The Registrar by Neela Janakiramanan #BRPreview

 

The mental health of those who work in the health sector is in crisis.  Anyone who reads the news can attest to this.   

This is a fictional account of the crisis but grounded in truth.  The author has a wide experience working in the public health sector and her writing is authentic and convincing.   

We are carried on the whirlwind of Emma’s journey training to be a surgeon as a registrar.  The hours are relentless and unforgiving but Emma is all you would want in a trainee surgeon, brilliant but empathic.  Her baptism into the grueling work is made bearable by the support of her older brother, Andy.  He becomes her guide and chief counsel in times of unbearable stress.  

I was barracking for Emma all the way and incredulous at such a flawed system designed to trip up rather than support those in it.  Emma makes some poor choices personally but given the extraordinary challenges she faces on a daily basis, I think we can forgive her her occasional lapse of judgement. 

Light relief is provided by the description of the ludicrous attempts of the human resources department to band-aid the gaping wounds in the system.But they of course are not to blame.  The blame lies fairly and squarely in the hands of the surgeons themselves.  An outdated apprenticeship system, like a stack of cards, is doomed to collapse.  But will the system or its new recruits collapse first?  

This book is not for everyone.  There are some rather squeamish descriptions of operations and there are definitely a few trigger incidents in the story. But if you care deeply about surely one of the most important sectors in our country, you owe it to those who care for us in our darkest hours, to acknowledge their journey and its challenges.

I was lucky enough to be selected for a review copy of this book through Better Reading. Thank you @betterreadingau! #BRPreview

2022 Reading Goals

 

How was your reading year?   

I set myself a goal of 50 books but only managed to read 32.

Too much bridge playing me thinks ;)

This year, because I never learn, I've set an even higher goal. But more of that in a moment.

So here are the titles I read (or listened to) in 2021.  The blurbs are from Goodreads:

1.  Love and Virtue by Diana Reid - Feminism, power and sex play out through the eyes of young Australian uni students in a contemporary narrative that is fiercely authentic. On The Australian's Books of the Year list. And the Chat 10 Looks 3 list. Contemporary Fiction.
   
2. The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovatt - Arthur Prescott is happiest when surrounded by the ancient manuscripts of the Barchester Cathedral library, nurturing his obsession with the Holy Grail and researching his perennially unfinished guidebook to the medieval cathedral. But when Bethany Davis arrives in Barchester to digitize the library's manuscripts, Arthur's tranquility is broken. Appalled by the threat of modern technology, he sets out to thwart Bethany, only to find in her a kindred spirit - and a fellow Grail fanatic.I listened to the audio version which was great. Mystery/Historical Fiction
   
3. The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre - Inspiration for the major motion picture Mama Weed; translated from the international bestseller La Daronne, winner of the European Crime Fiction Prize and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, France’s most prestigious prize for crime fiction. Crime/Mystery
   
4. Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie -First came a sinister warning to Poirot not to eat any plum pudding...then the discovery of a corpse in a chest...next, an overheard quarrel that led to murder...the strange case of the dead man who altered his eating habits...and the puzzle of the victim who dreamt his own suicide.Crime/Mystery
5. Still Alice by Lisa Genova - Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University.Contemporary Fiction.
6. Betoota-isms by The Betoota Advociate - Sugarcane Champagne
   / sug-ar-cane sham-'pén /
   
   1. Bundaberg Rum/Bundy Rum
   2. Biblical holy water produced and enjoyed in South East
   Queensland
   3. Official fighting fluid of North Queensland Humour
   
   
7. Convenience Store Woman by Sayara Murata - Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life.Contemporary Fiction.
8. Secrets of Happiness by Joan Silber - Ethan, a young lawyer in New York, learns that his father has long kept a second family - a Thai wife and two kids living in Queens. In the aftermath of this revelation, Ethan's mother spends a year travelling abroad, returning much changed, just as her now ex-husband falls ill. Literary fiction.
   
