A Wintry A to Z

Jane over @Eden Rock Beyond hosts a semi-regular, when the mood takes her, A-Z of all things bookish and bloggish.

After an unseasonal, glorious run of spring-like days, another bout of wintry weather has just blown into Sydney town. So I thought I'd stay inside by the fire and have a go at finding 26 bookish things to list.

• A is for ABOUT ME. A little while back there was a flurry of blogging activity around what we book bloggers actually do on our blogs. Is it reviewing or is it book journalling or something in between? At the time it seemed important that I work it out. The problem was, all that reflecting and navel gazing put me off my game! I may never get around to writing an ABOUT ME page. But for the record, I consider myself to be a book journaller. I write about how a book makes me feel, what connections I made whilst reading it and any research I may have felt compelled to do to understand the book or the author at a deeper level. I don't write straight book reviews. I don't read book reviews either. I always skip over any book synopsis to get to the bit where the reader tells me what they thought of the book or what they discovered while they were reading the book. I usually select my next read based on a mix of mood, gut feeling and zeitgeist. Therefore what you think about a book and how it made you feel influences me more than anything else.

• B is for BALI. Our next holiday destination. Wahoo! I can't wait to wear my summer dresses, laze by the pool and drink cocktails! Binge reading, massages and eating out for every meal may also be on the cards!

• C is for CUBA. I've been asked to put together a photographic exhibition at our local library of my Cuba pics. The only problem is that I took all my photos on my smartphone and every time I've tried to print so far, I hit resolution issues. HELP! One friend suggested that I just do a postcard size exhibition - an up close and personal approach perhaps?

• D is for DRINKY-POO. It's 6 pm on Friday evening in Sydney town. I've had a busy week at work and a nice cold beer is lubricating this post quite nicely!

• E is for ERDRICH. I'm very excited to have an ARC of Louise Erdrich's new book. Future Home of the Living God is due for November publication in Australia by Hachette Australia.

• F is for FOOTBALL. The soccer season is finished for the year once again. B20's team made it to the first final round while B16 (about to turn 17) got through to the second round of finals. Mr Books is heavily involved in the local football committee so he will still have things to do, but for the next few months at least, we have no major demands on our weekend time. What will we do with all this free time I hear you ask? A week in Bali is one, a trip to the Blue Mountains another. I'm also hoping for some bush walking and city exploring adventures.

• G is for GRACE. My One Word has been a real battle all year. I'm struggling to feel good about it right now.

• H is for HONOURING Jessica Anderson. For the past few years a friend of mine has organised an honouring event at the State Library of NSW where like-minded souls gather to celebrate the life and work of an Australian author who may have been forgotten or fallen off the radar.

• I is for INSTAGRAM. I'm hooked. I take pics of our holidays, out walking around my local area, of books, flowers and art exhibitions. There are occasional food shots! My tag is brona68.

• J is for JAPAN. When Mr Books turned 50 he wanted to go to Cuba. For my 50th I want to go to Japan. Let the planning begin!

• K is for KIDS. Not sure if I can still call them kids now that they're B20 and almost B17. Living with adults in the making is very different to living with kids. Still adjusting. I miss the primary school years.

• L is for LOVE. Despite issues with grace and change and periods of adjustment and perimenopause, love still abounds in our home.

• M is for MILLER, Alex. His new book, The Passage of Love is due out in October, published by Allen & Unwin. Yet another ARC by my bed calling out 'pick me, pick me!'

• N is for NOVEMBER and AusReadingMonth. This will be my fifth year of hosting AusReadingMonth and I'm trying to work out how to take it on a road trip around all the states and territories of Australia....I'll keep you posted.

• O is for ORWELL. I have this fascinating new release on my TBR pile called The Last Man in Europe by Dennis Glover. It's a fictionalised account of the last days of George Orwell as he wrote 1984 on a remote Scottish island. Mr Books and I recently saw a brilliant production of 1984 at the STC. It has been on my mind a lot.

• P is for POKEMON. My guilty secret! I started pokemoning with B16, when he was B15. It started off as a bonding thing. He quickly moved on, as teenagers do, but I was hooked. Okay obsessed. I love walking. It's my main form of exercise. Walking also allows me to indulge in my other obsession - photography & Instagramming. Before Pokemon go, I used to use a WalkMe app to track how far I walked and for how long. Now it's how many km's I need to walk to hatch an egg. Sad but true.

• Q is for QUEENS (and kings and thrones). Yes, I am one of those hanging out for each episode of Game of Thrones. Who will be the one to rule them all? Who are Jon's parents? Why on earth do they need to catch a white walker for f*#k sake?! When will Little Finger get his comeuppance? So many loose threads: so little time!

• R is for (RE)READING. I've always been a re-reader, but working in an Indy bookshop has made this difficult to maintain.  +Deb Nance recently made a comment on one of my posts about hosting a (re)readathon...I'm thinking about it. 

• S is for SYDNEY. My home town now for 9 years. I'm a country girl at heart, but I've learnt to love the buzz of city life. The art exhibitions, the diversity in food, the opportunities for exploring new places, our history and our beautiful harbour.

• T is for TEA. My new favourite is a delicious white tea called Silver Needles or Baihao Yinzhen.

• U is for UNDER the blankets. I'm looking forward to a lazy weekend of snuggling up and reading.

• V is for VIETNAMESE food. This cooler weather has me craving beef pho and nom hua chuoi (banana flower salad). 

• W is for WEEKEND. TGIF.

• X is for XIAOLU GUO and her Orange Prize shortlisted book A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers. This a recently acquired addition to my TBR pile.

