Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty



When I flipped through the Perth Writers Festival brochure I was shocked and excited to see one of my favourite author’s names. Liane Moriarty, in PERTH?!?! my mind exclaimed. I was in a year-long reading slump and decided I’d had enough. A few of Liane’s pre-Husband’s Secret novels were sitting unread on my bookshelf so I picked up the one I knew the least about (I had started reading Three Wishes a while back but I wanted to dive into something completely afresh). That book happened to be The Last Anniversary.

It all happened because of a mystery. The Munro Baby Mystery, to be specific. A baby was found in its home, the parents nowhere to be found. Alice and Jack Munro disappeared into thin air, leaving the kettle boiling for tea and a freshly baked marble cake ready for frosting. The neighbours, two teenage girls, Connie and Rose, came by to visit them and found the baby.

This mystery is the basis of every plotline and character in the novel. Connie and Rose took the baby home and looked after her as their own. They called the baby Enigma, and Enigma went and had kids, and then her two kids went and had three kids. All the kids are adults now, the youngest is in their late thirties. Suffice to say, there are a lot of characters in this book. It took me a little while to figure out who was whose daughter, who were siblings, who were cousins, etc. But obviously it was worth it to take the time to get to know the characters, because it’s Liane Moriarty and duh, the book is gonna be awesome. And it was. Awesome characters, awesome writing, awesome storyIine, awesome everything. I rated it 4.5 stars, so..

Monday, February 16, 2015

Hi again! I'm back?!

Hi! How are you? 
It feels so weird typing up a post on this blog for the first time in a very very long time. 
I've been away for so long! I feel like Dolly Levi, except no one is welcoming back to a luscious restaurant with a live band for me to sway to music as I come down a sweeping staircase in a swanky gold dress. Hmm. 

I should explain my absence. Basically, 2014 was not a good reading year for me. I read about 5 books (more if you include the picture books). It feels like -5 though. On the positive side, I kept buying books throughout that lengthy reading slump (not a positive for the bank account), which meant I did post a few 'new on my bookshelf's last year. 

This year I'm pledging to read more, write a heck of a lot more, and well, with reading more, comes reviewing more. Which means posting more! WAHOO. 

I'm going to the Perth Writers Festival next week, which I'm really excited for, because one my favourite authors is gonna be there (Liane Moriarty, duh!). I need to read Big Little Lies. Oh my gosh, I can't believe I still haven't read it and the festival is in just a few days, EEP! 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to posting more, and I hope you are too! 
I hope you're ready for some reviews. :) 

To authors/publishers out there, I'm sorry but my review policy is remaining the same for the moment, just coz I'm not really in a place to be offering to do reviews. Free books are always welcome though, (haha!), because I am, above all, a book collector.