The Daughters of Mars by Tom Keneally

I don't normally write a review about a book before I finish it, but today is ANZAC Day - the perfect day to write a review about Tom Keneally's new book 'The Daughters of Mars'.

This is the story of two sisters (Naomi & Sally Durance) from Kempsey, NSW. At the start of World War One they proudly sign up as nurses, believing, like everyone else, that it would all be over in 6 months.

We see the girls sail off to Egypt with the first Australian battalions full of excitement, national fervour and determination to do good.

Anyone who has seen the 1981 movie 'Gallipoli' will be familiar with the larrikan, carefree nature of those first (unblooded) troops at play in Cairo. Sally & Naomi are treated to lunches and trips out to see the Sphinx and Pyramids as they make the local hospital battle-ready.

Then all hell breaks loose.

The men are sent to Gallipoli, giving birth to the ANZAC tradition even as they're slaughtered like lambs on the cliffs and beaches of what is now known as ANZAC Cove.

Sally & Naomi are on the first medical ship that goes across to pick up the first group of wounded soldiers.

Keneally's descriptions of this time of chaos are intermingled, in my mind, with images from various movies over the years depicting this very same scene over and over again. We know how bloody it is, how primitive the conditions, the inexperience of the medical staff and just how unprepared everyone was for the level of carnage.
Every new telling of this story simply adds another layer of understanding and makes me very thankful that I have never had to live through anything so utterly awful.

I'm only half way through this book, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Keneally has written a powerful story. The sisters are not easy to get to know - they're reserved, cautious and consider themselves to be cold. I'm hoping to get to know them better...I hope they both survive.

Published in June by Random House.


"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."
For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon (1869–1943)

Lest we Forget

P.S. Go the Bombers!

Rudie Nudie by Emma Quay

"A delightful celebration of those nudie moments between bath and bed time from award-winning author and illustrator Emma Quay. "

This is not my favourite nominee for this years CBCA.
I found the rhyme to be clunky in places as it tries too hard to be light-hearted and fun-filled.

The illustrations, though, are delightful and whimsical.
They remind me of my nephew - when he was little he loved to run around the house naked after his bath too - enjoying the freedom and the textures of household furnishings!

P.S. I recently read this to a group of 2-3 year olds - they giggled with joy all the way through the reading. Rudie Nudie is actually open to adding your own sound effects and facial expressions to give the text a lift.
 

Children's Book Council Shortlist 2012

Well, here we again folks...nomination time.

The Pulitzer came and went with no winner for fiction. The Costa Book Award was won by Andrew Miller for his book 'Pure'. The Indie Book Award went to Anna Funder for 'All That I Am'.
The shortlist is out there for the Orange Prize for Fiction, and the Miles Franklin long list is waiting to be whittled down. And in Australia, we have the Prime Minister's Literary Awards plus various State Premier's Literary awards waiting for their big moment too.

Naturally there is also a site that will keep you informed on all these awards and many more called Literary Awards.

But today we focus on the Australian Children's Book Council Awards.

Nominees for the Older Readers Shortlist are:

Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel by Michael Gerard Bauer
A Straight Line to my Heart by Bill Condon
The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky
The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner
Ship Kings: The Coming of the Whirlpool by Andrew McGahan
When We Were Two by Robert Newton

Younger Readers Shortlist:

Crow Country by Kate Constable
Brotherband: The Outcasts by John Flanagan
Nanberry: Black Brother White by Jackie French
The Truth About Verity Sparks by Susan Green
Bungawitta by Emily Rodda
The Golden Door by Emily Rodda

Early Childhood Shortlist:

The Runaway Hug by Nick Bland
Come Down, Cat! by Sonya Hartnett
That's Not A Daffodil by Elizabeth Honey
The Last Viking by Norman Jorgensen
No Bears by Meg McKinlay  (R)
Rudie Nudie by Emma Quay

Picture Book Shortlist:

Look, A Book ill. by Freya Blackwood
The Dream of the Thylacine ill. by Ron Brooks
For All Creatures ill. by Rebecca Cool
A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham  (R)
No Bears ill. by Leila Rudge  (R)
Flood ill. by Bruce Whatley  (R)

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books Shortlist:

The Little Refugee by Anh & Suzanne Do  (R)
One Small Island by Alison Lester & Coral Tulloch
Surrealism for Kids by Queensland Art Gallery
Bilby Secrets by Edel Wignell  (R)
Frommelles by Carole Wilkinson
Playground by Nadia Wheatley

Each year I try to read as many of these nominees as possible. Happily I've already read and reviewed 6 of the nominees - only 24 to go!!

