Reviewed by Clare Brook We are all familiar with inequality that plagues our society; the grind of everyday life faced by those trapped within a low socio-economic environment. We are aware of the unequal treatment, and often abuse, that many women suffer. But there is a big difference between knowing and actually feeling the reality,
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve If a very young puppy is intelligent and is blessed with patient, time-rich owners, it could acquire communication skills as Stella, now living in San Diego California, has successfully done. Time is essential, but more critical is the dog, itself. Its qualities must include intelligence, attentiveness, persistence, eagerness to please and
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve The life of James Hardy Vaux, convict author, is told by Kel Richards in an entertaining way which compliments nicely the colourful life of his subject. Vaux’s claim to fame lies with his compilation of Australia’s first dictionary. He also wrote an autobiography which, when published in London, sold well. Vaux
Reviewed by Ian Lipke “You could be alone in the dark and be immersed in the light… you could always see the theatre and everyone in it – the flaws, the dirt, the empty food containers, the reality of it all…Call it what makes your heart sing; but call it with love, because that light
Reviewed by Rod McLary The impetus for this book was – quite appropriately – a relationship breakup experienced by the author only days before she and her partner were due to travel overseas. Bereft in an airport bookshop and failing to find a book – any book – which would ‘put words around how I’m
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Before Trump, two avenues led to the presidency of the United States: one was through demonstrated intellectual capacity i.e. having ‘the smarts’ to read the constantly changing currents that swirl around high office and divert them to your own advantage, and the second is the capacity to handle an enormously heavy,
Reviewed by Rod McLary In May 2009, seven teenagers in Toowoomba were involved in a car crash which killed three of them and left two in comas. Lech Blaine – the author of this memoir – survived without injury. Although it was rumoured that drugs and/or alcohol and speed were causes of the crash, subsequent
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Younger lovers of today’s classical or semi-classical music may not be familiar with the name June Bronhill. I know her well. I remember sitting with my ear glued to a not very good wireless in the 1950s as June and others of that period transported me from rubber boots and sloppy
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This book is written by a talented young woman who founded her own global self-titled jewellery company and is a must read for all business students especially those who may aspire to start their own companies. It is a memoir of her own creative life to date, and as such, talks
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve Challenging, difficult and sometimes overwhelming in its content, this book was written by an NHS doctor working in the year of the pandemic. Rachel Clarke is a young doctor whose role, prior to Covid 19, was to tend patients facing their battle with terminal illness in a hospice in Oxfordshire. There
Reviewed by Ian Lipke I began reading this study with high hopes. What an interesting person Kate was! Her family is comprehensively described in history and, to my mind after numerous assays by various scholars, probably accurately. Soon I discovered, despite the sub-heading emblazoned on the cover viz. The True Story of Ned Kelly’s Little
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Strange and unusual stories have been a feature of Australian life since colonisation. As we all become more familiar with new cultures our collection of unusuality is expected to expand. We’ll hear other strange, and perhaps unexplainable incidents. There is a rich harvest to emerge as yet from indigenous and Asian
Reviewed by Ian Lipke This book is regarded as more than simply a collection of reminiscences about Michael Parkinson’s father. The author sets out to record his father’s sporting obsessions, his sense of humour and his determination to produce a cricketer worthy of playing for Yorkshire. The book is intended to contain two viewpoints to
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Tracie White, award winning journalist and a science writer for Stanford University, has used her skills to present the story of a scientist and his desperate hunt to cure Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) in the hope to save his son. The first four chapters of this book introduce the
Reviewed by Rod McLary While the origins of HIV/AIDS remain uncertain, it seems that it was first recognised as a pandemic in the early 1980s. There was then much confusion and misinformation about how it was transmitted and, in some circles, HIV/AIDS was known as the ‘homosexual disease’. Indeed, in the 1980s, it was given