Book Lounge

Jan Storey (the Club’s convenor for our Book Group) initiated this page here – The Book Lounge. It’s open to all members. If you would like to recommend a good read and include a short review, it would be very welcome. Please send to: webadmin@beaumarisbay.org.au

Sharing our Reading Experiences
Zoom meeting 7 October 2020

Zoom Chair: Marilyn Hubbard
Report: Lyn Mather

The printed word has never been more relevant than during a Stage 4 Lockdown, so it was a treat to join a Zoom meeting on Wednesday arranged by our ZoomMaster, President Marilyn. Ten members shared their news – one just back from a fortunately negative Covid 19 test! The group shared favourite reads and recommendations. Jan described her interesting research on the Bunerong race of the First Peoples. Other reading experiences were shared within the group and are displayed here.

We were also reminded of the very useful free website https://beconnected.esafety.gov.au/  for all sorts of tips on how to remain connected, and safe, online.
Lyn Mather October 2020

More Good Reads from Lyn Mather

The story of an unsung Australian hero has at last been written by David Dufty, an author who writes well about the wartime codebreakers of WW2. For many of us, the woman known to thousands as Mrs Mac would be of little interest. However, this diminutive lady, Violet MacKenzie, became the first female electrical engineer in Australia. She became a businesswoman of repute, a feat in itself given the resistance shown to a female.
Her determination was evident in her decision to establish and continue with her self-funded training school for Morse Code operators when it was evident that the fledgling radio capacity was not yet up to speed as WW2 accelerated.  Neither the Government of the day nor the services were interested in her offer to provide demonstrators and operatives, yet she continued to train anyone interested in Morse Code and signalling. She continued this for ten years, with little or no outside help. Violet MacKenzie was a very modest person, but to the thousands of people who knew her as Mrs Mac and who held her in high esteem, those to whom she had dedicated her life, she was a shining light.
It has been a huge pleasure to discover this book, thanks to David Dufty and his research.
Lyn 9 October 2020

Recently I was given a copy of The Details, a new memoir by Australian author Tegan Bennett Daylight.  It is an insightful read that records, inter alia, how reading has nourished her life. She identifies a number of influential authors, including George Saunders, who she claims was under-read in Australia until 2017 when he was awarded the Man Booker Prize for Lincoln in the Bardo. Not having read anything by Saunders it inspired me to see what I could borrow from Bayside Library during lockdown.

The Saunders book that was duly delivered to my doorstep was Fox 8. And boy is it different! The 47 pages takes the form of a letter to humans by Fox 8, who learnt to speak and write English by sitting outside a house listening to a mother read bedtime stories. Written phonetically, the book requires a degree of concentration.

Humans have destroyed Fox 8’s habitat, replacing the forest with roads, carparks and malls. Here, Fox 8 is chatting to a dog locked in a car outside the mall:

And I woslike:  Frend, what is this plase? He woslike: Par King.

I woslike: What is it for? At which point he took a paws to lik his but. Wile I polite lee wated.

After finding a new forest in which to live, Fox 8 ends his letter with:

If you Yumans wud take one bit of advise from a meer Fox? By now I know that you Yumans like your Storys to end hapy? If you want your Storys to end happy, try being niser.

Sounds like good advice in these pandemic times!

Jan Storey 11 Sept 2020

Helen’s Middle Eastern Reads

Helen Lockett is re-living last year’s trip to Turkey, Palestine, Israel and Turkey with these three reads, recommended by her fellow travellers.

Ari Shavit’s great grandfather, a wealthy British Zionist went to visit the Holy Land in 1897 on a Thomas Cook tour.  As a result of this tour he understood here was the future for his people. In My Promised Land, Shavit recounts and analyses the diverse experiences of Israeli people, past and present. The complexities and contradictions of the Israeli conditions are examined but many questions and answers remain unanswered. So many interesting things addressed, Dimona, for one.

