About the Book: The Budgerigar is arguably Australia’s best-known bird. At the same time, it is so ubiquitous that not everyone knows that it is Australian. Nor do many realise that the multicoloured bird that comes to mind—not to mention today’s super-sized, extravagantly coiffed show budgie—is as different from the free-living original as a chihuahua … Continue reading Book Review: Flight of the Budgerigar by Penny Olsen
History
The Silence of the Girls and The Women of Troy by Pat Barker
The Silence of the Girls: The greatest war story in literature, retold by our greatest living storyteller on war - in the voice of the forgotten woman who lived through it. Queen Briseis has been stolen from her conquered homeland and given as a concubine to a foreign warrior. The warrior is Achilles: famed hero, … Continue reading The Silence of the Girls and The Women of Troy by Pat Barker
Book Review: The Borgias by Paul Strathern
The Borgias… About the Book: The sensational story of the rise and fall of one of the most notorious families in history, by the author of The Medici. The Borgia family have become a byword for evil. Corruption, incest, ruthless megalomania, avarice and vicious cruelty - all have been associated with their name. But the … Continue reading Book Review: The Borgias by Paul Strathern
Book Review: Budgerigar by Sarah Harris & Don Baker
Budgerigar: How a brave, chatty and colourful little Aussie bird stole the world's heart... About the Book: A curiosity of everything you ever wanted to know (or realised you never knew) about budgies. Budgies, budgies, budgies. Beautiful and cheeky, delightful and enchanting, wild or tamed budgerigars are Australia's gift to the bird world. They sing … Continue reading Book Review: Budgerigar by Sarah Harris & Don Baker
Book Review: The Darkest Shore by Karen Brooks
The Darkest Shore... About the Book: The independent women of Scotland stand up to a witch hunt, male fury and the power of the Church in a battle for survival in this compelling historical novel based on true events in early eighteenth-century Scotland. 1703: The wild east coast of Scotland. Returning to her home town … Continue reading Book Review: The Darkest Shore by Karen Brooks
Book Review: All Our Relations by Tanya Talaga
All Our Relations Indigenous trauma in the shadow of colonialism... About the Book: The world’s Indigenous communities are fighting to live and dying too young. In this vital and incisive work, Tanya Talaga explores intergenerational trauma and the alarming rise of youth suicide. From Northern Ontario to Nunavut, Norway, Brazil, Australia, and the United States, … Continue reading Book Review: All Our Relations by Tanya Talaga
Book Review: Bjelke Blues edited by Edwina Shaw
Bjelke Blues: Stories of Repression and Resistance in Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s Queensland 1968–1987... About the Book: ‘Bjelke Blues gives heart and soul to the remembrances of the men and women who were at the end of police batons... at the front line fighting for justice and decency’ – Matthew Condon, journalist and author of Three Crooked … Continue reading Book Review: Bjelke Blues edited by Edwina Shaw
Book Review: Rosa: Memories With Licence by Ros Collins
Rosa: Memories With Licence... About the Book: As British as Earl Grey tea, ‘Rosa’ has spent most of her life in Melbourne. Her children and grandchildren are all Australian-born, as was Alan, her writer husband. But Rosa is hesitant about an unconditional commitment to Vegemite, mateship and the ANZAC legend; she remains a perennial migrant, … Continue reading Book Review: Rosa: Memories With Licence by Ros Collins
Book Review: Jane Seymour, The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir
Six Tudor Queens: Jane Seymour, The Haunted Queen... About the Book: The third stunning novel in the Six Tudor Queens series by foremost and beloved historian Alison Weir. THE WOMAN HAUNTED BY THE FATE OF HER PREDECESSOR. Eleven days after the death of Anne Boleyn, Jane is dressing for her wedding to the King. She … Continue reading Book Review: Jane Seymour, The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir
TV in Review: Ekaterina
Ekaterina The Rise of Catherine the Great Season One About the Show: Released in 2014, Ekaterina is a Russia-1 historical television biographical series starring Marina Aleksandrova as the eventual Russian empress Catherine the Great. It tells the story of princess Sophie Friederike Auguste, and her rise to power to become Empress of Russia, following a … Continue reading TV in Review: Ekaterina
Theresa Smith Writes 