Travellin' Penguin

I love spinning the wheel of ten books listed and reading the chosen book for one hour. However I ran into a problem that I hoped wouldn’t be a problem. I had some older books on my shelf, Muriel Spark or Anita Brookner, an older Australian author of the past….I really wanted to read those books. When the wheel chose them, and I sat down for my lovely hour’s read my eyes just can’t read that tiny print in those old Penguin novellas anymore. I looked them up to see if there were Kindle copies but sadly no. 

So unless the print is a bit larger on very white paper, such as modern books are printed, in bigger formats these days or on a kindle or Libby with adjustable font I just can’t stay focused on the lines of text. Such is the life of living with Glaucoma. 

On the bright side though, I do have a large collection of Kindle books. Some of you know how that goes. And Libby covers many books. Then there are audio books but I only listen to them for certain books. Non fiction and first person narrative mainly, though I am still enjoying listening to the Count of Monte Cristo for 30 minutes each night. 

I have kept some of the books from the old wheel to the new wheel. However I have dismissed about five of them and put five new Kindle books onto it. So this is the new wheel:

Heresies by Richard Flanagan: Kept it as I have read two chapters (they aren’t short and the subject matter is deep”. I have enjoyed both so far so want to read more.

Tasmaniology: This is a literary magazine and the articles are as long as what you’d see in the New Yorker, but the photographs are beautiful. The last section I read was all about a scientist (the only one in Tassie) who studies bats. As much as people say they are afraid of bats- I remember my mother thought they get in your hair as did my grandmother- I find them to be fascinating creatures. The article was SO GOOD.

John Broadley’s Books- a graphic novel the wheel has not yet chosen. 

Walking the Gobi  by Helen Thayer- I was able to download a Kindle version of this so it stays on the wheel. 

Wreck by Riley James The wheel has picked this book twice and it is an easier read. I have the copy of the book but the font is big enough to see as it’s just been published. It is the story of the pilot who disappeared over Bass Strait in weird circumstances and the author then fictionalises what happened to it. I am really liking this book and look forward to seeing the mystery on the island they are now exploring. Very Tasmanian. 

Now for the five new Kindle titles I added. I’ve wanted to get into them for awhile.

Strangers by Anita Brookner- Her 24th novel. It’s about Paul Sturgis who is a retired banker manager who lives alone in a dark little flat and dines alone. He walks alone and seeks out strangers, taking pleasure in conversations with them.  This one sounds right up my alley as I like walking and talking to strangers and I often photograph them. 

Our Trip Around the World by Renate Belczyk- a 1950’s travelogue that takes the women around the world during a time when two independent young women travelling alone was considered almost revolutionary. German – can’t see if it was translated or not. 

Driftwood by Shauna Bickley- The last person Juliet expects to meet on a work trip is Luke. She has changed her name and worked hard to ensure he wouldn’t find her, but now he is back in her life again. Is it chance, or something more sinister?  Hmmm this book has been living in my Kindle for 9 years. I have no memory of ordering it so had better read it.

Kitchen Continental by Anthony Bourdain– After 25 years of sex, drugs, bad behaviour and haute cuisine, chef and novelist Anthony Bourdain decided to tell all.  I have wanted to read this book for some time, now it’s on the wheel. 

Greatest Short Stories by Australian Writers  Stories that are based on the subject of relationships paint a picture of Australia and Australians. These short stories have been written by a number of Australian authors, mainly from the past. Mary Fortune, A.B. Paterson, Henry Lawson, Steele Rudd, George Lewis Becke and Edward Dyson. 

So- fresh start, here we continue…. 

Hope your week goes well. 

First off, I’m back from my photography trip to the Tarkine that is a big rainforest area of trees and waterfalls on the northwest coast of Tasmania. Seven long days of photographing everything there it seems. I haven’t edited the photos yet so a few will be posted in the future.

Our beautiful Ollie.

It was good to see our dog Ollie who is recovering from cruciate ligament repair. He still has three weeks of confinement and gentle on lead walks in the yard. All of us are ready for the resolution of this.

Books- I’m reading a book now for our last book club meeting of the year in November. I do not like the book. It is touted as a divorced mother with daughter who move to New York city and make friends. A couple of them share an apartment and start life again. It is supposed to be about friends and their relationships. I find reading this is like watching an American sit com with a laugh track. I am so bored.

A man enters the picture. Flashbacks occur. Haven’t seen any good relationships with friends. Why are current book blurbs on new books so wrong these days. I am finding the dialogue just woeful. They speak like nobody I have ever listened to speak. Simple conversations with exclamations and drama. I am bored. I always finish a book club book but I might break the rule on this one.

Name of book is: Go Gentle by Maria Semple. Here is the Good Reads blurb with my annotations.

Adora Hazzard has it all figured out. A contented divorcee, she relishes her teenage daughter, her job as a moral tutor for an old-money family and the bliss of finally being solo. Alone but far from lonely, she’s also quietly assembling a ‘coven’ of like-minded single women on the sixth floor of the legendary Ansonia building on New York’s Upper West Side. Together, they share groceries, dog walkers – and one dirty little secret: despite their age, they’re only just getting started. Adora’s life philosophy is simple: want only what you already have. But could a chance encounter with a charming stranger threaten her joyfully curated life and leave Adora suddenly wanting more – even if she must risk everything to get it? Go Gentle is a thrilling story of one woman’s mid-life transformation, a romance with wit and a globe-trotting mother-daughter story, all wrapped in a mystery with a socko twist.

So far the teenage daughter is nowhere to be seen. I haven’t seen anything about her living arrangements as she’s always out and about. I have seen nothing that is ‘thrilling’. Globe trotting? Maybe I’m not at that part yet but she has been in NYCity the whole time so far. A socko twist!!?? . Give me strength. And it is 384 pgs long.

I would much rather spend time continuing the Count of Monte Cristo that is globe trotting, thrilling and transformative completely. The count has many “socko twists” about him. I’m about ready to give up modern day fiction. So much of it is so boring, in my humble opinion.

On that note I will wrap this up. I just wanted to touch base.. Hope you have a good weekend.

Had enough ‼️

This will be short as I’m leaving early tomorrow morning on a photography tour up into the Tarkine forests and northwest Tasmania for a week. The Tarkine is a Unesco rainforest. Many trees, moss and tourists that disappear from time to time. You do not leave the path. Tasmania wilderness is like nowhere else in the world. It’s a shame many tourists don’t believe it. We return home next weekend. I’m looking forward to it.

I did spend time reading books this week but didn’t finish any of them. I’ve been spinning the wheel. I read more of Women Walking and Flanagan’s Heresies. I’m enjoying both and continuing to enjoy reading an hour at a time. i also read an interesting hour of Tasmaniology literary magazine.

I went to a book launch at Fullers book shop. The Wreck by Australian writer Riley James. It is based on the true story of a young man, an inexperienced pilot, flying at night time(that he was not qualified for yet) over Bass Strait. He reports seeing an identified object shadowing his plane. Calls it in, then disappears. The wreckage and man are never found. Bass Strat is the water way that separates Tasmania from Mainland Australia to the north. The waters are notoriously dangerous and it has claimed many planes and ships over the years. The Wreck is a fictional account of what happened after the event. I added it to the wheel and am one hour into it. It has a very good start. This author has also written a book about Antarctica called Chilling I think. The launch was fun.

I’m continuing to also listen for 30 to 60 min of The Count of Monte Cristo. I do need to check in with ChatGPT on the occasional chapter to keep characters straight when new people are introduced. There are a lot of French names and places and French is not a language I have ever been able to get my head around. If it were in Spanish, I’d be fine.

Next week will be a week of photography and not books. I will try to put up a post or at least some photos but we will be doing sun rises, sunsets, night skies if weather is cloudless. Ha! Not likely. Also several waterfalls and a couple of river trips. We’ll see how much energy I have.

Just for fun I’m adding a couple of photos below of books the Penguin has put together. That are YES reads. Have a good week everyone.