I’m cramming in as many books by Australian women writers before the Stella longlist announcement as I can, and have taken advantage of my library’s audio selection. Continue reading
Things that are making me happy this week
01. I don’t follow US politics in great detail but I certainly wasn’t going to say no to my daughter crocheting a Bernie with Mittens for me.
02. And another lockdown… which isn’t making me happy, however, I’ve used the first two days to clear out my study (I was ruthless!). And I laughed at this (cue interpretive angst dance). Continue reading
Sample Saturday – decisions, death, and a babysitter
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. Continue reading
The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall
Is there a sub-genre of dystopian fiction called ‘it-could-happen-within-a-decade-dsytopian-and-that’s-why-it’s-terrifying’? If so, it’s my favourite sub-genre. And we can file The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall there.
Without revealing too much of the story, it’s about a woman named Mim, whose husband Ben is missing. Everyone wants to find Ben, particularly The Department (the all-seeing government body who has fitted the entire population with a universal tracking chip in the palm of their hand to keep them ‘safe’). When Ben can’t be tracked, Mim is questioned; made to surrender her passport and those of their children, Essie and Sam; and is threatened with being taken into ‘care’ at the notorious BestLife (which is essentially a branded detention centre). Mim goes on a risky quest to find Ben. Continue reading
Can You Ever Forgive Me? by Lee Israel
Who isn’t intrigued by a literary scandal? As I type, a few pop to mind – Helen Demidenko, James Frey, and whether Harper Lee ever wanted Go Set a Watchman to be published. But I’d never heard of Lee Israel – best-selling author and ‘literary forger’. She fesses up to her criminal activity in her memoir, Can You Ever Forgive Me? (and yes, let’s park the fact that she profited from writing a memoir about her crime).
I had never known anything but ‘up’ in my career, had never received even one of those formatted no-thank-you slips that successful writers look back upon with triumphant jocularity. Continue reading
So I made a really long list for the purposes of Stella predictions…
This is the list I’ll be making my Stella longlist predictions from. Sorry, there’s no particular order. The list seems much shorter than last year’s, so what have I missed? Continue reading
Things that are making me happy this week
01. Alas, conditions did not favour diving this weekend but I did enjoy some time on the shore looking at the angry sea. Continue reading
Six Degrees of Separation – from Redhead to Signature
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
Things that are making me happy this week
01. My first dive (from Rye pier) – exhilarating, terrifying, exhausting, addictive. Continue reading
Sample Saturday – a notebook, a guidebook, and short stories set in Belfast
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. Continue reading