Watch this space.

(R) read but not reviewed

A Common Loss by Kirsten Tranter

My good friend Girl Booker has already written the perfect review for this book.

So much so, the whole time I was reading 'A Common Loss', I craved a cup of buddha's tear tea! Making a cup of buddha's tear tea quickly became a ritual every time I picked up the book.

All I can add really is my own sense of unease and disquiet.
These feelings built up in me with each reading session.

I didn't really like any of the characters, but their story was compelling. I couldn't help but think that these were the grown-up players from Donna Tartt's 'A Secret History' come back to haunt. Characters full of moral ambiguity, youthful arrogance and misplaced loyalties.

I would like to go back and read Tranter's debut novel 'The Legacy' now.

 

Eggplant Love

I have loved eggplants for a while now.

I first grew a Solanum melongena about 10 years ago and discovered true bliss.
Eggplants are the most perfect and satisfying vegetable to grow.
From the graceful arching branches and leaves, to the delicate lilac blossoms that suddenly sprout a dark purple nugget that grows, bulbous, glistening, pendulous.

Eggplants early March

Last night I picked our first eggplant for the season.

The plant has been growing near our back door since October and I had dispaired of success. So many blossoms and so much rain to wash them away again.

But finally, last month, a nugget appeared under two of the blossoms.

I have been daily delighted by their grace and beauty. I secretly caress their shiny, smooth skins. I dream of moussaka and baba ganoush. Eggplants are the poetry of the vegetable world.

Below are two examples of Aubergine Amour...enjoy.

EGGPLANT LOVE

You glossy beauty
of ample
girth

A most desirable
speciman on this
earth.

The eggplant,
The
aubergine

The stud lover
of my
cuisine.

Deep purple
velvet, lustrous
skin

Glistening, I desire
the shape you’re
in!!

You’re edible and gorgeous
all eight inches
long

Eggplant early April

From my window I watch
can this be so
wrong?

you enter my mouth
and my lips they
approve

Voluptuous curves
with all the right
moves.

The salt on your skin
makes you profusely
sweat

Don’t worry my lover
I’m now dripping
wet…..

Linda O'Connell 2008


The Eggplant Epithalamion

“Mostly you eat eggplant at least once a day,” she explained. “A Turk won’t marry a woman unless she can cook eggplant at least a hundred ways.”

-Archaeologist Iris Love, speaking of the cuisine on digs in Turkey. The New York Times, February 4, 1971

1

There are more than a hundred Turkish poems

about eggplant.

I would like to give you all of them.

If you scoop out every seed,

you can read me backward

like an Arabic book.

Look.

2

(Lament in Aubergine)

Oh aubergine,

egg-shaped

& as shiny as if freshly laid-

You are a melancholy fruit.

Solanum Melongena.

Every animal is sad

after eggplant.

Eggplant last night ready for Moussaka

3

(Byzantine Eggplant Fable)

Once upon a time on the coast of Turkey

there live a woman who could cook eggplant 99 ways.

She could slice eggplant thin as paper.

She could write poems on it & batter-fry it.

She could bake eggplant & broil it.

She could even roll the seeds in banana-

flavored cigarette papers

& get her husband high on eggplant.

But he was not pleased.

He went to her father & demanded his bride-price back.

He said he’d been cheated.

He wanted back two goats, twelve chickens

& a camel as reparation.

His wife wept & wept.

Her father raved.

The next day she gave birth to an eggplant.

It was premature & green

& she had to sit on it for days

before it hatched.

“This is my hundredth eggplant recipe,” she screamed.

“I hope you’re satisfied!”

