I just turned on my kindle to see what I've read this year — or part-read — and here is my list in reverse chronological order (please excuse me not always listing author, I'm being lazy. Also I'm not going to ever style things properly like italics for book titles, and there WILL be typos. [...]
Tag: books
Blog… resurrected! Apparently this will be emailed to 30 subscribers. Please leave a comment because I don’t know who you are! Let’s get this blogging thing back to mid-2000s action, why not.
Surely I'm not the only one who is totally -- seemingly -- done with Instagram. And Facebook is a thing of the past it seems. A relic. But still I want to tell people things. I want to share stuff. That impulse has never left me. Like this morning. It's Tuesday 23rd December 2025 (I [...]
When writers… critique
So there's been a bit of a thing on Twitter about Sally Rooney's next book (yeah, yeah I'm not tweeting but I'm still reading). The flurry of responses has been about a 'review' of Rooney's upcoming book, Beautiful World, Where Are You. I put review in scare quotes because some people say it's not really [...]
Books I am the most excited about in 2017
Reading (future) Eleanor Catton's new novel (described as a pre-apocalyptic drama set in New Zealand) - I just love the way she is refusing to settle into a groove. Michelle de Kretser's new novel (got the scoop on it last week; it sounds like a RIPPER) The Helen Garner biography It's the only biography of her, yes? What are [...]
Willy Literary Festival 2017
I've never been to this festival (talk about being a bad Melburnian writer) but it's on next weekend and I am doing two things and really excited about being there. First is The Age of Experience on Saturday 17 June, 3.30-4.30pm where Christy Collins, Paul Dalgarno and I talk to Jane Rawson about being debut [...]
Battling on with Sir Salman
I am in the final stages of Midnight's Children and what a struggle it is. This is not a novel that will give itself over to me in any way. Just when I think I'm getting a grip, it slips away from me, like one of the frequent snake motifs scattered through the book, or [...]
Signing off, festively yours
It's that time of year to go quiet, but before I do, here are my top 5 reads for 2015: A Little Life, Hanya Hanagihara The Wonder Lover, Malcolm Knox A Strangeness in My Mind, Orhan Pamuk H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr Yes, they are [...]
Reading plans for 2016 – the Year of Reading India
While I was in Ubud recently, I decided that next year will be my Year of Reading India. I plan for 2016 to be the beginning of a new type of reading approach for me. Why India? Because I have a bunch of books written by Indian authors already, including a few of Salman Rushdie's [...]
Reading catch-up, almost end of 2015
But I will squeeze a few more books in by the end of the year. Last book I listed was Pamuk's A Strangeness in My Mind, which was book 44. Then, I went to Ubud. In my suitcase I took one bottle of champagne, and several books, including Lucy Treloar's Salt Creek; Hanya Yanagihara's A [...]
2, 2 and 2 at Amanda Curtin’s blog
The lovely Amanda Curtin (who I met at the recent Ubud Writers Festival) asked me if I'd participate in a series she runs on her blog, looking up looking down. The idea is you write about 2 things that inspired your book, 2 places connected with the book (geographical or metaphysical) and 2 favourite 'anythings' somehow connected [...]
5 influential books
Culture Street asked me to write about five books that influenced me, including one from childhood. This was a fantastic exercise as it made me really think hard about which books - among many many - had some sort of influence that I could trace. I had 100 words limit to spend on each, they [...]
The Secret Son, review in The Australian newspaper
Was very happy to see this review of The Secret Son (alongside Leah Kaminsky's first novel The Waiting Room) in the paper over the weekend. An author dreams of reviews, and they don't always happen, small or big, positive or negative. They don't always happen quickly, and they don't always happen at all. With 400 new [...]
Chigozie Obioma and the case for ‘audacious prose’
This week, Chigozie Obioma's debut novel The Fishermen was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. Obioma was already on my radar, first because I'd been hearing about the book, and then because I booked into a workshop he's running at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival next month. I booked into it so fast, it was like [...]
