Despite our current circumstances, Princess Child and I have both just read The Fault in Our Stars, 'cause it's important to ALWAYS keep up with popular culture. This Young Adult Fiction novel tells a humourous, heartbreaking story of first love. The emotions intensified by the omnipresent fear of death as the two protagonists live with … [Read more...]
2012 Favourites
Taking a moment to consider my "favourites" for 2012. My favourite song of 2012 is from Delta Goodrem. It's dedicated to a childhood friend she lost in an accident in 2009. It's absolutely beautiful and deeply sad. http://youtu.be/tFFq31fBoeI The speech of the year goes to Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. When she stood up in Parliament and … [Read more...]
If you want to publish a book … you’ve got to WRITE
It is 10.54 am on my day off from my real-world job. When I decided to work part-time the aim was to spend my day off writing. Get a book published. Uncover that latent dream from underneath the grown-up world responsibilities of kids, mortgage, bills and ... well you know the drill. This morning I was determined. My only responsibility was … [Read more...]
What’s Your Favourite Cookbook?
There is a certain irony to writing a blog post about cookbooks on a night one child in your family is having a hotdog, the husband is having leftover pumpkin soup and yourself and the other child are heating up some frozen spinach and ricotta pasties - Sunday night is gourmet at Shambles Manor. However, disregarding our current culinary … [Read more...]
Reading This Week – Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? – Jeanette Winterson
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is the tenth novel of British Author, Jeanette Winterson. In it she returns to the childhood depicted in her first award-winning book, Oranges Aren't The Only Fruit. Although this time around Winterson ditches the "semi autobiographical" label of Oranges and embraces the memoir. Winterson regards the first … [Read more...]
Reading This Week – Things They Didn’t Tell You About Parenting
A first for the blog this week - a review of an e-book. I'm still trying to come to terms with the concept of reading "books" online. I'm a traditional girl who loves the paper, the print, the page turning but I'm trying to "get with the times" and come around to the convenience and ease of copious amounts of books loaded onto an … [Read more...]
Reading This Week – Love & Hunger – Thoughts on the Gift Of Food – Charlotte Wood
Every month I take part in the Book Club on ABC Mid North Coast, which means I have books selected for me to read. It's like a literary lottery, you never know what you are going to get. You often find yourself reading books you wouldn't normally choose for yourself. This month we discussed Love and Hunger by Charlotte Wood. Given I'm not much of … [Read more...]
Reading This Week – Silent Fear by Katherine Howell
I love a good crime novel, mystery or thriller. The obsession began with Enid Blyton's Secret Seven, moved through Agatha Christie and into Patricia Cornwell, PD James, Ruth Rendell. If I'm left to my own devices to choose a book to curl up with on a rainy day I wade straight into the murky world of corpses with secrets, fascinating forensics and … [Read more...]
Reading This Week – Watercolours – Adrienne Ferreira
A gifted child, a quirky family, an inexperienced teacher, a mysterious death all jumbled together in a small, country town that's the essence of Watercolours. This is the debut novel for Adrienne Ferreira and in it she creates an engaging story with a group of likeable characters. Watercolours is a gentle book which meanders through the everyday … [Read more...]
Reading this Week – The Testimony – Halina Wagowska
As time passes The Holocaust of World War II moves further into the pages of history. The tragedies and atrocities are at risk of becoming facts, figures and statistics on a page taught to disinterested students who would rather be at the beach than in a stuffy classroom. Eighty-one-year-old human rights activist Halina Wagowska counters this with … [Read more...]
