This last week has been filled with a lot of joy and a lot of sadness. I spent the beginning of the week exploring Tasmania which was so breathtaking. And then the end of the week was spent mourning loss after loss. That is just how life goes sometimes. Rather than keep to my usual … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Family
“The F Word”: a review of Lily Pebbles’ book celebrating friendship
Lily Pebbles’ is a lifestyle and beauty Youtuber from the U.K. Her first book, The F Word, is a celebration and personal exploration of contemporary friendships. I have always been interested in friendships, in particular female friendships, because when I moved to Switzerland in 2013 I saw massive shifts in who I thought were friends … Continue reading
Kristin Hannah’s “The Great Alone”: A Review
As Winter slowly but surely approaches the Northern Hemisphere, I felt that a book on Alaska would help me get into the mood of all things cold and frosty. As an Australian, it is hard to imagine the cold that is experienced in places like Alaska and Northern Sweden and Finland. I did not see … Continue reading
25 years since Jeffrey Eugenides’ debut novel: “The Virgin Suicides”
TRIGGER WARNING: This review deals with death by suicide. The Virgin Suicides were first published in 1993 and it was Jeffrey Eugenides’ breakout debut novel. It was received with critical acclaim and some reviewers at the time called his novel a modern Greek tragedy. It has captured readers since its release and was turned into … Continue reading
“Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes?”: a review of Holly Bourne’s novel
Writing about mental health and getting it right is tough. Writers need to understand and articulate what mentally ill people are feeling and it cannot read like a cliche. Readers, whether they have mental health issues or not, are going to see through platitudes, flat characterisations, and overly dramatic writing. And just like mental health … Continue reading
Eating Animals: a review of “Killing It” by Camas Davis
In the world of food I often feel like there is very little compromise. There is a big divide, which is social, cultural, and moral that forces people to make ultimatums between vegetarianism/veganism or an omnivorous lifestyle. People who don’t eat meat do so for many different reasons, but a lot of them do so … Continue reading
A Review of “Idaho”: forgetting and remembering
I am not going to lie, the decision I made to read this book was heavily based on the cover. What is that old saying again? Anyway, I found myself drawn to the strong yellows and greens and I had also seen this book everywhere. It was popping up in book stores, in my library, … Continue reading
Asian Invisibility In Western Literature: a review of Ann Y. K. Choi’s “Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety”
I am going to cut to the chase on this review. Like the title suggests, there is a problem with the way that Asian literature is represented, or to be more precise its lack of representation, in the Western world. Many scholars and teachers have suggested to me over the years that Asian literature cannot … Continue reading
“Without You, There Is No Us”: a review
Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. Clicking through for additional information or to make a purchase may result in a small commission. Suki Kim’s book Without You, There Is No Us: My Secret Life Teaching the Sons of North Korea’s Elite was written in 2014. I really enjoyed this book. It was a powerful … Continue reading
“From Here to Eternity”: a review of Caitlin Doughty’s latest book on death
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the world to find the good death is Caitlin Doughty’s latest book. Part anthropological study, part travel memoir Doughty travels to far and wide places around the world to learn about how different cultures deal with and treat death. This book feels like the natural flow-on from her previous book … Continue reading
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