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1
Nov

#NovNov week 1 My year in novellas

  1. Week 1 (starts Wednesday 1 November): My Year in Novellas
  2. Hosted by   746 Books  and Bookish Beck .
  3. During this partial week, tell us about any novellas you have read since last NovNov.
  4. Well, this will be a very short post of my 2023 novellas!
  5. I only read 4…and they were all by French authors.

 

Moderato Cantabile – M. Duras (150 pg)  English paperback, Amazon

  1. Moderato Cantabile is a musical term.
  2. It means means being within reasonable limits
  3. …and Cantabile means songlike.
  4. Unfortunately for Ann Desbaresdes alcohol amplified
  5. her song and moved her actions beyond reasonable limits.
  6. Duras’s adult life was also marked by personal challenges,
  7. including a recurring struggle with alcoholism.
  8. What I did enjoy was the vivd and depressing description
  9. of a woman struggling with alcohol?
  10. Ms Duras writes what she knows….
  11. She dramatically represented the character’s
  12. by speech, actions and gestures.

 

The Kiss of the Leper – F. Mauriac (137 pg)  English Kindle, Amazon

  1. This is a great book to read if you are doing a challenge “Reading the Nobels”
  2. Mauriac won the Nobel Prize in 1952.
  3. Bad news: The book was too short
  4. …novella just 137 pages.
  5. I could have read it as a novel!
  6. Mauriac wields a scalpel to construct his sentences.
  7. This book is timeless….it feels just like a Jane Austen book.
  8. The theme is  that mutual attraction is the most important thing of a marriage.
  9. One who betrays his or her heart will never own true love.
  10. It is much more important than money and social position.

 

The Stranger – A. Camus (144 pg)   English Kindle/paperback, Amazon

  1. Bad news: I was expecting a masterpiece. Pas de tout!
    I didn’t like the style of writing (short sentences, repetative )
    I wonder why this book is part of classic French literature.
  2. Good news: The quickest “French” read in my book case!
    French was so simple.
  3. Personal: If you want to read an Albert Camus book.
  4. …it must be
  5. La Peste (1947) (The Plague, 256 pg)…that was excellent!

 

The Vice-Consul – M. Duras (169 pg)  English paperback, Amazon

  1. Good news: I finished it…by pure determination.
  2. I will  NOT be defeated by the first book of the year!
  3. Bad news: This is a very strange book…
  4. I felt like I was in a maze…no direction
  5. …no real plot…where is this going?
  6. This book is about absolutely nothing.   (Seinfeld-esque!)
  7. No, it was not a waste of my time because
  8. …I did increase my French vocabulary.
  9. Book in 5 words: Confusing. Boring. Unfocused. Rambling. Slapdash.
  10. #AvoidAtAllCosts

 

30
Oct

#NonFicNov 2023 Week 1

Meet your hosts!

  1. Liz – Adventures in reading, running and working from home
  2. Frances – Volatile Rune
  3. Heather –  Based on a True Story
  4. Rebekah –  She Seeks Nonfiction
  5. Lisa – Hopewell’s Public Library of Life

 

How it works

Week 1 (10/30-11/3) Your Year in Nonfiction: Celebrate your year of nonfiction. What books have you read? What were your favorites?  (Heather –  Based on a True Story)

Week 2 (11/6-11/10) Choosing Nonfiction: What are you looking for when you pick up a nonfiction book? Do you have a particular topic you’re attracted to?  (Frances – Volatile Rune)

Week 3 (11/13-11/17) Book Pairings: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. Maybe it’s a historical novel and the real history in a nonfiction version.  (Liz – Adventures in reading, running and working from home)

Week 4 (11/20-11/24) Worldview Shapers: What nonfiction book or books have impacted the way you see the world in a powerful way? Is there one book that made you rethink everything? Do you think there is a book that should be required reading for everyone? (Rebekah –  She Seeks Nonfiction)

Week 5 (11/27-12/1) New To My TBR:  Which books  have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book! (Lisa – Hopewell’s Public Library of Life)

 

Non-Fiction: 2023   

BEST NON FICTION 2023    The Drowned and the Saved – Primo Levi

 

(TOP FIVE)

