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I heard about this book so while killing time in the city the other day I had a good look at it in the library.

I enjoyed the art work but the format of the book is quite formulaic. The author, Steven Miller has made a Table of Contents list of the various dog breeds. It seems once he made the list he then searched for art work to put on each two page spread describing what he found.  He had a great deal of success with most pages but a few of the pages I thought were scraping the bottom of the barrel.

While there are a lot of dogs in Australian art (it seems), there does not seem to be enough to do justice to every specific breed of dog.  If you love dogs, as we do in this household, then you will enjoy the vast majority of the art samples in this book.

The information about the art work displayed is a good overview.

I spent over an hour in the library looking at the pictures and reading a bit of the comments about each breed and the art information. Personally I didn’t love it enough to take it home and keep it for another three weeks.  It would be a nice general gift for the hard to buy for dog lover in your life.  Just be prepared for a few less than ideal examples.  I include some of the pages below. You can make up your own mind. I do respect that taste in art is very specific and people seldom agree about what is lovely and what is not.  Worth looking at.

 

Apologies for not identifying artists. I didn’t have enough time to compile all the information on the day. All of the information is in the book. I just wanted to give you an overview of the book. 

 

 

I had to take my motorbike into Motorworks for a service the other day. It was to be a lovely,  summer day so starting out at 8:00 am I rode it in. I knew it wouldn’t be ready for several hours. As I also scheduled an eye appointment for later in the morning I thought I would do a bit of street photography around Hobart.

This is my day.

 

Heading into Hobart I passed the Guide Dogs Memorial Park. Their office is nearby. A tribute to Guide Dogs that have passed on. 

This is a closer look at the park. A sign in braille and a foundation that has dog tags on it with various dog’s names. 

Down the street a bit further I came across the Cat Cafe. Based on the Melbourne cafe, only smaller, one can go in and have a coffee and cake and spend time with the cats.  The cats are from the Cat Rescue Centre and I believe may be adopted if someone falls in love with one.

 

This is the mural on the front of the Emergency Vet Clinic just down the street from the Cat Cafe.  It is open nights and weekends. 

 

I walked farther along the Main Street (Elizabeth St) into Hobart and passed this mural on an alley wall. It is attached to a cafe. 

Another block down the street I came across one of the large university buildings. The students have made an angel out of recycled, shredded paper. It is very tall. I couldn’t fit all of it into my camera phone frame.

 

Around the corner I stopped by the Red Cross Op Shop for Books. They have a wonderful selection but I only look at the shelf that has the “older authors” on it. I picked up a small book of Australian Short stories for $1.50.  It had lots of notes and the stories read had been ticked off in the Table of Contents. 

Next stop was the Hobart Library (Tasmanian State Library). I had a book of Dogs in Australian Art Work that had come in so I picked it up. As I had more than an hour to wait before my eye appointment I read most of it and took notes and photos. I will put up a second post of this book.

After my eye appointment I walked to the bottle shop to pick up a couple of bottles of wine for Christmas cheer to my favourite second hand book sellers, Mike and Richard of Cracked and Spineless.  It is a wonderful book shop and if you are visiting Hobart and love books, drop in to see them.  (Link here for their wonderful Facebook Page. They sell a lot of books on FB)

I passed this electrics box on the way to the bottle shop. There are many of these boxes around the city, controlling traffic lights? Electrics? I am not sure. They were a dull grey in colour. The city commissioned artists to paint all of them with different themes and they are a pleasant sight for pedestrians. This one represents my favourite Wildlife Sanctuary- Bonorong. (Link Here) Bonorong has trained thousands of wildlife rescuers, including myself. They rescue more than 6000 animals per year that have been injured or are sick.

It was time for some lunch. I walked along the waterfront. You can see what a lovely day it was. Enjoyed some sushi and a cold drink on the verandah overlooking the wharf.

As I had spent more than three hours in town and my bike still had a couple of hours service to go I decided to catch the bus home. (20 minutes away).  I rode back into town a couple hours later with a neighbour on a school run to pick up her child back in the city.

I spied this bus driver leaning against a wall taking a break.  He was engrossed in a Lee Child crime book. I love sneaking photos of people reading books and this one did not go unnoticed. Lovely to see people reading when they have a few minutes.

Last but not least the Christmas Tree down at the wharf.  I will never get used to having Christmas in the summer time with long daylight hours and not much cold.  It almost seems out of place. You would think after 30 years I would get used to it. Enjoy the day and hope your Christmas plans are running smoothly.

Last week I got to the library. I have had several books on a wait list and of course they all came in at once. This is what I snagged…..

I read a review of this book and as travel writing is one of my top favourite genres I thought I would have a closer look at it to see if I want to read it.

“The 1914 Giro d’Italia: The hardest bike race in history. Eighty-one riders started and only eight finished after enduring cataclysmic storms, roads strewn with nails, and even the loss of an eye by one competitor. And now Tim Moore is going to ride it. And he’s committed to total authenticity.” (Good Reads)

It is one of those tales where something momentous happened in the past and now a person decides to recreate the experience. It is supposed to be very funny.

This is the most well known book (and author) of the bunch. I have read it already and I must say it is one of the best books I have read in awhile. As James says from “James Reads Books” it is my new favourite book. George Orwell can write like few others and his description of the poverty of working in restaurants in Paris and living on the streets of London in the 1930’s is an incredible experience.  We don’t know how well off we are at times. I would consider reading this again. I loved the people in it and felt for them with all my heart.

I have had to wait months for this book so I will start it probably later today. It sounds like the title to a crime novel but it is not.

From Good Reads…”Many people dream of escaping modern life, but most will never act on it. This is the remarkable true story of a man who lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years, making this dream a reality–not out of anger at the world, but simply because he preferred to live on his own.”  

It appeals to me because I get tired of all the people around me and crave some quiet time in nature. But 27 years?  He left civilisation in the late 1980’s and didn’t speak to another person for almost 30 years. I have to see how he did that. Grocery shopping? Eating off the land? In Maine?  So many unanswered questions. It sounds fascinating.
I checked this unknown Indigenous story out of the library after seeing a post written by Whispering Gums about Mandala Press.  I went to the library web page and typed in the name of this publisher just to see what would come up. Most entries were children’s books but this looks as though it is for older readers.

“A young girl, Ngarta, fearing for her life when strangers approach, runs for her life. She supported herself by hunting and gathering, moving from waterhole to waterhole. It was in the 1960’s, when most Walmajarri people had left the desert and moved onto cattle stations. Ngarta’s sister, Jukuna, had already left with her husband. When the murderers caught up with Ngarta and wanted to kill her, she persuaded them to follow her instead.”  (The blurb on the back of the book.)

When I was in Sydney with my friend we were talking about cooking. I told her I recently purchased a pressure cooker. I still jump about three feet into the air when it releases steam at the end of a session. She mentioned to me this book that sounded quite funny.  The library. had it. I don’t know if I’ll have time to read it before it is due back but I will look through it. The blurb on the back states, “A baby + a toddler + a full-time job = total meltdown”.  You get the idea.

Has anyone out there read any of these?