(Thank Allah that the eggplant was a boy.)

4

(Love & the Eggplant)

On the warm coast of Turkey, Miss Love

eats eggplant

“at least once a day.”

How fitting that love should eat eggplant,

That most aphrodisiac fruit.

Fruit of the womb

Of Asia Minor,

reminiscent of eggs,

of Istanbul’s deep purple nights

& the Byzantine eyes of Christ.

I remember the borders of egg & dart

fencing us off from the flowers & fruit

of antiquity.

I remember the egg & the tongue

probing the lost scrolls of love.

I remember the ancient faces

of Aphrodite

hidden by dust

in the labyrinth under

the British Museum

to be finally found by Miss Love

right there

near Great Russell Square.

I think of the hundreds of poems of the eggplant

& my friends who have fallen in love

over an eggplant,

who have opened the eggplant together,

who have swum in its seeds,

who have clung in the egg of the eggplant

& have rocked to sleep

in love’s dark purple boat.

Erica Jong

The Walking Dead

Warning: this is not a book review!

My husband and I have become hooked on a new TV series from the US.

It is not for the faint-hearted.
It is bloody, gory and freakin' scary!

During season one I hid behind the pillows several times an episode.

Season two has had lots of OMG-I-didn't-see-that-coming moments and a lot more character development as it settles into a longer-running series format.

The costume and artistry involved in making the walking dead creatures is outstanding. They are genuinely creepy, believable and capable of haunting your next nightmare.

And as for Andrew Lincoln! Mmmmmmmmmmmm

I loved Egg in 'This Life' and he made me laugh in 'Teachers'. He played the perfect lovesick-for-my-bestfriends-girl in 'Love Actually' and now he plays the sharp-shooting, moral highground, family man in 'The Walking Dead' with a convincing American accent.

If you have missed all the zombie action so far, you could catch up by downloading the episodes online. There are facebook pages and oodles of other links to follow along...if you dare!

C is for Covers - Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover

This is my Alphabet Blog Hop.

Please feel free to read, join in or pass along to friends.

Recently, my husband and I saw the movie 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'. It was charming and delightful and a joy from start to finish.

But it got me thinking about covers and book titles and how much they influence our decision to buy and/or read a book.

When I started searching for covers on google, I found this movie poster on the right. I fell in love with the vivid colours and the symmetry in the design.

My first thought was "I wish this was the cover on the book".

But the cover looks like this.....

All these actors did a wonderful job to bring this movie alive, but I don't want them on the cover of my book!

And, of course, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is not even the name of the book!

It was first published with the title "These Foolish Things" and had an even less appealing cover than the movie tie-in cover.

I also think the original title fails to capture the imagination or adequately describe the story.

The title The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel also fails to tell you anything about the story, but it's a better fit, especially after you've seen the movie.

I came away from the movie curious to read the book which is what got me started on this topic.

My local Independent bookshop had the movie tie-in cover book on its shelves....and in the end I just couldn't buy it.

But if the book had had the lovely purple and marigold movie poster as its cover I honestly believe I would have walked out of that shop with a new book in my hand (actually I did walk out of the bookshop with a new book in my hand, it just wasn't The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel!!)

I also found this movie poster...

Even this picture as a cover would have been enough to tip me over the edge to purchase the book.

Maybe I'm just a movie tie-in cover snob?

Perhaps I think that photographs of people on covers only belong on biographies?

All I know is that the cover of a book, in this instance, had a huge impact on my decision to buy (or not) a book.

We may not necessarily judge a book by its cover, but we do use it is as one of the decision making options when shopping for something to read.

B is for Bookmarks

This is #2 in my Alphabet blog hop.
Feel free to join in or pass this on to friends.
Just add a link to your blog post in the comments section below.

I have been collecting bookmarks since I was little.

In fact I still have (& use) a bookmark I bought in 1984 from Coffs Harbour (the one with the koala on it - it also has my 16 year old signature on the back!)

I collect bookmarks that are personal. I collect bookmarks from places that I visit and from exhibitions I've been to.

Friends give me bookmarks from their travels too and I also enjoy making bookmarks.

