What are you Reading ... 📚

[AndyWalkersGirl]

I’m working my way through my Bryce Courtney collection. “Jessica” is probably one of the best books I’ve ever read. “Whitethorn” is also really good. I’ve just started “Sylvia” but not sure it’s won me over yet.

I got easily caught up in “The Pearl Thief” and would recommend it as an easy but insightful read. I found myself quite reflective and grateful during that, maybe because I grew up with my grandparents’ stories of WW2.

 

[ESKIE]

Just finished The River by Peter Heller a story of two friends who go out on a trip in the wilderness northern Canada shared love of mountains books fishing a ‘wildfire’ approaches & they stumble on a man and woman arguing and .., things unfold
Beautiful & heart wrenching
I recommend

Now started whitehouses by Amy bloom a semi fictional story of Eleanor Roosevelt based on her ‘other’ life

 

[AndyWalkersGirl]

I just read “Becoming” by Michelle Obama, which was a really easy read and gave good insight into the Obama world. She seems like a really humble, gracious human.

 

[BlueGum]

RIP Toni Morrison. Beloved one of my faves.

Obit

 

[Blue and Blue]

Have read plenty of Bill Bryson before but not this one.....
Notes on a Small Island has to be the funniest thing in print not by Spike Milligan I have ever encountered.

When one is at work alone eating lunch and laughing out loud .......

 

[Robbo's my hero]

Currently reading The Python’s Autobiography by The Python’s.

I’m 270 pages in and I’ve just got use to the format. Basically they have all been asked the same questions and provide a recollection of the event. Chapman’s part is a combination of various people in his life. He also provides some snippets.

It’s a hardback edition which makes it hard going when your reading it in bed.

The font size is so small that I calculate 270 pages is really 540. That’s why I’ve been reading it forever.

 

[thylacine60]

as the formerly relevant age newspaper falls further and further into obscurity.......

"The results are in: We're a nation of jeans and sneaker wearers....."

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

Have read plenty of Bill Bryson before but not this one.....
Notes on a Small Island has to be the funniest thing in print not by Spike Milligan I have ever encountered.

When one is at work alone eating lunch and laughing out loud .......

I've just finished In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, terrific read.
I've read the first 7 pages of Bryson's new book, "The Body - a guide for occupants," and am really enjoying it at this stage. But I will have to admit I have enjoyed all his books.
I also have Nancy Wake by Peter Fitzsimons waiting, Christmas is a good time for books.

If you like funny books I can thoroughly recommend Riotous Assembly and Indecent Exposure by Tom Sharpe. Both books are about South Africa during the Apartheid years. Unbelievably funny and they got Sharpe deported from South Africa after they were published.
They should have been made into films by Monty Python, I got so many strange looks on the train going to work when I broke into laughter while reading them.

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

Well, I went away for a couple of days and left my copy of "The Body - a guide for occupants" behind at the rellie's place. But then got into "Idiot Wind" by Peter Kaldheim and finished it in a couple of days. It's a memoir about a slide into alcohol and drug addiction which leads to Kaldheim fleeing his coke dealer, who he has swindled. This leads him into the life of a street bum and how he survives, gets his life back together and eventually gets back to his family. Really interesting and a great read.

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

I thought that even though the thread is about what we are reading, perhaps we should also include books we have read and can recommend as good reads. I didn’t mean it to be this long, but it just grew. So here are some of my great favourites, in no particular order.

Ringolevio - Emmett Grogan. A book in two parts, the first covers his life leading up to his heroin addiction by age 11 and the second part is about his role in the American counter culture scene of the 60’s. Bob Dylan’s 1978 album, Street Legal was dedicated to Emmett Grogan

The Washing of the Spears the Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation - Donald R. Morris. Fascinating description of the history of the Zulu Empire. I knew nothing about Isandhlwana or Rorke's Drift (where 11 of the 139 soldiers won the VC). Later told reasonably well, in the movie Zulu

Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth. The only book I have read from cover to cover in one sitting, Started while eating breakfast and finished about 5am the next day. What a great tale. The movie is crap!!

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkein. Everyone should read these before seeing the movies.

