tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-364203112011-09-26T09:20:24.373+10:00jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.comBlogger1211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-59512489100524814642009-11-03T16:03:00.007+11:002009-11-03T16:29:43.408+11:00

There has been lots of reading around these parts lately, and I'm pleased to say that I'm on a run of books that I've really enjoyed.First up, Sylvie Matton's historical novel, Rembrandt's Whore. Matton focuses on the character of Hendrickje Stoffels, a woman who lived for many years as Rembrandt's partner although they never married. As you can imagine this was very controversial in

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-18215865183710874632009-10-08T16:27:00.009+11:002009-10-08T18:11:40.556+11:00

Sigh. I don't want to spend an entire post on why I haven't been posting but I probably owe some sort of explanation for my pretty hopeless neglect of this blog. The last few months have been absolutely hectic at work. The flow on effect of that has been that I just haven't had the mental space for writing here. In fact I've barely had the mental space for actually reading. If you look at

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-29572179283925893892009-07-26T17:49:00.007+10:002009-07-26T18:54:06.238+10:00

In a dark, chaotic and dusty second hand bookshop, where the shelves were so close together that I had to shuffle sideways to get between them and, when I did, it was almost impossible to read the spines of the books that were pressed up to my nose, on a day when the rain was icy and the wind strong enough to knock you over, I came across a book that I hadn't thought about in many years.Theodore

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-21999788889608507992009-06-13T17:21:00.000+10:002009-06-13T17:22:36.414+10:00

Just coincidentally, two of my recent reads have centred on young women who find themselves in terrible situations. Although they are very different books, Kate Holden's In My Skin and Sylvia Plath's classic novel, The Bell Jar, share the ability to evoke the powerful emotions and crises in identity experienced by many young women.Not many young women go through the experiences that Australian

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-54723776010677145302009-04-14T12:19:00.006+10:002009-04-14T12:54:32.996+10:00

Hot on the heels of In the Electric Mists with Confederate Dead, I whipped through another book in James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series on the weekend. Sunset Limited was similarly gripping and atmospheric, a perfect lazy long weekend read. We even (finally) had some rain here which was quite appropriate given the almost constant rain in Burke's New Iberia, Louisiana.Sunset Limited is a

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-81478643246445887362009-04-11T15:55:00.000+10:002009-04-11T15:57:50.046+10:00

There has been a rather long silence here at this delicious solitude lately. Partly this has been because my work has changed this year, and with extra responsibilities there, there has seemed to be little time to write here. Also, I've had a sort of writer's block when it comes to my blog. Somehow when I'm on the internet I seem to be more easily distracted by other bright and shiny sites and

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-13554233633586904542009-02-21T16:36:00.006+11:002009-02-21T17:42:31.422+11:00

King Dork by Frank Portman is one of the most fun reads I've had in ages. It's ostensibly written for young adults but, like with the best fiction in any sub-genre, its appeal is much broader than that. I think the quote from someone called John Green on the cover of my edition says it best: "If you're in a band or wish you were, if you loved or hated The Catcher in the Rye, if you like girls

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-23236967084105157082009-01-26T13:48:00.005+11:002009-01-26T14:31:32.079+11:00

I read William Boyd's novel Restless in a day and a bit (give or take a few hours for necessities like eating and sleeping). It was a perfect book for the moment (that being mid-way through my long summer holidays, in the middle of a heat wave and with plenty of time on my hands). Please forgive my review though, which might be rather shallow- I read this book quickly and it was a few weeks (

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-78594389300705987742009-01-22T09:54:00.006+11:002009-01-22T11:07:12.792+11:00

While on holidays over Christmas I was looking for a light, fun read. Something not too challenging. And I hoped that Sophie Gee's historical novel The Scandal of the Season would fulfil my requirements. I had heard about Gee's novel on an ABC TV special on the genre of romance- one of the series hosted by Jennifer Byrne. Sophie Gee appeared on the panel and came across as clever and

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-71775907155806150492009-01-21T17:17:00.004+11:002009-01-21T18:09:14.240+11:00

When I bought David Sedaris' collection of essays, When You are Engulfed in Flames, as a Christmas present for my husband, I hadn't read anything by Sedaris but the reviews of this book had been fantastic and somehow I knew it would be his kind of thing. Happily, I was right. My husband raced through it in a day or so and then I got my greedy mits on the book. Sedaris seems to be pretty well

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-31602919537356625422009-01-14T10:31:00.003+11:002009-01-14T10:52:56.732+11:00

We're a good way into the first month of 2009 and finally I get around to writing my post on reading in 2008. Oh well, diligent posting does not seem to be the way for me...2008 was a great year for reading at this delicious solitude. I read 39 books, which is ok for me, but I'd love to read more this year (and I really think I should be able to count Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell as more than

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-72212953370278712712008-12-14T16:52:00.005+11:002008-12-14T17:32:09.343+11:00

This morning I finished reading Alain de Botton's thoroughly enjoyable book, The Architecture of Happiness. I've realised that I've become a big fan of De Botton's clear, thoughtful writing after loving The Art of Travel and now finding this book as good, if not better. He has a nice way of simplifying complex ideas and making clear the relationship between philosophy and ordinary, every day

