(read at Pindari cabin, Yeranda Cottages, Dungog, 2-9 January 2024) Every one of us reaches at a point at the start of our adult lives where many of the childlike things that defined us fall away or are transformed and we have to reckon with what it means to be Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: The wondrous discovery of The Dandelion (Little Margo Stories)
(courtesy YouTube (c) Little Largo Stories) As we get older, we all too often lose sight of what it is to discover something for the first time. All that wonder and thrill of discover ebbs away and we’re left feeling like we’ve seen it all before and that nothing will Continue Reading
Book review: All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) One of the things that daunts many readers, including this reviewer, in an age of content plenty and time paucity, is embarking on a series of books, especially a lengthy of one of say, nine books. It’s not that the narrative arc doesn’t enthrall with its Continue Reading
Movie review: Migration
(courtesy IMP Awards) Life can be a LOT. In many ways, that’s a good thing, with all the thrilling possibility and hope that offers us for great adventures, wondrous discoveries and amazing experiences; sometimes though it can all be too much, and because of trauma or anxiety or a host Continue Reading
Mini-mass of movie trailers: IF, Which Brings Me to You, Kung Fu Panda 4, Dune Part Two and Self Reliance
(via Shutterstock) Another year, another mass of amazing movies coming our way! Will we have time to watch them all? Likely not. But will we attempt to watch them all anyway? Abso-cinematically-lutely! These five films all have a bit of weirdness and whimsy about them, and while life can feel Continue Reading
Do readers dream of running a bookshop? Books about booksellers are having a moment – the reality can be less romantic
(Photo by Fahrul Azmi on Unsplash) This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. My mother and I wanted to open a bookshop. We signed up for a CAE course, which was cancelled when the bookseller who ran it went out of Continue Reading
Movie review: Wish
(courtesy IMP Awards) Being the surprising optimistic people that we are, we like to think that good intentions will always result in flawlessly happy outcomes. Entire religions and value sets, rom-coms and indeed pop culture kingdoms such as that of Disney, which turned 100 in 2023, are built on the Continue Reading
Book review: New Year’s Kiss by Lee Matthews
(courtesy Penguin Random House) We love the idea of reinvention. There’s something immensely appealing about the idea that we’ve made mistakes or decisions that have changed us in some way , or life has strangely twisted us in some way, and that all that damage can be undone. The idea Continue Reading
Fire up the stereo and let the music fly free: My top 25 songs of 2023
(via Shutterstock) I love music. It moves me in so many different, profoundly deep ways and it acts as a soundtrack to my life, sometimes making sense of stuff I’m going through and other times simply giving me some diversion from the annoying bits and pieces of life. Like commuting; Continue Reading
Popcorn and wine and a comfy seat in the dark: My top 25 films of 2023
(via Shutterstock) It was another full to the brim year of me trying to get to the cinema as much as I could and streaming all the films at my disposal when a physical visit simply wasn’t possible. Still, for all the ease of streaming, there’s something still quite lovely Continue Reading