1950 "I'm your brother," he said, holding his cap in both hands. Book two of the Edith Trilogy, Dark Palace finished as the aftermath of WWII gave birth to the brand new United Nations. Book three, Cold Light sees us jumping forward four years to Canberra, Australia. 1950's Canberra. A city that was only conceived … Continue reading Cold Light | Frank Moorhouse #EdithReadalong
According to wikipedia a drop bear is a fictional creature, an urban myth, designed by Australians to scare tourists. It has even been given a fictional scientific name - Thylarctos plummetus. According to folklore it looks like "a predatory, carnivorous version of the koala" and lives in gumtrees, dropping onto the heads of unsuspecting bushwalkers. … Continue reading Dropbear | Evelyn Araluen #AWWpoetry
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started Stone Sky Gold Mountain by Mirandi Riwoe. A gold rush story set on the Palmer River in Queensland (an area I did not realise even had a gold rush!) through the eyes of Chinese settlers, sounded intriguing. However, I struggle with blokey books about blokey men … Continue reading Stone Sky Gold Mountain | Mirandi Riwoe #AWWfiction
Dark Emu Black Seeds challenges the orthodoxy of how Australia was settled and what the settlers actually saw when they arrived. To the victor goes the spoils...as well as the right to write history their way. Reading E.H. Carr's What is History? during my first year at Uni was the first time I had cause … Continue reading Dark Emu Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident? by Bruce Pascoe
I have no idea how to adequately review Offshore: Behind the Wire on Manus and Nauru.Refugees, asylum seekers and offshore processing has polarised politics and opinion in Australia for several years now. A book like this, that attempts to provide an 'uncompromising' overview that 'gets behind the rumours and allegations to reveal what is known' … Continue reading Offshore: Behind the Wire on Manus and Nauru by Madeline Gleeson
A whole swath of shortlists have been buzzing around the bookish world lately. Some have got me bibliograpically excited but some have left me scratching my head. Kim @Reading Matters alerted me to the Canadian literary award - The Giller Prize. It has been around for twenty years and recognizes 'excellence in Canadian fiction'. For a … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #11
Another day; another verse novel. This time set in Queenland with more of a YA feel to it.Gap won the 2013 Queensland Literary Award for Jessen as Best Emerging Author.A few years ago I would never have thought that verse novels were my thing. But thanks to some fabulous Aussie children's writers like Steven Herrick … Continue reading Gap by Rebecca Jessen
Ahhhhh! The sigh of satisfaction after finishing an extraordinary, quirky, thought-provoking book is a blissful sound indeed! At the start I had no expections for Ceridwen Dovey's Only the Animals. My aversion to talking animal stories is well documented! The cover also intrigued & repelled in equal measure. And for the first 2-3 stories I … Continue reading Only the Animals | Ceridwen Dovey
I've been going through a phase of reading sad, bittersweet books these past few weeks...and I feel like I've been through the wringer!Boy, Lost is no different.Based on the true story of what happened to Olsson's family in the 1950's in Queensland, Australia, this memoir is retold with grace, understanding and a deep, overarching love … Continue reading Boy, Lost: A Family Memoir by Kristina Olsson
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