Thomas Covenant - Stephen R. Donaldson. The people who did Game of Thrones should make this into their next series.

The Incredible Voyage and A Steady Trade: A Boyhood at Sea - Tristan Jones. A great writer funny, caustic and adventurous, Both books are a great read. The Incredible Voyage is about his attempt to sail on the lowest water in the world (the Dead Sea) and the highest (Lake Titicaca) and A Steady Trade is about his apprenticeship as a sailor. All his books are funny and really well written and all great reads.

Monash - Roland Perry. If you have ever wondered why we have so many things are named after Monash you will understand after reading this book. Truly one of the greatest Australians (and philanderers) in this countries history.

Gallipoli - Peter FitzSimons. This is fascinating, there are so many things you won’t know about Gallipoli until you read this book. FitzSimons books are all thoroughly researched (should be he has a team of about a dozen people doing his research). I am a great fan and have read most of his books. He can bring history alive.

Charles Bean - Ross Coulthart. Bean was the official war correspondent during WW1. Anyone interested in Australian history should read this book.

A Walk in the Woods and Down Under - Bill Bryson. All Bryson’s books stand out, he is so funny. His mate Katz, in A Walk in the Woods seems to be even funnier than Bryson. You should try and read all his books,

The Sirens of Titan and Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut. Another author whose books you should read. Incredibly funny.

Pickwick Papers - Charles Dickens. I have read everything Dickens wrote but this is my favourite,

True Girt - David Hunt. This is Australian history that you have never heard before. Every wart and hiccup in the history of Australia is covered. Unbelievably funny.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams. Funny, funny, funny.

Discworld (Every book) - Terry Pratchett. I love all of his 41 Discworld books. Everyone should read this series. So funny and so imaginative, a real loss since his death.

Birdsville and Outback Stations - Evan McHugh. A great account of places in the Australian outback.

Kings in Grass Castles - Mary Durack

We of the Never Never - Aeneas Gunn

These 2 books should be compulsory reading for everyone who lives in Australia.

Riotous Assembly and Indecent Exposure - Tom Sharpe. The Police force in South Africa during the Apartheid years. Sharpe got deported from South Africa after they were published. The 2 funniest books I have EVER read.

Wild Swans - Jung Chang. Three generations of a Chinese family covering most of the 20th Century China from Imperial China to the Japanese Occupation, the Civil War, Revolution and post Mao era. If you are wondering where China is heading, then this will scare the pants off you.

Ping-Pong Diplomacy - Nicholas Griffin. I had no idea how interesting this would be until it was given to me by a friend who plays Table Tennis. Did you know that Ivor Montague the British aristocrat who founded the International Table Tennis Federation, was a communist spy for the entire time of 40 years that he was president of the ITTF.

The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck. The first chapter describing dust, is the most beautiful I have read. A classic about a family’s desperate time during the great depression.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - Dee Brown. A history of the American Indian from the Indian's perspective. The Washington Times quote “Calculated to make the head pound, the heart ache and the blood boil.”

If I was told I could only re-read one book before I died, this would be it.

Salt - A World History - Mark Kurlansky. It’s amazing how salt has shaped world history.

Sailing Alone Around the World - Joshua Slocum. An autobiography by Slocum, who was the first person to sail single handedly around the world in 1896 in his sloop the Spray, where he covered 46,000 miles.

Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling. What an imagination. I looked forward with so much anticipation to every new book in the series. Thank you to my wife for giving me the first book in the series.

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

While I am waiting to get my book, "The Body - a guide for occupants" back from the rellies in Gippsland, I went to the library and got out "The Good Bloke" an autobiography by Charles Staunton. Staunton is an ex NSW policeman who was kicked out of the police force because he wouldn't dob on his colleagues. This led to him becoming a private detective who did a lot of work for many well known Sydney crims and ends becoming an international money smuggler, who is eventually arrested for being involved in the trafficking of 25 tonnes of hashish worth around a billion dollars at that time and ends up in jail in Canada. I can recommend it as a great read.

 

[Robbo's my hero]

My daughter bought me the Bob Hawke biography for Christmas.

