by Nicholas Reece, University of Melbourne (December 2012) The academics and the “mummy bloggers” are in furious agreement – reading picture books to children is one of the best things you can do for a child’s development. It also happens to be, in the opinion of this humble author, Continue Reading
Books
Book review: Animals Strike Curious Poses by Elena Passarello
Though humanity likes to wrap its relationship with the natural world in Disney-esque romantic notions of togetherness and interdependence, the harsh reality is that since we first picked up tools and starting altering our environment, we have been doing the animals around us a great disservice. This has only Continue Reading
Book review: When Mr Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan
Dylan Mint, the refreshingly honest protagonist of Brian Conaghan’s debut novel, When Mr Dog Bites, is a typical 16-year-old in many ways. He has a “best bud” named Amir, with whom he texts and discusses girls, life and the things they want to do to make it mean something, Continue Reading
Book review: Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
The machines are coming to get us. That’s been the consistent message for years now from within the world of science fiction (Terminator et al) and without – surprisingly, one Elon Musk, champion of the future, being the standard bearer for this cause – and to be fair, acclaimed Continue Reading
Lost in a sea of beautiful words: My favourite books of 2017
Ever since I was a kid, reading has been a central, if not the central, way for me to relax, to escape, to find adventure, excitement and quirky emotional resonance far from the banalities of everyday life. There is something deeply wondrous and magically exciting about the promise of Continue Reading
Comics review: The hilarious omni-shambles of Asterix and the Chariot Race
There is something about the Roman Empire that has always cried out for satire. Perhaps it is that it was, and remains, the greatest empire in the history of humanity. Or perhaps that it was so domineering, so efficient, so all-encompassing and damn near omniscient and omnipresent, that besting Continue Reading
On 11th day of Christmas … I finally read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, published on 17 December 1843 to almost immediate popularity and acclaim, is one of those books that is so happily ubiquitous that you feel as you must have read it. So intimately familiar with the story are we, thanks to countless reinterpretations on TV Continue Reading
Festive book review: Five at the Office Christmas Party by “Enid Blyton” (really Bruno Vincent)
If you are of a certain age, and I mostly am, and spent your childhood reading the books of British author Enid Blyton, you will be more than a little aware of her Famous Five books which feature siblings Julian, Dick and Anne, cousin George (Georgette) and of course, Continue Reading
Book review: Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet by H. P. Wood
The world we live in is not kind to outsiders. For daring to look, act or be a thousand kinds of different, dissendents, deliberately, or usually not, to the sacred code of unspoken uniformity that governs the machinations of society, they are pilloried, mocked, discardeds wept aside and ignored. Continue Reading
Festively changing it up: The delightfully different tale of Santa’s Husband
Right let’s just get it out there then shall we? In Santa’s Husband, Daniel Kibblesmith’s delightful take on the person of Santa Claus who, you may recall, is a teeny-tiny bit central to modern celebrations of Christmas – for those of a religious persuasion, please note I’m not sidelining Continue Reading