I hope it's not condescending to suggest, at this time of year, that a book would make a good Christmas present? I know some publishers, and fair enough too, choose around now to release certain types of books deemed to be good gift material. That, however, is not the case with this book, Watching the world, … Continue reading Paul Hetherington and Jen Webb, Watching the world (Review)
21st century literature
Caroline de Costa, Double madness (Review)
I'm not a crime reader as most of you know, and in fact most of the crime novels I've read here have been review copies sent to me. Caroline de Costa's Double madness is one of these. I accepted it for a couple of reasons. It's a debut novel by a doctor, indeed a professor … Continue reading Caroline de Costa, Double madness (Review)
Emily Bitto, The strays (Review)
Let me start by saying I really enjoyed reading Emily Bitto's The strays. It was scheduled for my reading group the day after my return from Tasmania, and I suddenly found myself in the last day of my Tasmanian holiday without having started the book. Wah! I read it in two days, helped by several … Continue reading Emily Bitto, The strays (Review)
Don Miller, Will to win: The West at play (Review)
Sport is probably not the first subject you expect to find here, but it is in fact the focus of my latest read, Don Miller's Will to win: The West at play. Published by independent Melbourne press, Hybrid Publishers, it was offered to me after my Monday Musings post a few months ago on Australian Rules in literature. … Continue reading Don Miller, Will to win: The West at play (Review)
Prison post: Letters of support for Peter Greste
If you're Australian, you'll know who Peter Greste is. If you're not, you may know. He was one of three Al Jazeera English journalists* who were arrested in Cairo in late 2013 for "spreading false news, belonging to a terrorist organisation and operating without a permit". It was a ridiculous charge and we all thought … Continue reading Prison post: Letters of support for Peter Greste
Danielle Wood, Mothers Grimm (Review)
If you thought from the title of Danielle Wood's latest novel, Mothers Grimm, that it comprises a retelling of fairytales you'd be right - and wrong. Right, because the stories contained within do springboard from specific fairytales, but wrong if you expect the new stories to be retellings. The wordplay on the title - Mothers … Continue reading Danielle Wood, Mothers Grimm (Review)
Paddy O’Reilly, Peripheral vision: Stories (Review)
The title of Paddy O'Reilly's latest collection of short stories, Peripheral vision, comes from the story "Restraints", in which the narrator, standing in a robotics lab where things have gone awry, says: ... and I caught again a flicker in my peripheral vision. It's a good title for the book because the stories are about … Continue reading Paddy O’Reilly, Peripheral vision: Stories (Review)
Karen Lamb, Thea Astley: Inventing her own weather (Review)
Courtesy: UQP One of the threads that runs through Karen Lamb's biography, Thea Astley: Inventing her own weather, is Astley's ongoing frustration about her work not being appreciated or recognised. On the face of it, this seems neurotic or, perhaps, paranoid. After all, she was the first writer to win the Miles Franklin Award four times, … Continue reading Karen Lamb, Thea Astley: Inventing her own weather (Review)
Rochelle Siemienowicz, Fallen (Review)
Being a reader who focuses more on "truths" than "facts", I'm not averse to writers playing around with fact in their fiction or fiction in their fact. This issue raises its head most frequently in historical fiction of course, but it's also present in autobiographies, memoirs and even biographies. And so, here I am, having … Continue reading Rochelle Siemienowicz, Fallen (Review)
Kate Grenville, One life: My mother’s story (Review)
Kate Grenville is one of Australia's best known contemporary writers, and is one of that small band to have succeeded both critically and commercially. Most know her for The secret river, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize among other awards. I enjoyed that, and the other novels of hers that I've read, with my … Continue reading Kate Grenville, One life: My mother’s story (Review)
Whispering Gums 