The Girls by Lori Lansens, Book Review September 15, 2008

3.5*s

This book is written in the style of an autobiography of two sisters, who take it in turns to add their own entries to the book. The sisters happen to be conjoined craniopagus twins – joined at the head – which is an issue I’ve never really thought about before. Having said that, I loved this insight into the obviously close relationship between “The Girls”. The story was in places very sad, as the sisters faced the prejudices of everyone around them while doing the best they could to live normal teenage lives.

During the first half of the book I found it quite hard to like the character Rose, and much preferred the “pretty” sister Ruby – perhaps this is an indicator of my own prejudices – but throughout the book I warmed to the thoughtul side of Rose’s character. I find it incredible how Lori Lansens is able to put herself so realistically in the shoes of people whose struggles through life must be so different to her own. I found myself wondering what kind of research she had done, or whether it was purely her imagination. This is possible, as parts of Ruby and Rose’s relationship certainly reflects that of me and my own sister.

Definately worth a look, and even if I can’t say that this story was one of my favourites, I will definately remember it.

Down Under by Bill Bryson – Book Review September 1, 2008

Never judge a book by it’s cover – I gave it a brief glimpse and thought the book might be about ice cream. In fact this book is a sort of travel diary of Bryson’s trip around Australia. I am a lover of all things Aussie and immensely enjoyed the time I spent there, so a lot of this book was nostalgic for me. The other attraction the book holds is the amount of pure information! I am a bit of a trivia addict and loved learning the highlights of Bryson’s thorough homework on the subject of all things Australian! Bryson is hilarious – he relates the eccentricities of the Aussies in a hilariously endearing way, and I found myself laughing out loud frequently. He clearly felt the same affinity to them that I did, and a lot of the book rang true to me.

Some of it didn’t, though. He pays a lot of attention to the dangers of Australia, and quite frankly seems to be a total wimp! I’m terrified of anything creepy-crawly, but don’t remember being particularly spooked by Australia – he REALLY is! But I expect he did more research prior to his visit than I did and was therefore better informed.

Definately worth a read for anyone with an interest in Australia – I have actually dreamt about Australia a lot since reading the book – it will make you want to go there and probably teach you things you didn’t know! Remote Australia isn’t in the news a lot, you know!