Book launch for THE SECRET SON
Last Wednesday night I had my book launch party at Bella Union in Melbourne. It was a fantastic night, I couldn't be happier with how it went. We had a belly dancer and drummer: My book was graciously and intelligently launched by AS Patrić. He said lovely things about it and it was quite overwhelming. He read [...]
Another book giveaway
Goodreads is hosting another Allen & Unwin book give-away of my novel, THE SECRET SON. Twenty more copies are now up for grabs, so head there if you'd like to be in it. Competition is open until 16 August (AUS and NZ only). But hey, good luck! Enter here.
Book give-away | THE SECRET SON
The ace people at Allen & Unwin are giving away 5 advance reading copies of my book THE SECRET SON, on Goodreads. Click on THIS LINK to go to the page to enter. I can't give any better instructions than that. I've forgotten my Goodreads password, which isn't a good look. Competition is open until 19 July, and Australian and [...]
Things of interest (to me anyway)
Once more I have a raft of open browser windows across the top of my screen. I haven't made much progress on the footy scarf I'm knitting for my husband's boy. Luckily I told him it would probably be ready for next season. The reason why I'm going slowly with this project is mainly because [...]
When you think a book is merde but it’s a best-seller
It's not often I abandon a book knowing I will never try it again. I often put books down, but I know I'll go back to them. I'm enjoying them, but it's like eating too much of the same thing , you want something different on the tongue. [beat] I know I should be kinder [...]
So there’s this
Allen & Unwin just tweeted this. How is the beauty? And I was so happy to see the bee. Just the week before I'd seen another book with bees on the cover and thought wistfully 'I wish I had a bee on my cover' and then forgot about it. And there it is. Meant to bee. [...]
Long time, no blog
Melbourne has been particularly beautiful over recent days. Last week I went to Rickett's Point to get some author photos done. This is how gorgeous it was: The photographer had said 'Let's wait for a dark, stormy day, get some moody clouds.' Well, Melbourne [shakes fist at sky] you aren't behaving. I am, apparently, one of [...]
All things goshawk
So a little while ago I was all things Karl Ove Knausgaard. That hasn't changed, in fact I finished his book three and have book four waiting. It's very thick and heavy, with a teen Karl Ove on the cover. Also, here is an interesting article I saw during the week, on what it means when [...]
Friday wrap w/ lettuce
Well, what news have I other than that my sleeping time is being sucked by the Tour de France and I am finding myself wanting to cook and eat Franch food? Not much other than I've been reading (nothing stops me reading). So how heinous are these book covers? Wuthering Heights (like Lolita) has so [...]
Flashback to 30 June, 2005 ‘What’s beside my bed’
This is from my journal about three years before I started to realise if I didn't start taking my ideas about fiction writing seriously, nothing would ever happen with it. I still circled it for a few more years (the mention of Edward Said means I was doing my thesis reading and therefore all energies [...]
Bits & pieces
READING At the moment I have a lot of books partially read, and plenty unread, but that doesn't stop me bringing more into the house. I bought Wild Things by Brigid Delaney earlier this week, one of those 'how has she done this?' purchases, as well as Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad [...]
Friday wrap, with lettuce
Here is a collection of the little bits and pieces that caught my eye on twitter and facebook recently. Starting with a picture that I loved: It's a garden in Wales. Look how beautiful it is. Then there were a couple of David Foster Wallace pieces. I admit to being a little obsessed with him, [...]
Marilyn’s books
Here is a list of Marilyn Monroe's literary inventory, found at http://blog.everlasting-star.net/marilyn-monroe/marilyns-library/ 1) Let’s Make Love by Matthew Andrews (novelisation of the movie) 2) How To Travel Incognito by Ludwig Bemelmans 3) To The One I Love Best by Ludwig Bemelmans 4) Thurber Country by James Thurber 5) The Fall by Albert Camus 6) Marilyn [...]
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