The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature | Viv Groskop

12 March 202612 March 2026 ~ This Reading Life ~ 23 Comments

An enemy of baked goods of all kinds, Tolstoy was not one of those insufferable people who breeze through life unencumbered by frustration and anger. Comfortingly enough, he was a person who struggled to understand why, at times, life felt intensely painful, even when nothing that bad was happening. The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons … Continue reading The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature | Viv Groskop

The Last Man in Europe | Dennis Glover

28 December 202426 September 2025 ~ This Reading Life ~ 16 Comments

Jura, April 1947. It was his third day back on the island but the first he had managed to get out of bed. He knew what he had to do: transfer to paper the ceaseless, grinding monologue that had been working through his mind since...when? His days at the BBC? The betrayal in Barcelona? The … Continue reading The Last Man in Europe | Dennis Glover

Anything Is Possible | Elizabeth Strout

8 January 202214 June 2024 ~ This Reading Life ~ 22 Comments

Tommy Guptill had once owned a dairy farm, which he'd inherited from his father, and which was about two miles from the town of Amgash, Illinois. Oh my, the good folk of Amgash, Illinois are an unhappy bunch. Thank goodness it is a fictional town! Poverty, illness, domestic abuse, divorce, PTSD, secrets and affairs are … Continue reading Anything Is Possible | Elizabeth Strout

Marie Curie & Her Daughters | Imogen & Isabel Greenberg

19 February 202110 September 2025 ~ This Reading Life ~ 12 Comments

Marie Curie is one of my personal heroes. Ever since my Year 12 science depth-study on her, (which incidentally helped me to top the class and receive my one and only first-in-class medal) I have been constantly drawn to her story. As part of my depth-study research, I read Ève Curie's bio about her mother, … Continue reading Marie Curie & Her Daughters | Imogen & Isabel Greenberg

Caring For Country by Billy Griffiths

4 December 201926 September 2025 ~ This Reading Life ~ Leave a comment

Recently I read something or saw something about the Ranger program in the Northern Territory, which led me to Billy Griffiths report in the Griffith Review Edition 56 | Millennials Strike Back | April 2017, Caring for country: The place where the Dreaming changed shape.It's fascinating and encouraging to see the various ways that Indigenous peoples … Continue reading Caring For Country by Billy Griffiths

Trace Fossils by Alice Gorman

22 November 2019 ~ This Reading Life ~ 3 Comments

I plan to read Alice Gorman's Dr Space Junk vs the Universe (2019) in the very near future. Knowing I wouldn't have time to feature it during this year's #AusReadingMonth, I decided to search for any other examples of her essay writing instead, to give us all a taste of what's to come.Trace Fossils: The Silence … Continue reading Trace Fossils by Alice Gorman

All Happy Families: A Memoir by Herve Le Tellier

24 July 20199 May 2025 ~ This Reading Life ~ 9 Comments

All Happy Families wasn't the memoir I was hoping it would be. Le Tellier is upfront from the beginning, letting us know that he doesn't feel love for his parents. I was therefore expecting a heartfelt exploration into all the whys and wherefores of his troubled childhood. Instead, we simply got a recital of the … Continue reading All Happy Families: A Memoir by Herve Le Tellier

A New England Affair by Steven Carroll

19 February 201926 September 2025 ~ This Reading Life ~ 2 Comments

In close to one of the worst book cover choices I've ever seen, A New England Affair by Steve Carroll is a classic case of a book that should not be judged by its cover!Yes, a woman heading out to sea (to the Dry Salvages) is a central part of the story, but the woman (Emily … Continue reading A New England Affair by Steven Carroll

Maisie Dobbs #13 In This Grave Hour

26 November 201828 January 2024 ~ This Reading Life ~ 1 Comment

In This Grave Hour is the thirteenth Maisie Dobb's book, and as the title suggests, WWII has just been declared. As with any long running series, some books are better than others. In the early stages of this one, I thought we had one of the lesser Maisie's on our hands. It felt a little … Continue reading Maisie Dobbs #13 In This Grave Hour

The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham

8 September 201826 September 2025 ~ This Reading Life ~ 10 Comments

I'm not usually a big reader of crime fiction.During my younger days I enjoyed a good mystery wrapped up in an adventure series (thank you Trixie Belden and Enid Blyton) and I still love to delve into the psychological reasons why people do the things they do (Maigret fits the bill here). Cosy crime is … Continue reading The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham

Taboo | Kim Scott

6 August 201826 September 2025 ~ This Reading Life ~ 4 Comments

I'm not sure I will be able to adequately sum up my thoughts and impressions about Taboo by Kim Scott, but I'll give it a shot. Scott has been shortlisted for this year's Miles Franklin Award; he has already won it twice. In 2000 for Benang: From the Heart and again in 2011 for That … Continue reading Taboo | Kim Scott

Things A Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls

31 July 2018 ~ This Reading Life ~ Leave a comment

Things a Bright Girl Can Do is a YA story that grabs its title from a much older book called Three Hundred and One Things a Girl Can Do. Published in 1911, it included things like how to decorate a church, make coloured fires, the rules of croquet, how to pitch a tent, do magic … Continue reading Things A Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls

A Rightful Place: A Road Map to Recognition edited by Shireen Morris

25 July 20184 October 2023 ~ This Reading Life ~ 1 Comment

A Rightful Place: A Road Map to Recognition evolved out of last year's Uluru Statement from the Heart. It includes a foreward by Galarrwuy Yunupingu, a long essay by Noel Pearson which gives the book its title, as well as pieces by Megan Davis, Jackie Huggins & Rod Little, Damien Freeman & Nolan Hunter, Warren Mundine, … Continue reading A Rightful Place: A Road Map to Recognition edited by Shireen Morris

I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell

4 July 201821 August 2025 ~ This Reading Life ~ 6 Comments

What an extraordinary lucky (or unlucky) life Maggie O'Farrell has had. Seventeen brushes with death in one lifetime seems rather excessive, to one who can barely think of one close call!But seventeen there really are.Some of the brushes are a little more tenuous than others - more like a sliding door moment that many of … Continue reading I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell

Pachinko | Min Jin Lee

29 May 201812 January 2023 ~ This Reading Life ~ 11 Comments

After returning home from our trip to Japan, I wasn't ready to let it go, so when I finished Memoirs of a Geisha, I turned straight to this glorious historical fiction set in Korea and Japan for solace. Not that Pachinko was a comforting read as such. There was tragedy, sadness, grief, loss and war. … Continue reading Pachinko | Min Jin Lee