Anyone who has survived a long-term relationship (and I'm talking decades, not just a year a two) knows it is an adventure in joy, despair and resilience combined with equal parts humour and anger. This memoir of family life by Aussie Actor/Writer, William McInnes, and his Film Director/Animator wife, Sarah Watt, captures the nuances of daily … [Read more...]
Reading This Week – The Happiest Refugee – Anh Do
In Australia there is a long-running debate on what to do about asylum seekers. In particular, the people who pay money to people smugglers to take to the open sea in a bid to seek refuge in Australia. It's a political hot-potato, with the issue whipped into a frenzy by a variety of shock-jocks and media commentators. It's a complex and emotive … [Read more...]
Reading This Week – There Should Be More Dancing – Rosalie Ham
Margery Blandon, an uptight 79-year-old, is on the 43rd floor of the Tropic Hotel debating whether to jump over the edge. How she came to get there is the basis of There Should Be More Dancing by Rosalie Ham. Ham, the author of The Dressmaker, portrays a darkly humorous look at the process of aging, the mistakes of life and the vagaries of … [Read more...]
Reading This Week – Bereft – Chris Womersley
The new novel by Chris Womersley is a dark tale with Gothic sensibilities. Womersley portrays a world of sadness and pain, set in 1919 in the aftermath of the First World War and in the midst of the Spanish Flu epidemic. … [Read more...]
The List of Books to Read
Over in Twitter world Booktopia asked followers to take a picture of the books in their To Be Read pile. I gathered mine together, a motley collection of library books (must remember to return them), bargain basket buys (OK everyone else read them ages OK but I paid $5 instead of $32 to get 'em), a few that have been on my shelf for ages but I … [Read more...]