Apeirogon , written by Colum McCann, is an interesting read about the real life friendship of two fathers, one Israeli, the other Palestinian and their search for a peaceful solution after both having children killed by opposing sides. Just before our first Lock Down in March, Dateline was filming in Israel and these family members were filmed at private meeting, a risk taking affair.

Return Ticket by Jon Doust is about a West Australian privileged boy who was searching for a meaningful life, travelling to Apartheid South Africa, being involved in scary activities, living in a Kibbutz, witnessing racism in West Australia and back to Israel. Another successful Australian author.

Happy Reading 25 July 2020

In the mid-1960’s I met a large group of gypsies camping in a caravan park in Dubbo. The memory of this meeting inspired me to read Mandy Sayer’s book, Australian Gypsies, Their Secret History.  The book proved to be a fascinating read, providing an insight into gypsy history and their present day lives in Australia. 

Some of the facts I learned are:

• ‘Gypsy’ is a corruption of the word ‘Egyptian’ as it was incorrectly thought they emanated from Egypt.
• Romani people (gypsies) had their genesis in Northern India. Approximately one thousand years ago, they began to migrate west to Europe probably as a consequence of being forced out of their territory by the expansion of Islam.  Since then, the Romani have been on the move, unwanted wherever they went, suffering enslavement, torture, extreme poverty and execution.  In World War 2, gypsies were targeted by Nazi Germany and approximately half a million were exterminated alongside Jewish people.
• To survive their nomadic life, the Romani adopted the host country’s religion and practised work skills that could be transported to different locations, for example, knife sharpening, lace making and fortune telling.
• The first gypsies to arrive in Australia were amongst convicts on the First Fleet, including James Squire, the colony’s first beer brewer.  It is estimated that about 25,000 gypsies now live in Australia.
• Gypsies have their own cultural practices including marriage, death and funeral rites and strict rules of hygiene. There are many language dialects, reflecting their migratory routes across Europe centuries ago.

If you would like more information, you can listen to the podcast of Richard Fidler interviewing Mandy Sawyer on ABC radio conversations.  To find it, Google ‘Australian Romani gypsies, ABC Conversations.’

Jan Storey 12 July 2020

The Dictionary of Lost Words is a debut novel for Pip Williams, an Australian author who lives in the Adelaide Hills. I loved it. It is a blend of fictional characters who carry the story, mixed in with historical figures who lived within the world of words and developed the first Oxford English Dictionary. The dichotomy of the real life experiences of the women, contrasting with the disciplined work of the male lexicographers, gave a good read. Together with gender and class bias, a WW1 timeline and the suffragette movement, I was very engaged for several days of cosy reading.

Christine Simmons 15 June 2020

After reading many Tracy Chevalier books, thoroughly enjoying them all and learning about many different subjects,  except perhaps New Boy, my friend told me A Single Thread was an extra special read. I don’t usually read as many books from the same author but, not to upset my friend’s suggestion, sent my son in law to Dymocks to buy me a copy. ( I did have it on order at the Library before Covid 19 ) Anthony said he hoped it lived up to expectations, but no, very disappointed. Embroidering kneelers and cushions for a Cathedral and the explanations of bell ringing, and the mathematics involved in this, were interesting but the human stories were mundane happenings  in every day life. The love of a mother for a lost son during  WW1, life of single ladies, lesbians, an extra marital dalliance to name a few.

Helen Lockett 3 June 2020

This book will stay with me for ever, the life of Dr Janusz Korczak, a Polish Doctor/ Educator, who founded and ran an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto. Two dedicated students assist the good Doctor. 
Dr Janusz Korczak is his pen name and I suggest you google his name to gain further information about the Ghetto.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz was based on a true story too and Lale and Gita Sokolov eventually came to Australia, their son still lives in Caulfield.  
Helen Lockett

Recent Ripper Reads

Write a book review for the Probus website sounded a pretty innocuous suggestion, until I started to wonder which of my RRR (Recent Ripper Reads) would I choose? Fact or fiction, recent or out of print, historical, romance – too many genres. And what if other readers didn’t look kindly on some of my treasures – oh, heavens!