  1. Why We Sleep  NF – M. Walker  – REVIEW
  2. A Very Easy Death – S. de Beauvoir – memoir – REVIEW
  3. A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast – Dorthe Nors – REVIEW
  4. La panthère des neiges – S. Tesson  NF (French) – REVIEW
  5. Hong Kong and  Macao – J. Kessel  – REVIEW
  6. My Fourth Time, We Drowned – Sally Hayden – REVIEW
  7. De Doorsons – Roline Redmond (Dutch book)  – REVIEW
  8. Love Songs W.E. Du Bois – Honorée  F. Jeffers – REVIEW
  9. Punch Me Up to the Gods (memoir) – Brian Broome – REVIEW
  10. Halfway Home –  R.J. Miller  – REVIEW
  11. A Knock At Midnight – Brittany K. Barnett (NF)  – REVIEW
  12. Short History of Irish Literature – F. O’ Connor – REVIEW     
  13. L’Armée du silence – G. Pollack, 2022  (NF) – REVIEW
  14. On Becoming an American Writer – J. McPherson – REVIEW
  15. Do Not Disturb  – M. Wrong, 2021  – REVIEW
  16. The Man with Miraculous Hands – Joseph Kessel – REVIEW
  17. Georges Perec – Claude Burgelin (2023) – REVIEW
  18. The Scheme – Sheldon Whitehouse – REVIEW
  19. My Own Words –  Ruth Bader Ginsburg (memoir)  – REVIEW
  20. Mike Nichols: A Life – Mark Harris – REVIEW  
  21. The Fall: The End of Fox News – Michael Wolff  (2023) – REVIEW
  22. Killing for Country – David Marr (NF) (2023) – REVIEW
  23. Australia’s China Odyssey – James Curran  (2022) – REVIEW
  24. The Passion of Private White – Don Watson (2022) – REVIEW 
  25. Bulldozed – Niki Savva  (2022)  – REVIEW
  26. Crossing the Line – N. McKenzie  (2023) – REVIEW
  27. Currowan: Story of a Fire – Bronwyn Adcock  (2021) – REVIEW
  28. Toxic – R. Flanagan – REVIEW
  29. The Palestine Laboratory – A. Loewenstein – REVIEW

 

 

 

Literature:

  1. Short History of Irish Literature – F. O’ Connor, 1968  Intro  – REVIEW     

Memoir:

  1. A Very Easy Death – S. de Beauvoir – memoir – REVIEW
  2. Punch Me Up to the Gods (memoir) – Brian Broome – REVIEW
  3. A Knock At Midnight – Brittany K. Barnett (NF)  – REVIEW
  4. My Own Words –  Ruth Bader Ginsburg (memoir)  – REVIEW
  5. Halfway Home –  R.J. Miller  – REVIEW
  6. On Becoming an American Writer – J. McPherson – REVIEW

Biography:

  1. Mike Nichols: A Life – Mark Harris – REVIEW
  2. Love Songs W.E. Du Bois – Honorée  F. Jeffers – REVIEW

History:

  1. Do Not Disturb  – M. Wrong, 2021  – REVIEW
  2. Killing for Country – David Marr (NF) (2023) – REVIEW
  3. De Doorsons – Roline Redmond (Dutch book)  – REVIEW
  4. My Fourth Time, We Drowned – Sally Hayden – REVIEW
  5. The Man with Miraculous Hands – Joseph Kessel – REVIEW

Travel/Nature/Environment

  1. A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast – Dorthe Nors – REVIEW
  2. La panthère des neiges – S. Tesson  NF (French)  – REVIEW
  3. Hong Kong and  Macao – J. Kessel  – REVIEW
  4. Currowan: Story of a Fire – Bronwyn Adcock  (2021) – REVIEW
  5. Toxic – R. Flanagan – REVIEW

Science/Health:

  1. Why We Sleep  NF – M. Walker  – REVIEW

French:

  1. L’Armée du silence – G. Pollack, 2022  (WW II) – REVIEW
  2. Georges Perec – Claude Burgelin (2023) – REVIEW

Political:

