Winter is icumen in! Can I say that? For many of you, it's not that cold here in Australia, but in Australia, my city of Canberra is the coldest capital city in the country. It's the only thing I don't like about living here. But, we will survive. Meanwhile, we have things like blogs and … Continue reading Six degrees of separation, FROM True history of the Kelly Gang TO …
Blogging
Bernard Cronin, The last train (#Review, #1954Club )
Bernard Cronin (1884-1968) has featured in this blog a couple of times, but most significantly in a Monday Musings which specifically featured him. He was a British-born Australian writer who, in his heyday in the 1920s to 40s, was among Australia's top 10 most popular novelists. And yet, along with many others of his ilk, … Continue reading Bernard Cronin, The last train (#Review, #1954Club )
Monday musings on Australian literature: 1954 in fiction
Some of you know that Karen (Kaggsy's Bookish Rambling) and Simon (Stuck in a Book) run "reading weeks" in which they choose, somewhat randomly, a year from which "everyone reads, enjoys, posts and shares wonderful books and discoveries from the year in question". The next one is 1954, and is happening this week, 18-24 April. … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: 1954 in fiction
Six degrees of separation, FROM Our wives under the sea TO …
It's April down under. Actually, it's April everywhere - I know that - but, down under, April is autumn, not spring. All those Easter cards with baskets of pretty flowers, not to mention eggs with their hints of fertility and birth, have always seemed out of place. Gradually, though, we are making this time our … Continue reading Six degrees of separation, FROM Our wives under the sea TO …
Six degrees of separation, FROM The end of the affair TO …
March. Summer is over and I'm a bit grumpy, as you couldn't call what we've just had, summer. Very few days exceeded 30°C and none exceeded 35°C. But, I can't really complain. I am not facing war or floods, and last month a new grandchild - a healthy baby girl - joined our family circle. … Continue reading Six degrees of separation, FROM The end of the affair TO …
Jane Sinclair, Shy love smiles and acid drops (#BookReview)
Jane Sinclair's hybrid biography-memoir, Shy love smiles and acid drops: Letters from a difficult marriage, is an unusual book. Covering around two years in her parents' life, this book comprises, mostly, letters sent between her parents between April 1960 and July 1962 when Sinclair and her mother were in England while her father remained in … Continue reading Jane Sinclair, Shy love smiles and acid drops (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Two new indies
This month - February* - has been designated #ReadIndies month by two British bloggers, Karen (kaggsysbookishramblings) and Lizzy (Lizzy's Literary Life). The rules are simple: "read anything you like, in any language you like, as long as it was published by an independent publisher". This is not a difficult reading month for me to take … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Two new indies
Six degrees of separation, FROM No one is talking about this TO …
February already ... and so another year starts to whizz by, or so it seems to me. Somehow, this Six Degrees theme just makes it all the more obvious as it comes around very quickly. But now, as it's clear that I don't have any small talk - or, alternatively I have too much - … Continue reading Six degrees of separation, FROM No one is talking about this TO …
Blogging highlights for 2021
Finally, the last of my traditional, self-indulgent year-end trifecta (which includes my Australian Women Writers' Challenge wrap-up and Reading highlights posts). But, like last year, before I launch into my usual analysis, I must send another big shout-out to Bill (The Australian Legend) who continued to curated his Bill curates series of reblogged posts from my blog's early … Continue reading Blogging highlights for 2021
Six degrees of separation, FROM Rules of civility … TO …
I started last January's Six Degrees with "Woo hoo! A New Year at last after what has really been a doozy for us all, in one way or another. So glad to see the back of it". Little did we know - still, there was no harm in hoping for better. Regardless of what the … Continue reading Six degrees of separation, FROM Rules of civility … TO …
