Prisoner of Tehran

Prisoner of Tehran – by Marina Nemat
Reviewed by Kylie P.

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In her heartbreaking memoir, Prisoner of Tehran, Marina Nemat tells the story of her life as a young girl in Iran during the early days of Ayatollah Khomeini’s brutal Islamic Revolution.

In January 1982, at only 16 years of age, Marina was arrested, tortured and sentenced to death for political crimes. Until then her life in Tehran was that of any other teenager, centering around school, her summer holidays and her friends. But when the propaganda of Ayatollah Khomeini’s revolution entered the classroom and traditional subjects of education were suppressed she protested, and her classmates followed suit. Not long after she was arrested, as were hundreds of other youths who dared to speak out against the revolution, and she was taken and held at the notorious prison Evin.

Enduring torture she refused to give up the names of her friends and was subsequently sentenced to death only to be saved moments before her execution by a young prison guard Ali. Having close connections to the Ayatollah Ali had Marina’s sentence reduced to life on the condition that she would marry him and convert to Islam. If she refused his offer he would see to it that her family were harmed.

Lyrical, passionate, and suffused throughout with grace and sensitivity, Marina Nemat’s memoir is like no other.

Smashing Photoshop CS5: 100 Professional Techniques

Smashing Photoshop CS5: 100 professional techniques by Sue Jenkins
Reviewed by Nittin K

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This book is a major upgrade leap for somebody who is using Photoshop CS2. With this upgrade it helps you to actually learn the newer tools. You can expect in depth discussions in the book about the new capabilities of CS5. The book subtitles itself 100 Professional Techniques. I think a better subtitle would be 100 Professional Graphic Design Techniques because this book helps you to create your own web or graphic design. If you create web sites and need quick how-to instructions for special effects like grunge and retro halftones, this is the workbook for you. I tried several of the lessons myself. I learned new ways to do things with tools I had never explored. I would not recommend this book for either a raw Photoshop beginner or a seasoned Graphic Design professional, but someone with an intermediate level would benefit greatly by many of the techniques showcased in this book.

The Almost Moon

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
Reviewed by Christine D.

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A confronting topic, the story opens with the main character Helen doing the unthinkable – killing her mother.  As shocking as that sounds, you learn as the story unfolds, what drove Helen to this point.   I almost empathised with Helen as she flashes from the present dealing with what she has done,  back to her child hood growing up with a mother who suffered from mental illness.

Helen’s childhood was strangled by her mother’s demands and challenges which I think ultimately drained the life from Helen and her father.   It drove Helen’s father to suicide, and Helen to eventually kill her mother.    I found Helen to be a cold and emotionally struggling character, but at the same time I could understand why she was – she didn’t get a chance to experience the love and nurturing we experience or expect from our mothers.

I found myself angry at Helen’s mother for being such a horrible and selfish woman, but at the same time angry at Helen for being a victim and not escaping it and leading a different life.   Helen’s father is the glimmer of warmth in a story which is bleak and unsettling.  Helen’s moments with her father are bittersweet and always hint at the regret and resolve to accept that the mother will always be the way she is. A touching conversation Helen has with her father:
“I like to think your mother is almost whole,” he said. “So much in life is about almost, not quites.” “Like the moon,” Helen had responded.

Heart of War

Heart of War by Damon DiMarco

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This is a beautifully written book dedicated to US veterans of war.  Journalist DiMarco has assembled 18 Iraq war emotional testimonies of soldiers who are all highly intelligent, courageous and inspiring.  It gives an honest, vivid, moving and harrowingly real insight to the war in Iraq. I enjoyed the book, especially the respect DiMarco paid to his interviewees and the diversity of perspectives he brings to discussion.  He gives his interviewees a voice which the mainstream media have failed to notice.

This is a book which intends to attract the audience who are interested in the human and emotional context of soliders’ experience and memories and the enormous effects that the events of 9/11 had on these people’s lives.

Sarah Thornhill

Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville
Reviewed by Molly

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This novel tells the story of Sarah, a young determined girl, born in the year 1816.  The setting is amidst the harshness of colonial New South Wales, mainly along the Hawkesbury River and inland.   Sarah’s relationship with her brother’s friend, Jack, blossoms over the years and they plan to marry.  This news brings out a dark and sinister family secret. When Jack is told of this horrible secret he leaves for New Zealand, alone, presumably never to return. After the devastated Sarah learns of what Jack was told her future takes an entirely different path to what she had planned.  Making a new life for herself, along with a new husband, she deals with isolation, hardships and unexpected decisions which needed to be made.  This is where the story really picks up the pace.

