Review: The Education of Dixie Dupree

I read Donna Everhart's debut "The Education of Dixie Dupree" on Sunday. I won an ARC, but Donna didn't ask me to comment - it was just so good I have to share.

I couldn't put it down. My family were left to fend for themselves while I read! From page 1 Donna sucked me in. Donna's writing flowed beautifully and 11 year old Dixie was an easy character to like/sympathise with. I don't usually read books on such heavy topics (hence why I write cozies *grin*), but through Donna's great storytelling she managed to address a range of issues (including depression and abuse) in a way that was organic to the story, not thrust upon the reader, and deal with them in a forthright way. I didn't find the topics overwhelming which is why I usually avoid them (I don't go near Jodi Picoult for example).

Alabama is completely foreign to me being Down Under and all, but Donna brought it to life. I'm not sure whether it is the southern setting, or the young protag, or the heavy subject matter but when I was reading this it reminded me of "To Kill a Mockingbird". Ironically, a few pages after I thought of TKAM her main character reads it.

For everyone who has pre-ordered, you aren't going to be disappointed.

The Bartholomew Cubbins To-do List

Every time I cross off an item on my to-do list another, bigger and badder than the first, appears at the bottom. I've finally worked out what's happening! My to-do list has been infected by the same spell that magicked Bartholomew Cubbins.

Maybe one day I'll cross off that magic 500th thing and... nothing. No more things to do.

Bliss.

Vale Jon English

When I was ten years old my parents took me to see Pirates of Penzance. It was at that time a nearly 4-hour drive to get to Brisbane, and I had to dress up to go. I'd never been to a 'proper' theatre before and I remember my excitement well.

That night I fell in love with the theatre and in particular musical theatre. Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance has remained a sentimental favourite of mine ever since. The performance I saw starred Simon Gallaher and Marina Prior with Jon English as the Pirate King. The energy and enjoyment he brought to the role was magical and I became a fan.

I later saw the revival, again with Jon English as the Pirate King. I also saw him in HMS Pinafore.

Many years later The Hub saw Jon English at a coffee shop and approached him, asking for his autograph on my behalf and telling him how 'the wife is a fan'. I still have his autograph tucked safely away.

All these years later and I still love going to the theatre and still smile everytime I hear the music to 'A Cat Like Tread'. Australia has lost one of it's great entertainers.