Thursday at the Sydney Writer's Festival was another glorious May day in the sunshine. Over breakfast I planned my session times. Two were pre-booked and paid, but I also hoped to fit in the free session called And the Award Goes To....Setting out on the ferry in the morning was a tad crisp, but the … Continue reading Sydney Writer’s Festival – Part 2
Now what am I going to do? I've just finished the seventh book in Gentil's Rowland Sinclair series, Give the Devil His Due...and book eight is not due until September next year! How can I possible wait that long for my next fix of Rowly, Edna, Milton and Clyde? Especially since Give the Devil His … Continue reading Give the Devil His Due by Sulari Gentil
Thank you Sulari Gentill. Thank you, thank you, thank you! At the beginning of November I visited Gentill's website to check when book 8 in her Rowland Sinclair Mystery series would be published, I was delighted to discover this little message on her blog instead.... Book VIII in the Rowland Sinclair Mysteries has been scheduled … Continue reading The Prodigal Son by Sulari Gentill
Ruth Park (1917 - 2010) won the 1977 Miles Franklin Award with her penultimate adult novel, Swords and Crowns and Rings.Until it was republished under the Text Classics umbrella in 2012, I had never even heard of it, let alone read any reviews about it.I've been wondering how this was possible?I read and loved some … Continue reading Swords and Crowns and Rings by Ruth Park
Book 6 in Gentill's Rowland Sinclair Mystery series saw our favourite Bohemian characters tackling some old issues and old problems. Eric Campbell of the New Guard was once again causing problems, Rowly was still getting over his brush with the Nazi's and trying to convince anyone who would listen about the evils that he had … Continue reading A Murder Unmentioned by Sulari Gentill
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos got a rave review on the ABC's Bookclub program early on this year.I've been saving it for my week's holiday at the beach, because it sounded like it would be my kind of perfect lie-by-the-pool-and-read-all-day book.And it was.Skipping between the 1600's in the Netherlands to the 1950's in … Continue reading The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith
Truly, Madly, Guilty starts off as the type of chick-lit I tend to avoid. It was what I had initially feared (snobbishly) that all of Moriarty's work was like.However that was before Big, Little Lies!Sixteen chapters of waiting, with very little suspence or enticement to keep going, before the first big reveal occurred. That's fifty … Continue reading Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty
Paving the New Road is the fourth book in Gentill's charming cosy, crime series featuring Rowland Sinclair and his three Bohemian friends. Usually set in Sydney in the 1930's I have thoroughly enjoyed these books for their fun mix of history and fiction, their art deco flair and jazzy lifestyles. Paving the New Road proved to … Continue reading Paving the New Road by Sulari Gentill
Some times you see so much, hear so much and think so much it's hard to bring it all together into a coherent whole.There were so many wonderful moments and details about my time at this year's Sydney Writer's Festival.Now that I've had some time to reflect as well as discuss our shared experiences with … Continue reading Sydney Writer’s Festival 2016
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
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
How do you write the story of your own mother's life with love and compassion, but also honesty, frankness and objectivity? And how do you make it interesting and meaningful to people outside your immediate family?How do you write about someone who you are so close to; whose very history is so intricately bound to … Continue reading One Life My Mother’s Story by Kate Grenville
Last week was the Sydney Writer's Festival. One of the events I attended was a conversation with Liane Moriarty.I read and fell in love with Big Little Lies last year and I've been meaning to read some of her back list ever since.I took my copy of The Husband's Secret along with me to be … Continue reading The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
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
Oh me, oh my!What a seductive, chilling, creepy, psychological family drama this is.Set in Sydney during the 1930's and 40's, The Watch Tower follows the young lives of Laura & Clare.Orphaned when first their father dies. Then abandoned by their incredibly selfish, self-absorbed, negligent mother who leaves them to go off & do her own … Continue reading The Watch Tower by Elizabeth Harrower
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