I recently spent a week or two in the Irish village of Faha. I was there in 1962, a time of transition when televisions and electric light were replacing radios and tinsel. The Cuba Missile Crisis has just occurred but Faha is far from there, in another time and another place where time goes round … Continue reading Taken to another place
Tag: reading
The end of the world is big right now
The end of the world is big right now. I get it: bushfires, COVID, Trump, Musk, and extremists all over social media. Cyclones in Brisbane! It feels like we live in an apocalyptic or dystopian backstory. Even respected 'literary' writers have been inspired to give us their version of survival after or during the end … Continue reading The end of the world is big right now
Echoes
I worried when I began reading The Echoes by Evie Wyld - at the point where she introduces the school for Aboriginal girls - that this would be a preachy novel. It's a trap Wyld avoided in The Bass Rock as compared to There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConoghy which I happened to read adjacently. … Continue reading Echoes
The Wren, the Wren
One of my 2024 goals was to write a blog for each Pocket Bookclub book at the time we read the book! Here I am in January 2025 writing about The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright, which we read back in back in September. It's harder, the more time passes, particularly for a deep … Continue reading The Wren, the Wren
Infinite Splendours
The title of Sofia Laguna's book, Infinite Splendours could be considered deceptive. We all wish for infinite splendour in our lives, but in fact, this novel is dark and confronting. It begins in 1953 when Laurie Lohman is 10 years old. He and his mother and brother Paul, move to a house with a view … Continue reading Infinite Splendours
Abridged is better (I can’t believe I am saying that)
I was both surprised and rattled to find the Audible version of Lionel Shriver's The Post Birthday World was abridged! What! After a decade of listening to books, I had never come across an abridged version. I don't want an abridged anything. Give me the real deal. Luckily there is a return policy. I purchased … Continue reading Abridged is better (I can’t believe I am saying that)
Capitalism versus Gardeners: A Tragedy
Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood proved more divisive in the Pocket Bookclub than I envisaged. I always read NZ fiction when visiting my in-laws 'back home.' On our Christmas visit, I bought The Axeman's Carnival by Catherine Chidgey which proved a perfect holiday read for me. (I subsequently heard her speak at the Brisbane Writer's Festival … Continue reading Capitalism versus Gardeners: A Tragedy
Stone Yard Devotional
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood is not a plot-driven book, though some 'things' happen. Essentially, a woman who does not believe in God joins a reclusive monastery. Through a collection of her memories and journal-like reflections, the reader gently tip-toes around and through a series of deep questions listed within the back cover blurb. … Continue reading Stone Yard Devotional
The Joy & Guilt of Bingeing and Keeping
I binged this book in a one-day listen. I had other things to do on this Sunday. I was torn between the joy of a page-turner and the guilt of 'not being productive'. On theme with the book, I simultaneously listened and cleaned out my filing cabinet, and boxed up a pile of stuff I … Continue reading The Joy & Guilt of Bingeing and Keeping
Bewildering and Bewitching
After Kafka on the Shore was released, Haruki Murakami's publishers offered readers the opportunity to ask the author questions about the book - like what on earth does it all mean? There were 8000 questions and he answered 1200 of them (which is no mean feat in itself!). Murakami says "Kafka on the Shore contains several … Continue reading Bewildering and Bewitching