#BookSnapSunday – Time Without Clocks

Time is a commodity that cannot be weighed out and measured by clocks. Joan Lindsay (1896-1984) is most known for her novel, Picnic at Hanging Rock, first published in 1967, but Time Without Clocks is a reminiscence of the early years of her marriage to Australian painter, Daryl Lindsay (1889-1976), that was published a few …

#Book Bingo – Politics and Power

This year I have been joining in with Book Bingo hosted by Theresa, Amanda and Ashleigh, and in this round I am completing the Politics and Power square with Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth. At first glance Castle Rackrent appears to be a simple tale of the last generations of the Rackrent family narrated by …

#BookSnapSunday – Utopia

Thomas More’s Utopia painted a fantastical picture of a distant island where society is perfected and men live in harmony; yet its title means ‘no place’, and More’s hugely influential work was ultimately an attack on his own corrupt, dangerous times, and on the failings of humanity. Thomas More (1478-1535) certainly lived in a far …

#BookSnapSunday/Gaia 2020 – The Man from Snowy River

There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around That the colt from old Regret had got away... Jim Craig is eighteen years old, and cannot return to his mountain home until he has proved himself a man. Jessica Harrison is the beautiful, impetuous daughter of the wealthy cattleman whose £1000 colt …

A Bird in a Tree

This week we have experienced the extremes of Toowoomba weather. Monday was bitterly cold. We had the fire going all day. Today fluffy white clouds slowly drift across a beautiful blue sky. The sun is shining and we can go outside without a coat.  For further proof that Spring is finally on its way, there …

Learning to Read Lento

How do you read? Do you skim the print quickly, scanning from left to right, top to bottom? Or do you read slowly, taking notice of every word, every phrase, every sentence, letting the language roll over you like waves at the beach. In our digital age we have learned to read quickly: scanning and …

#BookBingo – Travelling Back in Time

This year I am joining in once again with Book Bingo hosted by Theresa, Amanda and Ashleigh and this round I am checking off Travelling Back in Time with The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. It was a bit of a struggle to think of a time I would like to travel back …

#BookSnapSunday – Castle Rackrent

This is not the Book Snap that I had originally planned a few days ago. We were meant to spend yesterday at Dicky Beach, near Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast, catching up with friends from South Australia. Dan was very excited about going to the beach and knowing that we were going to be at …

The Empire Theatre Reopens

After a forced closure due to social distancing requirements, the Empire Theatre in Toowoomba has struck back at Covid 19 reopening to a series of small performances promoted as The Empire Strikes Back. As a Star Wars fan, I love the title. It's very apt. But this post is not about Star Wars but the …

#BookSnapSunday – a product of endless books

A few days can be a very short time. Only last BookSnap I was reflecting on our need to be ruthless with our book collection and weed out those that were never likely to be read again. And then, just a few days later, I came across this quote by C. S. Lewis about growing …