Lisa Walker (3)

A quirky tale with a hint of magical realism, Lisa Walker's third novel, 'Arkie's Pilgrimage to the Next Big Thing' is the story of one woman's search for all the things she has lost....including herself.

“I am forty-one years old but perhaps it is possible … Can my life begin again?”

A year ago, Arkie Douglas's life fell apart. Her husband left her when Arkie confessed to an affair, and shortly after her business failed, her trend forecasting mojo having deserted her. It's New Year's Eve and Arkie is waiting on a deserted platform in Byron Bay planning to throw herself under the next passing train when a young Japanese woman carrying a briefcase and a surfboard, strikes up a conversation. Despite herself, Arkie is intrigued by Haruko Iida and excited when she recognises her own brand of trend spotting magic in the twenty year old. Abandoning her plans for suicide, Arkie convinces Haruko to work with her, hoping to recover her career.

"Pilgrimages are so hot right now. I think they are the Next Big Thing."

The idea is Haruko's, suggesting society is ready for a resurgence of spirituality, self discovery and simplicity. Arkie enthusiastically embraces the idea but traveling to Japan is out of the question, so instead she proposes a journey closer to home, a pilgrimage to Australia's 'Big Things'. Traveling by train, bus and on foot, while avoiding the Yakuza and Arkie's ex husband's divorce lawyer, Arkie and Haruko set out their unusual pilgrimage in search of the Next Big Thing.

From the Big Redback Spider, to the Big Banana and the Big Prawn, Arkie and Haruko look past the peeling paint and wire fences to find the beauty and meaning in the outsized icons. Their adventure is blessed by the Shinto Gods and smiling Buddha's found in unlikely places, but they face challenges on the 'yellow brick road' along the way. Arkie in particular is forced to reflect on the root causes of her present unhappiness and look closer to home for fulfilment .
I enjoyed traveling to the Big Things with Arkie and Haruko, I have visited a few in my time. In fact the town where I live is home to The Big Oyster. It was once a restaurant, housing a roadside cafe underneath for highway travellers heading North, but the bypass forced its closure and the site was redeveloped, so now the Big Oyster is empty, presiding over a car dealership.

Truthfully Arkie doesn't engender a lot of sympathy, she is self absorbed and a confessed adulterer, but I could sort of relate to the questions she is struggling with. Her life has imploded and she is lost, looking for a way to regain her equilibrium.
Haruko is an unlikely spiritual guide in the guise of a quirky, hip Japanese girl. An enigmatic character with an ethereal quality, she is self possessed with a talent for reinventing herself.

Arkie's Pilgrimage to the Next Big Thing is an offbeat, sometimes surreal, contemporary novel that will have you reminiscing about your last visit to one of Australia's 'Big Things' and perhaps yearning for your own spiritual road-trip.… (más)

This review (and others) can be found on http://coffeetalkwitherin.com/2014/04/15/review-liar-bird-by-lisa-walker/
A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to win a copy of [b:Sex, Lies and Bonsai|19569997|Sex, Lies and Bonsai|Lisa Walker|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1387669406s/19569997.jpg|21880597] by Lisa Walker which is reviewed here. I asked Lisa if she would like me to read and review her first book, Liar Bird and within days, a lovely copy of the book was sitting in my mailbox (oh, how I love book blogging!).
I am undertaking a serious amount of reading lately - and not my usual kind - I am doing a Masters and I probably read about ten or fifteen journal articles a week. It leaves not much time for my favourite activity, reading for pleasure, but it does mean that my reading tastes are much simpler. I like a good, entertaining story. My reading has become something that is done in short slots of time, which does not suit a more literary book.
That means YA is on the table and so is chick lit. I am able to just lose myself in a world and stay there happily until my sleeve is tugged or my eyes can't stay open any longer.

Liar Bird is about a twenty something PR whizz called Cassandra Daley. Cassie (as she hates to be called) sees nothing more important than winning the PR war, and when one of her dirty tricks is headlined in all of the Sydney papers and she loses her job, she is desperate for a place to hide out. Cassandra lands in Beechville, a small town in far north NSW, a place which is seemingly simple minded (something that she is very wrong about). I mean, how hard can organising a feral pig awareness meeting be?
There were definitely a few laugh out loud moments. I did like the frog (René, who becomes her green little confidant throughout the book) who never seems to leave her toilet. I can just imagine a city girl, with a plush Manly pad, having to contend with wildlife that doesn't seem to want to actually live in the wild. The book also has another layer, which is the ethical dealing with environmental issues, and the fine line between what is good for the environment and what is needed for growth and survival. I know, it is a different life outside of the cities. Then there are the townsfolk, who are becoming increasingly odder by the day, not to mention that hot, but grumpy ranger who seems to have a bone to pick with Cassandra from day one.

