JUSTIN BIEBER FIRST STEP 2 FOREVER: MY STORY
Bieber, Justin (Harper Collins, 2010 ISBN: 978-0-00-742692-8)
I paid a whole $4 for this little gem in an op shop in Bentleigh. I scored such a bargain. This book is full of so much good advice, you only have to open it at a random page and read out the words – the truth shines forth for all to see.
“I’m not a fighter by nature, but, if I believe in something, I stand up for it.” I mean, can you argue with that?
ARCHIPELAGO OF SOULS
Gregory Day
Picador, June 2015, RRP $32.99
Archipelago of Souls appealed to me at first glance. Its main character, Wesley Cress, arrives as a soldier settler on King Island and provides an instant link to my own family history. My father and his brothers and sisters grew up for the most part on King Island after my grandfather took land there as a soldier settler himself. Though the book is set probably 15 years or so before my family arrived there, I couldn’t help wondering if the (in)famous Kelly Quirk might make an appearance somehow. That’s the power of half-remembered family legend, I suppose.
When I was 18 or so, we took a family trip to King Island to look at the old farm, which had been sold on to another family some decades again. We went in June or July, for peak wind effect, and spent a few days in family reunion. I never met my grandfather. I’ve heard some of his ludicrous stories, tales about his … let’s call them “adventures” on the island and his youth, of his alcoholism and his time during the war. My dad and my grandma, Na, also died when I was five and 14 respectively; and on the island I felt very connected with them despite their absense. So the cold trip on the isolated island remains a powerful memory. King Island is part of the family mythology.
THE (HONEST) TRUTH ABOUT DISHONESTY: HOW WE LIE TO EVERYONE – ESPECIALLY OURSELVES
Dan Ariely
HarperCollins, July 2013, RRP $19.99
Look, don’t tell anyone. This is just between you and me. I have, on occasion, fudged my timesheets. There, I’ve said it. Of course, I only ever fudged a little. A smidgen, really. Imagine the fine thickness of my fingernail; that’s the degree to which I’ve fudged the occasional timesheet.
It can be that way with casual work. If you work a longer than your scheduled shift, you write down exactly, to the minute, when you finish. But perhaps, on a shift, you finish a tad early (just a little, right?). Well, you were expecting to be paid for a full shift, so it’s only fair to round up to include those final 5 minutes, right? Or 10? Or 15? Continue reading
THE DOG SQUAD
Vikki Petraitis
Penguin Australia, May 2015, RRP $32.99
A number of years ago I traveled to Tasmania by boat. When we arrived at the port, the customs team brought their sniffer dogs to have a sniff at everyone’s bags. The dog stopped at a young Asian woman’s pack, and sat down. The customs people asked the girl, “Do you have any fruit in your bag?”
The poor girl had turned white with fear. Clearly she thought someone had hidden drugs in her bag and she was about to get arrested in a country where she didn’t understand the language and she went into a panic. Eventually the customs officers calmed her down and kept saying “Fruit? Do you have FRUIT?”.
RISE
Karen Campbell
Bloomsbury Circus, May 2015, RRP $32.99
Rise is a small piece in the history of Scotland’s many and various failed nationalist efforts since 1707. Having concluded that rosy-cheeked young pretenders make poor generals, and that kilts and chest-thumping are best left to post-football pub brawls (or race riots), the modern independence-minded Scot has turned to the plebiscite as a method of experimentation*. Those of you familiar with Scottish history will probably see that this step is a bit dull, but for the best.
Despite misgivings about the author’s surname “Campbell”**, but moreso about the unlikelihood that I would enjoy this book, since I don’t generally enjoy contemporary fiction, I decided to give Rise a go. More interested in the political themes than the plot itself, I’m glad I did. However, though it is well-written and genuinely gripping, I was sadly correct in my initial assumption that the novel was not for me.
THE RABBITS
John Marsden and Shaun Tan
Lothian Children’s Books, September 2010, RRP $17.99
‘The Rabbits’ is a picture book by Australian author and illustrator Shaun Tan and author John Marsden. Those familiar with Tan’s work, perhaps though ‘The Lost Thing’ or ‘Tales of Suburbia’, will know that he is a genius in all respects. Tan’s illustrations are beautiful and so detailed but the stories he weaves also explore themes and concepts central to what it is to be a modern Australian.