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-51069903862246884962008-12-08T18:52:00.002+11:002008-12-08T19:01:50.847+11:00

My blog posts have become sadly infrequent (well, sadly for me at least, as I really enjoy posting here). This is for all the usual reasons of things both within and beyond my control. But now that reports are written and the long summer holiday is tantalizingly within reach, I'm determined to get back into it and once again crank up this delicious solitude.I've got lots of Australian books to

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-34527270111769090042008-10-31T21:07:00.005+11:002008-10-31T21:39:52.654+11:00

I'm currently reading two very English books, from roughly the same era (well, mid-twentieth century-ish) and which are both written in a really delightful, quiet, precise and beautiful way. They are both also, co-incidentally, written by women called Elizabeth.Elizabeth David's cook book French Provincial Cooking is justifiably famous. This is a cook book that is easy to read cover to cover.

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-13138165190258007742008-10-16T21:29:00.005+11:002008-10-16T22:01:45.250+11:00

Carry Me Down by MJ Hyland is a disturbing and brilliant novel (a combination of adjectives that applies to some of my favourite pieces of literature). It totally divided my book group last week. There were some who hated it so much they could hardly even discuss the book- and these are lovely, educated readers- and then there were those of us who just fell totally in love with the beautiful

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-37700830378687309192008-09-30T16:22:00.004+10:002008-09-30T17:00:20.544+10:00

For someone who rarely reads much other than fiction, I seem to have found myself reading outside of my usual comfort zone lately. For starters, I read Where Underpants Come From by Joe Bennett for my book club. Bennett has written an account of his search for the source of the unbelievably cheap underpants he buys at his local department store in New Zealand. The book becomes a kind of

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-43913947369549681722008-08-31T15:53:00.001+10:002008-08-31T15:54:21.965+10:00

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne are two books for young readers that share their basis in tragic periods from history. I read both books recently and was struck by some of their similarities. Both books share a sense of dread and fear, and both raise the issue of how brutal events in history might be mediated for younger

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-55829956056931022452008-08-11T18:08:00.003+10:002008-08-11T18:34:25.239+10:00

There's been lots of reading and not much blogging happening around here lately so it seems time for a bit of a round up post. I'm reading a couple of interesting books for school at the moment. I just finished Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor and am working my through John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Both are young adult novels that deal with terrible, tragic

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-81235428697198151272008-07-28T18:23:00.000+10:002008-07-28T18:23:45.606+10:00

I have recently converted to being a Graham Greene fan as a result of his small but perfectly formed novel, The Quiet American. I had read some Graham Greene before (Our Man in Havana) and was not particularly drawn in by his writing, although I could see that technically it was good. The Quiet American, however, really blew me away.The Quiet American is narrated by the main character Fowler, a

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-88866354358509207432008-07-13T17:59:00.003+10:002008-12-12T16:09:26.709+11:00

What is it that I loved so much about Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys? It's hard to capture now that I try to write my thoughts down. In fact, I think it's the books that I really love that I find the hardest to blog about perhaps because it's those books that are hardest to disect and analyse. Part of me wants to keep the experience of reading Wonder Boys whole and untouched. On the other hand,

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-69874923438724928742008-07-05T18:09:00.000+10:002008-12-12T16:09:26.918+11:00

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm in love with Michael Chabon. How did I not see this before when I read The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and thought it was only 'pretty good'? Clearly I was in denial because after reading The Yiddish Policemen's Union for my book club and then quickly following it with Wonder Boys, I can't believe I wasn't raving about Chabon years ago.The Yiddish Policemen's Union

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-29609797065295745312008-06-30T17:53:00.008+10:002008-07-05T18:57:21.236+10:00

The days are short and fresh. The nights, long and cold. It's mid-winter and that means report writing, head-colds and that feeling that this month will never end. But finally on the last day of June, I've found time for a catch up post. Rather than go through each book in its own proper review, I think I'll just sum up my recent reading.I bought The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole by Stephanie

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-390653513781609672008-06-02T21:16:00.002+10:002008-12-12T16:09:27.063+11:00

One thing I enjoy about fiction is the ability it has to show you a part of the world that you know little about. Sometimes a novel can make you feel like a true insider in a way that few other mediums can, by making you feel you inhabit a place and time completely. Hearts and Minds by Rosy Thornton was one such novel for me. In this novel, Thorton reveals some of the workings of the

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-91952579333265753542008-05-27T21:45:00.001+10:002008-12-12T16:09:27.355+11:00

Hot on the heels of having read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, I recently found myself reading yet another modern take on the Victorian novel. Sarah Waters' novel Fingersmith is a rip-roaring yarn set in 19th century England. Waters draws on the tradition of social realism, combining it with a good dose of the Gothic, to create a page-turner of a novel. The plot flies along, taking the reader

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-20351356548161970832008-05-03T11:01:00.003+10:002008-05-03T11:22:49.298+10:00

The new school term started on Monday and, as usual, that means not much time for reading or blog-writing in this part of the world. However the beautiful autumn weather (we even had dusting of snow on the surrounding hills the other day!) bodes well for cosy indoor activities ahead.I've been slowly making my way through Tristram Shandy, a book that I am finding quite easy to read in fits and

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-63919462499247003542008-04-20T16:07:00.001+10:002008-12-12T16:09:27.667+11:00

