Happy V.C. Andrews Day! Flowers In The Attic was first published on this day in 1979, forty years ago! I'll admit, I first heard about this one on the #MyFavoriteMurder podcast, but it would seem that most booklovers/crime junkies got their start with it, smuggled copies from the shelves of their parents or older siblings... I haven't given it a go yet. Should I? 😅 #SSDGM

Gobsmacked and disappointed by the news that University of Western Australia is planning on scuttling their in-house press, UWAPublishing. Uni presses publish so much more than academic work: including this Miles Franklin Literary Award winner! We're banding together to #SaveUWAP, sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/university-of-western-australia-dear-university-of-west... #ReadingCommunity

Find Me is a continuation of Oliver and Elio's romance in Call Me By Your Name - more like an extended epilogue than a sequel or standalone. Aciman's writing is still dripping with passion, the characters' emotions are still intensely felt and rendered, but it's not as suffocating as Elio's youthful infatuation in the original. An extended review will be available to subscribers at http://www.keepingupwiththepenguins.com/new-releases/ #NewBooks

If you‘ve come to The White Mouse looking for a non-fiction version of The Book Thief or All The Light We Cannot See, you can move right along. This book is not a work of art, it‘s not going to win any literary awards, but it‘s deeply – unavoidably! – charming. It‘s a story of incredible bravery and hardship, told without any sentimentality or self-effacing nonsense. Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-white-mouse-nancy-wake/

I wouldn‘t say the mystery of The Lake House gripped me – I was more mildly curious about how it would turn out. I did find the big reveal to be a bit of a set-up, though, a very heavy-handed reminder that all mothers deeply, truly, no-matter-what love their children, and blood is thicker than water and all that. Still, it ties up all of the loose ends. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-lake-house-kate-morton/ #Bestseller

Bruny isn't a straight political thriller, in that it doesn't follow the formula of a hard-boiled detective chasing up clues and red herrings, but it‘s not a highbrow literary offering either. It sits where the political and the personal intersect, and meditates mostly on the wheeling and dealing of politics, the complexity of modern life. Rose leaves no stone unturned. An extended review for subscribers at http://www.keepingupwiththepenguins.com

The Grapes Of Wrath feels timeless, because the more things change, the more they stay the same. We can all find something familiar in a story about automation, and climate change, and the feelings of powerlessness and fear they inspire. Save for a few technological advancements, I would completely believe that this was a contemporary novel set in the present day. Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-grapes-of-wrath-john-steinbeck/

This is ultimately a story about loyalty. You can tell because the character Sandy keeps on repeating “it‘s only possible to betray where loyalty is due”, which is an interesting moral philosophy in itself. It‘s also a funny book, in the way that Jane Austen‘s Emma was funny: I didn‘t laugh out loud, but I appreciated how it was witty and clever. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie-muriel-spark/

I really didn‘t enjoy Lord Of The Flies. In fact, I kind of resented it. Assigning it to school kids feels like force-feeding them a cautionary tale: “behave the way that the hypocritical adults tell you to, or look how you‘ll end up!”. Really, could it be any more patronising? Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/lord-of-the-flies-william-golding/ #SummerReading

How wonderful to see the complex interior worlds of older women represented in fiction, their lives shown as being something other than “over“! Set in the quintessentially Australian setting at the intersection of beach and bush, three friends come together over one Christmas weekend to clean out the holiday house of their friend who has passed away. Full review available to subscribers at http://www.keepingupwiththepenguins.com/new-releases/

Warren fills the holes where the women should be by making a Very Big Deal of biological paternity, and how one‘s father affects one‘s sense of identity and morality. It‘s central to every plot-line and character arc; the book would perhaps be more accurately called All The King‘s Daddy Issues. But there's a surprisingly happy ending, all things considered. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/all-the-kings-men-robert-penn-warren/

A terrific premise, with so much promise, but I'm afraid the execution let it down for me. The prose was very blunt, to the point of sounding detached, and given the horrific subject matter (kidnapping of Nigerian girls by Boko Haram in 2014)... I also really struggled with the friction of a privileged older white woman writing from the perspective of a traumatised young woman of colour. Best read alongside #ownvoices narratives and non-fiction.

