'They kill us, they crucify us, they throw us to beasts in the arena, they sew our lips together and watch us starve. They bugger children in front of their mothers and violate men in front of their wives. The temple priests flay us openly in the streets. We are hunted everywhere and we are [...]
There are books that we read that stay with us forever. Something within the pages grabs at us, hurtling us forwards into a new world where characters become friends, or enemies, where adventure crosses the line to the depths of tragedy and where we are left to question choices made, loves lost, won or denied [...]
Coffee-break Quick-Pick: The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton. Jaxie dreads going home. His mother's dead, the old man beats him without mercy, and he doesn't know how much more he can take. Then, in one terrible moment of violence, the life he's known ends - forcing Jaxie to flee his sleepy hometown. He's not just [...]
The Magic Pudding is said to have been written to settle an argument. Norman Lindsay's friend Bertram Stevens said, that children like to read about fairies, while Lindsay asserted that they would rather read about food and fighting. Food and fighting clearly won for October 12 was declared 'Pudding Day' in 2008 in honor of [...]
The rise and fall of Constantinople (Istanbul) the magnificent eastern Roman city that endured for 1000 years must surely be one of history’s great stories. How Richard Fidler managed to break all those years into bite sized chunks and make it accessible is quite astounding. His young son forms part of the narrative following a [...]
I’ve just finished reading these two literary works. One set in Civil War era America and the other in post-WW2. I didn’t set out to read two books on war but these authors are among my fav’s. Varina by Charles Frazier "Civilization balances always on a keen and precarious point, a showman spinning a fine [...]
It's 1969 and a remote coastal town in Western Australia is poised to play a pivotal part in the moon landing. Exciting stuff, particularly for a galah – yes of the feathered variety, called Lucky. On the outskirts of town sits a giant dish, a piece of vital hardware that becomes a major line of [...]
My Brother Jack. If ever there was a portrait of the changing and fragile relationships in family and particularly between brother’s then this work stands out as one of the best. Set in the suburbs of Melbourne between the two wars George Johnston’s 1964 novel shines a light on the interwar years, introducing us to [...]
Coffee-break Quick Pick: You have to give it to the Nazi's. Not content with stealing every piece of art they could find - think the Monuments Men movie, they turned their attention to the libraries and bookshops of Europe, not burning as many books as we once thought. The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of [...]
