Wednesday 26 December 2012

Into That Forest by Louis Nowra

Any reservations I had about Into That Forest were completely reversed by the time I ventured in a mere handful of pages.

Such beautiful, elegant writing! 

Nowra has written a mesmerising, emotional and powerful story that I feel sure will feature in next year's various book awards.  

The voice of the main character, Hannah, that I thought would be too annoying to read too much of, is elegant and eloquent in its simplicity.

Not only do you get used to her basic language and grammar, you also marvel at how such simple language can convey so much.

Hannah's story is one of loss, identity, nature and nurture. This is a modern day take on the feral child mythology that includes Romulus and Remus and a host of other 'lost children' raised by wild animals stories.

Nowra uses the Tasmanian Tiger and the wilds of Tasmania as a backdrop for his story. So many myths, legends and secrets surround this part of the world at the best of times that it is easy for an author to convince us that wild, marvelous and strange things could happen there.

Into The Forest will no doubt be labelled as a 'green' story as Nowra celebrates the wildness and the beauty of living at one with nature.

This has moved into my top young adult reads for 2012! It is also a story that could be loved by younger teen readers and adults alike.

Happy Reading.


Sunday 23 December 2012

The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster

I do like Paul Auster's stories.

There is something about the solitude and the unquiet inner life of his characters that I connect to.

Even when his characters lead lives far removed from anything I could ever imagine, I still understand them. I get their motivations, their anxieties and their black view of the world.

I choose not to live in that world, even though the space between the two choices seems very narrow sometimes.

I like Paul Auster because of the affinity I feel towards him and his characters. But I also like Paul Auster for showing me why I choose the other path to live my life on.

So imagine my surprise when I read The Brooklyn Follies right through to discover that Paul Auster had written a book about happiness! With a main character that embraced the joy and the pain of intimate, complex, loving relationships!

Many online reviews suggested that this book was a sell-out on Auster's behalf. He wrote it after September 11...at his editors bequest...for money. (As if an author actually making money from his creative endeavours was somehow against the rules, unethical or a cop-out!)

No writer is free of boundaries, expectations or influences. Each book is a snapshot in the time of a writer's life. A reflection on who they are, where they are and the experiences they've had along the way.

The Brooklyn Follies was the happiness injection many people needed after September 11 - it was also the book that Auster felt that he needed to write at that time too.

And I for one thank him :-)

P.S. When I use the word 'happiness' in relation to Paul Auster, I do use it loosely. Nothing is ever easy for any of his characters...and well, you'll just have to read all the way to the end to find the little twist that takes the shine off Nathan's new-found happiness.

Saturday 22 December 2012

Ruby Red Shoes by Kate Knapp

You'll either love Ruby Red Shoes or you wont.

Some of you will read Ruby with a lump in your throat, a tear in your eye and an "oh how sweet" on your lips.

The rest of you will go "oh too saccharine sweet for me"!

Either way though you will have to agree that Kate Knapp's heart is in the right place.

Ruby is an aware hare who lives with her grandmother. She is environmentally friendly, sensitive and gentle. Ruby loves strawberry jam and peppermint tea.

Ruby's grandmother is thoughtful and nurturing.

Sweet? Definitely.
But now that the end of the world has been and gone perhaps focusing on sweetness and light and all things nice is a better, more satisfying way to spend our time!


Kate is fairly well known in Australia for her affirmation card range. Her illustrations & quotes are delightful, quaint and sentimental.

My favourites include:

"Words have wings so speak good things."

"The time to be happy is now.
The place to be happy is here.
The way to be happy is to make others so."

Ruby Red Shoes has been one of our runaway Christmas best sellers at work.
It's a big hit with Grandmothers and 6 year old girls alike - the perfect book for sharing and caring together.

I've included this post on Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday 'K' post. 



Tuesday 18 December 2012

Happy As Larry by Scot Gardner

Happy As Larry was my choice of Friday Book Beginnings & 56.

Since then, I have barely put the book down (except to go to Christmas related functions and to complete basic household chores!)

Gardner's writing is mesmerising, the story engaging, the characters flawed but loveable.

Laurence Augustine Rainbow's life story is woven around the major world events of the past 20 years. We meet his family, neighbours and friends.

There's the neighbourhood bully, pets, school, church and several near-death experiences. Despite the happy title, there is a menacing tone that lingers throughout Larry's story.

There are moments of gut-wrenching heartbreak and moments that explode with the sheer joy of being alive.
The entire time, I was on tenterhooks, waiting for the disaster. But Gardner doesn't make it that obvious. The disaster's happen but the disintegration that happens is a gradual process that creeps up on you (as well as on the characters).

I cannot recommend this young adult novel to you highly enough. It's gritty, intelligent and funny. If you like Craig Silvey and John Green then give Happy As Larry and The Dead I Know a chance - you wont be disappointed.


Monday 17 December 2012

One Hundred Great Books in Haiku by David Bader

No time to read the classics?
Overwhelmed by all those pages?
Ye olde style language too much?

Then take a peek at Bader's haiku...100 classics converted into haiku.
A cheat-sheet with rhythm!



Pride and Prejudice

Single white lass seeks
landed gent for marriage, whist.
No parsons, thank you.

 
 
Bleak House
 
Fog, gloom, men in wigs -
the Chancery Court blights all.
See where law school leads?
 
 
 
Little Women
Snowdrops hang like tears.
Shy, sweet, saintly Beth has died.
One down, three to go.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wuthering Heights
 
Wild. Strange. A bit damp.
Heathcliff waits for Cathy's ghost.
Women. Always late.
 