  1. Bulldozed – Niki Savva  (2022)  – REVIEW
  2. The Scheme – Sheldon Whitehouse – REVIEW
  3. The Fall: The End of Fox News – Michael Wolff  (NF) (2023) – REVIEW
  4. Australia’s China Odyssey – James Curran  (2022) – REVIEW
  5. Crossing the Line – N. McKenzie  (2023) – REVIEW
  6. The Passion of Private White – Don Watson (2022) – REVIEW 
  7. The Palestine Laboratory – A. Loewenstein – REVIEW
28
Oct

#November AusReadingMonth22

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  1. #AusReadingMonth22 is here hosted by BronasBooks
  2. It is one of  my favourite challenges!
  3. Here are my reading lists:

2022 LONGLIST:  (shortlist announcement 03 November) – winners = 17 November

CURROWAN – WINNER!!

 

2021 LONGLIST:

 

 

  1. Peter Hartcher, Red Zone: China’s Challenge and Australia’s Future – REVIEW
  2. Stuart Rintoul, Lowitja: The authorised biography of Lowitja O’Donoghue  READ….review ready POSTED
  3. Marian Wilkinson, The Carbon Club READ….review ready – not posted  in Nov…sorry Brona
  4. The Lucky Laundry –  Nathan Lynch – READ….review ready POSTED
  5. Indelible City – Louisa Lim – READ review ready  not posted  in Nov…sorry Brona
  6. Dark as Last Night (Tony Birch) (VIC)  winner Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection  2022 READ….POSTED
  7. The Carbon Club – Marian Wilkinson – (QLD) shortlist Walkley Award 2021 READ….review ready  not posted  in Nov…sorry Brona
  8. Soil – M. Evans – (TAS) longlist Tasmanian Literary Awards 2022 READ….review ready  not posted  in Nov…sorry Brona
  9. Telling Tennant’s Story: The Strange Career of the Great Australian Silence – D. Ashenden  (NT) READ….review ready not posted  in Nov…sorry Brona

 

  1. Amani Haydar, The Mother Wound 
  2. Kate Holden, The Winter Road (winner) 
  3. Zoe Holman, Where The Water Ends
  4. Louise Milligan, Witness 
  5. Claire G. Coleman, Lies, Damned Lies
  6. John Rasko and Carl Power, Flesh Made New

 

  1. The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams (SA) – NOT READING
  2. Richard Flanagan, Toxic: The Rotting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry – NOT READING
  3. Backseat Drivers – Craig Cormick – (ACT) winner  non-fiction ACT Writing and Publishing Awards 2109 – NOT READING

 

  1. Currowan – ORDERED
  2. Fighting for Hakerm (Craig Foster) (NSW) ??  2022 or 2023?

 

University of Southern QLD Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection

  1. Dark as Last Night (Tony Birch) – READ
  2. The Kindness of Birds (Merlinda Bobis)
  3. The Burnished Sun (Mirandi Riwoe)
  4. If You’re Happy (Fiona Robertson)
  5. Lake Malibu and Other Stories (Su-May Tan)

 

TIP — NT = read a book about Ayer’s Rock/Uluru

 

 

Info: Lowitja

Learned about:

  1. Oodnadatta
  2. AyersRock/Uluru
  3. Goyder’s Line

 

 

Story starts in Oodnadatta SA, NNW of Adelaide (1043 km)

The Aboriginal school is the biggest employer.

The Oodnadatta Aboriginal School, located in Kutaya Terrace, is a school operated by the Government of South Australia offering education from Reception to Year 12. In 2018, the school had a total enrolment of 14 students, of whom 86% were indigenous, and a teaching staff of three.

At the 2016 census, the population of Oodnadatta was 204 with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people making up 53.3% of the population.

I’VE BEEN READING Australian books for just 1e years…and now names (Alfred Deakin)…that I recognize start appearing in my current books! I read Judith Brett’s “The Egmatic Mr. Deakin” in 2018.

The more I read about how Australian government treated the aboriginals…..the more shocked I become.

27
Oct

#GermanLitMonth Sign-up post

  1. First time I’ve joined this challenge!
  2. Usually I was reading Australian literature
  3. …during November  for #AusReadingMonth.
  4. That challenge was moved to October
  5. ….and I have a lot of  ‘free reading time’ on my hands.
  6. French is the language of romance and passion (…reading French novellas for #NovNov).
  7. Italian is the language of music.
  8. English is the language of business and social media.
  9. …so what is the German language about?
  10. I hope to learn the answer during November!
  11. Visit the official announcement for all the details
  12. hosted by @LizzySiddal
  13. Plan: Four weeks…..4 books.