Good read. It focuses on his political achievements which were varied and many. Australia is crying out for a leader of his stature.

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

While I am still waiting to get back "The Body - a guide for occupants" by Bill Bryson from the rellies, which by the way my cousin tells me is a very interesting book. Even though it's my book, she finished it before I had a chance. Bloody Covid-19.
While waiting to get my book back, I read "Working Class Man" by Jimmy Barnes. It was interesting but what I really got from it was that Jimmy Barnes and Keith Richards should be categorized together under, "How The Hell Is He Still Alive".

 

[Robbo's my hero]

While I am still waiting to get back "The Body - a guide for occupants" by Bill Bryson from the rellies, which by the way my cousin tells me is a very interesting book. Even though it's my book, she finished it before I had a chance. Bloody Covid-19.
While waiting to get my book back, I read "Working Class Man" by Jimmy Barnes. It was interesting but what I really got from it was that Jimmy Barnes and Keith Richards should be categorized together under, "How The Hell Is He Still Alive".

I understand Keith is still alive because his personal assistants were number one when buying drugs. In Jimmy’s case he’s a Scot. They eat deep fried Mars Bars. In the end it’s just natural resistance for them. You couldn’t kill them even if you had a hammer in both hands.

I’ve read the books. Smashing reads.

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

Well I've been putting in a fair amount of reading time recently. Now that the Library is closed for books I will have to see about downloading some ebooks and audio books from their website. I've had a look and there is a lot there to choose from. I've just finished reading Stasiland, here is my review.

Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder.

The East German secret police, the Stasi, monitored, controlled and persecuted those they couldn’t control behind the Berlin Wall and beyond.

Funder interviewed victims of the Stasi and Stasi members themselves. The result is a frightening perspective of life behind the wall under a communist dictatorship.

Unemployment, threats, arrest, torture and death awaited every citizen of East Germany. The Stasi and their informants (at one stage estimated to be one informant to every sixty five people) were ruthless at applying their power over the public. Unbelievably raw, the stories of people targeted by the Stasi are harrowing. It was hard to read about the things they had to endure to protect their families and friends from the secret police and the recriminations of the Stasi and the Government.

Well worth a read if your blood pressure can stand it.

After reading this book and Wild Swans by Jung Chang I have come to the opinion that anything that comes from a communist government cannot be trusted, anything!
The leadership is only concerned with hanging onto power at whatever cost and the further down the political ladder you go, the worse people behave.

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

Well my cousin finally posted back my Bill Bryson book; The Body: A Guide For Occupants. AFTER she had finished it. An interesting read was her comment.

I have read all of Bryson’s books up to reading this book and have found them all to be great reads. This book lived up to all my expectations. Witty, funny and crammed full of interesting facts about the body. It covers the various areas of the body and the history of research and treatment of the body. Some parts are mind boggling, some are not for the squeamish, some cover the very worst of treatments over the years. It all fits together and gives a great picture about us is described.

On the Podcast “ You Cannot Be Serious” they mentioned a radio station caller who asked if he dipped his testicles into a bowl of soy sauce, would he taste it. I now know why he asked the question. (P.102).

Some stories are harrowing. The story told by a woman, Fanny Burney who had breast cancer and was an early mastectomy patient before anesthetics, is something you will never forget. If you look at the picture on the Plate between (P.312 and 313) it will give you some idea of how primitive the surgery was then. Imagine a large pair if tree loppers being used for the surgery and then cauterization to stop the bleeding. At least the poor woman who went through this terror lived for another 29years.

There is so much information in the book that you will struggle to take it all in. It’s the sort of book you can read and reread and still learn new things.

In summary Bill Bryson has done it again with a wonderful book.

He can make anything interesting.
Read it.

