For the July episode I was joined by library members and Book Chat regulars Susan and Peter, my colleague Kimberley and author Tanya Heaslip. We discussed what we have enjoyed reading lately and who we would recommend those books to. You can read the reviews of some of the books we chatted about here. If you prefer to see us, you can go to YouTube or if you would like to listen to this episode, please go to Apple or Google Podcasts.
Black summer : stories of loss, courage and community by ABC jounalists on the ground during the 2019–2020 bushfires / edited by Michael Rowland. Reviewed by Peter: A compelling series of essays by ABC journalists who were in the field reporting during the 2019–20 Black Summer bush fires. Including eye-witness accounts of the experiences of survival and recovery, much of it is very moving. Richard Glover’s piece gives two perspectives: that of the one air program maker talking with listeners who are living through their moments of hell and also that of the property owner who sat for 24 hours wondering if the house he and his wife had built had been destroyed. Casey Briggs wrote a staggering piece about Kangaroo Island at the devastation of bee farmer Peter Davis. He captures the damage both physical and emotional done to this normally sleepy island which tourists love. Josh Szeps politically charged conclusion, “The New Normal”, is the perfect conclusion to an excellent collection, edited well by Michael Rowland.
Chasing the McCubbin / Sandi Scaunich. Reviewed by Peter: An interesting read from a first-time author. It has a slow build, with its two main characters gradually building a relationship while struggling with their pasts. The additions to their relationship is slowly tacked on, with the narrative advancing it what seems like a crawl. Then about 170 pages in, the narrative was let of the leash and howled through the last 100 pages. Essentially a redemption piece set in the poor outer Melbourne suburb of The Pines, Ron, professional collector of other people’s thrown out treasure, does a stranger a favour and takes her son Joseph under his wing. They both have baggage, Joseph in particular. Ron has lost his wife; Joseph has lost all but his dysfunctional mother and practices self-harm to ease his mental anguish. Ron is always looking for the hidden treasure that will set him up — chasing the McCubbin of the title, laying about in a garage sale — and without realising it, his young workmate is the treasure he resurrects and eventually provide with the pathway to the treasure he becomes.
Circe / Madeline Miller. Reviewed by Kimberley: I really enjoyed this book about Circe who is normally the villain in Greek Mythology and usually plays a small part in other stories. This book has more of a feminist take on her role and gives Circe her own story. It is written in a poetic style and was recommended to me by authors I follow on Twitter. I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in Greek Mythology.
Crooked kingdom / Leigh Bardugo. Reviewed by Ita: I am giving this book five stars for sheer entertainment, what a rollercoaster of action and intrigue. Not everything is believable but it is so much fun. I never knew what was coming as it is full of twists and turns. Definitely a page turner and I could not put it down. The perfect escape from COVID reality! I am going to start on Leigh’s Shadow and Bone series next, I hope that is just as entertaining. I recommend this to anyone who just wants a fun book with lots of action and heart.
The girl with the louding voice / Abi Daré. Reviewed by Tanya: A powerful, emotional debut novel told in the unforgettable voice of a young Nigerian woman who is trapped in a life of servitude but determined to get an education so that she can escape and choose her own future. Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education. This, her mother has told her, is the only way to get a “louding voice”-the ability to speak for herself and decide her own future. But instead, Adunni’s father sells her to be the third wife of a local man who is eager for her to bear him a son and heir. When Adunni runs away to the city, hoping to make a better life, she finds that the only other option before her is servitude to a wealthy family. As a yielding daughter, a subservient wife, and a powerless slave, Adunni is told, by words and deeds, that she is nothing. But while misfortunes might muffle her voice for a time, they cannot mute it. And when she realizes that she must stand up not only for herself, but for other girls, for the ones who came before her and were lost, and for the next girls, who will inevitably follow; she finds the resolve to speak, however she can-in a whisper, in song, in broken English-until she is heard. I recommend this to anyone interested in African history from a teenage perspective.
