Book Chat Issue #61

A winter pudding

Hello reading friends

Thanks to all the lovely people who contacted me regarding my sore back. I’m on the mend now and appreciate your good wishes.

As luck would have it, this issue has a medical theme. Just a coincidence!

What I’ve been reading

I’ve just finished reading The Registrar by debut author Neela Janakiramanan. Set in a fictional hospital in an unnamed Australian city, it tells the story of a young doctor who is training to be an orthopaedic surgeon. It details the gruelling hours and the stress, as well as the sexism and discrimination suffered in a system that sounds archaic. We have an excellent health-care system here in Australia, but the working conditions for young doctors seem barbaric. In the novel, Emma struggles to keep her life together, whilst seeing her patients as human beings, rather than cases. It’s a sobering read, but well plotted and pacy.

What I’ve been listening to

In this episode of Desert Island Discs (one of my favourite podcasts) Lauren Laverne talks to Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt. This non-fiction book is drawn from diaries that Adam kept when he was a junior doctor in London. It tells a similar story of dedicated young doctors being overworked and underpaid. I read a review that said the book could make you laugh and cry on the same page. I haven’t read it yet, but there’s a television series of the same name starring Ben Wishaw that sounds interesting. I’m not sure if I can handle the blood and gore; might need to shut my eyes in a few places.

What I’ve been cooking

After a week of eating healthy food, I went in the opposite direction last night and made some golden dumplings. They are very easy to make and much loved by all my family, especially my siblings. I didn’t have quite enough golden syrup, so I substituted some honey and they worked out fine. Here’s the recipe. Serve with ice cream or runny cream.

Book Club News

Thanks to everyone who participated in the ‘what should we read next’ poll in the last issue of Book Chat. The book with the most votes was Demon Copperhead (58%) by Barbara Kingsolver. Here’s a description from Amazon…

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival.

It sounds great, doesn’t it? I can’t wait to read it. The book is in heavy demand at my library, but they have eight copies so hopefully one will come through soon. We’ll be meeting in mid-October, so you have plenty of time to read it.

Book club is free and you don’t need to register. Just join on the day for some good discussion. I’ll post a link closer to the date.

Lastly, please let me know what you’ve been reading. I’d love to know.

That’s all for this issue.

Happy reading and keep well.

Marg xxx