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke was just such a pleasure to read. It's not often that a book is enjoyable in so many ways. From the thick creamy paper of the cover, with its gorgeous font, to the quaint charcoal illustrations, the book itself is a sensory experience. And that's nothing compared to how fun it is to actually read this novel.Susanna Clarke creates a world in

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-68081020521971495222008-04-16T16:02:00.002+10:002008-04-16T16:23:18.176+10:00

I have finally begun reading The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (to give it its full, very 18th century title) by Laurence Sterne. It's slow reading so far, but still lots of fun. I find myself constantly looking up the footnotes at the back of the book. I so much prefer it when the footnotes are on the same page- it's still distracting but at least you don't have to be leafing

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-84771833982884046792008-04-13T15:44:00.000+10:002008-12-12T16:09:28.040+11:00

Warning: Spoiler ahead.She watched him, willing him to go slower, for she was guiltily afraid of him, and was desperate for more time to herself. Whatever conversation they were about to have, she dreaded it. As she understood it, there were no words to name what had happened, there existed no shared language in which two sane adults could describe such events to each other.This section occurs

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-9867461866246115982008-03-30T14:18:00.002+11:002008-03-30T14:31:31.321+11:00

There is a nice symmetry in my reading at the moment. I have just finished Open Secrets by Alice Munro and am now about half-way through Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach and it occurs to me that both books deal with the quiet and awkward moments between people that are not often the subject of 'great' art.Munro's short stories are wonderfully thought-provoking. She knows just when to end a story,

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-77653957124079722672008-03-16T17:05:00.004+11:002008-03-16T17:36:21.648+11:00

I've once again let my reading overtake my blogging, so I thought I might do a kind of catch up post rather than write at length about the last couple of novels that I've read. So here goes...Some of you might have read my whinge about Bel Canto a couple of posts ago. Well, I finished it and suffice to say my opinion did not change. Ann Patchett's novel left me very cold. A part of why I

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-89989877190186284522008-03-02T12:01:00.003+11:002008-03-02T12:11:09.712+11:00

Last year I heard an interesting interview by Philip Adams on Radio National with American war poet Brian Turner. Turner has served in Iraq and his poetry describes his experiences there. During the interview he read the title poem from his collection of poetry, Here, Bullet. I found it moving and confronting. To say he reminds me a little of Wilfred Owen might be going too far, but there is

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-24553241083405039712008-02-29T17:19:00.002+11:002008-02-29T17:54:17.044+11:00

I'm trying with Ann Patchett's novel, Bel Canto, I really am. I want to like it. I've heard great things about it from other people. And I'm keen to be a girly swot and get it read by Monday for my bookclub.But I'm really struggling here.I just find it so boring. The plot centres around a group who have been taken hostage in a mansion in an unnamed poor South American country. The group

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-13960194132171545182008-02-24T16:54:00.003+11:002008-02-24T17:32:33.501+11:00

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld is one of the most enjoyable books I've read in ages. I raced through it in one day last weekend and then passed it straight on to my husband who had the same experience. Scott Westerfeld has built himself a reputation as one of the most exciting writers of young adult fiction at the moment, especially with his sci-fi series, Uglies. I've only recently discovered his

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-51042437762870709162008-02-19T19:43:00.004+11:002008-02-19T19:48:23.985+11:00

Until recently I had never read any Australian crime fiction but I can now boast about having already read two examples this year. In January I read Eden by Dorothy Johnston, which is not only Australian crime fiction but is also set in Canberra, thus continuing my mission to read books set in the capital. I have also recently finished The Broken Shore by Peter Temple, which I'll write about

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-37722865344511295782008-02-12T21:32:00.000+11:002008-02-12T21:41:19.266+11:00

Reading plenty at the moment but not writing much. The beginning of the school term seems to mean I can do one or the other, but not really both. Anyway, I'm working on a post raving about Peter Temple's wonderful crime novel, The Broken Shore. I also want to go on about how good Scott Westerfeld is (I read his vampire novel Peeps in a day!) and, strangely, am enjoying fantasy set in Medieval

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-11686181623019020972008-01-19T13:08:00.000+11:002008-01-19T13:08:39.902+11:00

In the last week I have seen two film versions of favourite novels of mine, The Golden Compass and Atonement. Although both were generally well done, it's a strange experience seeing a novel you love as imagined by others. The film of The Golden Compass was probably always going to be a bit disappointing for me as I love Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy so intensely. The Hollywood version

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-76712785015317027392008-01-17T12:31:00.000+11:002008-01-17T12:34:51.521+11:00

I read On the Jellicoe Road, a novel for young adults by Australian author Melina Marchetta, on a rainy night while staying in a caravan on holidays at the beach. Branches were brushing the roof and the wind howled and screeched, rocking the caravan. I could have been at sea, lost in the blackness of night. Perfect reading weather. Perfect for reading this un-put-downable novel until it was

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-34940531973340951832008-01-07T14:48:00.000+11:002008-01-07T15:10:52.733+11:00

I haven't posted for ages, instead choosing to do some reading, eating, drinking and much playing of cards as the rain continues to fall at my beachside holiday location. I never seem to have much luck with holiday weather. Nevertheless it is pretty good weather for reading and I've managed to get through a couple of novels.Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres is certainly not light summer

