It's not easy to find unemotive reports about what is happening in Ukraine right now. The history of Europe and the West with Russia is a long and complex one and the seeds of the current war can be found in this historic relationship. Modern day leaders, politicians, oligarchs, journalists and historians all play a … Continue reading Understanding Ukraine Master Post
The President of the Chamber remained standing until the faint stir caused by his entry subsided. Then he took his seat, saying rather nonchalantly, in a quiet voice:'The sitting is open.' As always, I am facsinated by translation choices. Above are the opening lines from Brian Nelson's recent 2018 translation of Son Excellence Eugène Rougon, … Continue reading Son Excellence Eugène Rougon | Émile Zola #Zoladdiction
The sunlight of late September filled the pale, formal streets between Portland Place and Manchester Square. The sky was a burning blue yet the still air was chill. The first point I wish to highlight about Margaret Elizabeth Jenkins are her birth and death dates - the 31st October 1905 and the 5th September 2010. … Continue reading The Tortoise and the Hare | Elizabeth Jenkins
The Self-Help Books For about a decade of my life, roughly 25-35, I struggled to work out what this whole thing we call life was actually for. I'm not the first person to ask such questions, and I'm sure I wont be the last. Which is no doubt why the self-help section at your local … Continue reading Shelf Life #8
This week sees us reading books with Simon @Stuck in a Book and Karen @Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings that were first published in 1954. And what a stellar year it was! Looking through the various online lists, I see that I have read and reviewed an impressive number of books from 1954 already. From children's fiction, … Continue reading The 1954 Club
The unfolding situation in Ukraine is distressing and worrying for so many of us. When my home state of NSW is not in the middle of another major flooding event, our news is full of what is happening in Eastern Europe. The what and where is easy to see. But it's hard to get a … Continue reading I Stand For Peace Reading Event May – Sept 2022
My Month: My writing hiatus is mostly a reviewing hiatus. The words to describe my reading journey have deserted me, for now.Instead, I have been tidying up behind the scenes.And catching up on my Classic Club duties.In case you were wondering, it's still raining! What I'm Reading: His Excellency Eugene Rougon | Emile ZolaThe Tortoise … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #48
182 years ago today, Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola was born in Paris and for the past nine years, Fanda @Classiclit has hosted Zoladdiction throughout April. I joined in the first two with the only Zola's on my TBR pile - Germinal (1885) and Nana (1880). At that point I didn't really understand how the whole Rougon-Macquart thing … Continue reading Zoladdiction 2022
Yesterday, I posted a mini review for the fiction titles I read during March. Today we a take a quick peek at the non-fiction. It has been a great reading month. My March book club read was Archie Roach’s Tell Me Why. It was a moving, honest account of his life. Archie Roach is a … Continue reading March Madness 2 #minireviewsnonfiction
Yes, I'm on a writing hiatus, but I couldn't just let my March reads disappear off the blogging radar completely. One of the reasons I have this blog is keep track of what I've read. Many of my books have not been purchased by me - they are reading copies from work. Therefore, they are … Continue reading March Madness 1 #minireviewsfiction
Life has been pretty hectic this year, one way or another, and my writing mojo seems to have gone missing in action. Lately I’ve been resorting to old, half finished drafts to keep my blog active. You know those posts...started in good faith a while ago but never quite let out in public because you … Continue reading A Little Hiatus
It's time to spin again with The Classics Club. Details on how to play are here. On Sunday the 20th March (tomorrow), a random number will be drawn. Match the number to the book on your list, then read said book before the 30th April. I have a few reading plans throughout April (see here) … Continue reading Classics Club Spin #29
East Gippsland panorama | Image source Native-Born, according to Wikipedia, regularly appears in Australian anthologies. However I had never come across it until an article in The Conversation last year when Donna Mazza^ referenced it. Mazza declared that, Native-Born...is still startlingly relevant to contemporary ecofeminism by subtly linking the discovery and cremation of a dead … Continue reading Native-Born | Eve Langley #AWWpoem
The Minotaur by George Frederic Watts | 1885 | Tate Britain And the Queen gave birth to a child who was called Asterion. I wish I had known before my first read through of The House of Asterion (La casa de Asterion | 1947) that Borges was inspired to write a story from the perspective … Continue reading The House of Asterion | Jorge Luis Borges #ARGshortstory
This incredible book is a testament to the renaissance of First Nations poetry happening in Australia right now.UQP website Fire Front: First Nations Poetry and Power Today is an anthology of poems and essays from many well-known and emerging First Nations writers and thinkers. It is powerful and confronting stuff. It is very contemporary, yet … Continue reading Fire Front | edited by Alison Whittaker #AUSpoetry
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