So instead of reviewing one book, I decided to mention some of my RRRs, in no particular order. Most recently I read two similar books because I misremembered the title at the bookshop, so I read The Girl from Munich by Tania Blanchard, based on a true story about wartime Germany, and also The Girl from Berlin by RH Balson about the same period. The latter was more enjoyable because it encompassed several different genres, including historical crime. The Remarkable Life of the Skin by Monty Lyman was an eye-opener – who could believe the complexity of the largest organ of our body, and the telling of it covers science, sociology, history………

Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming was a BIG read but worth every moment, if memoir is your bent, but The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie was another thing entirely. This work mines the psychological damage wrought on a nuclear family by a monstrous personality, set against the bitter cold of a Canadian winter. After that, it was a relief to take up The Single Ladies of the Jacaranda Retirement Village by Joanna Nell, but as is human nature, this widely recommended title failed dismally on the RRR list!

Fortunately, I moved on to The Fragments by Toni Jordan, an absorbing mystery which segues between the 1930s and the present time, moving between Brisbane and New York as the story unfolds. Then came Six Minutes, by Petronella McGovern – this debut novel by an Australian writer is a suspenseful suburban thriller that steals your time and won’t give it back. Australian writers are producing such interesting work, it’s a treat to support both local authors and publishers.

Lyn Mather

The Librarian suggested I read this book when I borrowed books before the Lock Down.  She wanted me to read The Choke, also written by Sofie but all copies were out. She’s also written children’s books. Many sad insights in to family violence, alcoholism and bringing up a child with learning difficulties , written with compassion and, at times, with humour. At times it reminded me of Boy Swallows Universe. Another great read.

If BorrowBox hasn’t a book you want to borrow CloudLibrary is a good App to get, free use with a Library Card. 

Aren’t we fortunate belonging to Probus and Libraries?

Helen Lockett

Damascus       by        Christos Tsiolkas      
This is a fictional account of the life of Saul/Paul of Tarsus. Having read reviews of Damascus I was looking forward to reading it but found it was quite a slog to read to the end – and eventually I did skip a bit. Perhaps it was not a good choice just now when I want something more cheerful. It was not even so much the horrific account of those times as experienced by the well known early Christians and those with whom they lived, it was that I wasn’t immersed in the book, I was bored. Perhaps it is Tsiolkas writing style that was so flat, although descriptive; I don’t remember finding The Slap hard to read. 
This is not really a book recommendation; just wondering if someone else has read this book and enjoyed it more than I did.  

Carol Booth May 2020

Comment: ‘Force of Nature’, Jane Harper

Thank you Jan for the riveting read. I was more and more absorbed as I approached the culmination. Now for ‘The Lost Man’. 

Christine Simmons May 2020

I love a good thriller. And what a perfect opportunity it is right now to read one. A crime author I enjoy is British born Australian writer, Jane Harper.

Her debut novel, The Dry, sold more than 1 million copies worldwide and received multiple book awards. It’s a thrilling contemporary novel set in a drought parched farming community, one hour’s drive from Melbourne.

The movie version of the book is scheduled for release later this year – hopefully. Eric Bana has the lead role of Federal Police officer, Aaron Falk. I can’t wait to see it.

Harper followed up The Dry with two more cracking reads. In Force of Nature, five female work colleagues participate in a team bonding excursion into cold, wet Australian bushland. They engage in a survival battle against each other and nature and only four return. A well-crafted thriller which had me reading way past my bedtime.

Her third novel, The Lost Man, is testament to Harper’s ability to create a sense of place, with vivid images of life on a cattle property in unforgiving outback Queensland.

The setting provides the perfect location for family secrets to unfold. When one of the Bright brothers is found dead it has the appearance of a bizarre suicide – but is there more to it? The narrative is a slow burn, building gradually to a surprising conclusion.

I recommend you check it out.

Jan Storey April 2020