Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels ended up on my reading list because the film version was shown at the Perth International Arts Festival (which is the umbrella festival for the Perth Writers Festival) this year. It should be said that I’m not usually a fan of films made from books (and wouldn’t often watch them) and going back to a book after seeing the film is an even rarer event for me, but the film version was just so beautiful that I wanted to relive it through the book.
And this …

It’s a fairly regular event that I click over to my local public library’s home page, log in to the catalogue and my account and reserve a book that I’ve recently discovered I must read. Often, by the time the books turn up on the reservation shelf with my name on them I’ve forgotten what prompted me to reserve them in the first place - whether it was something I heard on a podcast, or read in some article, or was recommended by a friend - but I’m rarely disappointed. …

Recently I mused on the topic of removing flaws from a novel: in my case, it was flaws of timing with a skiing scene happening in summer and a fun park swim going on in the middle of winter, a confusion which was a result of some heavy rearranging and not enough attention to detail.
The odd thing is that since I discovered this difficulty myself, I keep finding it in books that I expect better from - but I certainly know how tricky it is now and shouldn’t complain, I …

My search for books of various kinds takes me all around the web so when I come across a bookstore’s website, I know what I like and what I don’t. Now that we have a Borders store here in Perth, I’ve got interested in their books and  their style, because I don’t get that sinking “big chain” feeling with them the same as at other “big chain” stores (including the Aussie one I won’t publicise by naming, which doesn’t like little Australian publishers and therefore earns my distinct dislike!).
The Borders …

Something I’ve been meaning to blog about for ages is the Australian national broadcaster’s show called the First Tuesday Book Club. Since it’s only on TV once a month I often forget to watch it at the time (that, and the fact that it’s on at 10pm when I’m usually reading in bed!); luckily you can always catch up on the past episodes on their website. The host is Jennifer Byrnes and there are two regular “book club members” in Marieke Hardy (I love her on Triple J breakfast radio …