It’s the start of a new month which means it’s time to share my roundup of what I read in May.  In the midst of a busy month I got through only five books, although I substituted my usual audiobook listening for lots of podcasts, so there was a still a lot of information and storytelling going in through my ears 🙂 Here’s what I read:

Books for Children

Mandy, by Julie Edwards(Harper Trophy, 1971).  I reread this one every few years because it holds a

special place in my childhood. My mum bought me this book when I was about six, and I loved it so much that I sat down and wrote my own ‘novel’ (called Tereasa)  which was, if I’m honest, my own version of the same story. I gave that book to my mum and she treasured it – but gave it back to me many moons later when I became a published author. So I claim that Mandy is the book that made me an author 🙂  You may not recognise the author, but you will have seen her – as Julie Edwards is also Julie Andrews.  I don’t think I knew this as a child, but suspect my mum might have!

2. The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, by Julie Edwards (Harper Trophy, 1974). After I reread Mandy, I found myself wondering why I hadn’t read any of Julie Edwards other children’s books – and went looking for this one, which I knew I owned but hadn’t read. I must confess that while there were some good bits, I didn’t love this one. The story of three children who meet a quirky professor and end up on a journey to meet a mystical creature who has never been seen by any human. I suspect I might have liked this one more when I was younger, but found myself wondering about some of the messages, especially given that everyone is Whangdoodle Land is very keen to keep them away, but it seems that the humans” determination to see the Whangdoodle overrides what the Whangdoodle, and his courtiers, want.

 

 

Books for Adults

1. 1. The Dictionary of Lost Words, by Pip Williams (Affirm Press, 2020).  I first read this as an audiobook soon after its release in 2020. After I heard the author speak in April, and read her new book, The Bookbinder of Jericho, I was really eager to dive back into Dictionary. The two books are companion books – so, not sequels, but set in Oxford at an overlapping time, and with some of the characters from this one also appearing in the other.  What I found interesting was rereading this one and spotting some of the characters and events from Bookbinder, but I also enjoyed reengaging with this story and its themes.  I found myself finishing it on Mother’s Day, which seemed apt because on this read, especially, I had some fairly deep thoughts about the word mother, and what it means to be a mother.
   2. . Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life, by Ashley Whillans (Harvard Business Review Press, 2020).  I heard this author being interviewed on a podcast and desperately wanted to read the book. I  found it really insightful and helpful  around building an awareness of the value of time, and how to shift your mindset away from seeing time as money, to really understanding the ways time can be used in healthy, fulfilling, but also productive, ways. The downside was that because there seems not to be an Australian edition, the print edition from the US was quite pricey and I opted for the Audible version. Downside because, while I love audiobooks, I found the voice of the reader of this one quite offputting.  Not unpleasant, just felt more like they were reading a story than a nonfiction  book.
   3.  Ocean, by Bruce Pascoe (Bruce Sims Books, 2002). I have been making a concious effort to read more books by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands over the past year, because I really need to know more about both our country’s present and its past. This book is set in the Bass Strait, charting the stories of the Burnurong  people and especially the women, and how they were impacted by white sealers and colonial brutality. As such, this is not an easy story, but it is told with heart and left me feeling sorrier than ever for the acts on which Australia was built.

That brings my total for the year to date to 50 books. I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading.