Australian Women’s History – Memoirs of Tilly Aston

Although we have not seen a million things we understand quite well, we have seen something else with which we can compare new impressions; something which makes it possible for us to SEE, perhaps more vividly than many unseeing sighted people, the gifts of beauty or grandeur strewn around us. Tilly Aston If you are …

The Gift of Pain

Usually when we think of a gift, we think of something pleasant, like a bunch of flowers, a box of chocolates or a book voucher. I doubt that any one of us would consider pain to be a gift. The niggling pain in the middle of my back can be annoying sometimes. The blinding pain …

#BookSnapSunday – Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence

I am finally picking up the series I started a few weeks ago about Australian Women’s History. March was dedicated to the contribution and experiences of women throughout history.  Generally the history of women has been ignored and neglected, so Women’s History Month is a chance to set the record straight. Of course, it has …

Conspiracy Theory

They say, if it doesn’t rain, it pours. In Toowoomba of late it has been pouring. We have been blessed with some wonderful rain - our tanks are full, the gutters were overflowing, and the weeds are growing well. But in my neck of the woods, it has been pouring in more than one way. …

Queens Park, Toowoomba

There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature - the assurance that dawn comes after night and spring after winter. Rachel Carson There is an old Chinese proverb that says the three greatest physicians in life are nature, time and patience. I think it is interesting that nature is listed first. It …

Australian Women’s History – Come In Spinner

Today’s belated Book Snap is also celebrating International Women’s Day and introducing Women’s History Month. International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on March 8th and this year’s theme is Choose to Challenge. It is an encouragement to call out and challenge gender bias and inequality as well as draw attention to the achievements of …

World Wildlife Day

It’s surely our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth. David Attenborough World Wildlife Day is a celebration of the incredible diversity evident in our world’s plant and animal life and the theme for this year is …

#BookSnapSunday – Modernism

We live in a world of persistent change, where the past is dead and the present is dying…and so to be modern is not only to live now, but to live now in a certain way…life is something we are constantly re-inventing.Malcolm Bradbury, 1971 After just over seven years the end is in sight. This …

#BookSnapSunday – the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ But ‘That’s funny…’ Isaac Asimov This week’s book snap features books from the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov (1920-1992). One of the most well-known science fiction writers, Asimov wrote or edited more than 500 books. Many of them …

The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga

In any jungle, what is the rarest of animals - the creature that comes along only once in a generation? I thought about it and said: The white tiger. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga was first published in 2008 and won the Man Booker Prize for that year. Narrated by Balram, it is funny …