 

Feedback: @jinjer

I decided to join #GLM for the first time and celebrate all that is German! I read Dutch daily but it does not qualify for the challenge, too bad. The languages are so similar. I have a few books ready and one in German b/c it is not translated into English and the NL paperback costs 65 euro! I’ll manage with a short German book and a good online dicitonary. Read Buddenbrooks years ago…have fun with T. Mann .

Feedback: @lizzysiddal

Welcome to #germanlitmonth, Nancy! Just thinking out loud here, you could read Hans Keilson’s novels. A German who wrote in Dutch – he would qualify for rulebreakers week.

Feedback: @nl_burns

What a great reading tip! I found Keilson’s ” Dagboek 1944″.
Diary of the German-born writer, poet and doctor (1909-2011) who went into hiding in Delft in 1944 because of his Jewishness. Looking forward to reading all that is German in November!

 

 

Reading list:

  1. Der Tod des Widersachers  – Hans Keilson
  2. The Death of an Adversary 
  3. Dutch: In de Ban van de Tegenstanders
  4. 240 pg (1959)

 

05.11.2023

Just finished Hans Keilson’s book…Der Tod des Widersachers (In de Ban van de Tegenstanders, Dutch) #GermanLitMonth  German writer who like me…adopted The Netherlands as our home. His book is left me speechless.  “The Death of an Adversary” was a stunning book.
Try to find it in the lbrary…

Read it and remember what the world is going through
at the moment in the Middle East and around the world…

Many thanks

@LizzySiddal

for this reading suggestion!

 

 

  1. Herkunft – Where You Come From
  2. Saša Stanišić
  3. Winner German Book Prize 2019
  4. 353 pg (2019)

 

  1. Strafe – Punishment
  2. Ferdinand von Schirach
  3. 12 short stories
  4. 224 pg. (2018)

 

  1. Untern Birmbaum – (no english translation)
  2. Theodor Fontane
  3. Under the Pear Tree
  4. 80 pg ( 1885)  novella

 

 

  1. Hölle und Paradies: Amsterdam – (no english translation)
  2. Bettina Baltschev
  3. Hell and Paradise: Amsterdam
  4. 168 pg.  ( 2016)
  5. Well, I HAVE to read this one!

26
Oct

#AusReadingMonth23 The Palestine Laboratory

 

Conclusion:

  1. The book goes into detail about  “occupation”
  2. …the methods of control and separation of populations
  3. It is a marketing tool that Israel sells to other countries!
  4. This is a warning that depotism can be easily shareable with
  5. …compact technology.
  6. The main message in the book is to expose the
  7. …past and current Israeli defense deals 
  8. that you never read about in the news!
  9. 2020 survey across 34 countries:
  10. 44% polled were content with democracy
  11. 52% …were not.
  12. Israel is the ultimate model and goal for
  13. …countries with the ideology of maintaining
  14. groups of people with shared
  15. …religious and ethnic backround (White Supremacy)
  16. This book is a real eye-opener!

 

Last thoughts: I

  1. Israel uses Palestine (Gaza, West Bank) as a laboratory
  2. to test their methods of control of people!
  3. The best-known Israeli lawyer  who is fighting
  4. …the defense sector is Eitay Mack.
  5. He reveals information uncoverd
  6. when he submitted a  several freedom of information requests.
  7. Israel’s role in Pinochet’s brutality is still clouded in some mystery.
  8. Israel refuses to release a full accounting of its role.
  9. There are rumors that the government had moved documents
  10. from state to army archives.
  11. The Israeli army archives are not open
  12. …to freedom of information requests.
  13. It appears that Israel is a major arms supplier
  14. …to Chile’s Pinochet, South Sudan,
  15. …Syria, Rwanda, South-Africa, US-Mexico border
  16. ….the list goes on and on!
  17. This was such a difficult book to read b/c it is shocking
  18. ….especially with all that is happening in the Middle East.
  19. My opinion of Israel has changed dramatically!

