Pacific Fury by Peter Thompson

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Pacific Fury is written from a (mostly) Australian perspective and the book brings to life the barbarity, sacrifice and the bravery of the Pacific War, from Pearl Harbour to Kokoda to Hiroshima.  This account places Australian voices and action at the heart of the struggle and recreates the battles of land, sea and air that they were involved in.

Pacific Fury is a valuable general account of an enormous and complex subject, the Pacific War and Australia’s part in it.  It also lays to rest the slurs and smears from US and British leaders about the quality and bravery of the Aussie fighting men and women.

Now, while epic in its scope, I believe that Pacific Fury would have been better served with some severe editing of the accounts of the Americans involvement which tended to dissipate the Australians contributions.

Recommended (especially if you like military history)

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Surface Detail by Iain M Banks

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‘The New Culture Novel’
Surface Detail begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters.  It begins with a murder.  And it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself.  Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.  Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful - and arguably deranged - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war - brutal, far-reaching – is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality.
Iain Banks is one of my favourite SF writers and Surface Detail is one his best Culture novels yet.  I think this quote sums it up nicely "...what sets this book apart is the quality of the writing and the depth of the author's imagination. Amongst all the mayhem, Banks raises some interesting questions about identity, death and the whole point of Hell."  I found Surface Detail absolutely engrossing.
A Must Read

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What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

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What The Dog Saw is the third book that I have read of Gladwell’s and in it he presents nineteen researched and provocative essays, each with a narrative that leads to a thought-provoking analysis. The explorations here delve into subjects as varied as why some people choke while others panic; how changes meant to make a situation safer — like childproof lids on medicine — don't help because people often compensate with more reckless behavior; and the idea that genius is inextricably tied up with precocity.

In each essay, he offers a glimpse into the minds of an array of fascinating characters. What The Dog Saw is organized into three categories:

Part One contains stories about what Gladwell calls "minor geniuses," and what drives them and why they get the results they get.

Part Two demonstrates theories, or ways of organizing experience. For example, "Million-Dollar Murray" explores the problem of homelessness — how to solve it, and whether solving it for the most extreme and costly cases makes sense as policy.

In Part Three, Gladwell examines the predictions we make about people. He writes about how educators evaluate young teachers, how the FBI profiles criminals, how job interviewers form snap judgments. He is candid in his skepticism about these methods but fascinated by the various attempts to measure talent or personality.

These are a sampling of the stories that Gladwell wrote the formed the basis of his previous two books, ‘The Tipping Point” and “Blink’.  And again it’s a fascinating read as the author presents a topic, explains how it works and then examines its success or failure in the real world.  What The Dog Saw is thought provoking at its best.

Highly recommended.

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The Widow Clicquot by Tilar J Mazzeo

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This is the fascinating story of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin who, after her husband’s death, defied convention by assuming the reins of the fledgling wine business they had nurtured together.  Steering the company though turbulent financial and political periods, including the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, droughts and depressions, she became one of the world’s first great businesswomen and one of the richest of her time.
It’s also a look inside the social conventions and the role expected of women of that time.  It also covers the transformation from cottage industry to industrialisation that was happening in Europe over that period using the champagne industry as an exmple
Recommended

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Wicked by Gregory Maguire

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When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, we heard only her side of the story. But what about the villainness, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?  Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.

This book is really very very good.  It tells the tale of the life of the Wicked Witch of the West before she was murdered by Dorothy.  It covers most of the major themes – being born different, alienation, love, intrigue, relationships and the desire for forgiveness.  Throw in murder, lust, tyranny, revolution, and magic among other things and you have a recipe for a fascinating, enthralling and wicked book.  I loved it

Extremely highly recommended

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