01. Wah! We had a special dinner booked at Farmer’s Daughters but had to pivot for Lockdown 6.0. Thank goodness for our Florentino feast from Providoor. Highlight was the Baccalà, but the arancini; duck tortellini with caramelised pear; slow-cooked beef cheek; Tiramisu; and cannoli were also delicious. Continue reading
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
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
01. I’m sure Australia’s bushfires have made world news. The stats* are staggering and almost incomprehensible. I won’t turn this into a rant about our government’s lack of action (no, even acknowledgment) on climate change but this article is worth a read.
“Australia is the canary in the coal mine.”
01. I did get to the German Film Festival – Balloon was brilliant. Tense, but brilliant (and I drove home feeling like the Stasi were following me). Hoping to get to at least one more Festival film. Continue reading
See above for my reading theme song.
Truly, I rarely abandon a book. In fact, I can list the books I marked DNF on one hand – Continue reading
At the end of last year, Bill, of The Australian Legend, asked me what seemed a straightforward question – how do you choose what to read next?
I’ve been thinking about my answer since, trying to tune into what is driving my choice of books and I’ve realised that it’s a really difficult question to answer.
There are a number of things at play – Continue reading
No secret that I love the Royal Family. And I love stories about books. Stands to reason then, that Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader was a smashing success for me.
The story is simple – late in Her Majesty’s life, she discovers a love for reading. This new hobby is somewhat annoying for her staff because she’d rather be reading than cutting ribbons/ giving speeches/ opening buildings.
…she had begun to perform her duties with a perceived reluctance: she laid foundation stones with less élan and what few ships there were to launch she sent down the slipway with no more ceremony than a toy boat on a pond, her book always waiting. Continue reading
Last week I denied my nine-year-old son some triviality – staying up late/ chips/ ice cream/ whatever – it was minor but he was really tired. This is what happened: Continue reading
Before I start throwing words like ‘cliché’ and ‘stereotypical’ around, I should probably say that Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler just wasn’t the book for me. Continue reading