A multi-generational family saga filled with huge dollop of magic realism and way too much drama to fit in one sentence. 

I bought this book from a second hand book store, and sold it back to them after I finished reading it.  A year or two later, without realising that I had already read it, I bought it again.  I decided to keep it so that I didn't make that mistake again and it has proved to be a good read on more than one ocassion.

Nothing says house of spirits like a graveyard.  This particular cemetry is in a small town called Akaroa just outside Christchurch.  

My Friend Flicka by Mary O' Hara

A sensitive young boy who lives on a ranch in Wyoming learns life lessons after being given a filly by his father.  Heartwarming, but not cheesy. 

My sister, who is visiting, says it isn't actually My Friend Flicka, but Her Friend Flicka as she was given it as a child and true enough the date on the inside front cover is Christmas 1978!  The cover says it is a classic and they aren't lying - it was first published in 1941 and is still available.

I took the pic on a trip to Hobbiton at Mata Mata, I though it was appropriate as they are both enduring classics. 

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Lady novelist decides to live off the land (and locally grown produce) for a year.   

Yes, it is indeed a non-fiction book.  I usually say no to non-fiction, however, a few books about food, travel and design managed to jump into the crate. And this book is interesting, 'cos how many times do we think we could survive without supermarkets and grow what we need in our backyards... not as easy as it sounds. 

There are two pictures this week as the tree across the road from our house is so magnificent and you can't see it with the book in the foreground.

Coramandel Sea Change by Rumer Godden

A young couple spend their honeymoon at a hotel on the Coramandel Peninsular in India.  Mary is fresh off the boat and dazzled by India’s brilliance; her husband...not so much.  All manner of conflicts arise.

 Rumer Godden has the ability to paint a world where discipline, kindness and eccentricity lead to salvation and this book is no different.  I am not sure I even care about the characters, I just want to live in her world.  

I wasn’t able to get to the Coramandel Peninsular in New Zealand to take the pic, so I settled for the Orewa Beach just up the road. 

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

An ingénue meets and marries the much more sophisticated Max de Winter while travelling on the continent.  All goes well until they return to his family home and she encounters the housekeeper, a nutjob who worshiped the previous Mrs. de Winter.

A permanent resident of my Top Ten Books of all Time, Rebecca is melodramatic, sensational and oh so satisfying.  It is interesting that although the title is the name of  her rival, we never find out the first name of the protagonist. I think Daphne du Maurier was trying to highlight the differences between the first and second Mrs. de Winter.

 I tried to re-create the journey to Manderly in my picture, but wasn't able to find a gate that looked imposing enough, so I went for the gravel road that led to the bach we stayed in over Christmas. 

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

Man wakes up, one of a few who can see in a world of blind people, and must find a way to survive with the added threat of plants that can walk, talk and sting.

Another futuristic story written in the past.  I love this book because it is written in such a straightforward style that it seems very credible, it is fantastically retro and it has a nice little love story.  I picked it up, by chance, at a second hand book shop.  I have read a few of his other novels since then, but I always return to this one.  

I took the picture at a vineyard near Matakana, a winegrowing area about an hour away from Auckland.  I thought it appropriate to take a picture near cultivated plants!

Undergoing review...

I am thinking about the format and will be back in the new year.