This book challenges you to see these wives of ISIS fighters as humans, not monsters, subject to the same foils as the rest of us. So many of the young people in this book were frustrated by broken promises of radical change. Are there lessons we can learn here, say, for the Climate Strikers that politicians have failed to mollify? Perhaps. Extended review for subscribers at http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/new-releases/ #NewBooks #NonFiction

Are there any books you wish you'd read sooner? I wish I'd taken the opportunity to read Dickens while my grandfather was alive. He loved Dickens, and I know he would've appreciated the opportunity to talk about him with me. PSA: if there's an older person in your life, read the books they love NOW, even if they're not “your thing“. Full list of books I wish I'd read sooner here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/books-i-wish-id-read-sooner/

I‘m stuck in the 20th century as far as literary critique of this one goes; critics in that era came to view the story as a tragedy, where Don Quixote‘s simple idealism is rendered useless by a harsh reality. Sure, there are plenty of quick quips and slapstick encounters, but really, the truth at the heart of the story is terribly sad. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/don-quixote-miguel-de-cervantes-saavedra/ #ClassicBooks

The writing is like Leo Tolstoy meets Gabriel Garcia Marquez meets Elena Ferrante. I couldn‘t honestly call The Eighth Life an “easy” read in any sense, but it is a deeply worthwhile one. Your heart will swell, get torn to pieces, then stitched back together again; you‘ll feel part of the Jashi family, with all the joy and devastation that entails. Full review for subscribers: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/new-releases/ #NewBooks #Translated

I love me a dirty banned book! For once, I can actually see why the censors kicked up such a fuss - there is a LOT of filth. That said, Miller wrote more about food than he did sex (understandable, given that he was literally a starving artist at the time of writing). Tropic of Cancer isn't stream-of-consciousness, but it's something adjacent to it. Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/tropic-of-cancer-henry-miller/ #BannedBooks

By the end of the first page, I could tell that James liked to use 20 words (and as many commas) to say something that could be said in five. Red flag number one! I hoped it would improve but (spoiler alert) NOPE! I came to dread even picking up The Golden Bowl before I‘d reached the end of the first chapter. I finished it, with gritted teeth and LOTS of determination... Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-golden-bowl-henry-james/

I can think of no higher praise than to call this book a conservative nightmare. Solid Air pushes the bounds of what we think of as a “poetry collection“, challenging the erasure of performance poetry, slam, and hip-hop from the publishing world. It is a comprehensive view of the spoken word landscape of the past decade, with poets and performers coming together in chorus to amplify and echo a diverse community voice. #Poetry #Poets #Australian

Don't sleep on this fab GIVEAWAY from Primer: a haul of the best female empowerment books of 2019, including my personal fave SHE SAID, along with Lisa Taddeo's THREE WOMEN, Liz Gilbert's CITY OF GIRLS, and more! Enter via their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B3MRhNigXdf/ #Giveaway #BookHaul #MustRead #BestBooks #Feminist #AmReading

MUST READ: This is the untold story of what it takes to bring accusations against powerful men to light. Kantor and Twohey don‘t simply paint a portrait of Weinstein as a monster (though they have plenty of evidence to do just that). Instead, they examine the company policies and the power-brokers that enabled a monster to thrive for decades. Full review: https://primer.com.au/she-said-review-jodie-kantor-megan-twohey/ #MustRead #NonFiction #MeToo

I worry sometimes that when we think of “diverse books“, we revert to thinking about kids/YA and school reading lists. I've written today about the importance of ALL readers diversifying their personal reading lives. Diverse reading makes us better people, and the world a better place. Plus, Her Body & Other Parties is a PERFECT spooky Halloween read! http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/diverse-books-reading-lists/ #DiverseBooks #DiverseReads

Happy Mean Girls Day! Did you know that Tina Fey adapted the concept for Mean Girls from Queen Bees and Wannabes? I'm so glad she did - it was ambitious and it paid off, this is still one of my favourite films of all time! #October #MeanGirls #Trivia #FunFact

Spooky reading season is upon us!! I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to outright horror, but I'm game for thrillers, true crime, and - of course - the classics! What will YOU be reading in the run-up to Halloween this year? #Spooky #ClassicBooks #TrueCrime #Thriller #Halloween #AmReading #October

Jackson has spent years researching endometriosis and related conditions, and the broader medical system. In Pain and Prejudice, from Plato's wandering womb to the present day, she unpicks the complex social history that has got us to the point where women are expected to suffer in silence. A fascinating read that will fill you with indignant fury. My full review is available to subscribers here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/new-releases/