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-10926459776016779622007-12-16T14:51:00.000+11:002007-12-16T15:13:04.070+11:00

The end of the year is coming and I'm not reading anything too exciting right now so I think it's safe to comment on my favourite reads of 2007. None of them are particularly current as I rarely read new releases, but I loved all of the following:The Orchid Thief (Susan Orlean): This work of non-fiction was a real revelation to me. I don't read much non-fiction and I had no interest in orchids

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-20389781462604400592007-12-10T18:44:00.000+11:002007-12-10T19:09:45.778+11:00

It's taken me forever but I finally finished Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway on Sunday. Actually I'm glad I took forever over this novel. It is so deliciously, wonderfully written that I think it's best savoured in little pieces. All at once might overload the system.I think Mrs Dalloway is about as perfect as a novel gets and because I'm so attached to it, I'm a little bit nervous about really

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-83865506574094264212007-12-02T19:32:00.000+11:002007-12-02T19:32:58.827+11:00

When it first came out in 2003 everyone seemed to be reading We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. As usual, I'm a couple of years late and have only just gotten around to reading this novel on the tentative advice of a friend who didn't enjoy it much herself. For anyone else who missed out on it as it swept the bestseller lists, We Need to Talk About Kevin is the letters of a mother,

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-31851098030604303792007-11-18T15:43:00.000+11:002007-11-18T16:14:47.714+11:00

After recently claiming that I don't read much non-fiction I now find myself in the strange situation of reading not one, but two collections of essays at once. I'm part of the way through The Grave of Alice B. Toklas by Otto Friedrich and after I posted on his essay about Alice B. Toklas I picked up another book that has been sitting on the shelf for a while: Passionate Minds: Women Rewriting

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-59538355330528411782007-11-11T14:16:00.000+11:002007-11-18T16:15:24.948+11:00

I should be reading Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks at the moment, especially as I set it for myself as a kind of personal reading challenge for Remembrance Day. Instead I keep picking up a collection of essays by Otto Friedrich called The Grave of Alice B. Toklas & Other Reports from the Past. This collection was published in 1991 and it's comprised of writing from throughout Friedrich's career as

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-78744781606257903952007-10-28T21:05:00.000+11:002007-10-28T21:19:29.502+11:00

Shredding and slicing, dividing and subdividing, the clocks of Harley Street nibbled at the June day...It is images like that that give me a feeling of exhilaration as I read Mrs Dalloway.Finally I've picked this up again. My re-reading of Mrs Dalloway has been progressing painfully slowly but it's partly because the writing is so intense; a little bit goes a long way. Today I picked it up again

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-68327914790767017232007-10-25T17:10:00.000+10:002007-11-18T16:17:01.509+11:00

I have just realised that I started this blog a year ago this week. Wow, that time has flown. Part of me is surprised that I've managed to keep this thing going on a semi-regular basis for a whole year. I suppose it was always an experiment, being my first attempt at blogging. It's been reasonably easy to stick with though. I decided early on not to write if I didn't feel like it and not to set

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-52953423595048243202007-10-21T15:02:00.000+10:002007-10-21T15:40:43.597+10:00

The last few weeks have been a little crazy and this blog has been sadly neglected. Suffice to say that you should never trust a tradesman who says they can fix your bathroom in a week. But while I haven't been able to post anything, I have, luckily, had a bit of time to read. At the moment I am totally enthralled by The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. I love this book and it continues my recent

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-27917264197370101182007-09-30T15:31:00.000+10:002007-09-30T15:33:26.472+10:00

I am now most of the way through reading The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, her thoughtful reflection on grief written in the year after the sudden death of her husband John and the hospitalisation of her daughter. It is a very moving book, which is to be expected given the subject matter, but it also very measured and carefully written. Didion is able to capture and analyse this

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-44779744031432449602007-09-23T10:55:00.000+10:002007-09-23T11:13:53.622+10:00

Twice a year there is a major second-hand book fair in my town. The book fair is huge and the quality of books tends to be very good, plus all proceeds go to charity so book buying can feel even more virtuous than usual! Yesterday we headed there first thing in the morning. Once inside, the husband headed off towards the history section and I made a beeline for general fiction. We blew the budget

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-14616987804580542062007-09-18T18:40:00.000+10:002007-09-18T19:13:19.816+10:00

I wonder if I'm really qualified to comment on Philip Roth's novel, American Pastoral. Well, I'll re-phrase that: I wonder if I am qualified to comment on how successfully the novel dissects American society and idea of the American dream, since the sum total of my time spent in America up until now is a week in New York eight years ago.Still, the idea of the American dream is international in a

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-71747798040488147242007-09-14T17:00:00.000+10:002007-09-14T17:46:03.408+10:00

I have just finished Rosie Little's Cautionary Tales for Girls and I have to admit I loved this collection of short stories by Australian author Danielle Wood. I loved it so much that I read it in one day, being home with a cold and not able to move off the couch. The stories are a collection of modern day 'fairy tales', stories that ostensibly are written to inform young women about how to avoid

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-31149256893218246832007-09-02T12:33:00.000+10:002007-09-02T12:53:32.623+10:00

