The wisdom of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel DefoeI’ve always enjoyed the thought that life viewed through “rose coloured glasses” is a good method of reducing anxiety. Or at other times I’ve compared myself to the cartoon character Mr Magoo where he walks through a battle field, with his nose in a book, bombs going off to the left of him and to the right of him, but he is oblivious to the danger and so he is content. He doesn’t know he should be afraid.

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I took off my rose-coloured glasses for a moment . . .

Richard Flanagan

Richard Flanagan

I took off my rose-coloured glasses for a moment to listen to Richard Flanagan on the decline of love and freedom. Powerful stuff, 35 minutes of intelligent alternative thinking with a focus on Australians. A generous speech he gave as the closing address at the recent Melbourne Writers’ Festival and available for download from ABC Radio National’s website: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2011/3318299.htm

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Searching by image on Google – abracadabra shazam

A Waterfall in Australia by Augustus Earle c1830

A Waterfall in Australia by Augustus Earle c1830

Yesterday I noticed that Google allows you to drag an image into their image search box with the promise that their search engine will find details about it. I placed this little snippet of information in my memory, for retrieval later. I wasn’t sure when I would need the service. It wasn’t long before I knew exactly how I could use it.

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Tea for two – it’s the small things in life that count

Tea for two. Photo copyright: Diane Challenor

Tea for two from T2. Photo copyright: Diane Challenor

The “idea” of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony has always appealed to me. The idea of peace and harmony is so attractive. The slowing down of time.

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Interactive books of the printed kind – actively reading

The Dreaming Swimmer by Clive James

The Dreaming Swimmer by Clive James. Buy the book from Amazon

How many times have I read a book and wanted to hear the music the author mentioned, see an image of the art the author has gushed over, or know who it was the author quoted, deferred to and admired? Many times!

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A Reader’s Journal – The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

THE DISTANT HOURS BY KATE MORTON. BUY THE AUDIO BOOK FROM AUDIBLE.COM

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My impression of a Sydney Writers Festival Event – 52 Suburbs by Louise Hawson

52 Suburbs books for sale

Buy the book at Fishpond.com.au

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Why is history Important?

What can we learn from a 19th century Botanist’s story

I have a belief that history is important, sometimes I wonder why I believe such a thing. To help me firm up my belief I wrote down some thoughts which I would like to share with you.

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The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

I’ve just finished listening to The Dante Club AudioBook and will miss inhabiting it very much. The environment of the “fireside poets” and their city of Boston was really interesting, learning about Dante’s poetry was enlightening and the mystery that held it all together moved along at a pace that suited me very well. And very importantly, as listeners will know, the audio-reading of a book can make it or break it, John Siedman’s reading of this book matched to story’s voices perfectly. A lovely long listen. Well done Matthew Pearl! Don’t miss it everyone, it’s a goody.

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The Well at the World’s End by AJ Mackinnon – A Review

My first introduction to Sandy Mackinnon’s writing was The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow. This is still one of my favourite books. When I heard he had written another book, I think he has only written two, I just had to get “The Well at the World’s End”.

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