Writing regular blog posts seems to be something quite beyond right now. But thanks to Karen @Booker Talk I've be revisiting some of my older posts to find fresh inspiration. This post about the rather silent author, Randolph Stow, was originally published on the 29th August 2015. I've been thinking about Gabrielle Carey a lot, over … Continue reading Moving Among Strangers by Gabrielle Carey
Rockhopping is Trace Balla's follow up book to Rivertime with Clancy and Uncle Egg once again getting ready to head off an eco-adventure.I love these books a lot.I love their gentle pace and laid back attitudes.I love their environmental credentials and back to nature ethos.I love their attention to details.I love their emphasis on problem … Continue reading Rockhopping by Trace Balla
I love reading books set in places that I know well.I love that feeling of being connected and in the know. It makes the story feel more personal - almost like the book was written just for me.Tranter used to live in the Inner West of Sydney but now works as a Visiting Scholar at … Continue reading Hold by Kirsten Tranter
The Reef: A Passionate History does exactly as its cover promises - it delivers 12 'extraordinary tales' about Australia's Great Barrier Reef.The only thing it missed to my mind, was a thirteenth chapter where McCalman included some of the local Indigenous tribes stories about the reef. There must be Dreamtime stories, rock paintings and oral traditions … Continue reading The Reef: A Passionate History by Iain McCalman
Shortlisted for this year's CBCA Picture Book of the Year, Rivertime is a gentle, meandering story that celebrates connections and nature.Balla spent ten days with her partner paddling 80km of the Glenelg River one summer. She kept a journal and sketched her experiences of the trip which then formed the basis for this story and … Continue reading Rivertime by Trace Balla
Miles Off Course is the third book in the Rowland Sinclair series. This delightful series set in 1930's Sydney has become my go-to read when feeling overwhelmed and tired. With a move in the offing on top of our regular crazy-busy life-work schedule, a comfort read was definitely required this past week. Miles Off Course … Continue reading Miles Off Course by Sulari Gentill
Rereading a book after 18 yrs is a very interesting experience. It's almost like reading it again for the first time.This has certainly been the case for me and The Great World.Thanks to the fact that I write my name, date and place of purchase on the inside cover of all my books I know … Continue reading The Great World by David Malouf
The CBCA shortlist is a good way for schools and libraries to stock up on good quality Australian non-fiction.The A-Z of Convicts fits this bill beautifully. Presented in an oversized hardback book with generous illustrations loaded with details, A-Z of Convicts packs in a lot of interesting information.Barnard covers every conceivable convict topic from absconders … Continue reading A-Z of Convicts in Van Dieman’s Land by Simon Barnard
One of the many pleasures of being a bookseller, is meeting the authors and attending their book launches. I've known about this little gem based on real life events in Albury, NSW for a while now.Loretta lives locally and a year or so ago, she popped into our bookshop to discuss publication options and, eventually, … Continue reading Stand Up and Cheer by Loretta Re
A Decline in Prophets is book 2 in the Rowland Sinclair series which has now become my gentle crime/comfort read of choice! Set in Sydney during the 1930's, it's full of art deco, political & cultural references, 4 central loveable characters & in book 2 - a Cary Grant sighting! What's not to love? This … Continue reading A Decline in Prophets by Sulari Gentill
Monica Elizabeth Knight was born in Birmingham, England on the 4th June 1923.She was privately tutored at home until age 11, before being sent to a Quaker school in Banbury for her highschool years. By all accounts, her childhood was not a particularly happy one.She then trained as an orthopaedic nurse in London. It was … Continue reading J is for Elizabeth Jolley
Christmas, New Year and our summer holidays got the better of me.I missed a couple of Alphabe-Thursday posts in my Aussie Author Challenge *tsk tsk!And now we're up to the letter I...eek!To make this letter work for me I've had to stretch my rules a little to find an Australian author that I've actually read.Therefore … Continue reading I is for If She Rings by Dorothy Porter
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is named after Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin who was born on the 14th October 1879 on Talbingo station in southern NSW. Franklin's family moved a little to the east to Brindabella Station when she was a child. She was the eldest daughter of two Australian born parents (which is … Continue reading F is for Stella Miles Franklin
Sumner Locke Elliott was born on the 17th October 1917 in Sydney and died on the 24th June 1991 in New York. Elliott’s parents were Helena Sumner Locke and the freelance journalist Henry Logan Elliott. His mother died of eclampsia one day after his birth. Elliott was raised by his aunts, who engaged in a fierce custody battle … Continue reading E is for Sumner Locke Elliott
Robert Dessaix was born in Sydney on 17th February 1944. He was soon adopted & given the name Robert Jones. Young Robert was educated at North Sydney Boys High School and the Australian National University. He then studied at Moscow State University during the early 1970s, and taught Russian Studies at the Australian National University and … Continue reading D is for Robert Dessaix
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