“Fewer than one in five sex offences reported to the police result in charges being laid” 😢😤

The photo is pretty 😍; the memoir is not. Utterly riveting, page-turning, & frequently, stomach-churning. Bri writes about her time as a judge‘s associate on circuit in rural Queensland & the plethora of child abuse & sexual assault cases heard in the country towns she visited. All while grappling with her own childhood trauma & whether to report it to police. The saying, “It‘s a legal system, not a justice system” comes to mind.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

You know when you go down rabbit holes, researching writers and books? And you search for them on social media? And then you find a photo on their Insta page of the event you attended that inspired you to read the book? AND YOU‘RE IN THE PHOTO 😆🤩😍

Glad I wasn‘t the one mooning. Phew 😅

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia 2019

I saw Rhik speak at the 2019 Ubud Writer‘s festival and subsequently added this memoir to my #tbr list. I have finally gotten around to reading it. Those in the UK may know who Rhik is, but I hadn‘t heard of him.

There is trauma, there is humour and there are life lessons. @Jeg I wondered whether you might appreciate this one & I‘d be happy to loan it to you 🤔.

Salma is a formidable young feminist who I‘ve followed on Insta for a few years. When I saw she‘d written a debut novel about 3 Muslim besties I was intrigued. It‘s kinda highbrow chick lit with a feminist twist.
Loved it 😍

My second Peggy Frew. I read and loved her novel Islands. When I saw this one emerge in the bookshops I had to have it. A book about adult sisters dealing with ‘stuff‘ by an Australian author I rate is always going to appeal (it might just be that I have my own unresolved issues with sisters & I‘m after a bit of bibliotherapy 😉).

I was not disappointed. This was beautifully written and felt very raw and real. Excellent #ozfiction.

I‘ve been devoting professional development hours to learning about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) this year. I completed Russ Harris‘s introductory online course and then purchased this book.
ACT is a form of cognitive behaviour therapy and there is a growing body of evidence of its effectiveness. It also just feels right to me.
The book includes a kid-friendly adaptation of the hexaflex. I highly recommend this practical, useful text.

Part work-read & part personal-read to support a family member. Evidence based. Easy to follow plan for dealing with binge eating. Recommended 👍🏼.

#upnext
I‘m on an #ozfiction roll 🇦🇺

Just finished this 2022 Miles Franklin Award winner. There is some heavy content, but handled in a way that made it somehow palatable/tolerable 🤔. A character-driven page-turner by a young Australian novelist. Bravo 👏. #ozfiction

Went to an actual indoor, live music concert on Thursday night to see 80s Australian band The Church. There‘s an iconic bookshop nearby, and, well, I had to have a “browse”…

Am getting started on the 2022 Miles Franklin winner first, Bodies of Light. All your fault @Jeg as I saw your recent Litsy review 😆.

This was exceptionally good. Gripping, dark and complicated. I absolutely loved it and I almost want to pick it up and start it all over again. Very bleak and with too many trigger warnings to fit in a Litsy review 😱. Do yourself a favour and get your hands on it if you dare. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#Upnext for book club. Banh mi accompaniment 😋. #ozfiction

This is a case of, “did I read the same book (that a few others on Litsy did not enjoy)?” @Jeg
A slow, ponderous, literary novel set in Italy & Australia about siblings and parents, lovers & art history and how our family of origin shapes us.
No neat bows. Reminded me a little of fellow Australian Georgia Blain and Rhubarb by Craig Silvey. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#ozfiction

When ‘naive‘ Australian Noah meets erudite Italian Dora.

“Australianness, she‘d implied, was a condition of ignorance and innocence, corrupted by good luck.”

#currentlyreading #ozfiction

“In the coral light of a summer dawn, Martin Glass recalled a tale. Two brothers in their late seventies attended the funeral of their father, aged 42”.

Intriguing, no?

#firstlinefridays
@ShyBookOwl

I got this book in Ubud, Bali at the Writer‘s Festival in 2018 after seeing the author speak. Then I saw some not-so-positive reviews & pushed it down my #tbr list. A couple of weekends ago I heard someone on the radio (I don‘t even know who it was!) say Gail Jones is an undervalued Australian writer. So, I‘m determined to read it. I have read & enjoyed a couple of her other books, Sixty Lights & Dreams of Speaking. #ozfiction #currentlyreading

I loved this book 💕😆. So clever and funny. I can see why it‘s on ‘must read‘ and ‘funniest books‘ lists. I struggled a little at first with the language and tone, but then it really hit its stride and I annoyed my family with my guffaws. I can also see why it‘s a ‘comfort read‘ for some people because I can imagine going back to it (and I‘m not prone to re-reads). Hilarious 🤣👏. Now for the movie 🎥…

So I‘ve hit page 100 and I‘m laughing out loud at Flora and Mr Mybug‘s first encounter. So wrong, but so funny. 🤭 #currentlyreading

*the pictured text is a screenshot of what I found when I googled ‘sukebind‘.

