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Books

Book review: I Am C-3PO – The Inside Story by Anthony Daniels

Posted on November 15, 2019November 14, 2019 by aussiemoose

Odds are that if you think of Star Wars, and particularly the trilogy that began it all (New Hope / The Empire Strikes Back / The Return of the Jedi), that your mind will first fall upon the unmissable trio of protagonists of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Continue Reading

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Book review: World Engines – Destroyer by Stephen Baxter

Posted on November 13, 2019November 13, 2019 by aussiemoose

Humanity has always had a robust love affair with the future. Often burnt by the past and uncertain or despairing about the present, there is something inside of us that optimistically grabs a hold of the future, embracing it like some kind of gilt-edged promised land where troubles will be Continue Reading

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Book review: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers #2)

Posted on November 6, 2019April 12, 2021 by aussiemoose

There is an uncommon joy that infuses every last word in Becky Chambers brilliantly-affecting A Closed and Common Orbit. That is largely due to the nuanced and empathetic way that the author addresses the prevailing theme of the book which is all about discovering who you are and where you Continue Reading

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#Halloween book review: Peculiar Ground by Lucy Hughes-Hallett

Posted on October 31, 2019October 31, 2019 by aussiemoose

There is a sense, as you plunge into biographer Lucy Hughes-Hallett’s debut novel, Peculiar Ground, that you are in fact walking into a rare and spectacularly unique world. That world is the estate of Wychwood, which we first encounter in the mid-seventeenth century when landscape architect John Norris is, under Continue Reading

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Book review: Love in Small Letters by Francesc Miralles

Posted on October 27, 2019October 19, 2019 by aussiemoose

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if life was like the movies? Not Alien or Zodiac because no one wants that kind of trouble; no, films like Sleepless in Seattle or While You Were Sleeping where there are complications sure but life and love generally end up in the sweet spot of Continue Reading

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Book review: Five Steps to Happy by Ella Dove

Posted on October 23, 2019October 16, 2019 by aussiemoose

Life is full of surprises. Many are wonderful – unexpected birthday parties, fantastic new job offers, kind words from a total stranger or close friend just when you need it the most. But some are gut-wrenchingly life-changing, the kind that knock you to the ground so profoundly with rug-from-under-you fury Continue Reading

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Book review: It Sounded Better in My Head by Nina Kenwood

Posted on October 19, 2019October 19, 2019 by aussiemoose

Transition points in life are never easy. Oh, we’d like to think they are, or at least will be, since as much as we dread all the change and disruption, we’re also usually quietly (or loudly) excited about the idea that something new and different could be coming down the Continue Reading

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Book review: Ice-Candy Man by Bapsi Sidhwa

Posted on October 16, 2019October 11, 2019 by aussiemoose

When you are taking in the enormity of a major moment in history, it is easy to forget that behind the epic events lie a multiplicity of individual stories. We may see a monolithic whole but it only exists because a host of people all major contributing personal systems that Continue Reading

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Book review: The Book of Wonders by Julien Sandrel

Posted on October 11, 2019October 11, 2019 by aussiemoose

There is something gloriously refreshing about the way the French approach their storytelling. By some act of the gods or simply a gift for prodigiously good and insightful storytelling, authors like Julien Sandrel are able to write unflinchingly about the most heartbreaking of situations, giving it due gravity and respect, Continue Reading

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Apocalypse by another three names: Author M. R. Carey debuts new trilogy

Posted on October 11, 2019October 8, 2019 by aussiemoose

SNAPSHOTBeyond the walls of the small village of Mythen Rood lies an unrecognizable landscape. A place where overgrown forests are filled with choker trees and deadly seeds that will kill you where you stand. And if they don’t get you, one of the dangerous shunned men will. Koli has lived Continue Reading

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Recent Posts

  • On 6th day of Christmas … I read The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan + bonus review of short story The Christmas Book Hunt
  • Happy festive 75th anniversary Peanuts! Review of Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales
  • Songs, songs and more Christmas songs #2 … Elysia Biro, Marcia Hines, Laufey, Jamra, LOLO + Sophie Ellis-Bextor … and more!
  • Festive book review: Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop by Rebecca Raisin
  • Festive comic book review: Cartoon Network Christmas Spectacular

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RSS SparklyPrettyBriiiight

  • On 6th day of Christmas … I read The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan + bonus review of short story The Christmas Book Hunt
    (courtesy Amazon Australia) OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO The Christmas Book Hunt (courtesy Amazon) OOOO
  • Happy festive 75th anniversary Peanuts! Review of Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales
    (courtesy Amazon) SNAPSHOTThe special consists of a series of vignettes, each one starring a different member of the Peanuts gang in various Christmas time situations. (courtesy Peanuts wiki) You have to feel a little sorry for any of the Peanuts’ Christmas specials that followed in the wake of the classic A Charlie Continue Reading
  • Songs, songs and more Christmas songs #2 … Elysia Biro, Marcia Hines, Laufey, Jamra, LOLO + Sophie Ellis-Bextor … and more!
    (via Shutterstock) The first batch of Christmas single took us down a quietly contemplative, chestnuts roasting kind of path but this time we’re channelling all the joy and eggnog-y energy of the season with 11 very catchy songs. Most of them hail from this year’s bountiful crop of festive tracks Continue Reading
  • Festive book review: Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop by Rebecca Raisin
    (courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Ltd.) There is so much power in just being yourself. This reviewer didn’t see it for years, hemmed in by strident opinions from “those who knew better” in the church and in a slew of other places, and I suspect that the eponymous protagonist of Flora’s Continue Reading
  • Festive comic book review: Cartoon Network Christmas Spectacular
    Spending Christmas with those you love is always a joy. And that goes for fictional characters too like many of the gang from Hanna-Barbera, an animation house founded by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in 1957, former MGM employees who gifted the world the hilarious manic delights of Tom and Continue Reading
  • Festive book review: Snow Kissed by RaeAnne Thayne
    (courtesy official author site) Falling in love at Christmas is de rigueur if you want to mark the season properly. That or finding Santa Claus when he’s missing and saving Christmas in the process; but given how tough finding love can be often, maybe finding the big man in red Continue Reading
  • On 4th day of Christmas … I listened to retro festive songs by Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra + Barbra Streisand
    (via Shutterstock) Intangible though it might to say it but many Christmas songs are popular because they feel like the season. And what is that feeling exactly? It’s all kinds of cosiness and warmth, evoked by time with family and friends with snow falling outside – it may do that Continue Reading
  • “You’re in a different world when you’re in tree world.” Come and get to know The Merchants of Joy
    (courtesy First Showing) SNAPSHOTIn the city that never sleeps, five families hustle each winter to turn sidewalks into holiday outposts. The Merchants of Joy follows these Christmas die-hards as they source, sell, and safeguard a family tradition at risk. It’s a warm, grounded portrait of pride, grit, and the joy Continue Reading
  • On 3rd day of Christmas … my inner child read 5 kids Christmas books incl. Jim’s Spectacular Christmas, When Santa Got Stuck in a Gumtree + The Christmas Tale of Peter Rabbit
    (via Shutterstock) I am like a big kid when it comes to Christmas. I have always loved the season and one of my favourite things is reading as many Christmassy books as I can get my hands on; these guys they are more adult in tone and style but my Continue Reading
  • Festive book review: A Snowy Seaside Christmas by Eliza J Scott
    (courtesy Storm Publishing) While any kind of Christmas romcom is usually good for the soul, helping you to believe in redemption, healing and true love, the really good ones, at least for this reader, also project a strong sense of cosy and supportive community. That’s important because finding your special Continue Reading
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