When I received Angela Savage's novel The dying beach out of the blue last year as a review copy, I didn't put it high in my list of reading priorities. I had - and still have - a pile of books waiting patiently, and I rarely (never say never) read crime novels. However, two things … Continue reading Angela Savage, The dying beach (Review)
Eco-literature
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)
Louis Nowra, Into that forest (Review)
Louis Nowra is one versatile and prolific writer, having written novels, non-fiction, plays and screenplays, essays and even libretti. Into that forest is his latest work. It was shortlisted for the Young Adult Novel prize in the 2012 Aurealis awards and the Ethel Turner Young People's Literature prize in this year's NSW Premier's Literary Awards. … Continue reading Louis Nowra, Into that forest (Review)
Tim Flannery, After the future: Australia’s extinction crisis (Review)
Tim Flannery is an Australian palaeontologist-cum-environmentalist who has been on the public stage for a couple of decades now. He has published several books on environmental issues, some best-sellers, including The future eaters and The weather makers. He was Australian of the Year in 2007, has starred in three television documentary series with comedian John … Continue reading Tim Flannery, After the future: Australia’s extinction crisis (Review)
Mary Austin, The scavengers
I've never heard of Mary Austin but when I saw this story (essay), "The scavengers", appear as a Library of America offering, I had to read it, because it's about the deserts of California - and I love those deserts. Mary Austin (1868-1934) was an early nature writer about the American southwest. LOA's notes tell us that she moved … Continue reading Mary Austin, The scavengers
Anna Krien, Into the woods
How can so many people all be looking at the same thing and see it so differently? The man moseying around in front of me looks at a 300-year old tree and sees a nursing home, while an activist twenty minutes down the road sees a block of flats for furry and feathered creatures. Vive … Continue reading Anna Krien, Into the woods
Whispering Gums 