Sukebind? Mollocking? Scranleting? I‘m up to page 78 and have so far found some of the vernacular impenetrable. Then Gibbons adds in these made-up words to further confuse me. I am intrigued and amused though & I shall persist💪📖🤓.

#currentlyreading #classic

I did it. All 154 sonnets, read over the past 7 weeks. I got a little ‘advantage‘ in the end with one of my sons getting Covid. It has meant we are all stuck at home this week.

Thank you for hosting @GingerAntics & for sharing my enthusiasm @Graywacke @batsy @TheBookHippie

But now what will I do with my time? 🤔😆

Sonnet 148. I like this one about the madness or rather the blindness of true love ❤️.

Apologies for my prolific posts. I‘ve almost finished the
#shakespearereadalong #sonnets
along with these crazy cats
@batsy @GingerAntics @Graywacke @TheBookHippie

😏 Really Shakespeare? 🐥👶

So you feel like a neglected child? If the shoe fits…

Even Patrick Stewart couldn‘t bring himself to read this one #sonnetaday #shakespearereadalong #sonnets

@batsy @TheBookHippie @GingerAntics @Graywacke

Sonnet 141 #shakespearereadalong #sonnets
As the Dark Lady sonnets progress we hear about her flaws. He critiques her appearance, her voice & even her smell! “But ‘tis my heart that loves what they (his eyes) despise”.
Not the kind of love poem I‘d want written about me. Did she read them? If so, how did she respond 🤔? And as for smell, I don‘t want to think too much about the smells in the 1590s.

@GingerAntics @Graywacke @batsy @TheBookHippie

So it‘s all the blues here today with my #currentreads and my nails. Our 13yo has Covid and I‘ve worked from home for the for the past 3 days. Now it‘s my days off and I have no excuse not to finish these two beauties to meet the #shakespearereadalong #sonnets and my Monday #bookclub deadlines. We have to isolate until Sunday at the earliest so🤞🙏.

I like to call this one
‘Shakespeare Keeping It Real‘.
It‘s one of my favourite #sonnets. I remember studying it at school.
I am for some reason reminded of the Bruce Springsteen lyric,
“You ain‘t a beauty, but hey you‘re alright”
😉
#shakespearereadalong
@batsy @TheBookHippie @Graywacke @GingerAntics

And so ‘the dark lady‘ enters the fray. Sonnet 127. #shakespearereadalong #sonnets

@TheBookHippie @Graywacke @batsy @GingerAntics

Sonnet 126 was the final one written to the ‘fair young man‘. Hard to believe the relationship was platonic as some have suggested; close relationships between men that were not romances apparently being a thing at the time. What do others think?
And what about the different rhyme scheme & only 12 lines? Maybe it‘s to signify the end of these particular sonnets 🤔.

#shakespearereadalong #sonnets

@GingerAntics @batsy @TheBookHippie @Graywacke

And so quickly after eternal love in Sonnet 116, he moves to vile & evil men 👿.
‘If you don‘t know me then keep your opinions to yourself‘ seems to be the message here.
I wonder who and in what way he was being judged? His work perhaps 🤔?

#shakespearereadalong #sonnnets

@GingerAntics @Graywacke @batsy @TheBookHippie

One of my favourites and often read at weddings because of its message about the permanence of true love 💕.

#shakespearereadalong #sonnets

@TheBookHippie @Graywacke @batsy @GingerAntics

Up to sonnet 106 (of 154) in the #sonnets #shakespearereadalong. Seems to be another sonnet contemplating the beauty of his muse/friend/lover.

Is the gentleman pictured here supposed to be ‘the fair youth‘ I wonder 🤔?

@GingerAntics @Graywacke @batsy @TheBookHippie

I am pleasantly surprised how much I am enjoying the #shakespearereadalong of his #sonnets. I‘m sure this beautiful edition is helping.
I‘m into the 100s now. Reading them to myself, then aloud, listening to others read them online & reading analysis of them is helping me process & understand them.
👏💪📖🎉
@GingerAntics @Graywacke @batsy @TheBookHippie

Making a start on this at the hairdressers this morning. It‘s this month‘s book club read. #currentlyreading #classics

Skim read this book I picked up in a little free library. It will be going straight back into my street library as there may be women out there who want basic info on menopause from this accessible book by Australian model (& wife of a Daddo) Alison Daddo. I really just wanted to see whether there was anything new in this one as I‘ve already read a lot on the topic. I might recommend it to non-readers 🤔. #booksnob

#Alphabetgame
#letterA

I just saw that @BarbaraBB posted the tagged book as a 4⭐️ read for her July stats. It reminded me how much I loved this book & Maggie O‘Farrell.