Other bookmarks just have sentimental value.

I love finding old bookmarks in favourite books - they not only mark the spot, but they mark a place in time in my heart.

(One of my favourite blogs is Forgotten Bookmarks - it makes me want to tuck away photos, postcards, newspaper articles and tickets into all of my books for some future reader to discover and wonder over.)

The Smallest Bilby and the Easter Tale by Nette Hilton & Bruce Whatley

This is the third Easter Bilby book put out by this duo (The Smallest Bilby and the Midnight Star and the Smallest Bilby and the Easter Games being the other two books).

I find it curious how in the past 10 years or so, Australians have gradually changed the tradition of receiving chocolate eggs from the Easter Bunny to the Easter Bilby. (I use the word tradition loosely as obviously the tradition of giving chocolate at Easter is a modern invention in the first place.)

In fact, the Bilby has become a little like Santa's helpers; an idea that Hilton reinforces at the beginning of this story.
We see "the big rabbits" giving advice to Billy Bilby and his friends as they head out on their Australian run for the first time. They need to be very quiet and not miss anybody.

Naturally there is a mishap along the way. And Billy Bilby has to come up with a bright idea to save Easter for all the Australian bush animals.

This is a sweet story (no pun intended!) packed with loads of wonderful Whatley pictures of the Australian bush and Australian animals. The perfect Easter gift for family & friends overseas.

Happy Easter and Happy Reading.

A - Z Blog Hop: A is for Australia

The rules for this meme are fairly open.

I supply the theme - in this case 'A is for Australia' and you write a post that falls into this somehow.

Simply add the URL from your post into the comments below, read, comment and follow other A - Z'ers and check back in regularly for the next letter.

Before writing this post I spent some time browsing through my bookshelves searching out Australian books and authors.

As I ran my hands along the spines and moved up and down the shelves I began to realise how many Australian books and Australian authors had had a huge impact on my life at different times.

Blinky Bill by Dorothy Wall was one of the first 'special' books I remember getting as a child. It was a beautiful red hardcover edition with crisp, white pages. I loved the illustrations although the story itself left me cold. I was very proud of this book and I loved its presence on my little bookshelf. This was when my love of collecting and cataloguing favourite books began.

Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner was discovered in my primary school years. I saw the wonderful ABC TV series and fell in love with Judy and her family. This was the first time a book made me cry; I knew what was going to happen to Judy, so I was prepared. But I wasn't prepared for the final poignant chapter where Turner describes the impact Judy's death had on the rest of her family!

In 6th Class, our school librarian read my class Climb A Lonely Hill by Lilith Norman. It was not a book I would have picked for myself to read. It had an unattractive cover and was about a car accident in the bush. None of this sounded appealing to me. 
I was scared stiff all the way through this book.
It tapped into several of my fears - being lost, pain, wild animals. But it also introduced me to the genre of 'end of the world as we know it' novels where survival of the fittest ruled.
I still love a good end of the world story!

In highschool, two very different Australian books were on my regular re-read roster.
Pastures of the Blue Crane by H F Brinsmead was a chance discovery in the local library. I picked it up because I liked the cover and it seemed likely to contain some romance! But I was blown away to discover that the body of the book was set around Murwillumbah. My grandmother lived in Murwillumbah and my family spent many summer holidays in the area. This was the first time I had ever read a novel about somewhere that I knew intimately. I could picture Rhyll's house, I knew the streets and beaches she walked, I could smell the trees and flowers in bloom and the smoke from the burning canefields, I felt the humidity and heat. I loved the connection and sense of belonging I felt with Rhyll and the place.
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay is forever enmeshed with the movie. Whenever I read the book, images from the movie invade my senses and give the book extra impact.  I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the book without the movie. My imagination could not have conceived the eerie, spooky, sensual nature of Hanging Rock on its own. I needed Peter Weir for that. The mystery, secrecy and supernatural possibilities of the missing girls still gives me goosebumps.