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

This is an interesting site where you can get free eBooks and eAudiobooks along with lots of stuff for kids learning from home.
http://www.openculture.com/freeaudiobooks

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

After finishing my last book, while I was waiting for delivery of "1989 The Great Grand Final" I downloaded a talking book from the library.
The book was " a Different Kind Of Daughter: The Girl Who Hid from the Taliban in Plain Sight" by Maria Toorpakai.
This was a fascinating book. It tells the story of a young girl born in Pakistan who was determined not to be limited in what she could achieve simply because she was a girl.
At a very young age after being beaten by a mullah for telling him she would like to play volleyball, she burns all her dresses. Supported by both her father and mother she assumes the disguise of a boy. She joins a gang after winning a fight and along the way becomes involved in weightlifting to improve her fighting ability. She ends up coming second in a national junior weightlifting competition.
Eventually she becomes interested in playing squash. This, however, means that she must produce her birth certificate that identifies her as a girl. She eventually becomes the national champion and turns professional. With the rise of the Taliban, she is targeted as a female, as is her family for allowing her to play sport.
It is a great tale about her determination to be an example to millions of other girls in Pakistan. Her parents are both wonderful examples of how to support your children. Well worth reading.

I must say I really enjoyed listening to this while I worked outside. I will use audio books more often in the future. If the library hadn't closed, I may never have got around to listening to audio books.

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

Finally got my other books finished and started on “1989 The Great Grand Final by Tony Wilson”. Easy to read and didn’t take long to finish.

Thoroughly enjoyable with lots of little bits of inside information from both Hawthorn and Geelong people.

The description of what Dipper went through with his punctured lung was an eyeopener. Since half time, air had been leaking from his lung and was then becoming trapped under his skin. It was like his skin was turning into bubble wrap and when he pressed on his skin it gave off soft popping noises. His voice turned squeaky after half time. It’s amazing that he kept playing and played the game out. It could only be through an unbelievable strength of will that enabled him to do that.

Jeans admonished him at three quarter time. "Bruns is getting on top of you, you’ve got to get on your bike, Robert. You’ve got to run, and run, and run. I’ve never seen a boy die of exhaustion out there yet". As Dipper put it, “I nearly did”.

In hospital on a trolley and close to death he felt very peaceful. A priest spoke very softly in his ear and then he saw the light.

Next morning he wakes up and notices he is directly under a skylight in the ceiling.

If you are a Hawthorn supporter make sure you read it.

 

[Robbo's my hero]

Robbo made a promise to himself yesterday. I’ll give it some context.

It must be Friday. It’s just past nine and I’m awake. It must be the excitement of the fast approaching weekend.

Yesterday the PM had a cow of a day. Ergo Australia had a cow of a day. I find the whole thing depressing.

What can I do to address it?

I despair because I read too much that I despair about. Solution? Stop reading current news. I’ll be fine. I’ll still get my weekly LOL from Annabel Crabb. I won’t forsake Laura, Michelle, Ross et al but it’s time to draw a line in the sand.

Plenty of news to watch on TV. However that’s just reading with your eyes and ears. Maybe I’ll watch ‘The Drum’ which has this quaint idea on ABC fairness and invites a lot of knob jockeys from the right of politics. When it gets too much I’ll just turn it off. This is just between me and the reader. I don’t even bother to watch when Amanda Vanstone represents the knob jockeys of the Right.

It’s going to be difficult but the phone has to become a phone again. In truth it’s the main source of my despair.

I promise to do the following.

I’m going to educate myself. I’m going to be creative. This ain’t no reformation I’m going to go the full renaissance.

So I have some rudimentary give it a go ideas to try out and, hopefully, lift my despair. Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye.

Today I bought a couple of books which will help me wean off the current news cycle and my phone.

 

[BlueGum]

Robbo made a promise to himself yesterday. I’ll give it some context.

It must be Friday. It’s just past nine and I’m awake. It must be the excitement of the fast approaching weekend.

Yesterday the PM had a cow of a day. Ergo Australia had a cow of a day. I find the whole thing depressing.

What can I do to address it?

I despair because I read too much that I despair about. Solution? Stop reading current news. I’ll be fine. I’ll still get my weekly LOL from Annabel Crabb. I won’t forsake Laura, Michelle, Ross et al but it’s time to draw a line in the sand.

Plenty of news to watch on TV. However that’s just reading with your eyes and ears. Maybe I’ll watch ‘The Drum’ which has this quaint idea on ABC fairness and invites a lot of knob jockeys from the right of politics. When it gets too much I’ll just turn it off. This is just between me and the reader. I don’t even bother to watch when Amanda Vanstone represents the knob jockeys of the Right.

