Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

This prize winning first novel tells the story of a smart but dull 30 year old officeworker who has poor social skills and a facial scar. Her lack of knowledge about social conventions (how to order a drink at a bar or what gift to take to a party) makes for an amusing story. However, unlike a number of other novels, Eleanor is not on the autism spectrum; she is the victim of trauma, neglect and poor parenting.

Eleanor prides herself on her extensive vocabulary and good manners. She is satisifed with her life, completing her job efficiently, never socialising and downing 2 or 3 bottles of vodka each weekend. A new IT support person, Raymond, begins to talk to Eleanor. Gradually a friendship develops and new doors begin to open.

The book includes themese of lonliness and friendship. It also highlights the difference between good manners and social skills. Knowing how to correctly address someone is different from being able to make small talk. Nor should good manners be mistaken for good morals.

I enjoyed the book. Many of the characters are believable salt of the Earth types who remind the reader most people are basically good. As Eleanor makes progress the author gradually reveals her past.

The Au Pair by Emma Rous

This tells the story of the well-to-do Summerbourne family. Twenty-five year old twins Seraphine and Danny have lost both parents. After finding a baby picture with only one baby in it, Seraphine starts to wonder if the gossip and rumours she's heard in the village over the years are actually true. This leads her to track down a former au pair, Laura, who lived at the Summerbourne Norfolk estate and looked after the twins elder brother Edwin around the time of their birth. The chapters alternate between Seraphine's story, set in the present day, and Laura's story set back in 1992.

There were times when I wondered if the author really needed 400 pages to tell a fairly straight forward story, but the second half of the book opened up more questions and I really enjoyed the last 100 pages. There were plot twists that didn't seem particularly credible, and some of the characters weren't well-developed, but overall the book was a good holiday read.

The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton

This is the first book I've read by Kate Morton. It tells the story of a group of young English artists and their models who spend the summer of 1862 at a country house. Two of the party are killed. The story jumps between different people who lived in the house after them, up to the present day, and slowly reveals what happened to the two. Much of the story is narrated by the ghost of one of the victims. This provides an unusual perspective. 

I enjoyed the book. I found it wasn't one to put down and come back to, as I started to forget who was who. I also felt like there were a few unanswered questions at the end. The story reminded me of The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild.

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

This is the fourth book in the Strike series written pseudonymously by J.K Rowling. Each book improves on the last; every one of the 650 pages was packed with story.

The book begins with Robin's wedding to Matt. The intricacies of Robin's love life and Strike's are just as compelling as the crime they're investigating.

The pair has been hired by an MP who is being blackmailed. The story is complex. It moves between a socialist thug and his girlfriend, the MPs posh horsey family, and other politicians.

My only slight criticism is that Strike has problems with his amputated leg throughout the book. I'm hoping he gets a new state of the art prosthesis in the next book, because I wouldn't want to read another one about it. Other than that, I can't wait for the next one.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

I had been eagerly awaiting the chance to read Moriarty's latest book and I wasn't disappointed. It tells the story of nine strangers at a health spa. The protagonist, menopausal Frances, writes romance novels but has just had her first one rejected by her publisher. Other guests include a young wealthy couple and a family of three who lost a son/brother to suicide.

The dialogue between Frances and other characters, about her writing, allowed Moriarty to include a number of metafictive moments. Criticisms of Frances' writing were repeated in the plot line of Nine Perfect Strangers, creating laugh out loud parody.

The health spa is run by a former Russian corporate high flyer, Masha. The character's name comes from the winning bidder at a Starlight Children's Foundation auction. Her prize was to have her name in one of Moriarty's books. It was great to see that the name was given to one of the main characters.

The spa was unconventional in ways that went beyond plausible into the realms of comedy.  The story balanced the serious issue of teen suicide, with the comic spa and the carefully crafted and credible characters Moriarty is well known for. It was a great read!

Snatched by Pirates by Patricia Bernard.

The book is part of the My Australian Story series. It is set in 1899. As a baby, Billy Hamilton was left to die by his Chinese parents. He has a birthmark shaped like a dragon's claw; his family believes this means he will grow up to kill his father. Billy is taken in by two missionaries. They raise him in Shanghai until it becomes unsafe. They then move to Thursday Island (in the Torres Strait).

Aged 15, Billy and two Torres Strait Islander friends are captured by pirates (blackbirded). The pirates force the boys to dive for pearl shells. Billy's journey involves a number of different vessels; he meets friends and enemies, good captains and bad.

The book has lots of rich vocabulary and mentions a number of potential areas for research including pearling, whaling, various fauna and flora, Aboriginal totems and dispossession, and slavery. The crew members Billy meets come from all parts of South East Asia.

Like all the books in this series, the story is quite gritty and there are parts that could cause anxiety. There is mention of previous crew members taking their own lives, one person is bitten in half by a shark and Billy passes fat crocodiles who have obviously eaten people. In the final pages, there is a mutiny and the ship's captain and his son are murdered.

I felt that the book was longer than it needed to be and students may get bored, particularly towards the end. Lots of new characters are introduced with only 30 pages to go. At this point, I just wanted to read a conclusion.

Wonder by R.J Palacio

Wonder tells the story of ten-year-old August (Auggie) Pullman, who was born with severe facial differences. Auggie is starting at Beecher Prep School, having previously been home-schooled. The book explores Auggie's experience and also that of his older sister Via, who is starting her first year in high school.

The main themes are tolerance, kindness, friendship and parental angst. Auggie's teacher Mr Tushman gives his students a monthly precept. These precepts help to articulate the author's message.  Beecher Prep is a private 'non-inclusion' school. This brings up the debate as to whether looking different is a disability.

The first part of the book is written from Auggie's perspective. The second part details the same time period from Via's viewpoint. Auggie's friend Summer then covers the same period. Another student, Jack, takes the story forward. This is followed by a few chapters from Justin, Via's boyfriend. The story returns to Auggie for the final part.

The book is similar to Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper but more predictable and feel-good.  It would be a good book to share with a Stage 3 class (10-12-year-olds); it provides lots of opportunities to discuss both bullying and pro-social behaviour. Via's experiences at high school (her two best friends drop her) would also be interesting to explore.