This morning I was trying to remember a bit of Byron's 'Don Juan' that had made me laugh when I first read the poem at university. I hadn't looked at the poem in ages and when I started flicking through I found bits underlined and all my old notes in the margins. Some comments were obscure (made during a lecture I think and now very much out of context) but lots of the sections underlined

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-10589312410606849602007-09-01T15:05:00.000+10:002007-09-01T15:27:08.267+10:00

The husband and I were on our way to the farmers' market this morning when we got waylaid by our local primary school's spring fair. They were selling second hand books at $2 a pop. I couldn't resist and picked up the following:- The White Lioness Henning Mankell: I've heard lots of good things about this Swedish crime writer. This is one of his Kurt Wallender novels.- A Room of One's Own

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-21877347802410219482007-08-25T14:04:00.000+10:002007-08-25T14:13:23.304+10:00

After weeks of cold grey days, today the sun is shining and it's 18 degrees. We've opened all our windows and been out for a walk to see the wattle and daffodils in bloom in our suburb. Makes me think of e.e. cummings who captures spring better than just about anybody. I'll probably lose some of the layout of this poem but you get the idea anyway...in just-in Just- spring when the world is

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-51191725479793203442007-08-21T21:07:00.000+10:002007-08-21T21:34:28.169+10:00

I've read a few books recently that I don't feel too inspired to review at length. I'm not sure why except that maybe I don't feel I have a lot to say about them so I'll do a quick round up and leave it at that.I read The Point by Australian author Marion Halligan partly because it is set in Canberra and partly because I enjoyed her earlier novel, Lovers' Knots. There aren't many novels set in

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-76610560542972877702007-08-14T20:27:00.000+10:002007-08-14T21:37:44.931+10:00

It's not often that I laugh out loud in books, and actually I tend to cringe when I think of what might be considered 'comic novels', but I have to say that Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa was really, genuinely funny. I was inspired to read this novel by Dorothy's post on it back in March and I find myself generally agreeing with her thoughtful review. Llosa's novel is set

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-28370182267113514332007-08-04T17:06:00.000+10:002007-08-05T18:56:42.048+10:00

I've just finished a lightning fast (for me) read of Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl and I absolutely loved it. In a way it provided me with all the answers to what I feel is lacking in the Harry Potter series (although I won't go on about that anymore- I know most people don't agree with me).Colfer's novel is aimed at young readers. It tells the story of one Artemis Fowl, a criminal mastermind and

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-62183005463055348462007-07-31T18:39:00.000+10:002007-07-31T19:20:39.548+10:00

Michael Chabon's novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is an ambitious, original and exciting read. Chabon does not shy away from trying to cover a vast terrain in his novel. The story details the effect of the holocaust on one man, Josef Kavalier, who escapes Prague just in time to avoid the horrors of World War II. We then follow his subsequent attempts to secure a safe passage out

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-25065041231939006182007-07-29T19:13:00.000+10:002007-07-29T19:47:34.808+10:00

I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan. I've read the series at a leisurely pace and I'm not the type of fan who lines up to get a copy on the first day the books are out. But I have to admit that I once I got into it this weekend, I really couldn't put Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows down. (Since we also had visitors this weekend that meant I read much of the book after everyone else had gone to

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-76485522753107711452007-07-20T15:06:00.000+10:002007-07-20T15:17:17.926+10:00

Well, everybody is doing it so why not? Still, I'm not sure this is me...You're A Prayer for Owen Meany!by John IrvingDespite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspirefaith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifestthis fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every wakingmoment, and you prepare with great detail

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-69707192617631866772007-06-24T17:36:00.000+10:002007-06-24T18:25:24.610+10:00

While I have travelled quite extensively in the past, lack of funds has kept me pretty close to home for a while now. I thought that maybe I could travel vicariously through The Art of Travel, Alain de Botton's take on some of the philosophical implications of travel in the 21st century. Luckily it worked, and rather than feeling frustrated by tales of journeys I could not myself take, I have

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-2351281286469410952007-06-11T21:41:00.000+10:002007-06-11T21:41:37.212+10:00

I generally don't do horror. I'm the kind of person who screams at the cinema and has to cover their eyes during the gory bits. I can appreciate the art of horror but on an emotional level it's just too much for me.So I approached John Ajvide Lindqvist's Let the Right One In (subtitled: 'A Vampire Love Story') with great trepidation. It was a present from my husband so I wanted to read it.

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-73433271993950926252007-05-27T20:26:00.000+10:002007-05-27T20:27:27.542+10:00

I try to regularly include young adult fiction in my reading. Mostly this is because I teach English in a high school and like to keep up to date with fiction that is aimed at my students. Partly though, I read young adult fiction purely because I like it. It is often less pretentious than serious adult literature, yet at the same time it mostly doesn't flinch from facing the big issues.In his

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-24888439661924010432007-05-21T21:08:00.000+10:002007-05-21T21:51:27.306+10:00

I'm currently reading Karen Joy Fowler's novel The Jane Austen Book Club and it's a perfectly fun, light novel. It has all sorts of enthusiastic recommendations on the cover from reasonably respectable sources such as The Times ('stylish') and The Independent ('wonderful'). The characters make some fairly insightful comments about Jane Austen's books and the plot is coming along nicely. All