• Y is for YES! I've finally found a Book Club to join. My first meeting will be in a month and our first book together will be Steven Amsterdam's, Miles Franklin 2017 longlisted book, The Easy Way Out.

• Z is for ZADIE Smith. I like to read some of the Man Booker longlist each year. Swing Time will probably be my next read.

If you'd like to have a go at your own A-Z, make sure you pop over to Jane's blog to leave a link to your post.

F is for Fantasy

Over the years I have seen some curious books sitting in the fantasy section of bookshops which has prompted me to think about the literary definition of fantasy.

I've always thought of fantasy as involving elements of magic, supernatural powers, invented worlds, mythical creatures like dragons, vampires and elves combined with a sense of history (usually medieval) and otherworldliness. Do fairytales fit into this genre? Or are they a separate genre in their own right?

When I googled fantasy I quickly found that there was no straight answer.

The first confusion was between fantasy and high fantasy.

High fantasy is usually described as one consisting of a made-up, parallel world. I associate this type of fantasy with special languages, intricate maps and fantastical characters. Think Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien and Narnia by CS Lewis.

Sword and Sorcery fantasy is another sub-genre that pops up regularly. Lord of the Rings fits into this category as well as Harry Potter.

Wikipedia has really thrown me though.
Here is a list of possible fantasy sub-genres...
comic, dark, contemporary, heroic, magical, mythic, paranormal, superhero, fantasy of manners, low, hard, historical, wuxia and urban!!

High fantasy is then further divided into Primary world, Portal or World-within-a-World. Primary worlds do not really exist (Discworld), Portals take the characters from the real world into the fantasy world (Narnia, The Dark Tower, Alice in Wonderland) while worlds within exist in a real world but are somehow separated from them (like Hogwarts and His Dark Materials).

Wuxia? Really?
Ahhhhh, this is sword and sorcery fantasy Chinese style - martial arts, chilvary, retribution and righteousness!

Fairytales and fables are on their own under 'non-fiction'. Although a lot of fantasy writers claim fairytales as early inspirations...closely followed by Tolkien.

Below are some examples of what you can find in the various sub-genres...

Comic Fantasy: Discworld
Dark: Anne Rice
Contemporary: Neil Gaiman, The Master and Margarita, Artemis Fowl, Percy Jackson
Heroic: Star Wars
Fantasy of Manners: Mervyn Peake 
Paranormal: Twilight
Hard: George R R Martin
Low: The Indian in the Cupboard, The Borrowers
Historical: (also known as sword and sandal) Juliet Marillier, Naomi Novik
Urban: Gone by Michael Grant, Anita Blake series, Evernight

And just for fun, I've included several covers of Lord of the Rings.

A-Z Blog Hop

E is for E-Reader

It seems appropriate that my first post written on my new Asus Transformer Prime tablet is about e-readers.

Obviously the Asus tablet is more than an e-reader, although it's e-reader function was one of the major factors in buying a tablet in the first place. I also wanted to be able to blog anywhere, anytime (which is why I chose the Asus tablet - it has the best little clip-on keyboard that also acts as a protective cover for the screen.)

I'm still not convinced about e-readers, but some of my reps have their advance reading copies as ebooks only.

So far I've read a couple of chapters of Everneath (which I suspect I will add to my Right not to Finish list!) and Alice in Wonderland.

I enjoy playing with the font size and it's nice lying in front of the fire with the tablet on the floor in front of me, but it's not a book. I look at screens all day at work and blog. My down time needs to be something different.

Somehow curling up in bed with an e-reader doesn't sound as cosy as a book.

I can't cuddle an e-reader to my chest during a particularly poignant passage and I suspect it wouldn't be happy having a bubblebath with me either!
Even though I love my new tablet, it doesn't smell bookish. It smells slick and metallic which is fine for an appliance, but not for a book.

Next week I will be away for 5 days. The tablet is coming with me...as well as a couple of books! I wonder which one will win out?

A-Z Blog Hop

D is for Dragonflies

If I had chosen D is for Dragons as my Alphabet Meme, I would have had so many books with dragons as protagonist to choose from...but instead I chose dragonflies...why?

Dragonflies have become my (our) personal totem.

Our first holiday together in modern times, was to Broome.

It was a wonderfully romantic, relaxing holiday that helped us both realise that we were doing the right thing by getting back together after a 14 year break.

In the evenings the pool outside our room was invaded by an incredibly colourful swarm of dragonflies.

On our first night we were surprised by the fluttering touches of so many dragonflies, but on subsequent nights we looked forward to sharing our pool with these beautiful skimming creatures.


When I looked into the symbolic significance of dragonflies I found that...

The dragonfly inhabits two realms: air and water. Dragonfly people will be emotional and passionate during their early years (the influence of water) and more balanced with greater mental clarity and control in as they mature (the influence of air).

The Dragonfly lives a short life, and it knows it must live to the fullest with what it has.

Maturity and a Depth of character: The dragonfly, in almost every part of the world symbolizes change and change in the perspective of self realization; the kind of change that has its source in mental and emotional maturity and the understanding of the deeper meaning of life.

All these meanings and symbols seemed to match our situation perfectly.

We used dragonflies as the unifying design in our wedding 5 years later and to this day they continue to enchant us and draw us to see things anew.

Some of my favourite books came to me because of dragonflies...I think you will see why!

If you have a personal animal totem or a special thing for dragonflies I'd love to hear your story. Leave a comment or a link to your post below.

Happy reading --------}>>

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.)

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