When co-author and publisher Julian Davies sent me Backlash to review, he described it as "our latest and perhaps most ambitious book so far - non-fiction". Hmm, I thought, that's quite something from the publisher of some very interesting and, it seems to me, ambitious books. But now, having read Backlash, I understand what he … Continue reading Bidda Jones and Julian Davies, Backlash: Australia’s conflict of values over live exports
Review – Non-fiction
Jane Jose, Places women make (Review)
"Places", Jane Jose writes in her book Places women make, "can lift our spirits and be inclusive, and add surprise, excitement, wonder or some beauty to day-to-day life in the city." These sorts of places, which are essential to making our cities liveable, rarely just happen. They take planning, and who does this planning? Men. At … Continue reading Jane Jose, Places women make (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
Richard Lloyd Parry, People who eat darkness (Review)
Commenting on my review of Helen Garner's This house of grief, Ian Darling recommended Richard Lloyd Parry's People who eat darkness: Love, grief and a journey into Japan's shadows. I'm ashamed that I rarely follow up the great recommendations I receive here, and I admit that it's odd that when I did this time it was for … Continue reading Richard Lloyd Parry, People who eat darkness (Review)
Tara Moss, The fictional woman (Review)
In terms of feminist argument, I'm not sure that Tara Moss told me anything I didn't already know or believe in her first work of non-fiction, The fictional woman, but that didn't stop me enjoying her take, her approach. Moss is an interesting woman. Her careers as a model and a crime writer meant she wasn't really on my … Continue reading Tara Moss, The fictional woman (Review)
Helen Garner, This house of grief: The story of a murder trial (Review)
Well you might ask why you would want to read a book about the trial of a man accused of murdering his three sons by driving his car into a dam and escaping the car himself? Indeed, Helen Garner was asked why she would want to attend such a trial - and write about it. … Continue reading Helen Garner, This house of grief: The story of a murder trial (Review)
Clare Wright, The forgotten rebels of Eureka (Review)
Wah! Once again I delayed reading a much heralded book until my reading group did it*, and so it is only now that I've read Clare Wright's Stella Prize winning history, The forgotten rebels of Eureka. The trouble with coming late to a high-profile book is how to review it freshly. All I can do, … Continue reading Clare Wright, The forgotten rebels of Eureka (Review)
Dinah Fried, Fictitious dishes (Review)
Regular readers here know that I recently spent a few weeks in North America - mostly in Toronto, bookended by a few days in Southern California. We spent our last day with a friend I "met" many years ago through online reading groups. We actually met Trudy for the first time in 2008, so this … Continue reading Dinah Fried, Fictitious dishes (Review)
Bill McKibben, Oil and honey (Review)
It's coincidental, but nicely appropriate, that the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) published its Provisional Statement on the Status of the Climate in 2013 last week, just as I was finishing US environmental activist Bill McKibben's latest book, Oil and honey: The education of an unlikely activist. It's likewise coincidental that, three days before WMO's announcement, … Continue reading Bill McKibben, Oil and honey (Review)
Whispering Gums 