I’ve read 135 Kindle samples this year – downloading sample chapters is better than impulse buying books… I think.
Of the 135 I’ve read, I’ve said ‘yes’ to 57. Of those that I’ve said yes to, three I now own and five I’ve read.
However, if I buy the remaining 49 books, it destroys the miniscule gains I’ve made on reducing the TBR stack this year. So, I’ve narrowed it down to 15 that I’m busting to read – Continue reading
The Paper House by Anna Spargo-Ryan was everything I expected and didn’t expect.
What I expected was Spargo-Ryan’s musical sentences – follow her on Twitter and you’ll understand what I mean. She combines the pithy and the insightful in such a way that everything she writes is humorous and heartbreaking and true. Continue reading
This is my annual community service to book-bloggers – a list of the books that appear most frequently on the 56 lists that I listed on Best Books of 2019 – A List of Lists. Continue reading
The Talking Cure by Gillian Straker and Jacqui Winship* Continue reading
It’s that time of the year when newspapers and magazines publish their ‘Best of 2019’ lists.
Lists usually begin appearing early November but I will keep adding as they are published.
The Best of 2019 According to #ALLTHELISTS will be coming in the next week or so – stay tuned! (See pervious lists here). Continue reading
My Nonfiction November reading has been dominated by grief memoirs. A lot of crying has been done (and a lot of learning). Continue reading
What do we want?!
Plots*, strategic marriages**, coups, betrayals, eccentric behaviour***, murders, revolutions, and a different definition of ‘favourite’****. Continue reading
There were moments when I wanted to call out “Stop! Wait! I need to process that!” during the conversation between Jia Tolentino and Zadie Smith at last weekend’s Broadside festival. Their banter was rapid-fire; the topics they were discussing were big and intense ; and it’s taken me a week to reflect on all that was covered.
Zadie got straight into it with, “I’m always thinking a lot about death. And human autonomy, free will. Shit like that.” She was being truthful and funny all at once. Continue reading
I’m hopelessly behind with reviews and I’m fairly sure I won’t have much free time between now and the end of the year… so, catching up with what I liked (or didn’t) about four recent reads. Continue reading
What a day! The inaugural Broadside Festival opened with Helen Garner in conversation with Sarah Krasnostein.
It was the first time I’d heard Helen speak (despite trying to get to her rare speaking engagements in the past). My immediate impression was that she was much warmer and funnier than I had expected (I guess my expectations were unthinkingly based on her subject matter and her spare, pared-back prose).
The conversation began with talking about publishing a diary, something that by nature is intended to be private. On rereading her diaries, Helen said, “There was a lot of boring stuff in there, which naturally I found fascinating. To sort out what others would find interesting about you is actually quite a challenging process.” Continue reading