Much as I love watching Julia Baird on The Drum, and much as Mr Gums and I worried about her multiple cancer diagnoses and her extended journey to recovery over recent years, I'm not sure I would have read her book, Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark, … Continue reading Julia Baird, Phosphorescence (#BookReview)
Reading group book
Balli Kaur Jaswal, Erotic stories for Punjabi widows (#BookReview)
Broadly speaking, Singaporean author Balli Kaur Jaswal's third novel, Erotic stories for Punjabi widows, reminds me of Anita Heiss' choclit books like Paris dreaming (my review). By this I mean it presents as an escapist romcom genre novel but within it is some serious intent. In this case it relates to the oppression of women, … Continue reading Balli Kaur Jaswal, Erotic stories for Punjabi widows (#BookReview)
Griffith Review 68: Getting on (#BookReview)
I love reading the Griffith Review, though have mostly only reviewed individual articles on this blog. It's a meaty quarterly, with each edition being devoted to a particular theme. Edition 68's theme, Getting on, seemed apposite for my reading group and so was our August selection. Although it was confronting at times, it was a … Continue reading Griffith Review 68: Getting on (#BookReview)
Chris Flynn, Mammoth (#BookReview)
I am not a big fan of anthropomorphism and have read very few animal-narrated books. Animal farm is one, while Watership down, so enamoured by many of my generation, is not. However, I was intrigued by Chris Flynn's Mammoth, which is narrated by a 13,000-year-old American Mastodon fossil, and was glad when my reading group decided … Continue reading Chris Flynn, Mammoth (#BookReview)
Rick Morton, One hundred years of dirt (#BookReview)
Way back in the early 1970s when I was an undergraduate university student, I did some sociology, and one of our set books was The myth of equality by Tom Roper. It, and the courses around it, have informed ever since my understanding of how our society operates. Morton's book One hundred years of dirt … Continue reading Rick Morton, One hundred years of dirt (#BookReview)
Carmel Bird, Field of poppies (#BookReview)
There are some writers whose personalities shine through so strongly that I have taken to characterising them in just a word or two. Jane Austen, for example, I think of as wickedly witty, and Helen Garner as heartbreakingly honest. Carmel Bird is another of these. I describe her as seriously cheeky, by which I don't … Continue reading Carmel Bird, Field of poppies (#BookReview)
Charlotte Wood, The weekend (#BookReview)
After reading the first few pages of Charlotte Wood's latest novel, The weekend, I was starting to wonder how on earth these women, with "their same scratchy old ways", could be described as "dearest friends". They seemed so different, and so irritated or, sometimes, cowed by each other's differences. Where was their point of connection … Continue reading Charlotte Wood, The weekend (#BookReview)
My reading group’s top picks for 2019
In what is becoming a tradition, my reading group once again voted for our top picks from our 2019 schedule. Given many of us like hearing about what other reading groups do, I'm sharing the results as I did last year. First, though, here is what we read in the order we read them (with … Continue reading My reading group’s top picks for 2019
Tim Winton, The shepherd’s hut (#BookReview)
Tim Winton and Christos Tsiolkas have to be Australia's foremost contemporary writers about men and boys, Tsiolkas doing for urban/surburban males what Winton does for small town/rural ones. Winton's latest novel, The shepherd's hut, continues his exploration of males in extremis. It's strong, gritty, page-turning, and yet reflective too, which is not easy to pull-off. … Continue reading Tim Winton, The shepherd’s hut (#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)
Whispering Gums 