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-56659900740296472072007-05-13T13:30:00.000+10:002007-05-13T13:32:16.294+10:00

I don't normally read much non-fiction but lately I have read two excellent, and very different, biographies: Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn and Claire Tomalin's Jane Austen: A Life.Writing a biography is a curious mix of the factual and the imaginative and I enjoyed seeing how these two writers balanced those aspects. Jane Austen left little behind other than her novels when

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-1098632947872207032007-05-09T18:55:00.000+10:002007-05-09T18:56:21.066+10:00

I am slowly but steadily making my way through Mrs Dalloway, trying to savour every moment of it. I am continually blown away by the writing. It is so dense and rich and beautiful.I love that the action all takes place on a single day, but that the simple moments contained in that day inspire such interesting and complex memories and reflections. Woolf captures how the mind works, flitting

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-73788483983601477392007-05-06T14:36:00.000+10:002007-06-03T10:51:47.388+10:00

I finished The Secret Twin a few weeks ago and have been putting off writing about it, not because I didn't like it, but because I'm not sure how to describe this unusual novel.I read (and loved) Denise Gosliner Orenstein's previous novel Unseen Companion earlier this year. Unseen Companion is set in Alaska and describes the disappearance of a young man in a remote village. The story is told

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-59769941458117832582007-04-27T11:13:00.000+10:002007-04-27T11:49:35.274+10:00

I first read Mrs Dalloway when I was at university and my memory of it is pretty hazy. I think I enjoyed it but it didn't make a big impression on me. Now that I'm re-reading it I think that I was just too young to appreciate Virginia Woolf first time around. This time I am reading slowly, allowing time for Woolf's gorgeous writing to sink in. The novel is so dense with imagery that I want to

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-8780344902460397102007-04-25T09:51:00.000+10:002007-04-25T10:16:01.101+10:00

I'm about half-way through Claire Tomalin's Jane Austen: A Life and really enjoying it. I don't generally read much non-fiction so I've been pleasantly surprised by how engrossing Tomalin's book is. I've just read the part concerned with Tom Lefroy, the young Irishman that Austen briefly knew and probably fell in love with (this affair is the inspiration for the film Becoming Jane, which I

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-41201414543259093242007-04-24T14:03:00.000+10:002007-04-24T14:28:30.781+10:00

I'm not sure why, but I do like a good list. Here is the list of books that I bought at a second-hand book fair last Friday:1. Open Secrets Alice Munro- I've been wanting to read something by her for a long time now2. Case Histories Kate Atkinson- ditto3. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Michael Chabon- I liked the sound of the plot, plus it's a Pulitzer Prize winner (no guarantee, I

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-47666016177795653732007-04-23T21:02:00.000+10:002007-04-23T21:03:41.661+10:00

Two of the novels that I have read recently concern themselves with teenagers growing up in institutions. In Curtis Sittenfeld's Prep that institution is Ault School, an elite private boarding school, and the teenager is Lee Fiora, a scholarship student who describes herself as ' a nobody from Indiana'. Elinor Lipman tells her novel, My Latest Grievance, through the eyes of the charmingly

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-8245067941589170952007-04-19T10:05:00.000+10:002007-04-19T10:21:40.090+10:00

Autumn seems to be lasting forever this year. The days are still warm, the trees have changed colour and the footpaths are covered in leaves. The light has become soft, diffused; the sunsets are outrageous shades of pink and orange. I know that one day soon winter will hit but until then I'm in blissful denial.Must be time for some Keats...To Autumn (John Keats)ISeason of mists and mellow

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-86628283012325575352007-04-18T10:11:00.000+10:002007-04-18T10:13:09.076+10:00

At the moment I am reading Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn, a book I was drawn to purely by its title. In fact, I knew nothing whatsoever about it except that several times in book shops my husband and I had picked it up and laughed about the title. In the end he bought it for me and it has been interesting to actually begin reading it. It turns out Another Bullshit Night in

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-51509466830119156062007-04-15T21:37:00.000+10:002007-04-15T21:49:15.207+10:00

It is not often that I finish a book and want to start re-reading it immediately. It is not often that I am reduced to tears by a novel, that I feel so much a part of the world the author has created that I feel the characters' pain as though it is my pain. Part of me wants to not review Cold Mountain because how can I possibly explain the profound experience of reading it?I'll try, because I

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-63440525000052096422007-04-10T18:42:00.000+10:002007-04-10T18:44:10.282+10:00

I began an interest in the American Civil War a few months ago when my husband bought a copy of Ken Burns' documentary, The Civil War, at our local ABC shop. The Civil War is an amazing documentary series and watching it helped me to fill some of the embarrassingly huge gaps in my knowledge about the war (it is not generally studied in Australian schools). As seems to often happen when you

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-10916753076020777452007-04-04T22:21:00.000+10:002007-04-04T22:22:42.585+10:00

A good present says a something about the giver and something about the receiver. I'll leave you to consider what the following books say about me, and about my husband who gave them to me for a recent birthday:Let the Right One In John Ajivide LindqvistMy Latest Grievance Elinor LipmanThe Jane Austen Book Club Karen Joy FowlerAnother Bullshit Night in Suck City Nick FlynnA Short History of

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-85728233223793827442007-04-03T17:50:00.000+10:002007-04-03T18:35:23.456+10:00

