"Well, there’s so much to read, and I’m so far behind." Wallace Stegner
At the time the pigeon affair overtook him, unhinging his life from one day to the next, Jonathan Noel, already past fifty, could look back over a good twenty-year period of total uneventfulness and would never have expected anything of importance could ever overtake him again- other than death some day. What on earth do … Continue reading The Pigeon | Patrick Süskind #DEUnovella
My edition of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die is a 2009 reprint by Harper Collins Australia with a Preface by Australian journalist and book lover, Jennifer Byrne. Back in February 2016, I spent one ghastly heatwave weekend, going through this book and compiling my read and to-be -read lists with the … Continue reading 1001 Books #Update #BookList
One of the reasons I love readalongs is how they help me to get through a challenging book. They keep me focused and give my reading a purpose. The support of my fellow readalongers is an integral part of the process. But sadly, none of this is helping me get through Don Quixote. It reminds … Continue reading Musings of a Very Idle Reader
The End! How on earth do I sum up in mere words such a magnificent, majestic, momentous story?! Les Miserables is a story full of pathos, compassion, extravagance and just a few flaws. Fortunately these flaws of logic and historical truth don't get in the way of Hugo's grander themes about love, redemption and sacrifice. … Continue reading Les Miserables | Victor Hugo
I've loved Japanese literature for many years now, but since visiting Japan earlier this year, my fascination and interest has exploded! Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto popped up on several lists as a great contemporary example of Japanese literature. Kitchen is a slim book containing two stories - Kitchen and Moonlight Shadow - both deal with death, … Continue reading Kitchen | Banana Yoshimoto #JPNshortstories
Reading Frankenstein for the first time was a curious thing. We all think we know the story. At least, I thought I did. I was expecting a slock-horror story full of scary, lurking, creeping monster moments with lots of people screaming and fleeing his terrible claws. I didn't get this. I also hadn't appreciated that … Continue reading Frankenstein | Mary Shelley
I like to think that I have taken my 'what to read whilst travelling' choices to an inspired level of brilliance, but I really outdid myself with our recent trip to Japan. Reading Murakami in Japan now feels like the ONLY place to read Murakami!Not only does the usual Murakami weirdness make sense when you're … Continue reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Hmmmmm, Under the Net by Iris Murdoch...where do I start?Perhaps I should start with my expectations.I expected an English-style comedy of errors featuring a bumbling, gentleman layabout.I'm reading the Random Vintage classic version, so the back cover tells me that,Jake, clever and lazy, makes a living out of writing translations and sponging off his friends. … Continue reading Under the Net by Iris Murdoch
The Commandant came recommended to me in a roundabout fashion. Earlier on in the year, I attended an 'Honouring the Author' event at the State Library, NSW. The author in question was Jessica Anderson.Anderson won the Miles Franklin Prize twice (in 1978 & 1980), but not for The Commandant.By the end of the honouring event, … Continue reading The Commandant by Jessica Anderson
Book VI in The Return of the King brings us back to the perilous journey of Sam and Frodo.Sam now has possession of the ring and Frodo is missing.Tolkien provides the reader with a quick catch up that feels natural and part of the drama (not the obvious recap that so many authors clumsily employ). … Continue reading The Return of the King, Book VI by J R R Tolkien
I hadn't realised that Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's was a novella - only 100 pages in my sweet little pink Popular Penguin. Not that I'm complaining. Brief is good for me right now. This particular edition also contained three more short stories by Capote - House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar and A Christmas Memory. … Continue reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s | Truman Capote
So many various and varied roads led me to read What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt this week. Firstly, she is one of my dear friend's favourite writers (along with Paul Auster). I have resisted for several years now for no particular reason. However, Hustvedt's books are always there, lurking in the back of my … Continue reading What I Loved | Siri Hustvedt
Out of Africa by Karen Blixen has been my nemesis for quite a long time now. I've tried to read it several times after seeing and enjoying the movie back in 1985, but it baulked me at every attempt. I found the language stilted and dry and too descriptive. Thirty years later it finally proved … Continue reading Out of Africa | Karen Blixen
Well, here we are at the end. The final few chapters of our readalong are now in sight and like Bilbo, we have been there and back again.Smaug is dead - the original quest 'to win our harps and gold from him' has been achieved but the journey is not yet over for dear Bilbo … Continue reading The Hobbit – Back Again!
Mother, today there comes back to mind the vermilion mark at the parting of your hair, the sari which you used to wear, with its wide red border, and those wonderful eyes of yours, full of depth and peace. They came at the start of my life's journey, like the first streak of dawn, giving … Continue reading The Home and the World | Rabindranath Tagore
This Reading Life 