When I started teaching, Mem Fox was all the buzz. Possum Magic had been published in 1983 to great acclaim and her storytelling abilities were already legendary. One of my lecturers showed us a video of Mem retelling the fairytale of The Little Match Girl.
There was not a dry eye in the room as Mem drew the story quietly to a close. I was so moved by her passion, her love of language and the sheer joy she took in sharing a beautiful story that I vowed to always tell stories to children with as much passion and joy.
25 years later I am still reading aloud to groups of children; always searching for those special books that will live forever in our hearts and souls.

A few years later I read Tim Winton's Cloudstreet. I loved his sense of place and belonging. Although I had never been to WA, Winton made me feel like I had. Reading this novel made me feel that Australian literature had finally grown up.

From this time on I actively sought out Aussie authors, enjoying the belonging and connection I felt with them. I devoured Peter Goldsworthy, Robert Dessaix, David Malouf, Robert Drewe, Colleen McCullough, Sally Morgan, Frank Moorhouse, Thomas Keneally, Georgia Blain and Geraldine Brooks just to name a few.

In my 30's I joined a community choir for the first time. It was a huge step outside my comfort zone and immensely rewarding and satisfying. Amanda Lohrey had written a short piece for a book called Secrets titled 'The clear voice suddenly singing'. It was the tale of a woman singing in a choir that spoke to and answered all my deep seated fears, hopes and desires. This was one of those lovely moments when exactly the right story turned up at exactly the right moment in my life.

Another such moment occurred when I first moved to Sydney and I attended an author event and met Lucinda Holdforth. Her enviable story, True Pleasures, combined her time in Paris with her love of French authors. Lucinda started me off on a huge Francophile binge reading fest that still lingers 4 years later!

I love how Australian literature can give us a sense of knowing; of being a part of the 'in crowd'. I love how it can help us to make sense of our lives, our history, our culture. And I love that our authors are no longer restricted to writing about Australia and our Australian experience. We now have authors writing about every time in history, on every continent, in any city, with many different voices.

It's an exciting time to be reading Australian books.

A - Z Blog Hop - Let's Start at the Very Beginning

Welcome to my new Alphabet Meme 2012.

This meme is not connected to a day of the week; just a letter of the alphabet and books.

I have pre-determined the theme for each letter to help with the planting and planning of thoughts.

I will post each letter in sequence and leave the linky things open until the end of 2012, so anyone can join in at any stage.

Join in, post the URL link for your specific blog post, leave a comment, follow/subscribe and make new friends.

As I write each post, I will add the blog link to the list below.

A - Australia
B - Bookmarks
C - Covers
D - Dragonflies
E - EReaders
F - Fantasy
G - Girl Power
H - Holocaust
I - India
J - Journeys
K - Kings and Queens
L - Lemons
M - Movies
N - Notes in the Margins
O - OMG!
P - Pop Up Books
Q - Quotes
R - Recipes
S - Series
T - Time Travel
U - Unabridged
V - Vintage
W - War
X - X Rated
Y - Young Adult
Z - Zombies

To Hope and Back by Kathy Kacer

This is the true story of the St. Louis, the last boat to leave Germany in 1939 with nearly 1000 Jewish refugees on board.

The journey is told through the eyes of 2 young children from different families, Sol and Lisa.

I have read quite a lot of Holocaust literature over the years, but this was a story I had never heard about before.
A boat full of refugees all with visas for Cuba, bought at great expense. A number of the families also had numbered visa permits for the US. The plan was to wait in Cuba until their number came up before emmigrating to the States.

As soon as the ship set sail the Nazis began a media campaign to convince the Cubans that the boat was full of dirty, poor, undesirable Jews who would take their jobs and use up their resources. The campaign was so successful (with street protests and letters of outrage to the President) that by the time the St. Louis arrived in Havana, the President had issued a decree renouncing all the visas of the Jewish refugees.

Various Jewish organisiations worked desperately to resolve the situation, but one by one, country after country in the area (including the US and Canada) refused entry to the St. Louis. The Captain of the ship had no choice but to turn around and head back towards Germany.

The story is told quite simply without pathos or drama.  Kacer uses photographs and documents throughout the book.

It is suitable for young readers 10+ and due for Australian release in May through Allen and Unwin.

If you would like to know more click here.