My Mother, My Father: On Losing a Parent, edited by Susan Wyndham
Not the cheeriest subject matter, but you can be sure it will be moving and sensitive under the editorial hand of journalist Susan Wyndham. And much as I wish it were otherwise, I have a personal interest in hearing about how others deal with the death of parent. From the Booktopia website: “My Mother, My Father is a collection of stories from 14 remarkable Australian writers, sharing what it is to feel loss, and all the experiences and memories that create the image of our parents. Contributors include Helen Garner, David Marr, Tom Keneally, Gerard Windsor, Susan Duncan and Caroline Baum.”
Fast, Fresh and Unbelievably Delicious by Matt Preston
I’m a sucker for a cookbook (or 20) and there’s no shortage of choices at this time of year, so why pick this one? Well, I like Matt Preston, for starters, even though I can’t remember how long it’s been since I saw – or had any interest in – Masterchef. He is a great food writer. I thought the ‘sealed section’ (where he puts his more decadent recipes) is kind of cute and I’m all for a cookbook whose declares I’ll cook its recipes over and over again. Truth be told, I don’t have many others that fit that description.
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai is the inspiring schoolgirl from Pakistan who was shot by the Taliban for her outspoken advocacy of the rights for education for all. She survived, and has gone on to receive global acclaim and recognition.
Here she is on The Daily Show with John Stewart. Amazing.
Writing on the Wall by Tom Standage
This is currently on my reading pile. Here’s the blurb:
Today we are endlessly connected: constantly tweeting, texting or e-mailing. This may seem unprecedented, yet it is not. Throughout history, information has been spread through social networks, with far-reaching social and political effects. Writing on the Wall reveals how an elaborate network of letter exchanges forewarned of power shifts in Cicero’s Rome, while the torrent of tracts circulating in sixteenth-century Germany triggered the Reformation. Standage traces the story of the rise, fall and rebirth of social media over the past 2,000 years offering an illuminating perspective on the history of media, and revealing that social networks do not merely connect us today – they also link us to the past.
I think this book would suit anyone with a passing – or professional – interest in the ways we communicate and how these may (or may not) have changed over the centuries.
I’m really enjoying it, put it that way.
100 Days Happier by Domonique Bertolucci
This time of the year wouldn’t be the same without a few inspiring, soul-uplifting-by-instruction titles, and this one looks pretty tempting to me. “100 Days Happier invites the reader to make small daily changes in the way they think and act; changes that will ultimately create a fundamental shift in the way they feel about who they are and the life they are living. This book will energise and motivate you to be your best self, every day.” I think the phrase “small daily changes” would seem manageable enough for people to say “Okay, I’m in.”