The henna artist / Alka Joshi. Reviewed by Ita: I really enjoyed this book set in India of the 1950s. It gives you a great sense of place, you can smell the scents and see the colours! A good set of characters and such a different culture from mine. I am happy that there is a second book as I’m keen to learn what happens next! I recommend this to anyone who likes stories with strong women, history, foreign countries and great writing.
The kindness revolution : how we can restore hope, rebuild trust and inspire optimism / Hugh Mackay. Reviewed by Peter: Another thoughtful and informed reflection on our Australian society, which lacks, as its unifying force, a dedication of individuals, of groups, of institutions to kindness. Mackay’s books are always well researched, contain well chosen quotes and something lacking in our politicians and their parties, common sense.
Into the loneliness: The unholy alliance of Ernestine Hill and Daisy Bates / Eleanor Hogan. Reviewed by Tanya: An original biography of two of the most extraordinary women Australia has ever seen. Daisy Bates, dressed in Victorian garb, malnourished and half-blind, camped with Aboriginal people for decades, surrounded by her books, notes and artefacts. Ernestine Hill, was journalist and author of The Great Australian Loneliness. Eleanor Hogan interweaves these two women’s stories into a very interesting look in Australia’s history. From a contemporary perspective, their outlook and preoccupations seem dated and even racist. With sensitivity and insight, Hogan wonders what their legacies as fearless female outliers might be. I recommend this story to anyone who is interested in Australian history.
Love in Colour / Bolu Babalola. Reviewed by Kimberley: This book is a collection of reimagined folk tales from around the world. Instead of casting women as victims, they are given a voice. I am really enjoying this one book which was recommended to me by authors I follow on Twitter.
My year of living vulnerably / Rick Morton. Reviewed by Tanya: Written by an extraordinary journalist about his post-traumatic stress disorder. As a young boy, Rick saw his brother being burnt alive and was left behind on the property with his horrible father. Even though it is not an easy story, it is easy to read as the writing is fantastic.
Penny Wong : passion and principle : the biography / by Margaret Simons. Reviewed by Peter: Like most political biography, you have to enjoy the rehash of history — usually with some hope of a fresh perspective or a juicy insider tit-bit — to really enjoy the read. This is no different and was especially so as the subject of the book was very reluctant to participate. The key takeaway comes at the start of Chapter 11, with the three credos Penny Wong has governed her political career by, from student politics to being a senior member of a perpetually alternative government. Stated in the annual John Button lecture she delivered in 2010, the discipline imposed by being a member of a political party was the central theme, achieved by what she calls “staying in the room” to seek compromise in order to achieve progress; praxis, practical political action in the quest for change; and the adherence to the political tool of the “counterfactual” or the imagining what would happen in the opposite course was taken.
It’s an interesting read but mostly in the sections which reveal Wong’s personal struggles and life choices. The best of the political stuff was her stoush with the Greens over same-sex marriage and the justifications she adheres to still as to why she voted the Labor Party line against it for so long. The worst of it was the abandonment of Julia Gillard in favour of the second coming of the self-anointed Christ from Queensland.
What is clear, is that Penny Wong is a pragmatic politician. Perhaps the subtitle of the book should have been “Passion, Principle and Practicalities”, with the third of these being the dominant strand in how Wong operates. Passion and Principle have often been secondary.
The poetry of cricket / Leslie Frewin. Reviewed by Peter: The danger in reading a poetry collection which is nearly sixty years old, is that it may draw on poems which could be at least that old and in this case, that’s exactly what happens. The editor, Leslie Frewin, has applied broad license to Norman Gale, whose fifteen or more poetry publications contained a generous helping of poetry dedicated to cricket. As a result, Gale is over represented by dint of volume and under represented in ability. Frewin, himself makes several appearance and none add to the quality of the read. That comes from others, often that prolific fellow A Non and a string of the better known poets who were born under the English realm. Lord Byron talks up his school days in “Cricket At Harrow” and Lewis Carroll makes no nonsense of the somber description of the “Deserted Parks” at Oxford in 1867. Three humorous contributions come from GK Chesterton, Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling. Chesterton brings to life a fantasy match in which Shakespeare, Bunyan, Dickens and Kipling feature to more or less degree. Conan Doyle tells of a personal contest with a batsmen that can only be WG Grace, where the swinger of the pen outdid the swinger of the willowed sword, by way of excellent catch by the keeper, who Conan Doyle freely admits receive too little credit. Kipling’s is a delightfully whimsical eight lines. AA Milne contributes quite a few by for mine, the standout of this lengthy, weighty, dense collection, is “Missed”, a long and very funny poem by PG Wodehouse about missing the unmissable catch. Its a book with a niche market: a love of cricket, classical literature and English sensibilities. Still, if you love hunting, you can always put down the gun and admire the way the fox moves. I did.
