About to return .....

After an absence of way too long - and not remembering my login details - I am about to return!!!!

Far too long ...

It has indeed been far too long ... but I am pleased to say that I have read much!!!

But the latest, the new love, is Kate Atkinson.  When Will There be Good News is the first novel by this author that I have read - and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!  The characters are so unique and yet so believable; it is dramatic and tragic and yet so funny.  I am so impressed and so inspired by the author!!  I adore the character of Reggie :) and love the way that the relationships of various characters connect and intertwine - I do not struggle at all with the coincidences inherent.  It is truly goregeous <3  I am almost at the end and I believe this is going to be one of those stories that I am sad when it ends.  I will review in more depth when I am done ...


I also HAVE to comment on S J Watson's Before I go to Sleep - which a student gave to me ... and I was so delighted :)


Oooh ... so much to catch up on ... and finally the time to do it!!!

 

How long has it been ???

OMG! I can't believe how long it has been since I posted anything ... oh dear, where to start????  Perhaps I should go backwards.  

Tonight I have to find something new to read, as I have just finished Chris Womersley's Bereft.  I really enjoyed this novel - I had started it a few times and kept putting down, but finally 'got into it'.  It was certainly tragic and rather heartwarming, and one I recommend :)

I have also recently read a young adult novel, The Visconti House .. a rather delightful little story of discovering the history of a house, friendship and belonging.  Rather sweet, and I enjoyed it - when I remembered not to read it as an adult !

Before that?  I can hardly remember .... Jon McGregor's Even the Dogs - so different to what I usually read, a narrative about a group of drug abusers, death and societal exclusion.  I found this in the library with my students, gathering ideas and texts on ideas and issues.  I myself decided to explore the idea of living on the fringes of society, and this novel was certainly about that!!!  Although I confess I am yet to go back and finish it - not the norm for me - it was intriguing, and the style of writing reflected the addictive, repetitive and impoverished experiences of the characters ....

My writing has been fragmented - odd inspirations, but as it is the dreaded result and report writing time (meh!) I have not been particularly productive!  But I will, I will ....

Good news is that I have my new desk - yay!!!! - and have (sort of) moved into my new study library :)   So once these horrid reports are out of the way, I plan to be BACK!

A poet I am clearly not ....

I have commenced writing a new book: My Book of Lousy Poetry.  So far it is disgustingly bad.  I am fairly certain it will never be a best-seller; in fact it will probably never see the light of day.  And yet it makes me laugh - or should I cry?  No matter ... I wonder how long this little whimsy will last??

Eddie love ...

There are fewer things in life more inspirational than the divine Eddie Vedder ....  Recently I was fortunate enough to see him live in concert at the superb State Theatre in Sydney.  There would seriously be very few people on this earth who could entertain you - mesmerise you - for two solid hours, performing solo on stage ... and yet Eddie did.  Not that I doubted he could, for a moment. 

I have seen Pearl Jam live three times, and yet this was a memorable performance ... a combination of Pearl Jam and Into the Wild tracks led to a superb evening of music - where Eddie missed neither a chord nor a lyric.  It was an absolutely amazing gig, and I am still reeling from the buzz of the event - marred only by a few 'tools' in the audience.   Eddie Vedder ... you are a legend <3

I'm still here ...

Hello blog,

Just wanted to let you know that I am still here! Oops, apologies for my neglect - I WILL return soon!!!

Gina :)

The Distant Hours

   Kate Morton - I love you!  And I love this book!!!  Much awaited, this book is sooo much 'my thing' - historical fiction, past and present stories, gothic castles and a slowly unravelling mystery.  I am engrossed, so keen to continue to turn the pages and yet I do not want it to end!!  It took me a short while to engage with the narrator, Edie Burchill, and yet I now so accept her, and believe her, and 'like' her.  While I am frustrated by her relationship with her mother, I am sure that this difficult habitude will reach a point of amiability, and feel that an ultimate openness between Edie and her mother will be a necessary element in the conclusion of this story.  I am so loving reading this fantastic story :)