Wanna have a go at posting a book you‘d recommend that starts with ‘A‘ @Rissreads @Jeg ?

Thanks for the tag @Lizpixie ☺️

Sonnet 81. How interesting that here Shakespeare seems to be pondering that his muse will live on in the poems but Shakespeare himself will be forgotten.

We don‘t even know the name of the subject of his sonnets, but forever more Shakespeare himself will be known to all.

Catching up on my #shakespearereadalong #sonnets on a winter afternoon here in Western Australia. I enjoyed this one where Shakespeare compares his love to food; both so essential to life. Will he starve himself or be a glutton? Same, same 🤷‍♀️😆

#shakespearereadalong #sonnets 73

When 16 year old me analysed this sonnet, I wrote things in the margin like:
“Destruction of the beautiful”
“Death” and
“Will is saying, ‘make the most of me while I‘m here‘”
51 year old me agrees 😂

@GingerAntics
@Graywacke
@batsy
@TheBookHippie

I love Coleman‘s work & have read her two previous novels & excellent book of essays, Lies Damned Lies. She writes #specfic with a twist & I can‘t recommend her 1st novel, Terra Nullius, highly enough.
It therefore pains me to say I didn‘t love this. It felt unfinished & simplistic. I struggled with awkward sentences like, “Sienna oozed forward, the word ‘hi‘ squeezing out with her breath”. Language evolves & maybe I‘m just too old 🤷‍♀️.

Sonnet 69 sure is resonating with me today. Someone in my life is physically beautiful & admired, but I‘m noticing their less admirable qualities. Unlike Shakespeare in this sonnet, I don‘t think it‘s because of who they are hanging out with. It‘s more that they think they are better than others and go through the world deflecting any evidence to the contrary. Sometimes I think perception is everything. 🤔 #shakespearereadalong #sonnets

How‘s that for a paragraph 😮👏. Just starting this new release speculative #ozfiction by the masterful Claire G. Coleman. #currentlyreading

* major trigger warnings*
The Parcel 📦. I guess you have to call a sex-trafficked child this, to entirely strip them of their humanity.
A very uncomfortable but worthwhile read set in Bombay, about the life of Madhu, a ‘hijra‘ “eunuch, people of the third sex”. Madhu lives in a brothel & is given the job of preparing a child to work there.
Irani deftly paints a picture of the circumstances that could lead to such a horrific outcome. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shakespeare‘s sonnets for the win on a rainy Sunday #shakespearereadalong
Reviewing my 1988 high school analysis as I read these, whilst I listen to the dulcet tones of Sir Patrick Stewart reading them aloud on YouTube.
@GingerAntics @Graywacke @batsy

#currentlyreading Making a start on this novel which was put in my hand by a friend a couple of years ago. She praised it highly and I am finally picking it up. I am bracing myself for a tough but hopefully beautifully written tale. 🙏

The lovely @Jeg passed this on to me. It was interesting to read about the Rhodes Scholarship & how Australia‘s political & education systems reinforce power and privilege. Lee writes very well.
However it seemed somewhat unfocused. There were lots of facts & figures (which I enjoyed), as well as extensive exploration of her own inferiority complex. I learnt about the kyriarchy, which Bri posits is how our system operates. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
#negroni

Scored these on a stroll today from a free street library. Winning 🙌

I found this 1988 illustrated version of Shakespeare‘s sonnets on my bookshelf. I would‘ve been in my final year of high school. I think I bought this book as part of a monthly Doubleday subscription at the time 🤔. Such a book nerd through & through 🤓📖❤️.
Enjoying rereading them now as part of the #sonnets #shakespearereadalong hosted by @GingerAntics
 @Graywacke
 @batsy

#shakespearereadalong @GingerAntics @Graywacke @batsy Here‘s some of my high school English Lit analysis 🧐. When I still wrote in my books! 🫣 #sonnets

Got home from holidays to find this in my little free library. Gifted by The Book Fairies. Squeee! 🧚‍♀️ 💚🙏.

Listened to these creepy tales on a road trip.
Mt Barker, Western Australia