Let me begin in my father's house. A good opening line tells you a lot. Right from the get-go we see there is a story to be told. There is a father (but not a mother) and that houses will be significant. We start with Erica returning to her old family home - a cottage … Continue reading The Labyrinth | Amanda Lohrey #AWW
Nothing to See Here made nine of the 'best of' lists as compiled by Kate at the end of 2019, with comments like 'laughed so hard', 'a most unusual story of parental love' and 'hilarious' leaping out at me everywhere I looked.I was expecting a belly laugh or two, at least. But no. It was way … Continue reading Nothing to See Here | Kevin Wilson #USfiction
There is a lot of space in Megan Hunter's The End We Start From. Known as a poet until now, her debut novel is written almost like a poem, but not quite. It's not prose as we know it either. It's fragmentary, somewhere in between.Stark, sparse paragraphs, poetic words, no names, just letters of the … Continue reading The End We Start From From by Megan Hunter
Writing a book about your experience with the IVF program comes with many emotional pitfalls and landmines. It crashes into the brick wall of other people's preconceived and often strongly held opinions.The trick, obviously, is to connect emotionally to your reader very early on.I find that books like this, about topics like this, are a … Continue reading Avalanche by Julia Leigh
Danny the Champion of the World is a homage to good parenting, especially good parenting by a loving father.It's also about courage, loyalty and a little bit of class politics.Danny extols the virtues of working class values, but as with all Dahl books, he subverts it a little. Honesty and the concept of being a … Continue reading Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
A good memoir is a true delight and I love it when I find one that catches me by surprise. Memoirs, good memoirs, have the power to heal, to connect, to normalise, to reach out, to understand and to promote empathy. When I picked up the ARC of Spiegelman's I'm Supposed to Protect You From … Continue reading I’m Supposed To Protect You From All This | Nadja Spiegelman
This weekend in Australia was Mother's Day.I grew up in a family where Mother's Day was not actively encouraged.My mother often expressed concern about the Americanisation of our culture as we were growing up. She also believed that one shouldn't need a day of the year to be told to tell your mother that you … Continue reading Stepmother Love edited by Sally Collins
If you're looking for a book that offers parenting advice and useful techniques, then this is not the book for you.If you want to read a book about how and what you should do bring about the best possible outcomes for your child's social, emotional, cognitive and physical development, then do not read this book.However, … Continue reading All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior
It's quite simple really.If you have a teenage boy in your life, then I strongly urge you to read this book from cover to cover. Now!He'll Be OK is heart-warming, affirming, informative, humorous and thought-provoking.Lashlie pulls no punches as she shares the insights she gleaned from her work on the Good Man Project in 25 boys schools in … Continue reading He’ll Be OK: Growing Gorgeous Boys Into Good Men by Celia Lashlie
You can probably guess something about the school term we've just had with one of the booklets by my latest choice of reading matter!Teenagers! Hmmmm.The Politically Incorrect Guide to Teenagers was recommended to us by our brother-in-law. It has been the perfect remedy. Not so much for the advice (which was useful) or the information … Continue reading The Politically Incorrect Guide to Teenagers | Nigel Latta
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