The Gift by Roger Dunn

The Gift
Roger Dunn
1988, McPhee Gribble Publishers, Fitzroy
0140110631
136p.

Little novel based on an Australian children's mini-series in which two children win 1000 acres of bushland in Western Australia.

It was an enjoyable story - the characters were well fleshed out and it had good morals. I like that it was set in a recognisable Australia.

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The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

The Sirens of Titan
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
1959, 1979, Dell Publishing, New York
0440179483
319p.

A man and his dog are caught up in a chrono-synclastic-infudibula halfway between Earth and Mars and are scattered throughout the Solar System, appearing and disappearing on different planets at regular intervals. To explain any more would complicate things and this novel is a journey for the reader so I wont bother!

I really really really enjoyed this. Vonnegut has a seriously wicked sense of humour. And there was so much going on within the story. I wish they wrote science fiction like this again.

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The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman

The Ice Queen
Alice Hoffman
2005, 2006, Vintage, London
978099488835
211p.

A girl makes a wish one night which comes true and ruins her life. She then grows up and makes another wish which changes her forever.

I enjoyed this up to a point. I liked the storyline and the characters, however, the writing style annoyed me because it was pretentious. Readers are supposed to make up their own minds about the deeper meaning behind a story, we don't need it spelled out to us.

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The Simulacra by Philip K. Dick

The Simulacra
Philip K. Dick
1964, Ace Books. New York
no isbn
192p.

A novel of the future about a government system headed by a beautiful First Lady and her simulation husband.

This little novel was multi-layered - there were many different aspects that I really enjoyed. And the science behind it all has not dated, even 40 years later.

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The Book Boy by Joanna Trollope

The Book Boy
Joanna Trollope
2006, Bloomsbury Publishing, London
0747582114
94p.

Quick read about Alice, a housewife who cannot read and the teenage rebel who guessed her secret.

This was a very simple book with simple language, and I didn't really find the characters all that believable - they were two-dimensional.

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Star Trek: New Frontier: Missing in Action by Peter David

Star Trek: New Frontier: Missing in Action
Peter David
2006, Pocket Books, New York
978141651080X
341p.

The USS Excalibur encounters a large and powerful ship while attempting to keep peace in the New Thallonian region. They find themselves transported to another universe where two warring races threaten to destroy each other.

I am unfamiliar with most of these characters and backstories; it was explained a little bit in the book but it seemed forced. It had traces of the David humour I'm used to, but none of the sparkle. Overall, I was disappointed.

The Circles by Kerry Armstrong

The Circles
Kerry Armstrong
2003, Hardie Grant Books, South Yarra
1740661257
93p.

A little self-help book written by Australian actress Kerry Armstrong which deals with our relationships with other people and how to categorise those relationships in order to better understand ourselves.

I was a bit skeptical when I started to read this book as I always am with self-help, but I found it to be interesting and it did have a few little bits of advice which were helpful. I've never really had major issues with relationships but I'm sure that someone who does have would enjoy this little book's advice.

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