To celebrate our upcoming author event with Graeme Simsion, Wyo reviews The Rosie Effect.

 ‘The Rosie Effect’ is the new sequel to Graeme Simsion’s hugely successful debut novel ‘The Rosie Project’. The narrator is Don Tillman, a genetics professor who has difficulties relating to others, interpreting social situations and is probably somewhere on the Autism scale. At the start of the novel, Don is living with his new wife, Rosie, in New York. A number of dilemmas crop up throughout the novel which most men would find challenging, but which for Don are a special kind of difficult – the most significant challenge for Don being Rosie becoming pregnant.

‘The Rosie Effect’, like ‘The Rosie Project’, is incredibly funny, clever, and heart-warming, while at the same time being extremely touching and at times deeply moving. Don’s personal difficulties create many situations for him, Rosie, and his friends which are extremely entertaining and almost absurd (in the best way possible), and Don’s perspective is extremely quirky and refreshing. While these social blunders are amusing, there is also a huge outpouring of sympathy that is created for Don, as sometimes the reader understands the cruelty of others while Don is somewhat blind to it. By looking through Don’s eyes, the reader experiences a truly unique and fascinating perspective of the world, marriage, friendships and parenthood, and is able to get a sense of how life is for someone trying their best to fit in, while everything is immeasurably more difficult than it is for most of us. This is a unique book, one of very few which have had me laughing out loud, staying up all night to finish it, and giving me a new perspective on many of the things that I take for granted.

As a sequel to such a wonderful novel, most readers and lovers of ‘The Rosie Project’ – myself included – might be anxious to continue reading, in case the magic of the first book is diminished by a disappointing follow-on. The message here: stop worrying. ‘The Rosie Effect’ is the perfect sequel, matching the first book in every way, while delving deeper into the main characters and into Don’s world, and the difficulties experienced by someone who finds interacting with others so challenging. Both ‘The Rosie Project’ and ‘The Rosie Effect’ are my number one recommendation for anyone after a book that is entertaining, funny, romantic and light – while still being extremely clever, quirky and original. Women might be more immediately attracted to these books, but there is no reason that male readers won’t enjoy them just as much.

‘The Rosie Effect’ is the perfect read for the start of summer; for anyone who loves the prequel; for anyone after a few wonderful hours in Don’s unique and hilarious world. 

The Rosie Effect is OUT NOW!

Ally makes a few notes on Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson.

Fourth of July Creek is as whirlwind of characters, all varying degrees of fucked up. It centres around Pete, a social worker, who seems to be trying as much to mend himself as others through his work. He bonds with the children he tries to save from their disastrous families, but perhaps this is because he can't fix his own reality, with a broken marriage and a daughter who won't speak to him, slowly going off the rails under his ex-wife's 'care'. Though through the readers own eyes, it is difficult to empathise with even some of the better characters, these broken and confused people each have their own beauty, and through Pete's eyes, there is hope in everyone. This is one of those books that makes you smile and laugh at the same time, and makes you want to hug it so the characters don't leave you in the end. For fans of AM Homes, Jennifer Egan and Jeffrey Eugenides. A seriously good read.  

Check out this review from Jon Page from Pages & Pages in Australia.

Also, here are some snippets from Jeff VanderMeer's Guardian review:
‘What should you give up on and what should you hold on to? What will forever remain damaged and what fades into scar tissue? Smith Henderson’s stunning debut novel, Fourth of July Creek, explores these questions, offered up with a richness of character and language… Heart wrenching…The author achieves an eviscerating catharsis, riffing like a jazz musician…In the end, Fourth of July Creek delivers on promised confrontations and revelations, yet they are not the ones you might expect…Henderson is committed to showing us unhappy and unstable people existing at the edges of any safety net. But they’re also people struggling to find a kind of truth, and they’re portrayed with compassion and humanity, in a voice that crackles and lurches with the intensity of a Tom Waits song. Here, at the beginning of his career, Henderson has come within shouting distance of writing a great American novel.’ 

Hi there Sarah! Can you please tell me what you are studying and how this lead you to be an intern at Time Out Bookstore? Hi Jenna! I’m in my final semester of studying Event Management at Auckland University of Technology. Basically I’m learning how to run all different kinds of events, whether they be charity fundraisers or book clubs! To complete my degree, I have to run some real world events to prove that I’m ready to graduate and go out into the world of events - which is what I hope I’m proving by interning at Time Out!

