My Name is Revenge – Ashley Kalagian Blunt

My Name is Revenge – Ashley Kalagian Blunt

Apr 24, 2019 | What Am I Reading?

I first became aware of Armenia in 1988. I was working for the Australian Red Cross at the time the massive earthquake decimated the population, killing 25 000 and destroying the homes of half a million people. But even then, I was not really cognizant of Armenian...
Exploded View – Carrie Tiffany

Exploded View – Carrie Tiffany

Apr 19, 2019 | What Am I Reading?

Author Carrie Tiffany was one of the first Australian writers to instil in me a love of writing and an ambition that I could perhaps write myself. Her previous books Mateship with Birds (which won the inaugural Stella Prize) and Everyman’s Rules for Scientific Living...
Dying: a memoir – Cory Taylor

Dying: a memoir – Cory Taylor

Apr 16, 2019 | What Am I Reading?

Recently I interviewed Kat Mulheran, the owner of Bent Books, a second-hand bookstore in West End, and while wandering around afterwards, I picked up a copy of Cory Taylor’s book Dying: a memoir (Text Publishing 2016). It has been on my TBR list for ages, but the...
Clock Dance – Anne Tyler

Clock Dance – Anne Tyler

Apr 16, 2019 | What Am I Reading?

Just like a box of chocolates, Anne Tyler’s writing is comforting and moreish, but unlike Gump’s chocolates, you do generally know what you’re going to get: well-developed and engaging characters; tricky family situations or relationships; and great arcing overviews...
My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Ottessa Moshfegh

My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Ottessa Moshfegh

Apr 14, 2019 | What Am I Reading?

My Year of Rest and Relaxation (Jonathan Cape Penguin Random House 2018) is by Ottessa Moshfegh, the author of the dark novel Eileen, which I absolutely loved. My Year of Rest and Relaxation is similarly dark – blackly funny, keenly observed and introspective.  A...