7 December 1962, Devon 7 REASONS NOT TO DIE: 1. Skin. To never again feel the skin of one's beloved child. Not another fictionalised biography I hear you cry! One day I will work out why I am so drawn to this genre. But for now, I give you Sylvia Plath and Euphoria. What do … Continue reading Euphoria | Elin Cullhed #SWEfiction
The Promise | Damon Galgut (2021) Lately I have been struggling with the how, what, when, where and why of blogging. Some minor health issues have been impacting everyday life, work is exhausting me and I never seem to have enough time. But I am still reading! So that's a bright spot. Trying to pull … Continue reading The Promise | Damon Galgut #BookerPrize
Jazz Money is a poet and artist of Wiradjuri heritage, currently based on sovereign Gadigal land. Her debut collection of poetry, how to make a basket, was described by the judges of the David Unaipon Award as 'luminous and beautifully sculpted, [a] seamless collection of poems that reflect on place and passion...[and] builds on the … Continue reading how to make a basket | Jazz Money #AWWpoetry
No Document is an elegy for a friendship and artistic partnership cut short by death. The memory of this collaboration becomes a model for how we might relate to others in sympathy, solidarity and rebellion. At once intimate and expansive, Anwen Crawford’s book-length essay explores loss in many forms: disappeared artworks, effaced histories, abandoned futures. Written … Continue reading No Document | Anwen Crawford #AWWnon-fiction
I had planned on writing extended reviews for some of these books, but Covid. Assembly especially, which packed a punch much weightier than its mere 100 pages would suggest, deserves to be more widely considered and discussed. But for now, all I will say is READ IT. You have to stop this, she said. This … Continue reading June Mini Reviews [2]
The Edith Readalong has been my priority of late. But before I got started with it, I was determined to finish a few of the half read books by my bed which included a trip to Nigeria, dabbling with some poetry and a peek inside a leper colony. Princeton, in the summer, smelled of nothing, … Continue reading June Mini Reviews
May featured some wonderful, interesting stories, but I still don't feel up to writing about them in any length. I would like to acknowledge Cathy @746 Books and her glorious review of Claire Keegan's novella, Small Things Like These, last year that was the impetus for me picking up this book as soon as it … Continue reading May Mini Reviews
In the spring of 1936, a writer planted roses. A while back, Sue from Whispering Gums alerted me to the fact that such a thing as The Orwell Foundation existed. Ever since, I have been slowly exploring the site, which has led to an increased interest in all things Orwell. When Rebecca Solnit's Orwell's Roses … Continue reading Orwell’s Roses | Rebecca Solnit #USAbio
She rides out of the forest alone. Seventeen years old, in the cold March drizzle, Marie who comes from France. I was curious to find out how someone who lives in Gainesville, Florida came to write a book about nuns living in an impoverished abbey in rural England in the 12th century. Of course, authors … Continue reading Matrix | Lauren Groff #USAfiction
A peculiar aspect of Joan Didion's nonfiction is that a significant portion of it reads like fiction. Or, more specifically, has the metaphorical power of great fiction.Foreword by Hilton Als Last year I had had a copy of Let Me Tell You What I Mean floating around on my TBR pile for a number of … Continue reading Let Me Tell You What I Mean | Joan Didion #USAessays
22/9/14 Monday morning Too early it's too early I hate morning classes I should not teach them. Lauren Elkin composed the diary entries in No. 91/92: A Parisian Bus Diary on her iPhone 5c from September 2014 to May 2015 as she was riding the bus to the university where she taught. It was a … Continue reading No. 91/92: A Parisian Bus Diary | Lauren Elkin
First things first, Grandpa's gone. Somehow I seem to have started 2022 with a run of books that have turned out to be only so-so. The Cat Who Saved Books was okay, but really it was little more than a simplistic YA story about why reading and books are so good. Yes, it's heart warming … Continue reading The Cat Who Saved Books | Sōsuke Natsukawa #JPNfiction
I would like to say a few things about my first husband, William. Laura Linney played Lucy Barton in a one woman show, first in London, then on Broadway. A comment during rehearsal one day about William (Lucy's first husband), made Elizabeth Strout realise that William had his own story. I'd love to know what … Continue reading Oh William! | Elizabeth Strout #USAfiction
Gillian Mears often likened herself to a Clarence Valley butcherbird, a creature filled with beautiful song who could also peck out the eyes of fledglings. I have put off writing this book response for weeks now. Reading Leaping Into Waterfalls: The Enigmatic Gillian Mears by Bernadette Brennan was such a tremendous example of how to … Continue reading Leaping Into Waterfalls | Bernadette Brennan #AWWbiography
Sydney, 1971The American family rented the house without having seen it - how could they have, halfway around the world? - so they did not know what it meant. Tablo Tales is a new Melbourne-based imprint in the hands of Jemma Birrell (some of you might know of Jemma as the Artistic Director of the … Continue reading A Dream Life | Claire Messud #AUSnovella
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