“A book club ‘to be or not to be'” 😊

12+ months on, and our (my daughter and I) dreams to start a book club is still that – a dream. We’ve let life get in the way of us starting one.

But to be honest, all has not been in vain – we went on a family holiday to LA, my daughter completed her uni degree, and we welcomed a new family member within this 12 months. All glory and honour to God 🙏

My point is that the waiting period or the in-between – the time between your dream and making it a reality – is not wasted time. It is a blessing, my friends, so make the most of it.

In addition, that’s not saying we’ve abandoned our love for reading – no way. We’ve continued reading – not as a book club – but on our own. My daughter, online, mostly and myself, well – call me old school as much as you like – I love going to the library to borrow actual, physical books. To each their own, right 😉

I must confess though, I do love reading online too – however recently I’ve been monitoring my screen time (mobile phone especially), trying my hardest to lower it – so I have decided stay off or minimise time spent on e-books, Netflix, Stan, Prime and the many distractions that one has as an unemployed midlifer (is that even a word, if it isn’t, yet, I am going to copyright it, LOL) 😅

Anyway, it was during one of those library visits, late last year (2023), that I bumped into a lovely lady from church who recommended this book, “Sunrise over Mercy Court” by well-known Australian author Fiona McCallum:

There’s life in these old dogs yet … and they’re about to discover it. A heartwarming and humorous story about rediscovering the small pleasures that make life worthwhile from Australia’s master storyteller.

Sunrise over Mercy Court, Fiona McCallum

Here’s my review of the book after reading it, and truth be told, it took me two months to complete it.

It is indeed a heart-warming story, about two 78 year olds. If you’re someone who’s into action or thriller, this book is definitely not for you. It’ll bore you to death, but I challenge you to read it.

It starts slow, and I can understand why some critics are saying it’s repetitive, boring, or  stereotypical – but I think they’re missing the story that’s deep in between the lines.

I found that although slow, it picks up as you read more, and it draws you into the world of the aged. And I really appreciate the fact that it is told from the perspective of an old couple – the invisible people of this day and age.

This book highlights many of the issues faced by old people (aged), either brought upon them through circumstances, by themselves/ their own actions or by others, for example, memory loss, repetitive tasks, being overlooked or treated as if they don’t exist, too slow, too judgemental, can’t be taught new and cool things, feeling isolated – just to name a few that I picked up whilst reading. There are many more issues that the aged face these days.

In my humble opinion, the book is humorous, delightful, and insightful! It reminds me that there’s so much more we can do for the aged population.

idauhahine, January 2024

Well, I hope the review encourages or challenges you to go find this book. If not, that’s alright.

As for myself, I’m reading a John Grisham book titled “The Boys from Biloxi” – it’s a legal thriller. One might ask how I got from reading a delightful, humorous book to a legal thriller, I’m not sure, I wonder myself too 🤔.

Although, I can tell you that in between these two books, I have also read three Jeffery Archer novels, and a Christian book titled “The Handwriting On the Wall: Secrets From the Prophecies of Daniel”.

Mind you, up until few days ago, I had no idea that a place called Biloxi existed. And that’s what I love about reading – learning about new places and things. Here’s something else I’ve learnt from another book I borrowed to read this month, April:

And you’re welcome 😊! Yes, that was my first time reading about where the phrase ‘turn a blind eye’ comes from. Interesting, aye!!

Reading is educational, plus it’s good for the mind, body, and spirit.  And in your quest for learning more, please take time to read the Holy Bible. I leave a verse here as encouragement for all of us.

And I pray we will get our book club up and running before the end of this year 🤞 watch this space 😊

Love and blessings 🙏❤️