Shambolic Living

Reading This Week – Worse Things Happen At Sea – William McInnes, Sarah Watt

Janine — Sun, 09 Apr 2017 21:33:52 +0000

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...

Ten Books by Aussie Women Writers to Read This Year

Janine — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 13:34:29 +0000

These are the books by Australian female authors on my “to read” list for 2016 … with the publisher’s blurbs which have convinced me they are worth reading! The Dry by Jane Harper This book won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript It’s Jane’s first novel with rights sold to over twenty territories. Luke...

Reading This Week – The Fault In Our Stars – John Green

Janine — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 11:16:15 +0000

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...

Reading This Week – The Fence-Painting Fortnight of Destiny – Meshel Laurie

Janine — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 02:21:01 +0000

This memoir of comedian and radio/TV personality Meshel Laurie takes a fascinating look into the world of entertainment and what it takes to survive its rejections and successes. A kid from country Queensland Laurie dreamed of making it big in the comedy scene of Melbourne. This book chronicles the ups and downs of that journey....

What’s Your Favourite Book?

Janine — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:48:22 +0000

I think I may have a problem. I seem to have a love of darkness and death. It’s been unearthed as I sat down to write what I thought was a quick, easy blog post about favourite books. As I began to compile my list the only criteria was they had to stick in my...

Reading This Week – Sisters of Mercy – Caroline Overington

Janine — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 07:16:25 +0000

This year I am again taking part in the Australian Women Writers Challenge. This means I am committing to reading six books by Australian female writers and reviewing at least four of them. The first cab off the rank is Sisters of Mercy by Caroline Overington. Two sisters, raised apart unaware they had a sibling, are...

Reading This Week – Fishing for Tigers – Emily Maguire

Janine — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:43:23 +0000

Firstly, a disclaimer, I’m a prude. Even as a teenager I was a goody-two-shoes who was uninterested in what anyone was doing in regards to bedroom activity. Today, I continue to ignore the Fifty Shades of Gray phenomena. I haven’t even been able to bring myself to read The Bride Stripped Bare by Nikki...

What’s Your Favourite Cookbook?

Janine — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 07:56:21 +0000

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,...

Reading This Week – Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? – Jeanette Winterson

Janine — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 02:07:54 +0000

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 book as...

Reading This Week – Floundering by Romy Ash

Janine — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Floundering is a first-time novel by Romy Ash. It’s the story of two boys who are reclaimed by their dysfunctional mother after a year of living happily with their grandparents, and taken on a mysterious and foreboding road trip. The novel starts strongly and incorporates some beautifully descriptive writing which evokes a clear sense of...