It’s going to be difficult but the phone has to become a phone again. In truth it’s the main source of my despair.

I promise to do the following.

I’m going to educate myself. I’m going to be creative. This ain’t no reformation I’m going to go the full renaissance.

So I have some rudimentary give it a go ideas to try out and, hopefully, lift my despair. Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye.

Today I bought a couple of books which will help me wean off the current news cycle and my phone.
View attachment 891517

Good choices Robbo. Been reading good things about both. Will be interested to hear what you thought of them. Enjoy the break from the 'real' world.

 

[Robbo's my hero]

Here’s a wall of books to consider. Andrew Bolt need not consider.

 

[Robbo's my hero]

I saw this in today‘s Age

After 200 years, an ancient grain is back on the menu

Writer and farmer Bruce Pascoe has harvested and baked with an indigenous grass, the first time it's been done in about 200 years.

www.goodfood.com.au

Dark Emu is compulsory reading.

I love the irony of this. Thank you Andrew Bolt you campaigner.

”...January also brought a renewed blow-up about Pascoe's First Nations heritage fuelled by serial antagonist Andrew Bolt and Aboriginal lawyer Josephine Cashman. Cashman used a fake letter questioning Pascoe's identity in her request that Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton refer a financial impropriety allegation to the Federal Police.

Autumn brought ironic victories. The culture wars flare-up led to a spike in sales of Bruce Pascoe's 2014 book Dark Emu, which uses explorer diaries to recreate a picture of First Nations farming and land management. Increased publishing royalties allowed him to employ local Yuin people. They took up tools and toiled on his land. "We rebuilt fences and a shed that was hanging together like a set of bad teeth," says Pascoe. "It's hard, dangerous work. I'll never forget the dedication and the help – and that Dark Emu is paying them."...“

 

[Robbo's my hero]

I watching The Drum and they’re talking about Portnoy’s Complaint. A rather controversial book from my youth.

Patrick Mullins has written a book concerning the uproar that this novel’s release caused in Australia about 50 years ago. His book is The Trials of Portnoy. Where will I find the time to read it?

Here’s some background

Philip Roth, Don Chipp and the novel that broke Australia's censors

Portnoy's Complaint, with its flamboyant depiction of Jewish-American culture and teenage sexual awakening, was the novel that shattered Australia's outdated censorship regime.

www.afr.com

The Minister in charge was Arthur Rylah

I remember Arthur. How could I forget him?

‘A few years before Portnoy's Complaint was published, Rylah said he would not allow his teenage daughter to read The Group, by American author Mary McCarthy. When it was pointed out that he did not have a teenage daughter, Rylah replied that he could always imagine one.’

 

[Robbo's my hero]

I finished reading Dark Emu last night and I’ve moved onto Mammoth.

Before I move on to my comments on Dark Emu I can already tell why everyone is raving about Mammoth.

For me Dark Emu is a direct challenge to our deeply held ideas of what Australia was like when we set foot on it and decided that it was unoccupied and ready for exploitation. I’m looking forward to reading many more books on the subject which will allow me to develop (or should I say hone) an accurate view of Australia which encompasses pre and post colonial Australia.

The thread running through this book argues that the colonists (represented by explorers and exploration) observed an aboriginal society that was not backward at all in agriculture, aquaculture, housing, land management, spiritual beliefs, law, culture (and the list goes on). To justify occupation we had to tear it down because you can’t argue for a dispossession unless you support it with ideas that make dispossession ok. Once we decided that, it was then ok to massacre the aborigines and burn their houses to the ground.

There are many examples that promote a thriving nation of different groups.

One example which challenged me was the condition of the land that the first settlers found in Australia. I have visions of perfectly manicured farming landscapes from the history books I studied at school. Naturally I’ve always had the idea that this was the result of a massive clearing of the land by the settlers. No folks that’s the result of thousands of years of aboriginal occupation and their not so primitive ideas of making pastures for agriculture with the judicious use of fire.

Anyway, I’d recommend this book. After Mammoth I’m off to find another book called Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta.