Last year, Mr Gums and I bought a new car to replace our loved but aging 15-year-old Subaru Forester. We've been keen to move into the hybrid world but wanted to stay with the SUV-style for various practical reasons, so, as soon as a reasonably-priced hybrid SUV appeared on the market here - the Toyota … Continue reading Steven Carroll, The lost life (#BookReview)
Australian writers
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)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Christina Stead’s 1930s, Beauties and Bankers
Today's Monday Musings post is the second of two on Christina Stead that I promised for Bill's (The Australian Legend) AWW Gen 3 Week. These two posts - last week's and this - focus on contemporary Australian responses to her four 1930s-published books, based primarily on my research of Trove. Last week's post looked at The Salzburg tales … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Christina Stead’s 1930s, Beauties and Bankers
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)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Christina Stead’s 1930s, Salzburg and Sydney
My first Monday musings on Christina Stead (my posts on Stead) was barely introductory, so I'm planning two more to coincide with Bill's (The Australian Legend) AWW Gen 3 Week. These two posts - this week's and next - focus contemporary Australian responses to the four books she published in the 1930s. I'm keeping this focus tight … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Christina Stead’s 1930s, Salzburg and Sydney
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)
Melanie Myers, Meet me at Lennon’s (#BookReview)
I was keen to read Melanie Myers' debut novel, Meet me at Lennon's, because it is set during the Brisbane of my mother's early teens, that is, wartime Brisbane when her school, Somerville House, was commandeered in 1942 by the Australian Military Forces and served as a US Army Headquarters for the rest of the … Continue reading Melanie Myers, Meet me at Lennon’s (#BookReview)
Amanda O’Callaghan, This taste for silence (#BookReview)
Short story collections are rarely recognised in literary fiction awards, but Amanda O'Callaghan's debut collection, This taste for silence, was shortlisted for this year's Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. The judges described it as "inventive in its themes and by an author unafraid to enfold her readers into unsettling reading experiences". I would agree. This … Continue reading Amanda O’Callaghan, This taste for silence (#BookReview)
Kim Scott, Katherine’s tropical housing precinct 1946-1956 (#BookReview)
Do you have a favourite house that you lived in? I do. It's the lovely old Queenslander my family lived in for most of my primary school years. It was in Sandgate, Brisbane, and I still have vivid memories of those days, and that house and garden. Kim Scott, the author of Katherine's tropical housing … Continue reading Kim Scott, Katherine’s tropical housing precinct 1946-1956 (#BookReview)
Elizabeth Kuiper, Little stones (#BookReview)
Announcing their 2019 longlist back in February (see my post), the Stella Prize judges said that they "wished for more representations of otherness and diversity from publishers: narratives from outside Australia, from and featuring women of colour, LGBTQIA stories, Indigenous stories, more subversion, more difference". Elizabeth Kuiper's debut novel, Little stones, may not exactly fulfil this wish … Continue reading Elizabeth Kuiper, Little stones (#BookReview)
Whispering Gums 