Second place / Rachel Cusk. Reviewed by Susan: 5 out of 5 stars. The main character M is moved by artworks in an exhibition. She feels they talk to her soul. She invites the artist L to use her second place, on a coastal English farm, as an artist retreat. She has had other creatives use it before and it has gone well in the past! M is suffering from a midlife crisis, on her second marriage and has a young adult daughter from her first marriage. Her hope is that conversations with this genius artistic guest will help her with her current state of mind. #Please do not read full plot outlines or reviews beforehand, just clear the decks and dive in. There is a back story to this novel but find out about that later.
Shuggie Bain / Douglas Stuart. Reviewed by Tanya: Exquisite writing but a distressing story set in Glasgow in the 80s. A stark look into that era, a brilliant book but I only persevered because I read it for book group as I struggled with it. I can only recommend this for people willing to read about hard topics and who love great writing.
Six of Crows / Leigh Bardugo. Reviewed by Ita: A nice escape from reality, plenty of action and easy to read. It was fun for me to see so many Dutch words and names as that’s my first language. When I started reading this I didn’t know that this author’s other books have been made into the Netflix series ‘Shadow and Bone’. I listened to the audio version of Six of Crows and it had an excellent cast of narrators. I recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy and action, a fast-paced story with a great cast of characters.
Still life / Sarah Winman. Reviewed by Susan: 4,5 out of 5 stars. The novel begins in The Tuscan Hills, with the main character Ulysses Temper offering a lift in his Jeep to Evelyn (64) an art valuer. It’s WW2 and he takes Evelyn to meet an Officer who knows someone, who knows someone that will help her locate a lost artwork. Evelyn and Ulysses find each other intriguing. There is an incident on a rooftop with a man the next day which is significant to the plot. Ulysses returns to East London to be rejected by his wife as she now has a daughter by an American Soldier. She believes he will return for her and the child. Ulysses’ life revolves around the pub where he works and all its characters. These characters feel sorry for him and stick to him through thick and thin even after a document arrives that upends his life.
Tell the truth, shame the devil / Melina Marchetta. Reviewed by Tanya: A brilliant thriller set in England and France and a real page turner, I read it nearly in one sitting! Recommended to anyone who likes well written thrillers.
When we become strangers : how loneliness leaks into our lives, and what we can do about it / Maggie Hamilton. Reviewed by Peter: I rarely read self-help books anymore but this was a thoughtfully written book, based on the solid work of others in reaching conclusions and about real-life issue that are confronting people today. Loneliness in a world which is at its most connected, is a concept which speaks poorly about the quality of the connectedness. Each chapter has a separate section of practical activities to help combat the problems being raised in the chapter which precedes them. Hamilton ideas are based on sound sociology and this book is widely applicable to just about all members of the diverse society we try to survive in.
What are we currently reading:
Beyond Alice / Tanya Heaslip. I will be discussing this book during a Q&A Zoom session with Tanya Heaslip on Saturday July 31 at 2 pm. Join us here live or watch the recording later on the library’s website.
Cooking the books / Kerry Greenwood.
The dictionary of lost words / Pip Williams.
Fully human : a new way of using your mind / Steve Biddulph.
Let’s explore diabetes with owls / David Sedaris.
The man who loved children / Christina Stead
Troubled blood / Robert Galbraith.
Thank you for reading and I hope you can join the next Book Chat on Thursday 12 August at 11 am via Zoom.
