This was the first book I bought after arriving back in Australia in October 2019. It is hard to miss this book; it has won quite a few literary awards, is in all the book shops, K-Marts, and Targets around, and as one of my friends put it: ‘It is now on the list of … Continue reading
I picked up Todd Alexander’s memoir Thirty Thousand Bottles of Wine and A Pig Called Helga because, to put it simply, because wine and pigs are few of my favourite things. The memoir also takes place in cities and regions where I grew up, and I wanted to feel that nostalgia of having my hometown … Continue reading
I haven’t been able to do the blog post schedule that I like to keep here because I have been visiting my home country, Australia. If you’ve ever lived overseas, you know that visiting home is never quite a relaxing holiday. You spend half your time coordinating when to see people and the other half … Continue reading
When I saw The Land Before Avocado by Richard Glover I knew I had to read it. Not only am I missing Australia a little bit these days, but I also felt drawn to the title, which I assume is a not so subtle reference to millionaire real estate mogul Tim Gurner and his ‘advice’ … Continue reading
I am frustrated today. Honestly, the day could not have felt more shitty if it tried. Sure, there were lots of okay things that happened, but my general mood has oscillated between “Fuck this” and verging on tears. I am currently looking for work, an arduous task done in silence and solitude because heaven forbid … Continue reading
Noose: True Stories of Australians Who Died at the Gallows written by Xavier Duff is a brief history of some of Australia’s most infamous capital punishment cases. The book opens with the Mile Creek massacre, which was one of the first times recorded in Australian history where white Australians were trialed and found guilty of … Continue reading
Gifts are complicated things. The simple premise of giving someone something they need, love, or want is what actually complicates the definition of a gift. Gifts, before anything else, function like a contract that requires the exchange of goods and/or services until someone dies, or decides to break off the relationship with the gift giver. … Continue reading
In the past few weeks I have read two books: Brian Conaghan’s When Mr Dog Bites is about a teenage boy, Dylan Mint, and his struggles with going to Drumhill special school and battling tourette’s syndrome (amongst other mental health issues). On top of all of that, he thinks that he is going to die. … Continue reading