Strangely enough, one of my favourite parts of Sophie Masson's young adult novel, The Hollow Lands, was the afterword. This is because I was intrigued by the setting of the novel, which although it is fantasy, draws heavily on Breton folklore and history. The Hollow Lands centres on the fate of young twins, Tiphaine and Gromer Raguenel, the children of noble parents in fourteenth century

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-74884709426763269582007-03-27T15:05:00.000+10:002007-03-27T15:44:21.456+10:00

John Irving is a guilty pleasure of mine. I find his writing a bit same-y and trashy but it has moments of real beauty and clarity. What he does, he does well. He crafts his writing carefully and explores some themes, such as the sudden loss of loved ones, with insight. When he exercises restraint and avoids gimmicks he can be very good.Before I read A Widow for One Year, I saw the film based

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-66231366819157746732007-03-19T15:31:00.000+11:002007-03-19T15:29:33.872+11:00

As I may have mentioned once or twice before, I am completely in love with the writing of Margaret Atwood. Her latest work, a collection of short stories entitled Moral Disorder does nothing to dampen my enthusiasm.Moral Disorder is exactly the kind of writing that I like most. That is, it is domestic and intimate in scale, dealing with complex relationships without needing to concentrate on plot

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-36653438200243274272007-03-11T17:51:00.000+11:002007-03-11T18:15:42.004+11:00

I finished Mansfield Park a week or two ago now, and have to say that my opinions of it did not change much after my initial post on the novel. I don't think I'm giving away too much to those who haven't read Mansfield Park yet to say that, in typical Austen fashion, things worked out in the end. The worthy, morally superior characters (Fanny Price, Edmund) were rewarded with happy marriages.

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-89499524030380762162007-03-05T18:58:00.000+11:002007-03-05T19:07:40.641+11:00

After a week on a school camp with a bunch of students, it was time for some seriously selfish activity on the weekend. So we drove to a nearby little town and combed through the second-hand bookshops. I finally found a second-hand copy of Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain. I've heard such good things about this book and I can't wait to read it- a good friend claims it as her favourite book ever

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-903818776330660522007-02-19T18:48:00.000+11:002007-02-19T18:49:52.677+11:00

There is a particular kind of social milieu that Margaret Drabble often explores in her novels. She writes about the British middle-classes, usually intellectuals who have perhaps risen from working class backgrounds to have successful careers, raise families and who, in middle age, are forced to confront issues of family and the past. This is probably an unfair generalisation but having read

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-15488652331510385822007-02-18T16:50:00.000+11:002007-02-18T17:08:02.808+11:00

Scanning my list of 'recently read' books last week, I noticed that my recent reading has been heavily waited towards contemporary novels and young adult fiction. Time for a classic! Hence, I am now reading Jane Austen's Mansfield Park.I've never read this novel before, and it's been a while since I've read anything by Austen, so it has been very nice revisiting her world. I love Austen's

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-45189777770040844002007-02-13T16:01:00.000+11:002007-02-13T09:36:39.276+11:00

I am currently reading Margaret Atwood's collection of short stories, Moral Disorder. Each time I read something by Atwood it only confirms my opinion of her as one of the best contemporary writers. A passage I read today shows her talent for evoking a scene:On a day like this it was hard to resist dozing off, drifting down into reverie or half-sleep. It was afternoon, it was May, the trees

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-67353770805074057602007-02-11T18:39:00.000+11:002007-02-11T18:47:57.088+11:00

I finished I Capture the Castle last week in a flurry of page turning. It was so fantastic I couldn't put it down. It is clever, funny and truthful in its depiction of life as a teenage girl. Cassandra Mortmain, the novel's narrator, is my new favourite character from literature. She is a passionate writer, determined to 'capture' the world around her, including her eccentric family and the

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-81320731396630486192007-02-05T18:52:00.000+11:002007-02-05T19:16:44.549+11:00

One of the reasons that I love reading so much is that feeling of being totally swept up in the world of the novel. My fondest memories of childhood are of reading, and of being so engrossed in a novel that I could read almost anywhere- on the school bus, over breakfast, under the bedsheets with a torch. As an adult reading has sometimes become a more analytical process; reading for university

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-14419510851991300012007-02-04T14:33:00.000+11:002007-02-04T15:16:59.880+11:00

At the height of summer the long, hot days, the six week break from school and the many alcoholic drinks consumed seem to destroy my brain's ability to comprehend complex and serious literature. Enter Dominick Dunne and the ultimate trashy summer read, An Inconvenient Women.I try not to read books like this too often. Life is short and there are so many really good books out there that I should

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-22230977412177614152007-01-23T10:14:00.000+11:002007-01-23T10:38:16.861+11:00

Moving house shares some characteristics with childbirth (or what I'm told of it). It's a painful and traumatic experience at the time, but yet between moves the memory fades enough to convince us that it wasn't so bad, and so we do it all over again. Having just moved to a new city on the hottest day of the year (45 degrees Celsius), from a large house to a tiny flat up three flights of stairs (

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-18396014121866003262007-01-05T21:18:00.000+11:002008-12-12T16:09:28.744+11:00

Brandon refers to this cute library card generator at his site .

