October is release month for The Mapmaker Chronicles: Race to the End of the World, the first book in The Mapmaker Chronicle series, written by A.L. Tait. The adventure series is terrific for children ages 9+ and is available for purchase at Booktopia and other bookshops around the nation. Allison found the time to answer some…
This post was inspired by a book review I read in The Australian about the release of Poems That Make Grown Men Cry. I haven’t read it yet (I’m fourth in the hold line at the local library on a lone copy), and while I am waiting I’ve been pondering what poems I’d include in…
Read / September 16th, 2014
The first book I read was Farther Away by Jonathan Franzen. Franzen tends to be a rather polemic writer and as I was reading I felt a kind of… tension within myself, from piece to piece, that was interesting (if a little off-putting). I adored the title essay, an exploration of his grief following the death…
Oh boy, this year I think I’ve cleaned out the library’s selection of cookbooks that have any kind of relation to gluten free or paleo or whole foods in general. Some have been too extreme for my liking – although I’m sure they have their fans – and others would come in conflict with what…
Preparing for our Melbourne Writers Festival seminar, I’m reading Reservoir Dad by Clint Greagen. It is engaging, thoughtful and oh-ever-so cheeky, very much like his award-winning blog. Another MWF guest, Dave Eggers, has a new release Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever and I look forward getting stuck in to that. The Best Australian…
The kids’ school had a book fair during the week and while I was there I had a flick through many of the shortlisted titles for this year’s CBCA Book of the Year Awards. I only got to see a selection from the Picture Book, Early Childhood and Eve Pownall Awards and I wanted to…
Like a silly billy, it’s occurred to me that I haven’t said, or linked to via a post, articles I’ve been writing for Essential Kids. I’ve been enjoying my time over there – it’s a lot of fund writing about subjects I’m into like technology and games and reading. Here they are: 5 new…
As a special offer leading up to the Melbourne Writers Festival, I have Crying in the Car on sale for a very special price (and no postage!) at 40% off RRP. Click here if you would like to purchase it. I’d be happy to sign it if you like, just ask. This offer will end…
The program for the 2014 Melbourne Writers Festival is revealed to the public today. I was lucky enough to see it in advance and have been hanging out to share some of my picks for the sessions I particularly want to attend. It was hard to cull them down, but I did my best. They’re…