9. Good Talk by Mira Jacob  -Mira Jacob's touching, often humorous, and utterly unique graphic memoir takes readers on her journey as a first-generation American. At an increasingly fraught time for immigrants and their families, Good Talk delves into the difficult conversations about race, sex, love, and family that seem to be unavoidable these days.Memoir
   
10. The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri - Nuri is a beekeeper; his wife, Afra, an artist. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo - until the unthinkable happens. When all they care for is destroyed by war, they are forced to escape.Historical fiction
    
11. Still by Matt Nable - The humidity sat heavy and thick over the town as Senior Constable Ned Potter looked down at a body that had been dragged from the shallow marshland. He didn't need a coroner to tell him this was a bad death.Crime/Mystery
12. Should we stay or should we go by Lionel Shriver - When her father dies, Kay Wilkinson can’t cry. Over ten years, Alzheimer’s had steadily eroded this erudite man. Surely one’s own father passing should never come as such a relief? Contemporary Fiction.
13. Patch  Work by Claire Wilcox - A linen sheet, smooth with age. A box of buttons, mother-of-pearl and plastic, metal and glass, rattling and untethered. A hundred-year-old pin, forgotten in a hem. Fragile silks and fugitive dyes, fans and crinolines, and the faint mark on leather from a buckle now lost. Claire Wilcox has worked as a curator in Fashion at the Victoria & Albert Museum for most of her working life. Memoir
14. How to Love Your Laundry by Patric Richardson - Humour and yes it is about doing your laundry/Household Management
    
15. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams - In 1901, the word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Historical fiction
16. A Clear Vision by Elisabeth Wheeler - A Clear Vision is the story of Mrs Janet O'Connor, first Lady Principal of the new Brisbane Girls Grammar School in 1875. Her philosophy of education would clash with the grammar mode and she went on to found her own school in the City which moved to Oxley and was called Duporth.Non-Fiction/History
    
17. A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing by Jessie Tu - Growing up is always hard, but especially when so many think you're a washed-up has-been at twenty-two.Contemporary Fiction
18. Downsizing with Family History in Mind by Devon Noel Lee and Andrew Lee -Whether you have 1 hour or 1 year to downsize your possessions or those of a loved one, the task is overwhelming and fraught with error. Downsizing with Family History in Mind guides you through the process with Action Plans based on the time you have available to complete the downsizing process. Non-Fiction/Genealogy
    
19. Isabel Lopez-Quesada at Home by Isabel Lopez-Quesada -Innovatively combining period and contemporary furniture and art in a sophisticated mix, the homes of Isabel López-Quesada are inspirational and unforgettable. In At Home, the Spanish designer tells her own story. Memoir
20. This Lovely City by Louise Hare - London, 1950. With the war over and London still rebuilding, jazz musician Lawrie Matthews has answered England’s call for labour. Arriving from Jamaica aboard the Empire Windrush, he’s rented a tiny room in south London and fallen in love with the girl next door.Historical fiction
21. Our Spoons Came from Woolworths by Barbara Comyns - Marry in haste, repent at leisure. Sophia is twenty-one years old, carries a newt -- Great Warty -- around in her pocket and marries -- in haste -- a young artist called Charles. Swept into bohemian London of the thirties, Sophia is ill-equipped to cope.Classic/Virago
    
22. Sisters by a River by Barbara Comyns - On the banks of the River Avon, six sisters are born. The seasons come and go, the girls take their lessons under the ash tree, and always there is the sound of water swirling through the weir. Then, unexpectedly, an air of decay descends upon the house: ivy grows unchecked over the windows, angry shouts split the summer air, the milk sours in the larder and their father takes out his gun.Classic/Virago
23. Flesh Wounds by Richard Glover - A mother who invented her past, a father who was often absent, a son who wondered if this could really be his family. Memoir
24. The Spyglass File by Nathan Dylan Goodwin - Morton Farrier was no longer at the top of his game. His forensic genealogy career was faltering and he was refusing to accept any new cases, preferring instead to concentrate on locating his own elusive biological father. Yet, when a particular case presents itself, that of finding the family of a woman abandoned in the midst of the Battle of Britain, Morton is compelled to help her to unravel her past. Historical fiction/Genealogy Mystery
    
