To Hellas and Back: My Modern-day Greek Tragedy by Lana Penrose

BOOK REVIEW. To Hellas and Back is the true story of one woman’s four year Greek Odyssey for love.  Lana Penrose subtitled her book, ‘My modern-day Greek tragedy’, but it soon becomes clear to the reader that Penrose was being facetious, as this very funny book does not read like any Greek tragedy I’ve ever read!

During the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Aussie girl Lana Penrose follows her sweetheart Dion, to Athens when he is offered the job of managing one of the city’s most popular radio stations. As the son of two Greek parents, Dion takes to the city of Athens like a duck to water. As Lana Penrose was later to write in her book – for Dion “a lifetime of passive cultural conditioning sprang to life” when he begins living and working in the Greek capital. Read more

The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin meets Hercule Poirot in this evocative mystery set on a small Greek island.

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International retailer: Amazon.com US$8.61
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Purchase this book in Australia before 31 March 2009 and you could win a $5000 Holiday in the Summer Reading Competition.

Book Description
When the battered body of a young woman is discovered on a remote Greek island, the local police are quick to dismiss her death as an accident. Then a stranger arrives, uninvited, from Athens, announcing his intention to investigate further. His methods are unorthodox, and he brings his own mystery into the web of dark secrets and lies. Who has sent him, on whose authority is he acting, and how does he know of dramas played out decades ago? Read more

The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty

A young girl and her family deal with the repercussions of a tragic car accident in this compelling tale of loss and guilt.  Read an Extract.

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International retailer: Amazon.com US$10.17
Australian retailer: QBD The Bookshop AU$29.95

Purchase this book in Australia before 31 March 2009 and you could win a $5000 Holiday in the Summer Reading Competition

Book Description
The Rest of Her Life is a luminous compassionate and provocative look at how mothers and daughters with the best intentions can be blind to the harm they do to one another. Read more

The Feng Shui Detective Goes South by Nury Vittachi

The latest novel in the internationally best-selling Feng Shui Detective series sees Mr Wong and other members of the Union of Industrial Mystics in Singapore. They are introduced to a young woman who, all their mystical arts tell them, is doomed to die. Their desperate efforts to save her eventually lead C.F. Wong and Joyce to Sydney.

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Best Online Price: QBD The Bookshop for AU$18.95

Purchase this book before 31 March 2009 and you could win a $5000 Holiday in the Summer Reading Competition

Book Description
As he travels around Asia solving crimes the venerable feng shui Master C.F. Wong is so much more than an interior design consultant. In this latest adventure he and other members of the Union of Industrial Mystics are introduced to a young woman who, all their mystical arts tell them, is doomed to die. Read more

The Annotated Pride and Prejudice

Read or revisit a classic this summer with this first-ever, fully annotated edition, of one of the most beloved novels in the world. The Annotated Pride and Prejudice is a sheer delight for Jane Austen fans who can’t get enough of Regency Period literature.

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Best Online Price: The Nile – Australia’s Largest Online Bookstore for AU$31.49

The book contains the complete text of Pride and Prejudice with more than 2,300 annotations on facing pages, including:

Explanations of historical context: Rules of etiquette, class differences, the position of women, legal and economic realities, leisure activities, and more.

Citations from Austen’s life, letters, and other writings: Parallels between the novel and Austen’s experience are revealed, along with writings that illuminate her beliefs and opinions.

Definitions and clarifications: Archaic words, words still in use whose meanings have changed, and obscure passages are explained. Read more

Everlasting by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

Historical romance was born when Kathleen E. Woodiwiss gifted the world with the groundbreaking The Flame and the Flower. Now, twelve New York Times bestsellers later, “The first lady of the genre” (Publishers Weekly) returns with her most breathtaking masterwork—a glorious celebration of a secret love that is dangerous, irresistible, forbidden, and . . . Everlasting. READ AN EXTRACT

Handsome and kind—a black-haired Scotsman with vivid blue eyes—Raven Seabern is an emissary for his king, and unlike any man Abrielle has ever encountered. From the moment their eyes meet, he intrigues and mesmerizes her—and dancing in his arms at a royal banquet leaves her weak with the desire to surrender. But their love can never be, for Abrielle is betrothed to a “monster.” And the well-being of everyone she cares for demands that she honor her promise.

