The Heretic's Daughter/Confessions of a Qantas Flight Attendant/Harry Potter book 1 (Reviews) in Back entries: 2013 - 2015

The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent (332 pages) tells the story of the Carrier family, through the eyes of the daughter (Sarah). Sarah recounts their lives in Andover, near Salem, and the promise she makes to her mother when accusations of witchcraft are levelled at their family. This was one of those “meh” books. As much as I wanted to feel sorry for Sarah and her siblings, I just could not connect with all that many of them during the course of the book. The character development was a bit flat and I found myself struggling to finish this book. A very average book, and the subplot about the book that Martha gives her daughter seems to go no-where.

Confessions of a Qantas Flight Attendant by Owen Beddall with Libby Harkness(294 pages, including Acknowledgements and About The Author) is pretty much what it says on the tin. It’s the story of Beddall’s real life experiences with Qantas over a ten year period. Interesting reading, and suitable for those who are fans of the Babylon series by Imogen Edwards-Jones and Anonymous. My only gripe was the name dropping - it got a little dull after a while! I wanted to read more about the whole customer service type of thing, more detail on what is involved on a shift as a flight attendant, etc.

Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (223 pages) was a re-re-read for me. I’d picked this up at the domestic terminal of an Australian airport, on my way home from visiting Tim interstate - he’d gone to look after two of his daughters for a weekend. I had taken my copy of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley over, and had finished it before my flight home. Faced with a really dull flight home, I looked for something quick and light (I tend to prefer this sort of reading material on flights - I don’t want to think, especially when I’m flying through time zones). And I settled on this. When I went to pay, the cashier had a huge brain fart and it took him ages to try and fix his error (the book cost me $16.95 - I paid with a twenty dollar note and the exact change, so I would get a $5 note back. He’d put in some silly figure like two thousand and one dollars, ninety five cents into the till as how much I’d given him). Anyway, a very quick read. On his eleventh birthday, Harry finds out he’s a wizard and is sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As with most fads and crazes, I tend to start getting into it after it’s been and gone. I remember when this book first came out, the older three of my first cousins got right into it. My grandmother was telling me about it, knowing I read heaps, and I guess I just shrugged it off and went and read something else.

Speaking of fads and crazes, I remember trying to read the first two books of the Twilight series shortly after the first couple of movies came out…“trying” is the operative word. It took me two attempts to read the first one, and around two or three attempts to get through the second - I simply couldn’t maintain my interest. After I finally read the second book (and having random strangers come up to me and say “OMG, you’re reading that? It’s SOO good”), I didn’t bother with the other books in the series and haven’t picked up a Meyer book since.

I went and visited my mother last year for a few days - she lives in a nearby country and I’m one of two family members who live “close by”. (My brother and my mother’s sister are both back in England). Anyway, Mum is university educated and has a picked up a bit of an accent since living there for probably twenty years. I’ve been told she sounds a bit “posh” and still a little English. Anyway, she started telling me about the Game of Thrones series and how much she was enjoying it. When I got home, I picked up the DVD set of the first series. I thought “I’ll watch the first episode and if I don’t like it, I’ll post it to Mum. She might appreciate it”.

After the first episode finished, I picked up my jaw from the floor. My mother gave an embarrassed giggle when I jokingly told her that it didn’t seem the sort of thing that I’d have her down as a fan of! :) I’ve since become a fan, having read all the books in the series thus far, and having seen all four seasons. But that’s the sort of person I am, I always “discover” fads and join the craze well after everyone else!

Been a bit busy lately - I’ve had very little time recently to read. It’s taken me over a week to read Selected Short Stories by Maupassant - I’ve still not finished it. I apologise for the fact that I’ve rambled on, I’ve had a really hard time trying to sleep recently. It is now 7.13pm, and I’m struggling to keep my eyes open. Even though I got out of bed around 8.30 this morning, which is a lie in for me.

Last updated January 01, 2015