life without them?"
*** nodded. *** stepped forward. The two men hugged fiercely, hanging on as though the other were a life preserver.

Home by Harlan Coben

Loving it and only just started!

I have just started this Jonas Jonasson I am enjoying it.

"....Old Folks' Home ......stepped out-into the flower bed. This maneuver......since Allan was 100 years old....."

"Yet the hollow emptiness of Westminster made her feel edgier than did the seedy violence of Soho or Haymarket. Nobody about. No one to hear her scream"

The Traitor in the Tunnelby Y.S. Lee

The first night in the Barclay I made two hundred quid, after taking off the house fee. I'd had fun, got a fairly decent workout and enjoyed chatting to the customers. And I'd made a new friend. This would be easy, I remember thinking. This was going to be a complete piece of piss.

I had absolutely no idea.

Genevieve's first night pole dancing in Revenge of the Tide

It was good being back. Fond as he was of open spaces, he still preferred cities. Not that he had any great yearning for infrastructure but he liked the safety in numbers aspect, the camouflage of millions. For the sake of protection he had been sent to the other side of the country but in the time he had been back he actually felt more secure. Crowds negated the risk of proximity.
Marshall's Law Ben Sanders

My teaser comes from Call of the Dragon by Elianne Adams:

Rhia took a deep breath, she had to resist the urge to wipe her sweaty palm on the silk of her gown. Flanked on one side by Drake and on the other by Evan, she stood facing the city she would soon call home. Her heart was racing as though she had drunk ten expressos. What had she gotten herself into?

Ummm Sally it's not Tuesday ;) You been sleeping for two days??? ;)

It's Xmas. We all get confused. I thought it was Friday but that was probably wishful thinking:)

Brenda wrote: "Ummm Sally it's not Tuesday ;) You been sleeping for two days??? ;)"

You people, so picky! Sally's getting in early for NEXT Tuesday!!

Hahaha!!!! Of course - have another wine ;) (I thought it was Sunday for awhile today Phrynne!)

Brenda wrote: "Ummm Sally it's not Tuesday ;) You been sleeping for two days??? ;)"

I have been - I missed Tuesday so is a late posting - was crook Tuesday afternoon/Wednesday so when I came back to work yesterday thought I'd better do my thing :)

Sorry to hear you've been ill Sally - I guess Tuesday and Thursday are not much different (only a couple of letters!) Hope you're much better now :)

Brenda wrote: "Sorry to hear you've been ill Sally - I guess Tuesday and Thursday are not much different (only a couple of letters!) Hope you're much better now :)"

Yep I'm fine - some sort of tummy bug we're all sharing with each other at work.

Kind of you all!!!

Brenda wrote: "Kind of you all!!!"

Yep - we're all about to do more sharing because we're all about to disappear to our annual Christmas lunch for the rest of the day

Oh good for you!! Enjoy :)

My teaser this week comes from Cold Feet at Christmas by Debbie Johnson

“You had your reasons,” she continued. “You did what you thought you had to do. Yes it sucked. Yes, I think you’re an idiot. But I’ve had enough drama to last me a lifetime, and in my own annoying way, I’m being honest. You deal with things by hiding in your bat cave, I deal with them by making light.” She was angry and hurt – but fighting to control both. Because a screaming match in a swimming pool would do nobody any good.

Thanks Sally! Forgot again :/

Jack rushed into the "New York Standard" building, through the security gates and into the elevator. He tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator climbed to the eightieth floor, and as soon as the doors had opened he burst into a run past the reception desk. Every additional second he was late reduced the chance of him getting the China gig.

The Foundation by Steve P. Vincent

"From the roof garden of the Dressler Martin looked down at a world of open pits and blasted rock, of half-finished apartments prickly with scaffolding, of steam cranes slashing their black diagonals across brownstone and brick. It was as if the West End had been raked over by a gigantic harrow and planted with seeds of steel and stone; now as the century turned, the avenues had begun to erupt in strange, immense growths: modern flowers with veins of steel, bursting out of bedrock."

Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser

"I know what they do to banish changelings" Nora spat. "Put him on the dung heap in the night for the fairies to claim! Threaten him with fire. Would you have me put that one on a hot shovel and roast him? Would you have me smack him with a reddened poker and bring the eye out of him?"

The Good People by Hannah Kent
She has a lovely way with words doesn't she:)

Phrynne wrote: ""I know what they do to banish changelings" Nora spat. "Put him on the dung heap in the night for the fairies to claim! Threaten him with fire. Would you have me put that one on a hot shovel and ro..."

Haha! Brings it back ;)

By Alissa Callen

"Footsteps approached. Dressed in a sheepskin coat, worn Wranglers, and Chaps Garrett would make any woman's pulse race."

Jenny wrote: " By Alissa Callen

"Footsteps approached. Dressed in a sheepskin coat, worn Wranglers, and Chaps Garrett would make any woman's pulse race."

A sheepskin coat wouldn't make my pulse race!

Phrynne wrote: "Jenny wrote: " By Alissa Callen

"Footsteps approached. Dressed in a sheepskin coat, worn Wranglers, and Chaps Garrett would make any woma..."

I agree with you Phrynne. I need more information.

Again all the vampires in the room made a little group movement, not quite in unison but eerily close. I had seldom felt so alien: the only warmblood in a room full of animated dead creatures

All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

"A sheepskin coat, worn Wranglers, and chaps?"

lol, Susan. He's not a bad look, is he?

"Someone was screaming now, all that blood a sure way to set folks off. He figured Tol was dead, given the mess and lack of movement. Good thing about fire alarms, though - no one uses the elevator. He walked back along the corridor, people stepping out of doors, getting a fright when they saw him. Gunshot noise, and then a big dude in a motorcycle helmet. They put two and two together pretty fast, ran the other way or went back inside. The smart ones who heard the noise never opened their doors. "
Page 196 Marshall's Law by Ben Sanders new release January. Won it as part of a Goodreads Competition

B the BookAddict wrote: "lol, Susan. He's not a bad look, is he?"

Oh yeah, Don Draper would make my pulse race!

Phrynne wrote: "Jenny wrote: " By Alissa Callen

"Footsteps approached. Dressed in a sheepskin coat, worn Wranglers, and Chaps Garrett would make any woman's pulse race."

A sheepskin coat wouldn't make my pulse race! ..."

A roast lamb dinner, instead of a coat, might make my pulse race - especially if a hunk of a male, aka my husband, had cooked it for me ;)

I wait until I get round the corner before sitting on a wall and opening the case. The crotch of my swimming shorts has been slashed, my new linen beach trousers have lost a leg, my sunglasses have lost both arms, a hole has been cut in the heart of my favourite shirt. Underwear, socks, shoes, sandals, hat, everything has been destroyed. The book I had packed to read on holiday is now a loose collection of torn pages. And all of it stained and sticky from the contents of, amongst other things, a skewered bottle of suntan lotion, and - to look at it - a jumped-on tube of toothpaste.
The Trouble with Henry and Zoe by Andy Jones