Tag Archives: Australian

The Modern by Anna Kate Blair

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , , , , , , ,

A few weeks ago, my brother and I had a discussion about the Romans – as in, “How often do you think about the Romans? Daily?” Apparently it’s a thing, especially for men. For the record, I think about the Romans approximately twice a year, and it’s usually in relation to aqueducts.

Anyway, I was reminded of the conversation as I read Anna Kate Blair’s debut, The Modern, because the main character, Sophia, thinks about postmodernism and modernism all the time.

I was searching for answers about my future, feeling out of sync with postmodernity, but they were playing Pokémon Go. Continue reading →

My Latest Listens

Posted by Kate W in Fiction, Non-fiction and tagged with , , , , , , ,


The Albatross by Nina Wan

I know a little bit about golf. I don’t count myself as a golfer but much of my family is obsessed. Anyway, I do know what an ‘albatross‘ is and I understand why it is perhaps more prized than a hole-in-one. So I went into this novel expecting something rare to happen for the main character, Primrose. It didn’t. Instead, we have Primrose, who is under extreme stress (for a variety of reasons) acting fairly impulsively and perhaps a bit recklessly. It didn’t quite ring true for me, particularly as the actions did not line up with the emotions (no self-doubt, no guilt, no remorse). Continue reading →

Heartbake by Charlotte Ree

Posted by Kate W in Non-fiction and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

It was love at first sight when I spotted Heartbake by Charlotte Ree at my bookshop. The yellow cloth cover, the delightful-to-hold unconventional size (a bit smaller than A5), and the subtitle – ‘a bittersweet memoir’. If that wasn’t enough to convince me (it was), I opened the book to find a section containing recipes and lush food photography. All so lovely.

The book focuses on the period after Ree’s divorce – she learns to cook and at the same time, slowly begins putting her life back together.

Unfortunately, while the recipes were enticing, and I enjoyed her deliberate inclusions of what she ate at particular events or moments, Heartbake fell short. Continue reading →

The Draft by Emma Quayle

Posted by Kate W in Non-fiction and tagged with , , , , , , ,

The Draft by Emma Quayle is a book about Australian Rules Football. So most of you will stop reading now…

Quayle’s book follows the 2007 draft, and focuses on five boys out of the 1200 who nominated – Trent Cotchin, Cyril Rioli, Ben McEvoy, Brad Ebert, and Patrick Veszpremi. Each of them was vastly different, and Quayle’s descriptions of their style of play, temperament, and attitude is the most gripping part of this book. In describing the individuals, she also exposes the grueling draft process and how mental health, and mental fitness, is as important as the physical. It’s not enough to be a good kick. Continue reading →