I keep thinking I’ve almost finished this crazy deadline, and I’ll be able to curl up on the couch with a book, but sadly not quite. But audiobooks have allowed me to keep reading… well, listening to… books, and I’m so grateful to all the authors who create them.
How We Love by Clementine Ford (67 of 52) is beautiful, and moving, and funny, and sad, and heartbreakingly, sometimes brutally, honest – and not at all what most people who loved (or loathed) the brilliant Fight Like A Girl and Boys Will Be Boys would expect. I listened to the audiobook (thanks to deadline craziness and no time to read), which is wonderfully narrated by Clementine, and I bought the book too, so Juz can read it, and cos I loved it and want it on my shelf. (Although I may need an extra bookshelf, oops!)
I really admire Clementine’s bravery, in revealing herself so deeply, from awkward first love, unrequited love, passionate love, platonic love, friendship love, and at the heart of it all, the love for the mother she lost too young, and the love for her son who she adores, as well as the respect and generosity of spirit she has for her son’s father, and her slow journey to self-love and self-kindness. She reveals the hurt she’s felt, as well as her regret for those she’s hurt, with an honesty that is breathtaking. Tender and poignant and heartfelt and confessional and brave and gentle and powerful and definitely worth reading.
Anita Heiss is one of my favourite authors, and I’m always astounded by just how wonderfully different her books are. Her historical novel Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray was my favourite read of 2021, and I also loved her young readers book Who Am I?, and her women’s fiction/contemporary romance Manhattan Dreaming, plus last year’s contemporary read Tiddas and the wonderful historical novel Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms (plus the non-fiction collection Anita edited, Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia).
Paris Dreaming (68 of 52) is about Libby, the best friend of Manhattan Dreaming’s Lauren, and it’s a lovely, sweet, funny, moving story that’s described as contemporary romance, which it is, but it’s also even more a story of friendship and the precious bonds between women, the support and kindness of long-time best friends from home, and the magic of new friends in a new land too. Libby and Lauren work at the National Aboriginal Gallery in Canberra, and there are lots of references to talented First Nations artists throughout both books, as well as how much they both value their work and careers. When Libby gets the chance to work at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, as Lauren had at New York’s Smithsonian, it’s a chance for her to experience a new city, a new culture, new friends and a new self, and possibly a new romance too. It was wonderful to walk the streets of Paris with Libby, to watch her new relationships develop, and be challenged, and to meet her new Roma friend Sorina and see if she could help her avoid deportation (leaving Libby shocked at some of France’s terrible policies and viewpoints – and able to weave in just how devastating some of Australia’s are too…). The audiobook is narrated by young Aboriginal actor Miah Madden (whose sister Madeleine plays Egwene in Wheel of Time), and she does a wonderful job, especially with all the French accents, and the men’s voices too. And it’s currently Included in Audible membership, along with Manhattan Dreaming, so have a listen!
The brilliant Aussie STEM Stars series explores the lives of some of Australia’s top scientists and inventors, covering their childhood, school, family, for¬mative experiences, what inspired them to pursue their chosen path, how they persevered in the face of challenges, and their contributions to science all over the world.
John Long: Fossil Hunter (69 of 52) by Danielle Clode is a wonderful addition to the series. Palaeontologist, author and professor John Long fell in love with fossils as a kid, when he’d go searching along the Victorian coast with his cousin Tim Flannery, and he’s spent his whole life hunting for, exploring and studying them. This book, written like an adventure novel but all true, documents John’s many expeditions to collect fossils, his ground-breaking discoveries that have changed the way the whole world thinks about the evolution of back-boned animals, and how major global mass extinctions were caused, as well as some of the varied ways he’s been able to work within the field and associated areas, and the challenges of being a professional palaeontologist. He’s also worked with the Australian police to bust the illegal fossil trade, and written more than 25 science books, for both younger and adult readers – and had a few fossils named after him. A fascinating man with a fascinating life, and this well-written book is a fascinating, inspiring read.
Author Danielle Clode, a zoologist and professor at Flinders University, where John also works, has also written many science and natural history books, including three other books on fossils for younger readers, Prehistoric Giants: Megafauna of Australia, Prehistoric Marine Life of Australia’s Inland Sea, and From Dinosaurs to Diprotodons: Australia’s Amazing Fossils. And I’ve ordered her In Search of the Woman Who Sailed the World – an ode to the sea, to science and to one remarkable woman who, like all explorers, charted her own course for others to follow – which looks wonderful…
Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead (70 of 52) by Emily Austin wasn’t exactly what I expected from the blurb, and is more depressing than humorous, but it was compelling enough that I stayed up stupidly late to finish it, so there’s that! There are some wry observations, and it very touchingly describes serious anxiety, giving valuable insight into those who suffer, and although it started off as one kind of book then slipped into another, I’m glad I read it. And many many people absolutely loved it, so click and swipe for some of their comments…
Meet Gilda. She cannot stop thinking about death. Desperate for relief from her anxious mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local church and finds herself abruptly hired to replace the deceased receptionist Grace. It’s not the most obvious job – she’s queer and an atheist for starters – and so in between trying to learn mass, hiding her new maybe-girlfriend and conducting an amateur investigation into Grace’s death, Gilda must avoid revealing the truth of her mortifying existence.
A blend of warmth, deadpan humour, and pitch-perfect observations about the human condition, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is a crackling exploration of what it takes to stay afloat in a world where your expiration – and the expiration of those you love – is the only certainty.
Awesome Emu (71 of 52) by Gregg Dreise is the fifth in his award-winning ch
ildren’s picture book series that includes Silly Birds, Mad Magpie, Cunning Crow and Kookoo Kookaburra. This one is a gorgeously illustrated book with a subtle message about remaining humble and being kind. Dinewah is a very confident emu, who spends all his time trying to prove how much better he is than everyone else. A faster runner, a faster flyer, and more colourful too. He’s so busy boasting about how awesome he is, that he doesn’t realise all the other animals are annoyed with him. Rather than being impressed by his bragging, they think he’s a show-off who needs to learn a lesson – and Crow is just the one to do it.
Based on a First Nations story and First Nations astronomy, this is a beautiful book, with enchanting characters, stunning artwork by multi-talented (but humble!) author, artist and singer/songwriter Gregg Dreise, and a few words of his Gamilaraay language woven into the story to add an extra layer of magic. It’s another wonderful book by Broome’s Magabala Books, Australia’s leading Indigenous publishing house. Aboriginal owned and led, it celebrates and nurtures the talent and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, and has so many incredible books available, from picture books to young reader and young adult tomes, and fiction and non-fiction for adults too… Gregg also has some wonderful books through other publishers, and some of his songs on his website, and does school visits and more…
Why do stars twinkle? How do you spot comets? Will the earth collide with a killer asteroid? Fred Watson, Australia’s Astronomer-at-Large, has written many books for adults, but Spacewarp: Colliding Comets and Other Cosmic Catastrophes (72 of 52) is his first book for younger readers, and it’s wonderfully informative as well as funny, with a quirky mix of mind-boggling facts on planets, aliens, galactic road rage, black holes, dark secrets and more, quiz questions, and cute illustrations of cats, moons and witches by the author. It also acknowledges Australia’s First Nations People as the first astronomers, and the significance of their contributions to astronomy.
Recognised internationally for helping to pioneer the use of fibre optics in astronomy during the 1980s, Fred is best known today for his radio and TV broadcasts, books, podcasts, and other ventures, which have earned him many awards. He even has an asteroid named after him – 5691 Fredwatson – but he insists that if it hits the Earth, it won’t be his fault.
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