 

Last thoughts: II

  1. Chapter 6 “Israeli Mass Surveillance in the Brain of Your Phone”
  2. …sent chills down my spine.
  3. It was not until Pegasus spyware (developed by Israel)
  4. was exposed in 2022 as having
  5. been used on Israeli citizens…was the Israeli public
  6. outraged about the possibility of abuse of its technology.
  7. The use of the Pegasus spyware is a serious violation of human rights and
  8. goes  much further than Watergate and George Orwell’s 1984!
  9. At the moment there is in investigation
  10. …about  the use of Pegasus by European member states
  11. to spy on journalists, political oppoents, human rights activists and lawyers.
  12. This concerns Poland, Greece, Hungary, Spain…and The Netherlands!!
  13. Read this book!
 
25
Oct

#RIPXVIII Shirley Jackson

 

  1. I must take a break from sciene fiction, Australian non-fiction
  2. and enjoy some “scary stuff” to get me into the Halloween mood!
  3. This bookcover just captured my attention.
  4. It shouts: “Read me!”
  5. Today Tracy @Bitter Tea and Mystery posted some short story reads
  6. …and I just had to join her.
  7. Shirley Jackson never disappoints in my opinion
  8. She always finds….something sinister in suburbia!
  9. As soon as I finish these stories…I’ll add the table on contents
  10. …to this post with my  impression of the ‘scary tales”.

 

Biography about Shirley Jackson by Ruth Franklin… is not to be missed!

23
Oct

#Novella To the Islands

  • Author: Randolph Stow
  • Title: To the Islands (126 pg)  1958
  • Genre: novella
  • Australian TBR List
  • #AusReadingMonth23 @ This Reading Life (Brona’s Books)
  • #NovNov  @746books (Cathy)
  • PS:  Love the cover!

 

Quickscan:

  1. Stephen Heriot, an elderly, careworn, and disillusioned Anglican missionary
  2. who abandons his mission when he mistakenly believes
  3. he has accidentally killed one of his Aboriginal charges
  4. in a not entirely unprovoked confrontation.
  5. Heriot seeks redemption….through sacrifice.

 

Good news:

  1. Randolph Stow’s book introduced me to a
  2. area of Australia that I knew very little about
  3. Kimberley, Western Australia
  4. ….just a beauttiful landscape.
  5. Randolph Stow’s strongest point is
  6. his descriptions of the land, fauna and flora.
  7. The author was able to link some elements
  8. of the landscape and Aboriginal art that
  9. eleveated his prose. 
  10. I’ve included the quotes and images that impressed me the most.

 

 

Bad news:

  1. I can emphathize with readers who find the
  2. …book boring  or completely give up and mark it DNF.
  3. The “hook” or action that should nudge the read
  4. to continue did not come in the first 3 chapters.
  5. My eyes glazed over  while reading the names of
  6. 38 aboriginal characters
  7. during the first 3 chapters
  8. List included for anyone who wants to read the book
  9. …just take the names as they come because the book does get better!

 

The Rainbow Serpent (lumiri)

“Can the lumiri take you to the sky?” (ch 4)

Good news:

  1. Randolph Stow jolts the read in chapter 4 with the 1st plot point.
  2. The chapter was absolutely riviting!!  (end of act 1 of 2 act plot)
  3. This chapter  “saved” the book for me
  4. ….now I’m going to keep reading and follow Heriot’s journey
  5. 1st plot point: =  Entering a new world …the bush of Kimberley.
  6. Heriot  enters the main conflict – fighting his own demons
  7. He can’t turn around and re-enter his normal world.
  8. He can only move forward…to the ultimate end.
  9. Heriot crosses his personal Rubicon.

“That pool, waterhole, looks like a pool to bring a man back to life.” (ch 5)

 

Personal:

  1. I must admit that I do not consider this a masterpiece.
  2. Read Patrick White’s  Voss… now that is the standard of a masterpiece.
  3. An author only improves with age and I did enjoy Stow’s writing style.
  4. I will try one of Stow’s other books: Tourmaline and hope to see an improvement.
  5. Still the character of Stephen Heriot lingers in my mind.
  6. The reknowned professor, and writer of biology and
  7. neurology at Stanford University Robert Sapolsky says:
  8. “We are machines...”
  9. …exceptional in our ability to perceive our own experiences and
  10. feel emotions about them.
  11. It is pointless to hate a machine for its failures.

 

Baobab trees grow in many parts of the Kimberley

Notes:

1. Explain the title   To the Islands:

  1. The Anglican missionary Heriot has a death wish.
  2. In Australia’s northwest  desert the old man
  3. searches for “the islands” of the Aboriginal dead.
  4. “I’m going to a place no one comes home from.” (ch 4)

2. What is the predominant element in the story?

  1. Missionary’s goal is to save souls of other men
  2. …but Heriot struggles to save his own.

3. Who is the single main character about? 

  1. Stephen Heriot, missionary  –
  2. Rocky dignity, crumbling cliff, a foundation
  3. Headstrong, self-righteous, authoritarian,
  4. unwilling to acknowledge his own flaws:
  5. “…a man who goes round spreading civilization with a stock-whip…” (ch 1)

 

4. How does the author handle characterization?

  1. The best description of Heriot was not by Randolph Stow.
  2. I found the words in the introduction by Bernadette Brennen so vivd:
  3. “The momumental, ‘rocklike’ Heriot is physcally and spiritually a
  4. …crumbling cliff.”

5. What were the sentences that impressed you the most?  

  1. “…We drive people to it,’ he said. ‘
  2. The white men at the massacre thought they were protecting property,
  3. and Mr Heriot thought he was protecting the mission.
  4. Things we asked them to protect.
  5. We can pay reparations to people we hurt in our wars,
  6. but we don’t ever quite pay back the people we force to hurt them.” (ch 4)

Does Heriot act out of free will….or not?

Or is he just a machine?

Pandanus Palm

 

Members of the Mission:

  1. Mabel
  2. Djimbulangari
  3. Arthur
  4. Garang
  5. Djediben (middle-age, Rex’s mother)
  6. Rex
  7. Ruth
  8. Michael
  9. Justin
  10. Edgar
  11. Richard
  12. Dambena
  13. Nambal
  14. Stephen
  15. Harrie
  16. Maudie
  17. Midjel
  18. Wunda
  19. Ganmeri
  20. Grimadada
  21. Esther Margaret
  22. Ella
  23. Wandalo
  24. Galumba
  25. Galjumbu
  26. Michael
  27. Dambena
  28. Nambal
  29. Gregory
  30. Nalun
  31. Jenny
  32. Edward
  33. Normie
  34. Matthew
  35. Mummy Dido (ch 4)
  36. Nalida (ch 7)
  37. Alunggu (ch 7)
  38. Paul (ch 7)

Water lillies of Marglu Billabong East Kimberley

 

 

Book is partially based on Ernest Richard Bulmer Gribble (1868 – 1957) was an Australian missionary. Though considered to be temperamentally unsuited to his vocation, he became a strong advocate for better treatment of Australian Aboriginal people.

20
Oct

SciFiMonth 01-30 November

ART COPYRIGHT: Yosua Bungaran Cahya Putra

 

The challenge is hosted by

 

  1. Thanks to the heads up by Emma @ WordsandPeace
  2. and Brona @ This Reading Life
  3. I’ve decided to read some SciFi (not my genre) in November.
  4. What have I got to lose? 

 

  1. Science-fiction  is like Jazz…
  2. with a devoted but limited audience of followers.
  3. But why does a science-fiction movie become a blockbuster hit like StarWars
  4. …while a science-fiction book occasionally
  5. …breaks  into the best seller lists!
  6. Time to do some research…with my morning coffee
  7. ….and find some great books to read in November!

 

 

Dragonflight – Ann McCaffery (2005)  320 pg

  1. NOT fantasy dragons..
  2. This is sci fi with good plausible science behind everything.
  3. No magic, real dragons, masterful world building
  4. with McCaffrey’s love of music built throughout.
  5. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006.

  1. Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011)
  2. was an Irish writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series.
  3. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction.