I LOVE seeing all these Banned Books Week celebrations in my feed 😍 As far as I'm concerned, Banned Books Week is one of the most important events in the literary calendar each year. With today's political climate, more and more institutions seek to silence stories, and this is a timely reminder to KEEP THE LIGHT ON: Censorship leaves us all in the dark, as the theme for this year goes. Read a banned book today, fight the power! #BannedBooksWeek

I had mixed feelings about this one, making it hard to give a review, because Inferno (the first part) was GREAT! Hilarious, engaging, entertaining, loved it... only things started to go downhill in Purgatorio, and Paradiso really stank. In sum, I'd say pick up a copy of Inferno and read that, but you can safely give the rest of it a miss. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-divine-comedy-dante-alighieri/ #Poetry #Classics

The main highlights of My Brilliant Career are the language and Franklin‘s turn of phrase, which reminded me of my grandmother (makes sense, given the time period and geography). On the whole, though, I didn‘t develop a strong feeling about the book one way or another. I probably won‘t read it again, but I wouldn‘t tell anyone else that they shouldn‘t bother. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/my-brilliant-career-miles-franklin/

I couldn‘t help but laugh at times at how truly bad this was, but that doesn‘t mean I don‘t respect the fans Roth has won herself around the world, and the power that a beloved series like this can have in ensuring the continuing literacy of younger generations. I won‘t be reading any more of Roth‘s work, but I don‘t begrudge anyone who finds joy in it. Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/divergent-veronica-roth/ #Dystopia #AmReading

HAPPY HOBBIT DAY! Hope you're all finding fun ways to celebrate Bilbo and Frodo's shared birthday 🤓 I'm flipping through this copy my father gave me as a kid. Seeing as Banned Books Week starts tomorrow, here's some trivia for you: The Hobbit has been banned several times, most notably in 2001, when a Christian group in New Mexico held a LITERAL BOOK BURNING to decry Tolkien's work. Crazy, eh? #HobbitDay #TheHobbit #BannedBooks #BannedBooksWeek

When a scientist turns to writing poetry/fiction I can‘t help but sit up and pay attention: the merging of oil and milk is too fascinating to resist. This is a story of all-encompassing grief, intensely poetic and full of natural imagery and metaphor. Niehaus brings together all kinds of binaries: art and science, grief and hope, birth and death. Exclusive review for subscribers at http://www.keepingupwiththepenguins.com #7Days7Covers #CoverCrush

CONTROVERSIAL OPINION: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a way better book than The Great Gatsby. They're comparable, but Loos‘ effort is just so much better! I think this one is written off as a funny little story about a silly gold-digger, but scratch the surface and you‘ll find a compelling, hilarious account of gender roles, politics, and power in 1920s America. Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/gentlemen-prefer-blondes-anita-loos/

Thursday 19 September is AUSTRALIAN READING HOUR. Booklovers all over the country #TakeTheTime to read for an hour, to themselves, to their family, to their dog, to anyone who will listen. I love this event, and its powerful reminder that reading rejuvenates us, reactivates us, and reeducates us. Literacy saves lives! The only problem is picking a book from my groaning TBR pile... #ReadingHour #ToBeRead #AmReading #GoodReads #MustRead

Here‘s my tl;dr summary: a middle-aged straight white guy in a dystopian future burns books for a living, until he meets a seventeen-year-old hottie and decides to have a mid-life crisis. *shrugs* I know it‘s not a popular opinion, but I really wasn‘t that fussed on it. I think it's great for the highschoolers who need an intro to dystopia. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/fahrenheit-451-ray-bradbury/ #7Days7Covers #Dystopian

Austen is a slow burn for me, but I'm glad I persisted. She cloaks a lot of subversive social commentary (even by today's standards) in the mores of her time: wealth and power corrupt, the family unit is symbolically powerful but ultimately ineffectual, and marriage is about community, not romance. There's very little in her books about romantic love, really. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/pride-and-prejudice-jane-austen/

This is one for the Liane Moriarty fans. It felt very The Husband‘s Secret-esque, just not quite as compelling. Don‘t come in expecting a lot of bookish chat; that part of the plot is over and done with quite quickly, and you‘ll learn more about scuba diving than you will about running a book club 😅 Exclusive review for subscribers at http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/new-releases/ #NewBooks #BookClub #7Days7Covers

The Gilead of The Testaments is no longer a burgeoning state, finding its feet. Now, an entire generation of children raised under its strict established regime, with no memory of the old world, are coming of age. A compelling, must-read (and must-re-read) celebration of resistance. Full review on Primer: https://primer.com.au/praise-be-the-handmaids-tale-sequel-is-here/ #TheTestaments #NewBooks

This book is not only great fun, it‘s also easy to pick up and put down. Perfect for holidays and other busy periods where your attention might be diverted. It's like a European Forrest Gump, but better! It's now my number one recommendation for a delightful cheer-up read, my go-to for when I need a smile. Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-one-hundred-year-old-man-who-climbed-out...