I have to say I liked Sex, Lies and Bonsai more than Liar Bird. I think Lisa's writing and storytelling improved, and perhaps I enjoyed the Byron Bay setting more in Sex, Lies and Bonsai than the small town setting. I also didn't entirely believe the love story. BUT...you know what? I read this after [b:HHhH|7992363|HHhH |Laurent Binet|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1395857332s/7992363.jpg|12476227] by Laurent Binet which was a more difficult and very depressing read. I devoured this book within a day because it was what I needed at the time. There are books for every occasion, and this was entertaining, funny and quirky.
… (más)

This review (and others) can be found on http://coffeetalkwitherin.com/2014/04/15/review-liar-bird-by-lisa-walker/
A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to win a copy of [b:Sex, Lies and Bonsai|19569997|Sex, Lies and Bonsai|Lisa Walker|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1387669406s/19569997.jpg|21880597] by Lisa Walker which is reviewed here. I asked Lisa if she would like me to read and review her first book, Liar Bird and within days, a lovely copy of the book was sitting in my mailbox (oh, how I love book blogging!).
I am undertaking a serious amount of reading lately - and not my usual kind - I am doing a Masters and I probably read about ten or fifteen journal articles a week. It leaves not much time for my favourite activity, reading for pleasure, but it does mean that my reading tastes are much simpler. I like a good, entertaining story. My reading has become something that is done in short slots of time, which does not suit a more literary book.
That means YA is on the table and so is chick lit. I am able to just lose myself in a world and stay there happily until my sleeve is tugged or my eyes can't stay open any longer.

Liar Bird is about a twenty something PR whizz called Cassandra Daley. Cassie (as she hates to be called) sees nothing more important than winning the PR war, and when one of her dirty tricks is headlined in all of the Sydney papers and she loses her job, she is desperate for a place to hide out. Cassandra lands in Beechville, a small town in far north NSW, a place which is seemingly simple minded (something that she is very wrong about). I mean, how hard can organising a feral pig awareness meeting be?
There were definitely a few laugh out loud moments. I did like the frog (René, who becomes her green little confidant throughout the book) who never seems to leave her toilet. I can just imagine a city girl, with a plush Manly pad, having to contend with wildlife that doesn't seem to want to actually live in the wild. The book also has another layer, which is the ethical dealing with environmental issues, and the fine line between what is good for the environment and what is needed for growth and survival. I know, it is a different life outside of the cities. Then there are the townsfolk, who are becoming increasingly odder by the day, not to mention that hot, but grumpy ranger who seems to have a bone to pick with Cassandra from day one.

I have to say I liked Sex, Lies and Bonsai more than Liar Bird. I think Lisa's writing and storytelling improved, and perhaps I enjoyed the Byron Bay setting more in Sex, Lies and Bonsai than the small town setting. I also didn't entirely believe the love story. BUT...you know what? I read this after [b:HHhH|7992363|HHhH |Laurent Binet|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1395857332s/7992363.jpg|12476227] by Laurent Binet which was a more difficult and very depressing read. I devoured this book within a day because it was what I needed at the time. There are books for every occasion, and this was entertaining, funny and quirky.
… (más)

Sex, Lies and Bonsai is a contemporary romantic comedy by Australian author Lisa Walker. Edie has returned home to the small coastal town of Darling Head after being unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend of over a year. Besieged by insecurities, Edie wallows in her misery until her best friend insists she makes an effort to change her life. So Edie jettisons poetry for erotica, develops a crush on her boss and falls in love with a troubled musician, and then things get complicated...

Awkward and introverted, Edie has always felt like the odd one out, imagining her true self to be somehow deficient. Though it's evident Edie is crushed by Daniel's rejection, it quickly becomes clear that low self esteem has been an issue for Edie all her life and her emotional pain, which she charts daily, reflects far more than her immediate heartbreak. While Edie definitely engenders the reader's sympathy, I could not help but feel for her, I have to admit I found her negativity frustrating at times. She is often her own worst enemy, over-thinking the simplest of things and succumbing frequently to self doubt.

Edie's journey to self acceptance is not an easy one but luckily she has the well meaning, if sometimes over enthusiastic, support of her best friend, Sally. Inspired to become a life coach, Sally experiments on Edie, setting small daily tasks designed to bring Edie out of her shell. Though the results are mixed, it is Sally's coaching that inadvertently prompts Edie to take a chance on revealing herself to Jay.

Jay and Edie have similar histories so it is understandable they are drawn to each other. They are both the children of legends (Edie's dad is a surfing champion and Jay's dad is a rock star), both are victims of a relationship break up that left them reeling and they have a unique bond, through Edie's absent mother. Though the relationship between Edie and Jay is complicated by their own neuroses and is slow to develop, it is lovely to see them both gain the acceptance they crave.

There is plenty of humour in Sex, Lies and Bonsai, despite all the emotional angst. Between Edie's imaginary conversations with her bedside Bonsai, her father's girlfriend's propensity for gardening naked and the establishment of the Crab Sex Institute, Walker's idiosyncratic cast will have you smiling.
Sensitive readers shouldn't be too concerned about the erotic content, I thought it mostly amusing rather than sexy, though be warned, Walker does on occasion use reasonably explicit language, and a lot of bizarre euphemisms.

If you have ever felt no one quite gets you, and maybe no one ever will, then this novel will give you hope. Lisa Walker is a talented writer and Sex, Lies and Bonsai is a quirky, engaging story of self discovery, love and life.… (más)