 

 

 

Exhalation – Ted Chiang (2019)  368 pg

  1. Ted Chiang is a master of combining relevant
  2. technological and philosophical events and ideas
  3. …with wonderfully realistic fiction

 

 

  1. Ted Chiang (born 1967) is an American science fiction writer.
  2. His work has won four Nebula awards, four Hugo awards,
  3. the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and six Locus awards.
19
Oct

#AusReadingMonth23 Toxic

  • Author: Richard Flanagan
  • Title: Toxic (141 pg)  2021
  • Genre: Non-fiction
  • Australian TBR List
  • #AusReadingMonth23 @ This Reading Life(Brona’s Books)
  • Intro: Exposé of the salmon farming industry in Tasmania.
  • Their purpose is to fatten fish as fast as possible in an alien environment
  • in which these fish cannot otherwise survive.
  • They serve to make profits.

     

    Notes:
  1. My favorite quote will help me get through this book.
  2. If there was one book I wanted to avoid this is the one.
  3. Now, as I start my 67 book Australian journey by pulling a number out of a hat
  4. …would you believe it?   Toxic.
  5. So, as Mr Conrad says: Face it!
  6. Some good news: the book is only 141 pages so I hope to finish today or tomorrow.
  7. Any sections of the book that make me uncomfortable.
  8. …I will skim them.

Conclusion:

  1. This book was easier to read than I expected.
  2. I had to skim chapter 4.
  3. There is a salmon fishing MAFIA in Tasmania!
  4. There are claims against Tassel Salmon Corporation of
  5. bullying, intimidation and threats!
  6. People live in fear….for a fish!
  7. Biggest problem? Lax of regulation .

   

  1. Unlike Norway…Tasmania’s biggest problem is the lax of regulation for salmon farms.
  2. No matter the science, no matter the history, no matter the consequences, the governance
  3. the industry is run in knowing bad faith by a Tasmanian government
  4. in curious servitude to the greed of the salmon corporations. (pg 35)

   

  1. More than 20 salmon farmers in south west Norway were  
  2. following the latest update to the country’s controversial traffic light system.
  3. The industry must take action to ensure that impact is not only
  4. reduced by downsizing, but also through operational improvements.
  5. Growth is restricted to 6% and can only take place in designted
  6. …environmentally sound “green” areas.

 

What is the future of salmon farming?

  1. A digital concept of the proposed “state-of-the-art”
  2. …land-based recirculating aquaculture system.
  3. Let us hope that   “The ocean onshore’ is built so we can
  4. farm salmon on land, providing nutritious, sustainable local salmon.
  5. Then I’ll eat salmon again!

 

 

  Personal:

  1. I stopped eating salmon until  ‘the ocean onshore’ has been created.
  2. This book was an eye-opener.
  3. Farmed salmon is one of the most toxic foods in the world today.
  4. Farmed salmon nowadays falls under  junk food.
17
Oct

#NovNov23 French and Australian novellas

  1. Ready to join #NovNov23 hosted by
  2. @BookishBeck
  3. @Cathy746Books

 

  1. I have a wonderful list of
  2. ...novellas to help me get back into reading French again!
  3. Novellas…not too short…not too long, just right!
  4. Thanks to ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
  5. I have a  list of …novellas by Australian writers.

List French:

  1. I’ve chosen novellas from the current list of finalists for French
  2. Reading Awards “Rentrée littéraire 2023”.
  3. Translation will follow in the coming months  perhaps.
  4. Here is a list of  “short” French books to polish your
  5. high-school French reading skills!

 

  1. Régis Franc, Je vais bien (160 pg)  – READING –  Prix Interallié finalist
  2. Elisa Shua Dusapin –  Le Vieil Incendie (139 pg) – Prix Medicis finalist
  3. Franck Courtès – À pied d’œuvre de  (183 pg) –  Prix Femina finalist
  4. Nathacha Appanah, La Mémoire délavée (160 pg) – Prix Femina finalist
  5. Neige Sinno – Triste Tigre – (83 pg) – Prix Femina finalist

 

List Australian:

  1. Murmurations –  Carol Lefevre – NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2022 shortlist
  2. The Hermitage – Debbie Robson
  3. Every Day is Gertie Day – Helen Meany – 2021 Viva la Novella prize
  4. A Jealous Tide – Anna MacDonald
  5. Black Rabbit – Angus Gaunt
  6. The Poet: A Novella – Alex Skovron Winner 2023 P. White Award

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