‘The Rabbits’ is the tale of the colonial invasion of Australia and the near eradication of those that were already here but not recognised by those arriving. Tan and Marsden use the analogy of rabbits, representing the British colonists, and bandicoots, representing the indigenous inhabitants, to make a pointed comment on the damage done to those losing their land and way of life. Continue reading
BILL: THE LIFE OF WILLIAM DOBELL
Scott Bevan
Simon and Schuster, November 2014, RRP $35.00
This is a great biography on so many levels. It is obviously written based years of detailed research, skill and passion by the author Scott Bevan. It has all the rigor and depth of a PhD thesis but none of the dryness. Bevan’s passion for his subject shines through. He goes always for balance and presenting both sides of the picture so readers feels an immediate trust in him. Often he goes those extra little steps such as going to Bill’s Kings Cross flat to see what he would have actually seen out of his window. He chooses an immensely wide range of people involved in Dobell’s life.
This is a book for lovers of Australian art. This is also a book for anyone who has even a vague notion of Australian art in general and even minimal exposure to the institutions such as the Archibald prize. This book helps the reader explore the roles and the place of a series of Australian artists and, in particular, the birth and the place of modernism and the tensions created. It does this in a personal, human and real way not at an art critic level. Continue reading
JUDGE THIS (PART OF TED BOOKS)
Chip Kidd
Simon & Schuster, June 2015, RRP $16.99
Design surrounds our day-to-day lives; from the clothes we wear, to the tools we use, to the advertising that tries to sell us more clothes to wear and tools to use. As I type this article, I use a computer that has included stages of design for hardware, operating system and word processing software, all to allow the simple task of writing a review while sitting on the couch in my tracksuit pants (an important part of the writing process).
However, while design surrounds us, it can still be quite flawed, as anyone who has tried to use a modern can opener without instructions can attest. Of course, Chip Kidd, renowned book designer and author of Judge This, wouldn’t have you passively accept the good and bad of design in the world. Instead, he advocates that we do exactly what the title of his book suggests, and judge, with a critical eye, those objects we experience every day. Continue reading
MALORY TOWERS
Enid Blyton
First published 1946
I was in primary school when I was given the set of Malory Towers books as a birthday gift. I’d read a lot of Blyton before then, as my mother was a baby boomer; so I had grown up with the 1950s copies of the Five Find Outers and Dog series, The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, etc.
Malroy Towers is by far my favorite series she wrote.
THE SOUL OF AN OCTOPUS
Hello human… at least, I assume you are a human.* Shall we play a game? I want you to think of ten creatures you consider to be intelligent using whatever parameters you yourself deem intelligence to be defined by.
Alrighty. Done?
Now, I’m going to make some extremely presumptive generalisations here but I’m pretty sure most people will list—maybe even in descending order—our closest primate relatives; other furry creatures with expressive faces and eyes; and cheeky birds. I would presume only a small number of people, maybe those with a personal interest, will have listed anything in the fishy, reptiley, amphibiany section. At the very least the lists will comprise very few, if any, invertebrates. Unless of course there are fans of the 2010 World Cup reading this… Continue reading
WHEN THE DOVES DISAPPEARED
Sofi Oksanen, translated by Lola M. Rogers
Atlantic Books, May 2015, RRP $27.99
When the Doves Disappeared is a thoughtful glimpse into Estonian life during occupation by Nazi Germany, and the subsequent USSR rule. It is a study in the meaning of political conviction; passion; loyalty; and love, amongst many other things. Estonian-Finnish poet Sofi Oksanen’s second novel, it is both espionage thriller and literary reflection, with a gripping plot, elegant language, and carefully crafted, deeply flawed characters.
First Performed April 13, 1993, Lyttelton Theatre
If ever I were to meet Tom Stoppard I would run to him and hug him. Then, the warmth of the embrace still palpable in my bosom, I would punch him in the face. Then I would hug him again. He is the evil wizard of playwrights and he makes life worth living but for those who have to write essays on his work he also makes you wish you were dead.
‘Arcadia’ is a play that was first performed in the 1990s. It is about Science, Mathematics, Landscape Gardening and the tension between sex and intellect. If you don’t understand iterated algorithms, Chaos Theory or are not intimately acquainted with the laws of thermodynamics or Euclidean Geometry you will be after reading this play.