This is a strange sort of book to read at this time. I say this as it was published in 1970 and censorship has changed dramatically in the intervening 53 years. But it’s very interesting to get a snapshot of what things were like in 1970. I have very few ...
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." C.S. Lewis
Est. 2009
I found this book in a house I’m happily clearing out. No, I’ve not bought the house or contents, it’s just my task to clear it out. I’m able to take what I want and this book looked like it might be really interesting and potentially useful for a book ...
Another book I have no idea how it appeared on my To Be Read Pile. Probably through the deceased estate. The man was well read in the classics and many other books recommended for me at uni. Also well read in multiple languages. I only kept the English ones that ...
Another great purchase from one of the mini-cons I attend from time to time. Some of the people who person tables have some great things for sale. I went to this one with the specific idea of speaking to a friend and then spending some money. This book is has ...
I’m not sure where I bought this book. I suspect it might have been for a plane journey judging by the receipt I found inside. I also suspect I didn’t finish it at the time, reading it this time there were a couple of little things that seemed familiar. Did ...
I love these mini conventions. When I went to Bendicon last year I found the table for Screaming Banshee Press and there was A.J. McInally. Book shops are fantastic places to be, I’ve had some super recommendations from book shops over the last few years, but big publishers don’t go ...
Tracey, in the Aussie Book Bloggers group on Facebook, suggested we do a readalong in the Community Chat with The Secret Garden. Figuring it was a good chance to reread the book and always wanting a new book experience I indicated my interest. When I couldn’t find the book on ...
I have a lot of books in my house. Times like now illustrate this perfectly. I’ve had The Fifth Elephant on my shelves for some time. I can’t tell you how long it’s been here for but I suspect I probably bought it at a second hand bookshop at some ...
This series of three books proves why it’s good to attend things your friends are doing. My friend, Pete, mentioned on Facebook how he was going to be attending the latest ComixPo. I saw that and feeling it’d be a good time to catch up with him and some other ...
This is one of the books I bought at BendiCon this year. Keep an eye on their website for the next convention, they’re great fun…much better than the big ones. I like to find new authors with awesome writing and I think I’ve hit it this time. Walter has a ...
You know those times when you see an author post in a group looking for reviews of a book? And you put your name forward hoping it’ll be a good book? I did that. The topic matter sounded really good. I’d heard good things about Burrows from friends so I ...
This is one of those books I could read many times and still enjoy. I rambled about it recently using a paragraph in Paratalk or Torque? It whetted my appetite and instead of being put back on the shelf it found its way to my To Be Read Pile. On ...
Recommended to me by a friend, this book is the first in a long series of alternate history books. There’s a smidgeon of scifi here but only to set up the idea running through the entire series. To explain the scifi. An alien culture has taken a six-mile piece of ...
I feel I must have bought this novel when I was at uni. Something I do at odd times is haunt bookshops and the university bookshop was no different. I don’t think it was on one of my reading lists, I suspect I saw it and thought it looked interesting. ...
Today I’m bringing back an old column of mine. It’s where I take a paragraph and examine it in whatever detail I wish. Today I’m taking a paragraph from one of my favourite books of all time. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George is a book I ...