The abandoned hotel comes into view. Derelict, windswept. Who is Mette Jakobsen and how is it I have never heard of her before? In 2011 she wrote The Vanishing Act about a young girl growing up on a small snow covered island. In October of the same year, a brief story called The Island appeared … Continue reading The Wingmaker | Mette Jakobsen
Poetry Month (1–31 August) is a new initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry, poets and publishers.Our goal is to increase access, awareness, value and visibility of poetry in all its forms and for all audiences. The inaugural Poetry Month will be held during August 2021 with the aim of an ongoing … Continue reading August is Poetry Month
It's not yet eight. Stefan Valeriu can tell by the sunlight, which has crept only as far as the edge of his chaise lounge. He can sense it climbing the wooden legs, feel it caressing his fingers, his hands, his naked arm, as warm as a shawl... Such a sensuous, delicious, lazy way to open … Continue reading Women | Mihail Sebastian
My mother was blue, a pale blue mixed with the colour of ashes. I find myself drawn to memoirs that dive deep into difficult, complicated mother-daughter relationships. It's a dynamic fraught with push me/pull me tensions. Tensions that seem to only evolve with time. Is it possible to work them out? Come to terms with … Continue reading Nothing Holds Back the Night | Delphine de Vigan
My Week: Bah!Three Australian states are in various degrees of lockdown once again.The politics of fear is in full flight. It's hard not to get caught up in it, as states are pitched against states against the federal government, who sends it back against the states!Trying to remember instead that I am/want to be a … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #41
In 1930 the woman who called herself Mrs Hill caught the Old Trans across the Nullarbor. She sat with a notebook propped on her knees, her suitcase, typewriter and thin swag slung in the rack overhead, revelling in the train's front-stall view of the weird and mournful wilderness all around. Sometimes books come into your … Continue reading Into the Loneliness | Eleanor Hogan #AWW
At the beginning it's sea was rich and wondrous. We'd snorkel and fish and swim and beach-comb. Ignorance can be bliss sometimes. Until this last month or so I had never really thought about where my smoked salmon came from. Other than somewhere in or around Tasmania, that is. I was proudly buying local product … Continue reading Toxic | Richard Flanagan #AUSnon-fiction
My nana used to call it the 'change of life'. It was a change alright. If you take a quick glance at the health section in most Australian bookshops, you will notice that suddenly there are quite a few books about older women's health, specifically perimenopause and menopause, being published. I can only assume it's … Continue reading The M Word | Dr Ginni Mansberg #AUSnonfiction
It's time for another Classics Club Spin.The rules are easy: compile your list of 20 books by Sunday 18th July.On that day a number will be randomly selected.That's the book you read.You have until the 22nd August 2021 to finish your book and review it.Join in the fun by visiting the other players and commenting on their lists.It's … Continue reading CC Spin #27
There was a moment, between Quai des Orfevres and Pont Marie, when Maigret paused, so briefly that Lapointe, who was walking beside him, paid no attention. Happy Bastille Day! Joyeux Quatorze Juillet! Picking up a Maigret is like falling into a soft, cosy blanket with a tray of strong cheeses, biscuits and a robust red … Continue reading Maigret and the Tramp | Georges Simenon
There was 'nothing for him' in England. The trouble with reading faster than one is blogging, is the backlog of reviews and trying to remember what I wanted to say about each book. I currently have eight books waiting to be reviewed. Thankfully I jot down notes as I go along and I underline interesting … Continue reading My Phantoms | Gwendoline Riley #UKfiction
All I can remember, and this is what I told the police over and over again, is that there was a party at the house and I'd been drinking. It took me several weeks to read Benang in preparation for Indigenous Literature Week. It was intense, demanding and confronting. I'm very grateful to have finally … Continue reading After Story | Larissa Behrendt #AUSfiction
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