This book is the sequel to Kate’s novel The Secret River but it can also be read easily as a stand-alone book.  I would highly recommend this novel as it was very thought provoking in regards to legacies left by our ancestors and an informative insight into parts of our Australian history.  I found it more intense and interesting than The Secret River. The story line and the descriptive nature of the characters made for a fabulous read.

What’s in your Tummy, Mummy?

What’s in your Tummy, Mummy?  Written and illustrated by Sam Lloyd.
Reviewed by Maria (and her niece)

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A fun and beautifully illustrated rhyming story. The book is ideal for young children waiting for the arrival of a new baby brother or sister.  “There is something inside mummy’s tummy and her tummy is getting bigger. Could it be an 8 legged Octopus or perhaps a veracious dinosaur?”: the book keeps children guessing, they have to lift each flap to find out what’s inside Mummy’s tummy.

My 7 year old niece comments: “The book was very funny. I really liked that the story rhymed with the surprise under the flaps. I also thought the baby was very cute. It was a nice short story and very colourful”.

The Complete Maus: a Survivor’s Tale

The Complete Maus: a Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman
Reviewed by Thomasina G.

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I absolutely love this graphic novel. It re-tells the life story of the author’s father, Vladek Spiegelman, and his life in Poland before the Second World War, his experiences in Auschwitz and how he survived the Holocaust. The intertwined conversations and stories being told between father and son are a captivating way of showing reflections and the storytelling process.

The symbolism created through the different sections in the book are amazing and really allow the reader to engage with the different characters and their backgrounds. The Nazis are represented as cats, Jews as mice, the Poles as pigs and the Americans as dogs; this characterisation brings to life the reality of the importance of ethnicity and the situation people faced with their identity.

Art Spiegelman’s Maus is the only comic book to have won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992. I would encourage any reader to have a look at this powerful insight to just one family’s tale during a hard period of time.

Homecoming

Homecoming by Cathy Kelly.
Reviewed by Sarah M.

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This is a great read by Cathy Kelly.  Listed as one of the 2010 ‘50 books you can’t put down’ it really is a heartfelt, sweet novel.  Starting from the perspective of an elderly lady in her eighties, it doesn’t sound too enthralling, but get past the first chapter and challenge yourself to put it down!  Homecoming follows the lives of four people – Eleanor the elderly lady who reflects on her life through her mother’s recipe book; Megan, the young actress who is in hiding from a devastating scandal; Rae, trying to deal with a secret from when she was sixteen and Connie, who, nearing forty, has decided to give up looking for love. Once the novel gets underway with each woman’s story, it is hard to put down – each one becomes more engrossing then the last.

As we read the lessons from her mother’s book, the lives of Eleanor, Rae, Connie and Megan entwine in ways that will change their thinking forever.  A strong, compassionate, warm and compelling read, Homecoming is the perfect novel for any woman who is looking for something new and different.  If you have never read Cathy Kelly before, this is the perfect place to start.

Cooking the Books

Cooking the books: a Corinna Chapman mystery by Kerry Greenwood.
Reviewed by Ann F.

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The good: Greenwood has a gift for creating a sense of place, capturing the mood and spirit of a time, and then peopling it with eccentric, oft times improbable characters that are nonetheless likeable and engrossing.  No more so than here in the sixth title in the series where the modern day Melbourne is brought to life: the lanes, the alleys, the parks. So enjoyable is the writing that the joys of inner city living seductively call to those of us who currently live out in the sticks.

This time around Corinna and her beloved Daniel are searching for lost bonds and a lost baby (adopted at birth and now definitely all grown up), whilst Corinna is reluctantly involved in catering for the crew and actors of a new soap opera.

The bad: Plots are not Greenwood’s strong point and most of the time the characterisation, research and sheer skill of writing compensate for the contrived, convenient sources of forward movement and allow us to overlook the awkwardly coincidental and oft-times unlikely leaps of inspiration that lead to the conclusion.

The conclusion: An engaging tale with a creakier than usual plot. If you have read the other titles you will enjoy this, if you are new to The Corinna Chapman Mystery series, start with one of the earlier titles.

The Very Cranky Bear

The Very Cranky Bear By Nick Bland.
Reviewed by Anna C.

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This cute picture book is about a cranky bear and his four friends – a zebra, lion, moose and sheep.  The friends want to stay in the cave and play while it’s raining outside but find that a very cranky bear is inside. Lion, zebra and moose think if bear looks more like them he will be happier but the bear becomes crankier.  How and who is going to cheer him up?

This is a funny picture book that is told in rhyme which children will easily follow from page to page. It has big, humorous colourful illustrations that children will love.  The expressions on the animal’s faces are very clear and cute for children to look at while reading the story.  This book is perfect for bedtime reading sessions.