Dilworth School

136,421 pages read and 4,495 team points

Team members

CAL2024

13,379 pts

(10,256 pages read)

The Fallen Angel

By Daniel Silva

3 stars

Interesting, but took me too long to read and so a bit disconnected. You really need to power through these novels in a sitting.
The Night She Fell

By Eileen Merriman

4 stars

Hauntingly familiar. Thanks for the recommendation Anniegan.
Daniel Siklva

By The Rembrandt Affair

3 stars

Earlier novel. Provides some character back story but less tense than others.
The Calling

By Fleur Beale

3 stars

A young woman leaves her family to join the Sisters of Compassion at Jerusalem. Interesting from an historical perspective but ends rather abruptly.
The New Girl

By Daniel Silva

4 stars

I might need to mix it up a bit, but they are not getting tired yet.
The Other Woman

By Daniel Silva

4 stars

My reading observation is becoming more acute. I picked it up in the first few chapters. An interesting lend of fact into fiction, this one. Silva’s post scripts are also an interesting commentary too.
House of Spies

By Daniel Silva

4 stars

One more bad guy down, but no doubt more to come.
Portrait of a Spy

By Daniel Silva

4 stars

A somewhat slower paced and earlier Allon novel. Still a mighty enjoyable summer read.
Meet you at the Main Divide

By Justine Ross with Geoff Ross

4 stars

A good recommendation from MCI. I enjoyed it too. A gutsy yarn and an interesting perspective on the community and changes afoot within the high country.
Being Magdalene

By Fleur Beale

4 stars

The third in the series. Not as good as #2 but rounds out the family drama nicely.
I am Rebecca

By Fleur Beale

5 stars

Deeply disturbing.
I am not Esther

By Fleur Beale

4 stars

On recommendation from Blinky. Interesting, I’m not used to reading YA Fiction so to me lacked a bit of depth, but I have the rest of the trilogy to go so let’s see how it pans out.
The Black Widow

By Daniel Silva

5 stars

Wowser. Gripping. It’s not often these days I stay in bed all morning to finish a book. I really need to get my act together as I have read so many in the Gabriel Allon series but out of order. I need to start back at the start with a list. Handing it over to the near and dear to consume. Be interested to know what he thinks as I took a bit of time to get around the geopolitics but expect he is more versed than me.
The Wrong Woman

By JP Pomare

4 stars

Whodunnit. Not too bad actually, if a bit fanciful. Easy read in a day.
The Botanist’s Daughter

By Kayte Nunn

4 stars

Continuing on the gardening theme a dual historical/ contemporary alternating chapter book telling an interesting, but fanciful, tale of a botanist’s daughter and her descendant and the trail of a mystery healing plant. Switches between 19 Century Chile and modern day Australia and England.
The Time Traveller’s Guide to Hamilton Gardens

By Peter Sergel

4 stars

A wonderful companion column to my visit to Hamilton Gardens in the break. A history of the Gardens themselves and also of the stories behind the themed gardens and what ties them all together. A truly tremendous legacy for the city which will continue to develop, and what a transformation! “Gardens present an embodiment or enduring shadow or reflection, cast by cultures that have largely faded into myth and history.”
New Zealand Gardens to Visit

By Juliet Nicholas & Rosemary Barraclough

4 stars

A great coffee table book with gardens to tick off as I visit them. Surprised at some of the omissions, but there is an appendix - more gardens to visit - that includes some of the gardens I expected to find in the book.
A Death in Cornwall

By Daniel Silva

5 stars

Another holiday maker described him as somewhat formulaic in his approach. As I am a little infatuated with Gabriel Allon, his fictional spy, I don’t really care. It is summer and these are a perfect summer read. I will no doubt knock off another before the break is done.
Delirious

By Damien Wilkins

4 stars

Steve Braunias’ 2024 Book of the Year. I’m not sure. Aspects of it are a bit too close for comfort. Recognisably Aotearoa.
Hothouse Flower

By Lucinda Riley

3 stars

A tad melodramatic.
From Devon with Death

By Stephanie Austin

3 stars

#3 in the series. Taking a break before the next one hits my Libby on Xmas day.
Dead on Dartmoor

By Stephanie Austin

3 stars

#2 in the series. As above.
Dead in Devon

By Stephanie Austin

3 stars

Another series. Quintessential summer read, doesn’t take too much effort or brain work to follow this one by the pool. Pick up and put down variety. Pick up something more meaty if you want some cerebral stimulation in between.
The Things we Leave Unfinished

By Rebecca Yarros

3 stars

From the Forth Wing author a contemporary romance novel that switches between the generations. A slight twist in the tale at the end, but not one you didn’t see coming.
The Great Alone

By Kristin Hannah

4 stars

Don’t go looking for happy endings in this book. Isolation, domestic violence, separation, illness & death; but also strength, resilience, enduring connection with the land and re-connection.

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Dilworth School

136,421 pages read and 4,495 team points

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