His mother waited upstairs while the servants took coats and scarves and hats from the guests. Some books are not easy to review. If you had asked me a couple of month ago, I would have said, unreservedly, that I was a fan of Colm Tóibin, particularly his Irish stories, since that is all I … Continue reading The Magician | Colm Tóibin
But we might never find them? Fermi's Paradox is at the heart of this story. The story goes that in 1950, Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi, made a passing comment asking 'where are all the aliens?' given the youngish nature of our planetary system and the relative ease of space travel. Fermi was not the first … Continue reading Bewilderment | Richard Powers
My Week: Same as last week, except I am now double vaxxed! What I'm Reading: Mrs Marsh | Virginia FeitoBewilderment | Richard PowersThe Bombay Prince | Sujata Massey (book 3 in the Perveen Mistry series)Meditations | Marcus Aurelius (translator Gregory Hays)Committed Writings | Albert Camus (translator Justin O'Brien)The Countess From Kirribilli | Joyce Morgan (bio)Julia … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #43
Image: iStock | George Marks I have just started reading Mrs Marsh: A Novel by Virginia Feito. Her epigraph is the first two lines of a Dylan Thomas poem from 1932. Thomas was only 17 when he wrote this poem. It wasn't published until after his death in Dylan Thomas: The Notebook Poems 1930-1934 edited … Continue reading The Gossipers | Dylan Thomas #poem
In her childhood Virginia Woolf was a keen hunter of butterflies and moths. I first attempted to read Virginia Woolf in my early twenties - To the Lighthouse - I couldn't get into it, even though I really wanted to. There was something about Virginia that fascinated me, but her writing was too dense for … Continue reading Virginia Woolf | Nigel Nicolson #UKbio
It’s that time of year again! Time to think about how many Australian books and authors you can read during the month of November for AusReading Month. Now in it’s 9th year, AusReading Month is a chance to celebrate all the things we love about Australian literature. Back in 2013, I was looking for an … Continue reading AusReading Month is coming soon…
Émile Zola: A Very Short Introduction is part of the very excellent Oxford University Press Very Short Introduction series. There are over 700 titles in the series covering everything from author biographies, religions and philosophers, medicine and health topics, periods of history, cultural and social issues, to science and maths. If you're on the brink … Continue reading Émile Zola: A Very Short Introduction | Brian Nelson #LiteraryCompanion
I am standing next to Bridie and she is singing too loudly. Amanda Lohrey recently won her first Miles Franklin Award for her novel, The Labyrinth. Ever since the announcement, her short story essay in Secrets (1997) has been on my mind. Last weekend, I sat down to reread it. Secrets came into my possession … Continue reading The Clear Voice Suddenly Singing | Amanda Lohrey #AWW
Let me tell you the story of a righteous man. First up, what a cover! Isn't it beautiful? My copy of Ariadne is an early proof copy. I've tried to take a photo of it that does it justice, but I failed. So let me describe it - it includes the gold leaf tendrils of … Continue reading Ariadne | Jennifer Saint #Mythology
According to wikipedia a drop bear is a fictional creature, an urban myth, designed by Australians to scare tourists. It has even been given a fictional scientific name - Thylarctos plummetus. According to folklore it looks like "a predatory, carnivorous version of the koala" and lives in gumtrees, dropping onto the heads of unsuspecting bushwalkers. … Continue reading Dropbear | Evelyn Araluen #AWW
My Week: Same as last week. E x a c t l y the same as last week.Although I did get my first Pfizer vaccination today. Finally. I booked this appointment back on the 23rd June. This was the first available time slot. It's a huge relief to be on the road to protection. What … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #42
No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be a heroine. I was thrilled when Adam announced that he was planning to reinstate his Austen in August reading event. I have reread all my Austen's multiple times, of course, but I have more than one edition … Continue reading The Annotated Northanger Abbey | Jane Austen & David M. Shapard #CCspin
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