This will hurt me...

Vines upon a tree. Cairns, Far North Queensland. April 2021. The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld I had high hopes for this one at starting, but I was more than a little underwhelmed. Between time jumps and shifting narrative perspective, I found myself confused throughout. While I understand and appreciate the central tenet of the novel is an exploration of the horrors that men visit upon women (and occasionally other men), the unremitting bleakness does wear the reader down. Flitting across three interlinked timeframes, I found the one farthest back - of witchcraft in early-modern Scotland - a bridge too far, disorienting and distracting to the central story arc. Wyld's exploration of the dysfunctional male psyche that brings about misogyny and the terrible crimes committed upon women (and, again, upon other men) does not trouble me as it seems to have other male reviewers. Alas, I want to see a little more depth to the characterisation of these men, lest we fall into the trap that the ...

Self-portrait, Newell Beach, Far North Queensland. April 2021. Passchendaele: A New History by Nick Lloyd As one might expect, this is a deep and convincing exploration of the Third Battle of Ypres. Deep and scholarly in tone, I was struck by how this study seems to buck against the more recent trend in the field to view Haig and the British high command more favourably than the works of the mid-twentieth century. Of particular note, I appreciated the extent to which division between the political and military arms of both the German and British/ Commonwealth sides of the front drove much of the poor decision-making that contributed to so much unnecessary bloodshed. I'd recommend this one to anyone seeking to understand events in a little more depth. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 1/2

Sunrise. Newell Beach, Far North Queensland. April 2021. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee An old-fashioned epic family tale that spans eighty-odd years in the lives of a small group of the Korean diaspora in Japan. While it felt somewhat contrived in parts, the soap-opera elements did not detract from my enjoyment. While I did find the sudden jumps in time periods or character standpoints somewhat jarring, I appreciate that covering the breadth of characters, events and emotions sometimes requires a little shorthand. Well worth the effort! ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

A pool and the Coral Sea. Newell Beach, Far North Queensland. April 2021. The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna A good read told from the perspective of a character with a limited understanding of the complex world around him. Jimmy Flick is a kid with boundless energy and (quite likely) autism. Credit must go to Sofie Laguna for inhabiting the world through Jimmy's eyes and staying the course. Nevertheless, I did find that Jimmy's lack of self-control - so exacerbating to his father and brother in the book - made the novel quite hard going through the first third. Indeed, the boy is so frustrating and irritating that I could barely tolerate it. This is a challenge when we are stuck with this sole narrator. Yet there is deep compassion here and while the narrative arc is equal parts well-worn and improbable (the breadth of his capacity and vocabulary seems decidedly uneven), I was content to stick with it and see how things ended up for Jimmy. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

  Jen on the beach. Ellis Beach, Far North Queensland. April 2021. The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson  There has with no doubt been a great deal of work and fine scholarship put into this book, and to that, I will credit Larson. Yet too often, I find that anything that touches upon Churchill drifts too easily into the hagiographic, which I do not understand. There is plenty here that showcases the flaws of the man and his temperament - consider the impetuous way with which he pursued the frankly ridiculous idea of air landmines (at who knows what opportunity costs) or the taste for luxury in a time of extreme deprivation. In total, are we really supposed to overlook these flaws because of... why exactly? That he was prone to cry? I confess that I don't get it. I found the boorish tales of his family living it up while men were dying in huge numbers; the British public was going without, and the Empire's colonial...