01. What’s your damage, Heather? Just lots of laughs at the very dark, absolutely brilliant Heathers the Musical. Continue reading
Flesh by David Szalay
What did I miss in David Szalay’s Booker Prize winning novel, Flesh?
I was engaged – the story moved along at a good pace with enough happening to keep me interested. The writing was fine – consistent, accessible, and well-developed characters.
And yet… there was nothing about this book that blew me away. Is it unreasonable to expect something of the ‘breathtaking’ variety when we’re talking Booker Prize winners? Or, if not breathtaking, then something that is arresting, dividing readers into one-star or five-star reviews? (I like books that illicit strong opinions either way.) Continue reading
Sample Saturday – April new releases
Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye. This week, all picks have just appeared on book shelves. Continue reading
Discontent by Beatriz Serrano
I read Discontent by Beatriz Serrano (translated by Mara Faye Lethem) almost two months ago (yes, catching up on reviews, so I’ll keep this brief). Anyway, the point is that when anyone asks, “Have you read anything good lately?”, this is the book I suggest. I’m not constantly thinking about it, yet it’s the book that immediately comes to mind. Because it’s funny, it’s relatable, it’s well written and it’s also sad (or perhaps poignant) in an unexpected way. Continue reading
Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week
01. Lots more at the Comedy Festival this week – Tom Sainsbury, Daniel Foxx, Geraldine Hickey, and Chris Parker. You know when a comedian mentions something that you had completely forgotten and suddenly it’s hilarious? (that for SSR – Sustained Silent Reading – with Tom Sainsbury, and continuous cricket with Geraldine Hickey). All were fantastic but if you have a chance to see Daniel Foxx, grab it. Continue reading
Strangers by Belle Burden
I’m not sure why but I’ve been very slow off the mark with memoirs this year. Ordinarily, I’d be at least ten deep by April – memoir is my favourite genre. Anyway, I picked up Strangers by Belle Burden (subtitle – ‘Memoir of a Marriage’) and I barely moved a muscle until I’d finished it.
Belle’s story is relatively straightforward – happily married to a man called James, three teenage children, an apartment in New York and a large house on Martha’s Vineyard. Belle had worked as a lawyer at a large firm where she met James. She left the practice after they married and had their first child, and in the meantime, James moved to working with a hedge fund (and was very successful). When COVID hit, the couple moved to Martha’s Vineyard and fell into the rhythm of slower days, cooking elaborate meals and long walks.
And then James announced he was leaving Belle. Continue reading
Sample Saturday – new releases
Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye. This week, all are books that have just hit the shelves. Continue reading
Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week
01. It’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival time. Have been to a couple of shows: Continue reading
Six Degrees of Separation – from The Correspondent to A Room with a View
It’s time for #6degrees. Start at the same place as other wonderful readers, add six books, and see where you end up. Continue reading
The Four Spent the Day Together by Chris Kraus
Are you familiar with Chris Kraus’s writing? I have never read her seminal work, I Love Dick, but did enjoy the TV series based on the book that came out a couple of years ago. It’s certainly not necessary to have read her previous work to appreciate her latest ‘novel’ (it’s actually a combination of autofiction, memoir and true crime), The Four Spent the Day Together, however, I suspect it would have been a richer reading experience had I. Continue reading