It all adds up to a great read

1:34pm Thursday 4th September 2008

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THIS month’s Book Group selection is a prize-winning first novel from Australia, Addition by Toni Jordan.

Grace counts everything. Her life is defined by numbers and measurements, driven by the number 10 in particular.

She can’t work: “the school had some weird idea that I was paid to teach children, not count them.”

But when Grace panics on finding just nine bananas in her basket at the supermarket, she steals one from Seamus and, before long, he has begun to count, but in a very different way.

Grace is, though, in denial about her OCD and claims she is “nothing like those crazy handwashers”, asserting that trying to wash away all the bacteria is illogical, whereas “Counting is what defines us ... the only thing that gives our lives meaning. ”

As her relationship with Seamus, who, like her, has 19 letters in his name, develops, he tries to persuade her to make changes, but old habits die hard and love has a way of complicating things.

Addition is a rarity – a book that takes you by surprise. It is chick-lit with a twist, with a quirky, sympathetic heroine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Toni Jordan has worked as a sales assistant, molecular biologist, quality control chemist and marketing manager.

She now lives in Melbourne, where she works as a freelance copywriter.

A physiologist by training, an early sign of Jordan’s love of books can be traced back to when she was a teenager. After reading Crime and Punishment, she couldn’t get out of bed for three days.

When she signed up for a professional writing and editing diploma, she chose to study non-fiction, editing and corporate writing, but she could do a fourth subject, and chose ‘Novel’.

Toni Jordan describes writing as “the greatest way” to spend her time.

HOW TO ORDER

Addition – RRP £7.99, offer price £7.59 post and packing free. To order, call the Hereford Times Bookshop on 08700 713317 or send your cheque/postal order made payable to Hereford Times Bookshop to: Hereford Times Bookshop, PO Box 60, Helston, TR13 0TP. Allow seven to 10 working days for delivery. All titles supplied subject to publisher availability. To order online, visit sparkledirect.com THERE’S a bundle of Vintage Books to be won in this month’s Book Group competition. Let us know what you think about Addition and your review could win you the prize. Email your review to htleisure@midlands.

newsquest.co.uk or post it to HT Book Group, Hereford Times, Holmer Road, Hereford HR4 9UJ, with your review, name, address and contact details. Usual competition rules apply. Deadline is midnight on Monday, September 29.