Why did you approach Time Out for an internship?The two things I love most in the world are books and organising. Time Out offered the perfect opportunity to combine these things and work with awesome people in a really cool environment to bring about some fun book clubs and other literary events. I was thrilled when Time Out offered me an internship and I’ve loved working here so far!

What are some of your favourite books?
Nothing beats a good Agatha Christie murder mystery! I’m also a big fan of classic literature, with The Count of Monte Cristo and Wuthering Heights topping my list, and of course I love John Green too (don’t we all?).

What events have you done already for Time Out and what do you have in the pipeline? We’ve already had an awesome Teen Book Club last month with the lovely Tania Hutley stopping by to chat with us about her book, and I also helped Paula Green run a poetry party a few weeks ago. Both of those were a lot of fun to be involved with. Coming up, we’ve got this month’s Teen Book Club with Elizabeth Knox, and next month we’ve got Catherine Mayo returning, both of which I’m very excited about. There are also a few tentative plans for November that, even though I’ll be at the end of my internship, I’m still hopefully helping organise in the next couple of months. Keep an eye out for those! 

Tell about the Elizabeth Knox book club that is being held next week:We’re so excited to have Elizabeth Knox joining us via Skype from Wellington to talk about Mortal Fire, one of her most recent novels and an excellent young adult read. We’ll connect up with her at 4pm on Friday 26th September and spend an hour discussing the novel and getting to benefit from her knowledge and expertise. Elizabeth is an extremely talented author with multiple awards to her name and it’s an honour to have her join us. If you’re a teen reader (or read at a teen level), I really hope you can join us for an awesome afternoon!

What do you think is the most valuable thing for members being a part of the Teen Book Club?Sometimes it can be hard for teenagers to connect with others who like to read as much as they do, and reading, as wonderful as it is, can be a very solitary activity. Being a part of a book club helps you to connect with other people who share your love for books and make new friends, as well as having a great discussion about some awesome books. For those who are interested in writing books one day, meeting the authors can give them some great advice on how to follow that dream, and inspire them that it can be done. It’s a great chance to catch up with your friends, make new ones, and talk about books - what could be better?

Louisa and Alex review two great 2014 releases about BEES!

A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson 
The Bees by Laline Paull

Reviewed by Alex Mitcalfe Wilson and Louisa Kasza

With thanks to Sex with Bowie for the tunes!

Tell me about what you've been studying?

Currently in my second year of a BA double majoring in English and Māori studies. 

What were some of your most influential books growing up?

When I was younger I loved Little Women, Charlottes Web, Pippi Longstockings, Matilda and The Witches. Later on I became obsessed with the Tomorrow When the War Began series.

What are your top 5 favourite books?

Five is too hard! Here are seven: 

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

The Years - Virginia Woolf

Farewell to Arms - Hemingway 

Jerusalem - Yotam Ottolenghi 

Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry 

And what new released are you most excited about reading or have recently read?

I recently read The Goldfinch which I loved and have just started the new Murakami. I'm also very excited to read The Incarnations as everyone is telling me how wonderful it is. 

What do you love to do other than read?

I love cooking and baking, going out for breakfast, escaping to the beach and making things with my sewing machine. 

Manon reviews the long awaited new title by prolific author, Ian McEwan. The Children Act was released today.

There is no one who delves into the repressed, British, upper-class psyche quite like Ian McEwan. In books like Atonement and Saturday, I learnt to love the seemingly well-off characters whose manicured lives had been thrown into turmoil. They were forced to communicate and shift. At moments, their internalisation perplexed me– “why can’t they just talk about it?” I thought – yet simultaneously, this concealed vulnerability was heartbreaking and relatable.

His latest novel, The Children Act, delivers just such a character. We are drawn into the layered existence of Fiona Maye, a respected high court judge: her professional world, her private world, and their unsettling overlaps. Inside her grand London home, Fiona’s marriage to her husband, Jack, is bursting at the seams with unsaid things. She is secretly haunted by a past case, as well as general missed opportunities in her life, causing her to withdraw and clam up. As Jack’s frustration comes to a head, she is called in to assess an urgent and difficult case involving a young Jehovah’s Witness boy with leukaemia. For religious reasons, he is refusing to receive life-saving blood transfusions. The decision of whether or not to intervene rests on Fiona, and marks a dramatic turning point.