25. Girl in the Walls by AJ Gnuse - Elise knows every inch of the house. She knows which boards will creak. She knows where the gaps are in the walls. She knows which parts can take her in, hide her away. It’s home, after all. Thriller
    
26. Certain Lives by Margaret Reeson - Spanning the century from 1830 to the First World War and the Great Depression comes this dramatic story of three generations of Australian women. Bestselling author Margaret Reeson evokes with warmth and insight the pain and progress, joy and tragedy of Anna, Mary and Grace – mother, daughter and granddaughter. Family History/Faction
    
27. The Champagne War by Fiona McIntosh - In the summer of 1914, vigneron Jerome Mea heads off to war, certain he’ll be home by Christmas. His new bride Sophie Delancré, a fifth generation champenoise, is determined to ensure the forthcoming vintages will be testament to their love and the power of the people of Épernay, especially its strong women who have elevated champagne to favourite beverage of the rich and royal worldwide.Historical fiction
28. The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai - With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner’s In the Shadow of the Banyan, The Mountains Sing tells an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Tran family, set against the backdrop of the Viet Nam War.Historical fiction
29. Nobody will tell you this but Me by Bess Kalb -Bess Kalb--whip-smart, Twitter-famous TV comedy writer and regular New Yorker "Daily Shouts" columnist--has saved every voicemail message her grandmother, Bobby Bell, ever left her. The two were best friends and confidantes. Bobby doted on her granddaughter; Bess adored Bobby. In 2017, nearly ninety, Bobby died Memoir
30. Honeybee by Craig Silvey - Honeybee is a heart-breaking, life-affirming novel that throws us headlong into a world of petty thefts, extortion plots, botched bank robberies, daring dog rescues and one spectacular drag show.Contemporary Fiction/Bookclub
31. Weather by Jenny Offill - a shimmering tour de force about a family, and a nation, in crisis  Contemporary Fiction
32. Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey - Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Natasha Trethewey explores this profound experience of pain, loss, and grief as an entry point into understanding the tragic course of her mother’s life and the way her own life has been shaped by a legacy of fierce love and resilience. Memoir

So, 7 contemporary fiction, 7 historical fiction, 3 crime/mystery, 2 humour, 6 Memoirs, 2 classics, 1 history, 1 thriller, 1 genealogy book, 1 family history, 1 Literary fiction.It's also important to acknowledge that I did start reading 24 other books but I'm not going to put them here.  Most of these were new to me authors with the exception of Agatha Christie, Lionel Shriver, Fiona McIntosh and Nathan Dylan-Goodwin.

If you asked me which books I liked reading best I'd have to say Honeybee, The Mountains Sing, Flesh Wounds, A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, Should we stay or should we go, Good Talk, Convenience Store Woman, Still Alice, The Lost Book of the Grail and Love and Virtue.  10.  Not bad out of 32.  Not that some of the others weren't good but they were the ones I like best or found easy to read and enjoyed.

 

Okay here is the plan for 2022

January

1. Journey to Paradise by Dorothy M Richardson Virago
2. Second Place by Rachel Cusk Contemporary Fiction
   
3. Burning Island by Jock Serong Historical Fiction
   
4. The Promise by Damon Galgut - Book club
   
5. Fancy Meeting You Here by Ali Berg - Romance
   
6. Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris Historical Fiction

 February

1. The First Stone by Helen Garner Feminism
   
2. All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West Virago
   
3. Bobbin Up by Dorothy Hewitt Virago
4. Without My Cloak by Kate O'Brien Virago
5. Canticle Creek by Adrian Hyland Crime Mystery
   
