Finally, the third in my funny little Favourite Quotes series which I resurrected earlier this year. In August I posted a review (of sorts) of the first volume of Sir Walter Scott's first novel, Waverley, and I included a quote describing his hero's unstructured, undisciplined reading encouraged by a theory of education that sounds a bit … Continue reading Favourite quotes: from Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley
Reading
Grace L. Chao and Amanda Ambinder Shapiro, Bookclub social: A reader’s guide to online book clubs (#BookReview)
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)
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)
Louise Erdrich, The bingo palace (#BookReview)
When I bought Louise Erdrich's The bingo palace in 1995, I never expected it to take me 24 years to read it but, there you go. Time flies, and suddenly it was 2019 and the book was still sitting on the high priority pile next to my bed! Truly! It took Lisa's ANZLitLovers Indigenous Literature Week … Continue reading Louise Erdrich, The bingo palace (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: the Australian Common Reader
The Australian Common Reader is, says its website, "a world-leading database of digitised reading records" which "contains thousands of records of library borrowers between 1860 and 1918." Initiated by Western Australia's Curtin University professor Tim Dolin in 2008*, it was acquired by ANU in 2013, and is managed by its Centre for Digital Humanities Research. It was officially launched … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: the Australian Common Reader
Mary McCarthy, The group (#BookReview)
My reading group has a few loose "rules" for choosing our reads, but one of the more rigid ones is that each year we like to read at least one classic. This year's first classic - yes, another is coming - was Mary McCarthy's The group. As I wrote in last week's Monday Musings, it … Continue reading Mary McCarthy, The group (#BookReview)
Nadine Gordimer, Harald, Claudia, and their son Duncan (#BookReview)
There are authors I read long before blogging whom I really want to document here, in some way. One of these is Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer who first came to my attention in 1983 with her memorable, confronting 1956 short story collection, Six feet of the country. Nadine Gordimer, as I'm sure you know, had … Continue reading Nadine Gordimer, Harald, Claudia, and their son Duncan (#BookReview)
Sayaka Murata, Convenience store woman (#BookReview)
Convenience store woman, which won Japan's prestigious Akutagawa Prize, is Sayaka Murata's 10th novel, but her first translated into English. Hopefully, it won't be the last. A rather unusual book, it elicited a stimulating discussion at my reading group last week. The convenience store woman of the title is 36-year-old Keiko Furukawa. She isn't "normal", and her … Continue reading Sayaka Murata, Convenience store woman (#BookReview)
Amor Towles, A gentleman in Moscow (#BookReview)
American writer Amor Towles' third novel, the best-selling A gentleman in Moscow, generated a surprisingly lively discussion at my reading group last week, because beneath its engaging, accessible exterior are some puzzles. These puzzles relate primarily to Towles' intentions. What were they? Why did an American investment banker write an historical fiction novel about a Count in … Continue reading Amor Towles, A gentleman in Moscow (#BookReview)
José Jorge Letria, If I were a book (#BookReview)
If I were a book is one of those "gift" books you give to readers - and it was in that spirit that it was given to me for my birthday a couple of years ago. It's a delight of a book, and is somewhat quirkier than these sorts of book-lovers' gift books often are, which … Continue reading José Jorge Letria, If I were a book (#BookReview)