As we saw in the meticulously researched neurosurgery of Saturday, McEwan is skilled at taking us inside an elite expertise (admittedly, he has the privilege of an exceptional social circle to tap into for this). In The Children Act, Fiona’s life as a judge is rendered in full colour. Its detailed cases and laid-out reasoning provide contrast and escapism into a clean, logical world for both Fiona and the reader. I felt the same sense of fascination I used to get when reading my flat-mate’s law notes: that rare glimpse into what is usually a fairly exclusive world, and one that is so different from my own.

Words like ‘crisp’ and ‘razor sharp’ are so often used to describe Ian McEwan’s prose, so I won’t elaborate too much, but suffice it to say that this book is no exception. His writing is extremely crafted, yet flows effortlessly. As well as its formal mastery, The Children Act is also testament to McEwan’s psychological astuteness: fear of death in flickering observations of ageing bodies; pride and ego in silent stand-offs. By focusing solely on Fiona and her convoluted exchanges, he manages to pin down the intricacies of human thought and behaviour with satisfying precision. It is something that he does best, and is captivating to read.

We review this fantastic Man Booker long list title!

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

Reviewed by Jenna Todd and Louisa Kasza

With thanks to Sex with Bowie for the tunes!

Ian reviews his favourite genre! Perfidia by James Ellroy is released on the 12th of September.

I know it’s been a few months since I last wrote about hard-boiled detectives so I feel the need again to fill my self imposed quota of sermonising.

Ever since seeing L.A. Confidential in 1999 at the tender age of 12 I've been a James Ellroy fan, although I didn't know it at the time. It took me a few years of maturity to realise that one of my favourite films was written by one of my soon to be favourite authors. Maybe, like Ellroy’s obsession with red headed women after his mother’s murder, my own obsession with detective novels was born out of the murders on his pages. Who knows, I'm not a doctor.

So when I heard that Ellroy was releasing his first book in five years, Perfidia, I knew I needed to feed my addiction. Simply by the title I knew that I was going to be in for a treat. As the back cover lets you know, Perfidia is Spanish for Perfidy, as in a deliberate breach of faith or trust; faithlessness; treachery. Boy did this book live up to its title. As per standard Ellory tale, every single character is out for their own gain, no matter who they have to cut a deal with. For the longest time I couldn’t decide which character I’m supposed to be rooting for, but then realised that it didn’t matter. All the characters were terrible people but I was too swept up in the intrigue to care. Not even big shiny America comes out as a clean hero, which Nazi loving cops and kids who kick people in the street because they have different skin colour and are "the enemy".

Not only is this a cracker of a mystery,  the depth of historical accuracy is astounding. Famous faces and events are jammed packed into the twenty odd days that this story covers. At almost 700 pages, the story begins just a day before the bombing of Pearl Harbour and the inevitable entrance of America into the Second World War. (I know, I know, you’re thinking “Who needs to read another novel set in WWII? I’ve seen Saving Private Ryan, I've read The Book Thief, it’s all been done.”) Well not this way it hasn’t. Ellroy focuses his view on race relations on the home front and the treatment of Japanese American’s during those first days of the War. It delves deep into the deals cut behind closed doors and the way regular people turned on their neighbour at the drop of a coin. All things most American focused stories try and sweep under the carpet. The victors write the history books as the the phrase goes. So it comes as a breath of fresh air to have people talk about the  bad sides of the good guys for once.

Another fantastic aspect of this novel is something especially for the James Ellroy fanboys like myself. This novel marks the first book in Ellroy’s second L.A. Quartet! (I’ll wait for the wild whooping and hollering to die down from the crowd.) For those of you who have never had the pleasure of coming across James Ellory, his first L.A. Quartet consists of The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz. All these books are stand alone stories but span across Los Angeles in the years 1947-58 and share a wide range of the same characters. He also wrote the Underworld USA Trilogy that spans across 1958-73 and focuses on all of America. So here's where the whooping and hollering comes in, this second L.A. Quartet is going to take characters from these previous books and cover what happened to them during the war. Bam! Drop the mic. Walk off stage. Suffice to say, I am incredibly excited for the next three books in the Quartet because Perfidia really kicks it off. 

             

That being said, if you are just hopping on to the James Ellroy train now, this is a great place to start. Perfidia is just a lyrical and hard hitting as any of his previous books. Plus you can start at the beginning of the chronological life of these characters and watch them struggle through the ups and downs their lives as they develop through all of the other books. I envy you unknown reader, and your hypothetical chance to experience it all for the first time.

So with that, I call on you to go forth and spread the good word of James Ellroy and dive into the intrigue and terrible face of humanity that is Perfidia.