Welcome to Litsy!

A memoir about Helen Garner following her grandson‘s local footy club for a year. As always I appreciated Garner‘s sharp eye, honesty and her clean writing. She uses a mix of precise language & colloquialisms that brings scenes to life & make you turn the page. Still, the practices & matches become repetitive & having lived it myself, not novel. It highlights community & the fact boys can be sensitive as well as violent. Not all men, etc.

As an Aussie with very little interest in AFL & as someone who doesn‘t read a lot of non fiction - this was a surprising choice!

While there is a lot about AFL and names of sports stars that I‘ve never heard of - it‘s also a reflection on loving something without necessarily having a strong grasp on the rules, on aging, on family bonds and watching a beloved grandson transition into manhood - all with footy training as the back drop.

Last read for 2024. It was insightful, delightful and interesting.
I‘ve read 118 books in 2024 , 46 of them Aussie. Both numbers up on last year.
Also 8th Litsy anniversary. Those years have flown.
Happy New Year to you all.
May 2025 bring peace.
That‘s what I wish most of all.
❤️❤️❤️

Reading this book by an author I love. Such an observer of life and her wonderful descriptions. Sometimes she knocks how I‘m feeling right on the head! She actually lives next door to her grandkids and gets to see them a lot. Love this observation and the truth that is in it for me. Loving the read .

Australian author Helen Garner is a must-read for me. She‘s an octogenarian and this is her first book in a while. She says she wrote it about her youngest grandson‘s U16 football team as a way to connect with him “before he turns into a man and I die”. As a mum of boys obsessed with AFL myself (whilst I have minimal interest 😬), there was a lot for me to relate to.

I want to be Helen Garner when I‘m 80. Here she is talking about running after a football and “chucking” it to the umpire, along with her characteristic anachronistic commentary (in this instance body-shaming 🤦🏻‍♀️). The kind of stuff that gets her in trouble. I don‘t want to be like her in that way, but physically and mentally, to be able to ‘run‘ and ‘chuck‘ and write books in her 80s! Wow!