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: reading
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 [...]
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 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 [...]
QUICKSAND Steve Toltz
Let me say first, I have A Fraction of a Whole, I've had it for years, but I haven't read it. Yet. I will, because now I know how Steve Toltz writes, I will be eating up all his words. Book number 35 for the year was Quicksand, ah what to say about it. It's [...]
Wednesday wrap with lettuce
Today the most important thing I'll do is go here: Kate has been talking about this place for ages, on twitter, and while I have done three drive bys in an effort to get a gelato, it just hasn't worked out. I couldn't see the shop, there were no parks available, and so on. But today [...]
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. [...]
Wednesday catch-up
Well, I can barely catch my own breath at the moment. It's all things proofing at my house, and looking at blurbs. My wonderful editor has sent me the proofed pages, and while they are quite 'clean' (dig the lingo, baby), I want to go through carefully. It's the last chance. My reading continues apace. That never [...]
Reading, reading and more reading. And some editing.
My edits are done. Again. So next stage will be proof pages and seeing some cover artwork. Fingers crossed for that. It's been school holidays and while Term 2 has started today, I'm not teaching until Thursday, and then it's only a couple of sessions in the middle of the day. Easy. I've been reading, [...]
Saturday catch up
It's been a while since I posted. I have just finished a full-on week of teaching, as well as getting my edited manuscript back to Allen & Unwin. Am tidying my work space and getting things under control after a three-week frenzy with lots of teaching and lots of editing. Celebrating tonight with some French bubbly, [...]
What I’ve been reading
I've been reading a lot lately, probably because I'm not writing en ce moment (more about that later, or soon, I hope. There are a couple of reasons for it and one is that my daughter is up against her Year 12 exams, beginning Cup Day, so maman has been in attendance, on the couch [...]
A day in bed a week
Edith Sitwell said something like a woman needs a day in bed a week. I've been trying this out (when practicable) and yesterday I had a day. I read (Patti Smith's memoir about her and Robert Mapplethorpe's relationship, Just Kids) and looked at my phone, and read, and looked at my phone. Went to to [...]
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 [...]
A reading plan for 2013
I have read a few books so far this year but the most memorable so far has been The Bell Jar. I'll say it again: I just finished reading The Bell Jar. I'll have to do a separate post on it once I've processed and digested but I thought it was fucking amazing. But get [...]
JENNY ACKLAND AUTHOR 
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