After another night of girls, music and booze, seventeen-year-old pop star Darius Zaire falls out of bed and lands on the cruddy floor of his old bedroom. No mansion, no luxury cars, no platinum records. Now he's just ordinary Darren Zegers. Some kind of nightmare has erased everything that happened to change Darren the dweeb into Darius the multimillionaire. Now Darius has to face an ordinary day in the twelfth grade, suffering through remedial English and wondering what happened to the last three years, let alone all his fans and money. He desperately wants to return to his old life, but he is starting to worry that maybe this is reality, and it was his other life that was the dream.

Jock Lewis was supposed to have died in a terrible train crash at Paddington. Minty, his girlfriend, received a letter telling her so. But, curiously, the police haven’t been in touch. And Jock has borrowed all her savings. Zillah also got a letter informing her that her husband, Jerry Leach, was dead. Something about it struck her as suspicious, but she chooses not to mention her doubts to her fiancé, an up-and-coming Conservative Member of Parliament. Fiona, a successful banker, met Jeff Leigh before the Paddington crash. And although he never seemed to have a job, and borrowed money from her, she is utterly devoted to him -- and can’t understand why he suddenly disappeared. As the novel progresses, it slowly becomes apparent how the lives of these women might be connected, and how they may figure into a series of vicious stabbing deaths that have shocked and terrified the citizens of London. With consummate skill, Ruth Rendell pulls the colourful strands of this harrowing story ever tighter, increasing the tension page by page.

Bernadette Walker’s Bernadette It’s Me provides a glimpse into the life of a lady who unobtrusively lived life to the fullest. Whether it was growing up in inner city Melbourne during the depression and World War Two, her long love affair with the Australian bush, her employment at one of Melbourne’s most respected jewellery stores or her charity work, she appreciated all that filled her days. Running like a constant thread through her story is the love of friends, family and colleagues and it is this very love that she cherished the most. Bernadette also shares over 53 recipes she has collected over the years.

I WROTE THIS NOT KNOWING THAT IT WOULD TURN INTO MY OWN PERSONAL PRAYER. DURING THIS TIME IN MY LIFE I HAD SOME TRAUMATIC SITUATIONS OCCUR AND MY FAITH WAS BEING TRIED I WROTE IT FOR MY SON AND WHILE AT THE POST OFFICE TO MAIL IT OUT TO HIM ONE OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE PERSON I HAD BEEN HAVING SOME SMALL TALK WITH I ASK HER TO READ IT SHE THEN ASKED ME IF SHE COULD HAVE A COPY OF IT BECAUSE SHE HAD A NEPHEW WHO WAS INCARCERATED AND SHE THOUGHT IT WOULD ENCOURAGE HIM. I WAS MORE THAN HAPPY TO GIVE HER A COPY. IT WAS AN INSPIRATION TO ME SO NOW I WOULD LIKE VERY MUCH TO SHARE IT WITH YOU AND I DO HOPE IT WILL GIVE YOU SOME HOPE TOO.

Same City, Different Storm by Donna J. Polski __________________________________