I assumed–with the Nobel Prize and everything–that this would be a Very Smart(TM) book, dense to the point of unreadable. Not so! It was very accessible, even without having an intimate knowledge of the time period and setting. If you liked Memoirs Of A Geisha, you need to put this one on your TBR (in fact, put it right at the top–trust me!). Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/an-artist-of-the-floating-world-kazuo-ishigu...

A woman finds an envelope, written in her husband‘s hand, and it says (*ominous music*): “For my wife, only to be opened in the event of my death”. But her husband is still very much alive, and he won‘t tell her what‘s inside. That's one heck of a premise! Moriarty's breakthrough novel wasn't without its problems, but still jaw-dropping in twists. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-husbands-secret-liane-moriarty/ #Australian

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn was published eight years after The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, and represents – in my mind, anyway – a huge leap forward in terms of Twain‘s craft. It was the first major American novel to be written entirely in vernacular English (i.e., in the slang and local colour of the region), compelling and readable. Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn-mark-twai... #BannedBooks

This would be a great one to read out loud to kids, but that‘s not all it‘s good for. It‘s also a great pick for adults who need a little bit of a break from lofty literature. And I‘m glad Grahame managed to turn his rotten life circumstances into a wonderful and enduring story that has become such a major source of joy in so many childhoods – good on him! Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-wind-in-the-willows-kenneth-grahame/

When you pick up a book called The Life And Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, you figure that you‘re going to read all about… well, the life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, who was probably a top bloke. But you‘d be wrong! Laurence Sterne has some fun in store for us, my friend. This is not a classic book for beginners. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-life-and-opinions-of-tristram-shandy-gen...

If you‘re interested in how your thinking meat works, you‘ll get a lot out of this book, but I‘d recommend strongly against having it be your only source of information on neuroplasticity. It‘s flawed in many respects, and the best way to compensate for that is to fill the gaps with other books that do it better. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-brain-that-changes-itself-norman-doidge/ #NonFiction #Science

The Hitchhiker‘s Guide To The Galaxy is perfect if you‘re in need of a laugh, as I was when I read it. I‘m not sure I‘d read it again, I didn‘t love it that much, but I‘m glad I did. It made me think a lot about how sci-fi is often maligned, and how varied the genre can actually be, unbeknownst to the readers that look down their noses at it. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-douglas-...

Gibbons seems to be the poor cousin of early 20th century authors, ignored by academics and readers alike. She wrote Cold Comfort Farm with her tongue planted firmly in her cheek. It lands somewhere between Jane Austen and Fawlty Towers. I really enjoyed it, in spite of myself (and its cover, maybe there is something to that “not-judging-a-book” business after all). Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/cold-comfort-farm-stella-gibbons/

The cover promises “a fable about following your dreams”, and I suppose it delivered, technically. Like any fable, it wasn‘t a tough read, and I burned through it in just a few hours. The Alchemist reads like a fairytale with very simple and straightforward language; I wondered if it read the same way in the original Portuguese, but I guess I‘ll never know. Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-alchemist-paulo-coelho/ #BooksAreMagic

A repressed Jewish guy whacks his psychiatrist over the head with his Oedipal complex. It‘s funny, engaging, and charming, perhaps a little too dirty for some folks but that‘s how I like ‘em. Reading it is like eating apple pie & ice cream for dinner: you could make an argument that there‘s some nutritional value in doing it, but it‘s just indulgent fun for grown-ups. Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/portnoys-complaint-philip-roth/

The metaphor of Cadence‘s amnesia was masterfully done (it mirrors the WASP-y family tradition of denial), and I haven‘t seen that kind of complexity in many other Young Adult novels to date. All told, I‘d say this is a good one to start with if you‘re an adult-adult who‘s curious as to why so many readers your age are turning to Young Adult fiction. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/we-were-liars-e-lockhart/ #YoungAdult

If you‘re going to read Little Women for the first time, you need to find an edition with a decent introduction. I know not everyone reads the introduction first, but in this case it's important. I would have been adrift without a prior understanding of Louisa May Alcott‘s background and her politics and her motivations behind writing Little Women. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/little-women-louisa-may-alcott-review/