Murder and Mendelssohn confessions

Firstly I must confess that this is actually the first Phryne Fisher mystery that I have ever read.  Having been totally addicted to the recent ABC series which bought the characters of Phryne, Jack, Dot and Mr Butler to life I looked forward to dipping into the real thing.  I found myself seeing the cast of players as portrayed in the series which if course happens if you read the book after the show.  But I would say I was slightly disappointed with the storyline and wasn't quite what I expected. I was waiting for the real twists and turns but it seemed to concentrate more on the side story lines but without that familiar Phryne/Jack chemistry. My second confession is that I will probably not go back and read the rest of the series, many will chastise me for not doing so, but I think the TV adaption will do more than adequately for me to be engaged with Kerry Greenwood's work and I am hoping that a third series will be made.

Now I can dance by Tina Arena

Enjoyed the afternoon finishing reading Tina Arena's memoir 'Now I can dance'. I was totally absorbed by Tina's own reflections of her stellar musical career.  I have followed her since the YTT days when she dazzled us as an 8 year old, and then followed her through the years as she challenged herself to find out 'where she wanted the music to take her'. I loved reading about all the people she has worked with, collaborated with, sung with as well as her strong family focus that has kept her so grounded.  Am pleased she has found such success and love and look forward to hearing about the next part of her life.
 Looking at my own music collection I realise how much she features in it, and whilst reading the book I took the opportunity to check out some old YouTube film clips of her earlier days.  That was fun and gave Tina's recollections great context.  Thank you Tina for sharing where you have been and what you have achieved, though does not dig deeply personal stuff it still gives us much insight into how hard she works and how nice it was not to have to read a 'train wreck story', just an honest person doing her best in what she loves the most.
Nice to hear again about all the musicians I grew up with and loved watching on Countdown, as well as all the major international stars she has had the opportunity to meet and sing with.

You set fire to my life

Am enjoying Tina Arena's new and extremely successful album Reset.  This is the first single off the album.  Have followed Tina's career since she was a young girl and all I can say is she has only got better and better, although I really love her earlier work a decade or so ago - some fantastic tracks like Chains and Now I Can Dance which happens also to be next book in the challenge, Tina's newly released memoir by that title. http://youtu.be/an5F97oSRdk

White Gardenia by Belinda Alexandra

Being on holidays certainly gives me the opportunity to sit uninterrupted and read to my hearts content.  Glad I chose this novel for my first holiday read and the first book for the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2014.  I found it to be one of those terrific stories that demand your attention, although it is quite long I knocked it off in a couple of days.  This is quite unusual for me but being in holiday mode where a chair in the sun by the river enticed me to stay put made it quite achievable.  I had not read any of Alexandra's books before, not sure why, but will definitely pick a few more.  I think what I got most out of the novel was what I learnt about the the atrocities of war, whether it be WW2 or the Cold War, it certainly brings the horror and the absolute stupidity of mankind and what we have done to our fellow human beings.  Also the impact of the many people that were displaced due to the war and were bought to Australia under the 'populate or perish' mandate; people worked hard to make Australia what it is today and we should be grateful for the many that made it their home and built up businesses and brought up their families here.  We have been enriched by their contribution and their influences in customs, traditions and food make us a wonderfully diverse and safe nation.  I will be thinking of the characters Anya, Dmitri, Ivan and the General in the days to come.

It's only just beginning, think I have gone and lost my mind...

Here goes, another commitment I am making to this virtual universe.  Throwing caution to the wind I have decided to create a blog that reflects (consolo) on favourite stories (fabula) and music (musica).  The main catalyst for writing this blog is my intention to sign up for the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2014, therefore having a blog to connect my reviews to.  As I did not complete any identifiable reviews in the 2013 Challenge, which I could blame on my love of music and perhaps the other parts of my life intervening, maybe having my two loves together will keep me going and hopefully encourage me to make more of a contribution.
It will however be a mixture of music and books that you will find here.
So my first task is to head over to http://australianwomenwriters.com/2014-challenge/2014-sign-up/