World Refugee Day was denoted by the UN General Assembly in December 2000, and has been celebrated on June 20 ever since. Why 20 June? Because this was the date on which many African countries had already been celebrating Africa Refugee Day. The Day's aims, as for all UN International Days, are "to educate the … Continue reading World Refugee Day – #StepWithRefugees
Book lists
Stella Prize 2019 Longlist
I don't do well at having read the Stella Prize longlist at the time of its announcement. In 2017 I'd read none, and last year I improved on that by having read one of the 12-strong longlist. By the end of the year, though, I had read five, which is good for me, given in … Continue reading Stella Prize 2019 Longlist
Indie Books Awards shortlist, 2019, announced
And so it, starts, the Literary Awards trail! Early in the year will be the Stella Prize, but first up is the Indie Book Awards. These are lovely awards, because they are run by Australia's Independent Booksellers - who are members of Leading Edge Books - and we love to support them don't we? Consequently, … Continue reading Indie Books Awards shortlist, 2019, announced
Monday musings on Australian literature: Some New Releases in 2019
I've been doing this "new releases" post for three or four years now. As the post title says, it's about books that will be published this year, but I'll be selective, focusing on those most interesting to me. This doesn't mean that I expect to read them all, just that they interest me!! Last year … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Some New Releases in 2019
Reading highlights for 2018
If you are a regular here you'll know that my Reading Highlights post, which is my answer to those Top Reads posts that many bloggers do, will not contain an ordered list of the books I considered my "best" of the year. I find that just too hard to do (though I did make a … Continue reading Reading highlights for 2018
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian Women Writers Challenge 2018
As has become tradition, I'm devoting my last Monday Musings of the year to the Australian Women Writers Challenge* - but, this year it coincides with New Year's Eve. When this post goes live, who knows what revelry I'll be up to! Hmm ... I can but hope! Seriously, though, I wish all you wonderful Whispering Gums … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian Women Writers Challenge 2018
New Territory Litbloggers’ Year in Review, 2018
When my 2018 New Territory blogging mentee Amy (of The Armchair Critic) suggested that we do some sort of joint end-of-year blog post I loved the idea. The only question was what would we talk about, and how would we do it? It wasn’t too hard to decide former, as the subject matter was obvious: … Continue reading New Territory Litbloggers’ Year in Review, 2018
Books given and received for Christmas, in 2018
In what is becoming a Boxing Day tradition - I have many end-of-year traditions it seems - I am doing, again, a post on the books I gave and received this Christmas. There weren't many as it's becoming hard to pick the right books for people, somehow, even though we are a reading family. Here are the … Continue reading Books given and received for Christmas, in 2018
Monday musings on Australian literature: ABC RN presenters name their 2018 summer picks
Last Monday, I posted the best picks for 2018 by ABC RN's Book Show presenters and some of their guests. I considered not posting at all this Monday. After all, it's Christmas Eve and most of us are busy, but then, yesterday, I saw that the ABC had posted "2018's best summer reads" recommended by … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: ABC RN presenters name their 2018 summer picks
My reading group’s top picks for 2018
Having enjoyed doing our top picks last year, my reading group decided to repeat the exercise this year. I'm assuming that, in the spirit of end-of-year lists, you might be interested to see the results, particularly as you will all know at least some of these books. I'll start, though, by listing what we read in the … Continue reading My reading group’s top picks for 2018
Whispering Gums 