Still, the fire lit that night will not be doused. Raven knows he has found the true one and must never let her go—though secrets, deceptions, dishonor, and unimaginable peril will surely be their fate if they follow the dictates of their hearts. Read more

The Islands by Di Morrissey

Australian author.

It’s the psychedelic 70s and social conventions are being challenged. When Catherine Moreland from rural Australia goes on her first trip abroad, a handsome American naval officer sweeps her off her feet and she goes to live in beautiful, romantic Hawaii with her new husband.

At first, the magic and loveliness of the Islands lead Catherine to believe she is living in paradise. She befriends Kiann’e, a traditional dancer; Eleanor, the owner of the legendary Palm Grove Hotel; Lester, a reclusive old surfer; and royal Beatrice, leading the fight to maintain Hawaii’s heritage and culture.

However, as Catherine learns more about the Islands, she begins to discover that paradise has a darker side. And when she meets a mystery man of the sea, as though hit by a tsunami, her life is turned upside down and changed forever. READ AN EXTRACT Read more

The Chameleon’s Shadow by Minette Walters

Could severe head injuries turn a man into a killer? When an injured soldier returns from Iraq, he appears to undergo a complete change in personality in the latest dark, complex thriller from the Queen of Crime now in paperback. READ AN EXTRACT

Book Description
How could he forget eight weeks of his life? How could thirty hours have turned into eternity? Why had the nurse said his wires were crossed? What was wrong with him?

When Lieutenant Charles Acland is flown home from Iraq with serious head injuries, he faces not only permanent disfigurement but also an apparent change to his previously outgoing personality. Crippled by migraines and suspicions of his psychiatrist, he begins to display sporadic bouts of aggression, particularly against women, and especially his ex-fianc e, who seems unable to accept that the relationship is over.

After his injuries prevent his return to the army, he cuts all ties with his former life and moves to London. Alone and unmonitored, he sinks into a private world of guilt and paranoid distrust until a customer annoys him in a Bermondsey pub … Read more

The Private Patient by P.D. James

A new thrilling Dalgliesh mystery.

Book Description
When the notorious investigative journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, booked into Mr Chandler-Powell’s private clinic in Dorset for the removal of a disfiguring and long-standing facial scar, she had every prospect of a successful operation by a distinguished surgeon, a week’s peaceful convalescence in one of Dorset’s most beautiful manor houses and the beginning of a new life.

She was never to leave Cheverell Manor alive. Dalgliesh and his team are called in to investigate the murder, and later a second death, which are to raise even more complicated problems than the question of innocence of guilt.

A new detective novel by P.D. James is always keenly awaited and The Private Patient will undoubtedly equal the success of her world-wide bestseller, The Lighthouse. Read more

Ulterior Motives by Lucienne Joy

A gripping psychological thriller that takes a compelling and shocking journey into the secrets of a marriage. READ AN EXTRACT

Book Description
What is it they say about marriage and haste?

Living the glamorous expat life on the French Riviera, Australian journalist Coco’s got it all – except for romance. So when she meets dashing American Jack Villeneuve, she thinks she’s hit the jackpot. He’s handsome, debonair, attentive, great in bed and, best of all, smitten with her. Before long she is head over heels in love with him and a whirlwind courtship turns into a fairytale wedding and honeymoon. She can hardly believe her luck.

But then one night, Jack suggests they ‘try something new’, and ever so gradually Coco meets a side of Jack that is totally unexpected and quite disturbing. As she learns more about his world of pain and punishment, she comes to question not only his motives, but their very marriage. Read more

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