Back in 2016, I completed a survey about online bookclubs, and answered some supplementary questions about "my" sort of club. I also took part in a follow-up telephone interview with the two American researchers involved, Grace Chao and Amanda Shapiro. Now, three years later, they have completed their research and self-published it in their book, … Continue reading Grace L. Chao and Amanda Ambinder Shapiro, Bookclub social: A reader’s guide to online book clubs (#BookReview)
Month: August 2019
Monday musings on Australian literature: Introducing Charmian Clift
There's no way I can do justice in a short post to such this complex woman about whom so much has been written, but I'd like to add Charmian Clift to Monday Musings posts featuring Aussie authors, not only because she and her husband, author George Johnston, were one of our significant literary couples, but … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Introducing Charmian Clift
National Bookshop Day 2019
Time for another National Bookshop Day, given my last posts were in 2013 and 2012. In those posts I named some of my favourite Canberra bookshops, particularly the National Library Bookshop, Paperchain and Beyond Q (secondhand booksellers). They are still among my favourites, but, since then, two more excellent bookshops have opened, Muse (which runs Festival Muse about … Continue reading National Bookshop Day 2019
Sebastian Smee, Net loss: The inner life in the digital age (#BookReview)
If you've been reading my blog recently, you'll already know why I am reviewing Sebastian Smee's Quarterly Essay edition, "Net loss: The inner life in the digital age", but to briefly recap, it's because it inspired a member of my reading group to recommend we read Anton Chekhov's short story, "The lady with the little … Continue reading Sebastian Smee, Net loss: The inner life in the digital age (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers SA
Time, I decided, for the next Monday Musings in my little series on Australia's writers centres, this time South Australia's. And it, like Writing NSW did, has recently changed its name, in this case from SA Writers Centre to Writers SA It is, says its About page, Australia's first writers’ centre, and is located at the State Library of South … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers SA
Anton Chekhov, The lady with the little dog (#Review)
"The lady and with the little dog" was an out-of-left-field recommendation for my reading group for two reasons. One is that it is a single short story - not even a whole collection which we have done before. And the other is that the member who recommended it did so on the basis of its … Continue reading Anton Chekhov, The lady with the little dog (#Review)
Six degrees of separation, FROM Storyland TO …
Here it is, the first Saturday of the month again, which means of course, Six Degrees of Separation, that meme which, as you are sure to know, is hosted by Kate. The rules are on her blog - booksaremyfavouriteandbest. And the first rule, of course, is that Kate sets our starting book. Well, how funny this month's … Continue reading Six degrees of separation, FROM Storyland TO …
Whispering Gums 