 
 
 
 
Lady Chatterley's Lover
 
On the grounds, fresh game.
On the new gamekeeper, fresh
Lady Chatterley.          
 
 
 
 
Jane Eyre
 
O woe! His mad wife -
in the attic! Had they but
lived together first.
 
 
Kama Sutra
 
Advice for those in
a diffcult position.
First, be flexible.
 




 
 
Walden Or Life in the Woods
 
Morning: Pond-gazing.
Afternoon: Berry-picking.
What a hectic day.
 
 

 
 
 
Have you got any classic haiku's of your own?
 
 

Here's my response to the Classic Club December Meme...
 
A Christmas Carol
 
What a sad Christmas!
A Scrooge shaken up by ghosts.
Past. Future. Present.


Friday 14 December 2012

Book Beginnings Friday and The Friday 56

Book Beginning:

"A life, like a film, has a beginning, a middle and an end. There may be a cast of thousands, millions even, and the action may skip over several continents and be darkened by war or famine or the ceaseless struggle for power."

Page 56:

"Children stopped and stared. Parents leaped from their towels to join the search. Before the panic had sunk its teeth in, Mal heard a muffled squeal and found him."

This week for Book Beginnings on Fridays and The Friday 56 I've selected Scot Gardner's 2010 teen novel 'Happy As Larry'.

I read 'The Dead I Know' last year and was very impressed by the writing. Since then I've been meaning to read another book by Scot Gardner... this one looks promising.

Saturday 8 December 2012

The End of Your Life Bookclub by Will Schwalbe

The premise of The End of Your Life Bookclub sounds like it could be quite depressing.

A man discussing books with his dying mum suggests that the end is not going to be a happy one and that there could be lots of talk about illness and cancer.

However, the first chapter is 'Crossing to Safety' ...a book I had just finished reading and loved.
It seemed too serendipitous - I kept on reading and prepared myself for sadness.

Will's mother, Mary Anne, was an extraordinary woman. Motivated, dedicated, hard-working, generous, thoughtful, spiritual, honorable, determined and above all positive and loving to the very end of her life.

This is a book dedicated to extolling her virtues and keeping her memory alive.

Each chapter focuses on one book. Will shares their views and thoughts about it, the author and other related reads. Will highlights the joys of reading as well as the solace that reading can bring to all of us at different times in our lives.

Woven into each chapter is Mary Anne's battle with pancreatic cancer. As the pages thin out, the inevitable end becomes impossible to ignore. As with every thing else about Mary Anne's life, Will describes these final days with dignity and grace.

More than anything though this is a story about love. The love and respect that a son has for his mother. And grief, as Will, after the death of his mother comes to term with his loss, by writing about her.

Will not only has this book as a memorial to his mother, he also has all the books and poems and authors he shared with his mother while she was alive. Every time he re-reads one of these books or reads a new book by a favourite author, his mother's voice will be present for him.

Our loved ones will always live with us in our hearts thanks to the memories we create with them every day we're together. Will and Mary Anne understood this and embraced it.

The End of Your Life Bookclub is an inspiring, tender read that will leave you with a desire to spend more quality time with your loved ones.

You will also find yourself poring over the appendix and adding new titles and authors to your TBR pile!


Friday 7 December 2012

Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

Book Beginning:

"Me name be Hannah O'Brien and I be seventy-six years old. Me first thing is an apology - me language is bad cos I lost it and had to learn again. But here's me story and I be glad to tell it before I hop the twig."

Page 56:

"It was a greyish colour, with sharp bits of bone and shells sticking out of it. The tigers sniffed it. The smell made their tails go stiff with joy. They were nibbling at it. I knew I had to wait me turn but I culdn't wait. I grabbed it for meself."

This week for Book Beginnings on Fridays and The Friday 56 I've selected Louis Nowra's first book for the YA audience called 'Into That Forest'.


Wednesday 5 December 2012

The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack

Ping was first published in 1933.

We had a copy at my preschool which sat on the shelf for years. I had never read it and didn't plan on reading it. It looked old-fashioned, out-of-date and not likely to appeal to a modern audience. I judged a book by it's cover!

However, in 1996 I took some leave to go on a trip to China. I wanted to read some books with a Chinese theme to my classes in preparation for my departure. Ping seemed a logical choice.

I read it and thought, "okay, not great, but it will do."

Then I read it to my class.

The first few pages, the kids twitched and mumbled about the old pictures...but then...Ping misses his boat ..and the mood changes, just like that every single time.

Suddenly I would have 20 rapt, quiet faces gazing in my direction hanging on every word.

Every kid in the class responded to Ping's desire not to be the last duck on board, because the last duck on board always gets a 'spank on the back'.

It didn't matter what kind of parenting style the child had experienced at home, the fear of being spanked was something that they understood regardless.

They were on Ping's side. They wanted him to escape and they wanted him to be safe.

But very quickly the second fear kicks.

The fear of being lost and never seeing your family again!


I can't tell you how many times I have reread this story since 1996, but I could probably tell it in my sleep!

The China trip was very successful.

I had requests from the children for pictures of Ping (above).

And they were amazed to see that families still lived on boats that looked just like the ones in the book (right).

Although the illustrations look dated, the story is timeless thanks to it's universal childhood themes.

No modern story could talk about being spanked, as it wouldn't be PC.

However the lesson learnt is that there is a consequence for behaviour (dawdle and board the boat last and you will get a spank on the back).
And that it is often better to just 'suck it up' and take the consequences as getting a spank on the back for being last on board is much better than being lost from your family, captured and almost eaten for dinner!!