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-47352176321891071502007-01-04T17:20:00.000+11:002007-01-04T17:24:54.864+11:00

The word that springs to mind when I think of how to describe Gertrude and Claudius by John Updike is 'adult'. Maybe this is because I have been reading a lot of YA fiction lately and have become used to teenage protagonists. Whatever the reason, it was a refreshing change to read a proper grown-up book.Gertrude and Claudius is the story of the royal court of Denmark leading up to the events of

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-48342063654639485592007-01-02T21:11:00.000+11:002007-01-02T21:11:11.354+11:00

Happy New Year to all! The Christmas/ New Year period has not proven to be good for either reading or blogging for me. Too much food, too much alcohol and too much racing around the country to various friends and relatives. While all of these things are wonderful in themselves, they have left little time for anything else.Anyway, before Christmas I had begun to think, like many other bloggers,

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-33245056186784051262006-12-18T20:01:00.000+11:002008-12-12T16:09:28.980+11:00

I find myself only one week away from Christmas and I'm hopelessly behind on my posts for Carl's G.I.F.T. Challenge. I'm not sure I'll manage four posts by next week but I couldn't let the challenge go by without mentioning my favourite Christmas film, Bad Santa.Bad Santa is the ultimate anti-Christmas Christmas film. It stars Billy-Bob Thornton as a foul-mouthed drunken department store Santa

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-7845254881497059412006-12-17T14:11:00.000+11:002006-12-17T14:13:39.533+11:00

I haven't posted in a while due to a nasty computer virus, so many apologies to those who read this blog and lots of bad vibes to whoever wiped my computer out. Anyway, I'm going to be a bit self-indulgent and make a list this post, so skip it if you don't like that sort of thing!I'm moving to another city in January, so last weekend I thought I'd see if it is at all possible to streamline my

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-3223396526104634412006-12-13T17:05:00.000+11:002006-12-13T17:05:58.974+11:00

It's Not All About YOU, Calma! is Barry Jonsberg's follow up to his successful young adult novel, Kiffo and the Pitbull and is just as entertaining and fun. Jonsberg has a talent for getting inside the head of his young female narrator, Calma Harrison, and it is the strong narrative voice that makes both novels so good. Calma is a self-confessed 'unreliable narrator', a fantastically

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-11238175108326411812006-12-10T11:17:00.000+11:002008-12-12T16:09:29.159+11:00

Christmas is a strange time for an atheist. Of course, it is essentially a Christian religious festival. Or a pagan mid-winter festival if that takes your fancy. But what is Christmas for me, who is neither Christian nor any other religion?Christmas still registers as important for me, even when it is devoid of religious meaning. This is because Christmas has gone beyond being a purely

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-58062210404178608112006-12-09T13:12:00.000+11:002006-12-09T13:49:24.832+11:00

I have been part of a bookclub in our small town for the last three years. I have had a great time with this group of people, most of whom are also my workmates. Once a month we meet at someone's house. Someone else will present a book they have chosen, kickstarting discussion with some points or question- it's all pretty informal. Drinking wine and eating good food are an important part of

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-46533806389626112172006-12-06T21:45:00.000+11:002006-12-06T21:52:16.723+11:00

Ever wandered what the world would be like if JFK had survived the shooting in Dallas? What would Marilyn Monroe have done with her life if she hadn't died at 36 years of age? British journalist Mark Lawson imagines a world where they are both still alive in his 1995 novel, Idlewild. Idlewild is a great, light read. It's Lawson's first novel, and sometimes it feels like that, but he is having

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-72763743453864428082006-12-04T18:14:00.000+11:002008-12-12T16:09:29.334+11:00

No matter how hard I try to be above all the Christmas hype, it gets me every time. I still find myself getting excited about wrapping presents and baking ridiculous hot food in the middle of summer and of course, enjoying the odd alcoholic beverage or two.So I was please to see I'm not the only one. Carl has proposed a great Christmas reading challenge over at Stainless Steel Droppings. The

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-38748980569603363302006-12-03T14:05:00.000+11:002006-12-03T14:07:19.015+11:00

I've been meaning to read something by Australian writer Sonya Hartnett for ages and am very glad that I finally have. In Sydney a few months ago I picked up a copy of Sleeping Dogs, a short novel of Harnett's from 1995. I chose this novel pretty much at random. I've since realised that some her more recent novels have had more attention overseas, particularly Thursday's Child which won the

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-67835518916990359712006-12-02T17:24:00.000+11:002006-12-02T18:41:41.380+11:00

After a hectic week of writing student reports and finally completing the school magazine for the year, I made it to the end of Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy. I finished just in time for the end of November and Kailana's November Reading Challenge.Overall, I really enjoyed the trilogy. However I think the first novel, Regeneration, is by far the strongest. The Eye in the Door was slightly

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36420311.post-4032621617386922882006-11-27T12:34:00.000+11:002006-11-28T18:32:18.889+11:00

After a visit to Our Nation's Capital, and to one of its finest bookstores, on Thursday I was salivating. There are so many exciting books to buy at the moment. And while lack of funds held me back from buying anything yet, I have begun composing my wishlist of current releases to be collected in the coming months:1. Moral Disorder, Margaret Atwood. New Margaret Atwood. Enough said.2.

jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17834794859513738057noreply@blogger.com2