Toby's Room by Pat Barker Noonday by Pat Barker The Cursed Child by JK Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne The Library of Unrequited Love By Sophie Divry 1914 Poetry Remembers edited by Carol Ann Duffy
One Minute Book Review – Come in Spinner by Dymphna Cusack and Florence James
Originally published in 1951, Come in Spinner follows the lives of a group of women in Sydney over a period of eight days during the latter part of World War 2. Sydney is brought vividly to life - the ever present soldiers both local and American. The women's lives and both the pressures and excitement … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Come in Spinner by Dymphna Cusack and Florence James
One Minute Book Review – Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
This, the 40th Discworld novel, chronicles the arrival of the locomotive in the Discworld. As would be expected, it is full of Terry Pratchett's usual humour and insight into the human condition. Totally entertaining, it touches lightly on themes such as industrialization, fundamentalism and even gender without even a hint of preachyness. Old characters are … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
One Minute Book Review – Christ Recrucified by Nikos Kazantzakis
Set in Anatolia in the 1920s under Turkish rule, Christ Recrucified tells the story of Manolios, a shepherd, chosen to play the part of Christ in the village's Passion Play. With the arrival of a group of refugees whose village has been destroyed by the Turks, the lives of those chosen to take part in … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Christ Recrucified by Nikos Kazantzakis
Van Diemen’s Land
Like so many traditional songs there are a number of versions of Van Diemen's Land. Apart from various musical interpretations, there are a variety of lyrics depending on the country of origin of the singer, England or Ireland. The earliest published lyrics can be found in the Launceston Examiner of 21 Nov 1839 (p.2, c1). … Continue reading Van Diemen’s Land
Maps
Quite some years ago I applied for a job cataloguing maps. The interview was going well when one of the interviewers placed a map in front of me and asked me how I would catalogue it - it was a cadastral map overlaying a topographic map of an area of Melbourne in the 1880s. I … Continue reading Maps
9 August 1588 – Elizabeth I’s Speech to her Troops at Tilbury
Armada Portrait On 9 August 1588, Elizabeth I delivered a speech at Tilbury, Essex to troops drawn from all over England in expectation of an immanent Spanish invasion. Elizabeth appeared before the troops dressed in white wearing a silver cuirass and riding on a grey gelding. Other descriptions have her wearing a plumed helmet and … Continue reading 9 August 1588 – Elizabeth I’s Speech to her Troops at Tilbury
One Minute Book Review – Noonday by Pat Barker
The third book in Pat Barker's Life Class trilogy takes up the story of Elinor Brooke, Paul Tarrant and Kit Neville in 1940, over twenty years after the events of the first two books ( 1 -Life Class and 2-Toby's Room) The world is at war again and London is suffering sustained aerial bombing. As … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Noonday by Pat Barker
My Reading – July 2016
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte Life Class by Pat Barker Nelly Dean by Alison Case Sleeper's Castle by Barbara Erskine Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
One Minute Book Review – Sun on the Stubble by Colin Thiele
The first time I laughed out loud while reading a book in public occurred reading Sun on the Stubble on the tram home from school, aged twelve. Although considered a children’s book, this is one book that I am happy to read again and again. Bruno Gunther is the youngest son of a hardworking German … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Sun on the Stubble by Colin Thiele
Catherine Meyrick 