01. I went to the Lionel Richie concert on Sunday night. We were Dancing On the Ceiling All Night Long. Sure, some might consider his ballads cheesy but I can’t resist singing along to Hello, Truly and Say You, Say Me. Continue reading
Tag Archives: re-read
Slumps (and how to get out of them)
No, there are four types of slumps: add reading slumps. Continue reading
I do sometimes read non-fiction…
I’ve done more non-fiction reading this year than I have in previous years. Partly stuff associated with uni, partly stuff about dementia (particularly relevant to my family at present), and of course I continue to be a sucker for a memoir.
I’ve jotted down a few thoughts on some of the books I’ve read recently – not reviews as such, just a record. Continue reading
Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney – a literary mixtape
It’s had a squillion reviews on Goodreads; it was a re-read for me; and it’s packed with pithy one-liners – all good reasons for a literary mixtape for Jay McInerney’s eighties classic, Bright Lights, Big City.
If you haven’t already read it, get on it – it’s a brilliant snapshot of grief in its denial phase, set against eighties New York with its largesse, its cocaine, its filth, its beautiful people.
4/5 It holds up.
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Saturday Night / Cold Chisel
The night has already turned on that imperceptible pivot where two A.M. changes to six A.M. You know this moment has come and gone, but you are not yet willing to concede that you have crossed the line beyond which all is gratuitous damage and the palsy of unravelled nerve endings. Continue reading
The Women In Black by Madeleine St. John
I don’t usually write reviews for re-reads because they must be ace books* if I’m taking the time to re-read them, right? But there’s been a few exceptions along the way and The Women In Black by Madeleine St. John is one.
I’d forgotten just how charming this story is when I picked it up last Friday. My hasty re-read (it is a very short book) was prompted by my theatre engagement that evening – Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Ladies in Black.
Set in a department store in Sydney called Goode’s in the late 1950s, the story traces the lives of four women working in the Ladies’ Frock Department.
“Goode’s stayed ahead of the competition by means of a terrific dedication to the modes.”
Continue reading