6. Dissolve by Nikki Gemell Memoir
   

 March

1. Miss Herbert by Christina Stead Virago
2. Crowded Street by Winifred Holtby Virago
3. Devoted Ladies by Molly Keane Virago
4. Letty Fox - Her Luck by Christina Stead Virago
5. Devotion by Hannah Kent Historical Fiction
6. By Pass by Michael McGirr
   

April

1. Ann Veronica by HG Wells Virago
2. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton Virago
3. Frost in May by Antonia White Virago
4. Lucy Gayheart by Willa Cather Virago
5. Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan New release Mystery
   
6. Believe in Me by Lucy Neave  Contemporary Fiction
   

May 

1. Mad Puppetstown by Molly Keane Virago
2. Glitter of Mica by Jessie Keeson Virago
3. Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann Virago
4. Reckoning by Magda Szubanski Memoir
5. The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie Memoir
6. Your Own kind of Girl by Clare Bowditch Memoir

June

1. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier Virago
2. The Holiday by Stevie Smith Virago
3. A doll's House by Henrik Ibsen Classic
4. Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver Classic
5. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel Historical Fiction
6. Daughters of the Labyrinth by Ruth Padel Contemporary Fiction

July

1. Jenny Wren by EH Young Virago
2. Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge Virago
3. The Cuckoo's Cry by Caroline Overington Contemporary Fiction
4. The Streets by Anthony Quinn Classic
5. Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage Mystery/Crime
   
6. Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth Historical Fiction

August

1. Ante Room by Kate O'Brien Virago
2. The Little Company by Eleanor Dark Virago
3. Moonraker by F Tennyson Jesse Virago
4. Story on the Stone by Cao Xuegin Classic
5. Dinner with the Schnabels by Toni Jordan New release Contemporary Fiction
   
6. Fatal Grace by Louise Penny Mystery/Crime
   

September

1. Some Everyday Folk and Dawn by Miles Franklin Virago
2. One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes Virago
3. Painted Clay by Capel Boake Virago
4. O Quinze by Rachel de Queiroz Memoir
5. The Friendly Young Ladies by Mary Renault Virago
6. The Memorial Feast for Kokotoy-Khan by Saimbay orozbq uulu Classic

October

1. Oh William by Elizabeth Strout
   
2. The Squire's Daughter by FM Mayor Virago
3. The Rector and the Doctor's Family by Mrs Oliphant Virago
4. The Sheltered Life by Ellen Glasgow Virago
5. The Four Chambered Heart by Anais Nin Classic
6.  The Curate's Wife by EH Young Virago

November

1. Never No More by Maura Laverty Virago
2. Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim Virago
3. Three Miss Kings by Ada Cambridge Virago
4. The Semi-attached Couple in the Semi-Detatched House by Emily Eden Virago
5.  A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines Classic
6.  Novel on Yellow Paper by Stevie Smith Virago

December

1. Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau Virago
2. The Unlit Lamp by Radclyffe Hall Virago
3. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace-Thakeray Classic
4. Zadig by Voltaire Classic
5. Marcella by Mrs Humphrey Ward Virago
6. Germinal by Emile Zola Classic
   

There's a proliferation of Virago Modern Classics and other classics here.  I've got 317 Viragos and it's time I read them.  That was the plan when I bought them.  Read them in retirement.  Well retirement is here.  Get on with it girl!

 

I've joined about half a dozen Reading Challenges on Goodreads just because they are so much fun to write up.  Of course, there are so many more books I want to read.  I don't know what to do in terms of what I order from the library.  I think I need to be much more restrained about what I order in.  And of course I've got bookclub books yet which I don't know about.

 

Such is life.  How has your reading year been?  How's this year shaping up? 

 

What I borrowed today...

 

So here's the stack I borrowed from the library today.  Text Publishing sent me an email this week highlighting their latest releases. I chose the Gail Jones and Robbie Arnott books, not because they're latest releases but because they have both been longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. 

 All I've read of Gail Jones is Five Bells.  Robbie Arnott is new to me.

