Set in the satirically named town of Allbut, whose nearest large town is the equally satirically named Mainchance, Thea Astley's An item from the late news is framed by the story of a man who comes to the town, fearful of "the atom bomb", and wanting to live a quiet - sheltered, you might say … Continue reading Thea Astley, An item from the late news (#BookReview)
TBR reading
Shokoofeh Azar, The enlightenment of the greengage tree (#BookReview)
I bought Shokoofeh Azar's novel The enlightenment of the greengage tree when it was longlisted for the 2018 Stella Prize, for which it was also shortlisted. However, it was its shortlisting this year for the International Booker Prize that prompted me to finally take it off the TBR pile. Born in Iran, artist and writer Azar … Continue reading Shokoofeh Azar, The enlightenment of the greengage tree (#BookReview)
Angela Thirkell, Trooper to the Southern Cross (#BookReview)
Unlike many, I think, I have not read Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels which, I understand are very different to her only Australian-set novel, Trooper to the Southern Cross, which, in fact, she published under the male pseudonym of Leslie Parker. It has been on my TBR for some time, so I'm grateful that Bill's AWW Gen 3 … Continue reading Angela Thirkell, Trooper to the Southern Cross (#BookReview)
Ruth Park and D’Arcy Niland, The drums go bang! (#BookReview)
Volume 1 of Ruth Park's autobiography, A fence around the cuckoo, covers the period of her life up to when she lands in Australia to marry D'Arcy Niland. Not being sure, perhaps, that there'd be a sequel, Park concludes with: We lived together for twenty-five years less five weeks. We had many fiery disagreements but … Continue reading Ruth Park and D’Arcy Niland, The drums go bang! (#BookReview)
Chloe Hooper, The arsonist: A mind on fire (#BookReview)
It may not have been the most sensible decision to read Chloe Hooper's book, The arsonist, during Australia's worst-ever bushfire week, but in fact I picked it up a few days before the crisis became evident, and once I started I couldn't put it down. The arsonist tells the story of the man arrested and … Continue reading Chloe Hooper, The arsonist: A mind on fire (#BookReview)
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)
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)
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)
Marilynne Robinson, Gilead (#BookReview)
Once again I have reason to start a book post with a discussion of the title, this time Marilynne Robinson's 2005 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Gilead. Gilead, in the context of this novel, has a literal and metaphorical meaning, literal because it takes place in the fictional Iowan town of Gilead, and metaphorical because "gilead" … Continue reading Marilynne Robinson, Gilead (#BookReview)
WG Sebald, Austerlitz (#BookReview)
For the first time in my reading group's 30-year history, we read a book recommended by a fictional character. It happened like this: after reading and discussing Rabih Alameddine's An unnecessary woman (my review) in January, we thought it would be interesting if we all nominated which book mentioned by the "unnecessary woman", Aaliya Saleh, that we'd … Continue reading WG Sebald, Austerlitz (#BookReview)
Whispering Gums 