January – My holiday reading

I have had the luxury of a lot of reading time these holidays, looking at my list below it appears that I have gone on a mystery bent….

 (Check out Phyrne’s website!)

I have loved watching the Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries on ABC and Fox’s 13^th Street and have since started reading Kerry Greenwood’s Miss Fisher’s Murder Mystery series – Raisins and Almonds, Murder on the Ballarat Train and Dead Man’s Chest.  I particularly liked Dead Man’s Chest for its setting of nearby Queenscliff and the story of Bonito and his treasure.

Slightly less compelling but fun reading were Spencer Quinn – Chet and Bernie Mysteries – Dog gone it and Thereby hangs a tail. These are set in America and are amusing as a dog (Chet) tells the story.

I also started the Phillip Gwynne  The Debt Series – Catch the Zolt (Instalment 1) which is somewhat reminiscent of the Conspiracy 365 series but with a Queensland setting and got to preview Tristan Banck’s new novel Two Wolves, where the main character Ben is trying to figure out why his family are on the run  (set in NSW). Both of which are worthy of a fuller discussion/blog entry (if I can get out of holiday mode) as they would be good for Year 7-8 students.

I have continued the slog through Isobelle Carmody’s Obernewtyn Chronicles and now am up to number six but at times the quest seems very long and tedious.

My most enjoyable and memorable read (and a book I will keep) was Jonas Jonasson’s The one hundred year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared. The story is intriguing, amusing and charming. Why did Allan climb out the window?  What is his story? We gradually find out about Allan and his often accidental role in key events in the 20^th Century including the development of the nuclear bomb.  Whilst there is nothing offensive in it, it is probably not for students to read unless they have an interest in history.