I listened to the ABC's Bookshelf program yesterday on the way to Bel's place and so have been sucked in to reading more Patricia Highsmith.  Yes, I have ordered the new biography. Eek! I'm such a goose.  I now realize that Those who Walk Away is the only Patricia Highsmith I have read.  I will have to order another.  Strangers on a Train sounds good.  I've also ordered The Blunderer because it is such a splendid title.

I have wanted to read A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing for a while. Have you read it? Did you enjoy it?

And I borrowed a couple of magazines for idle browsing.  I love the healthyfood magazine and I thought I would see what The Simple Things magazine is like.  I get bored easily when making meals and need a bit of inspiration.  Hence the Healthier Together cookbook as well. I find it challenging just cooking for two all the time.  

Last but not least a knitting book because you can never look at too many knitting patterns.  I don't think I know about KlompeLOMPE but maybe I follow them on Instagram.  At any rate, it looks fun and lovely.

What am I reading currently?  Well I started listening to The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett as suggested by Modern Mrs Darcy. 

I've also got There was still Love by Favel Parrett beside the bed and  The Group by Mary McCarthy which I was trying to read for a Virago Book Club discussion on Facebook.

The Echo wife by Sarah Gailey, The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert and The Edward Street Baby Farm by Stella Budrikis are also lying in wait for me.

What did you borrow from the library this week?  Any comfort books like me for long winter nights?  Are you cooking and knitting more?  Do you like reading Patricia Highsmith?  Do you ever get to read the books you borrow?  How do you commit to reading so you reach your goals?  I'm 7 books behind on my goal of reading 50 books this year.  How are you going?

Certain Lives: The Compelling Story Of The Hope, Tragedy And Triumph Of Three Generations Of Women

This novel was recommended at a recent Society of Australian Genealogists Friday Book Hangout. We we were all suggesting books that might appeal to family historians. This one called out to me because it is partly set in the Cowpastures/Camden area where my convict ancestors were married.

This is a three-generation (and probably more) story which starts in England in about 1830 and follows the journey of a free couple and their children out to Australia and the progress of their descendants. The focus is on the matriarchs of the family; the grandmother, daughter and grand-daughter. Much of the latter story is set in south western New South Wales at Coolamon or thereabouts. There is a lot of history to cover; early settlement, the Gold Rush, the first World War and the Depression.

The book is over 400 pages and had to be obtained as an inter-library loan through the Brisbane City Council (thank you Wagga Library for entrusting me with it). I had two weeks to read it so was on a strict timetable. This did not allow me to savour it but rather pushed me through some bits which I would have otherwise found somewhat repetitive and indeed may have caused me to give up and toss aside.

At times I found the religious overtones almost too much and wondered if younger readers might find them too off-putting. On reflection, however, I was glad I persisted. Methodism, or what became the Uniting Church, was a powerful force in this particular family's life (check out the author's biography on Wikipedia). Whether we agree with it personally or not, it certainly shaped the family's response to and experience of historical events and should not be discounted.

As always, this account reconfirmed how much easier we have it these days in terms of house-keeping/home-making. Just the business of preserving meat, fruit and vegetables was a full-time job on its own without having to wash and care for a family. As the old refrain goes, "I don't know how our grandmothers did it all!"

It was lovely to read the Epilogue and hear how stories had been passed down through the generations. I particularly liked the one of the pioneering grandmother who refused to get off the boat until her husband went into Sydney to buy her a bonnet to replace the one lost earlier on the long and arduous voyage. Bless her heart.

Did I learn anything new? Yes I think I did. I was particularly fascinated to read about how the original wealthy landowners went belly-up as it were in I think the 1840s-50s so I need to read up more about that particular part of Australian history. I also didn't know about how hard it was for farmers during the depression with the government promising certain prices for prices for wheat and then defaulting on those promises. And as I say, it also opened my eyes to how much religion can be a driving force in a family and how that should be taken into account in considering ancestor's lives, even if it's not the case in today's world.

This novel is testament to the love the author has for her ancestors' fortitude and strength of character. Reeson has also written biographies and historical accounts covering a wide range of topics. I may have to read more!