Theresa Smith's Blog, page 32
November 26, 2022
The Week That Was…
What Zeus has been up to:
I mentioned a few weeks ago that Zeus was having surgery to remove two tumour/lumps, one on his eyelid and one on his forehead. Happy to report that he has been recovering well. After a few hours of very woozy walking on the night we picked him up, followed by a few days of fighting with a cone that was inexplicably attached to his collar, he’s now pretty much back to normal, if you overlook his weird lopsided haircut, that is. One thing though, he has been a bit naughty about the area on his arm where they put the IV-line in. Incessant licking has meant that the hair is not growing back, and the skin is all inflamed. As a result, he is now sporting a hot pink wrist band for the duration. Since putting that on, he hasn’t touched the area at all, not even to try and pull the banding off.
A bit of a side effect though from the surgery was the extra inside time he got during the day while recovering. Normally he is outside during the day and only inside at night. He is not impressed that we have reverted back to normalcy and has started aggressively barging the back door into the garage when he feels like he’s been trapped outside for too long, which is basically after five minutes. See exhibit A for the incriminating evidence.
Exhibit AAround the garden:
The balcony climbers are flourishing and flowering. This is their second year, and they are now winding their way across the rails splendidly. The one on the left above only flowered with white flowers last year but this year I am getting yellow ones as well.
What I’ve been watching:
We’ve been watching Christmas movies, of course, but we also started The Thing About Pam this week. It’s a mini-series on Stan based on ‘The Thing About Pam’ Podcast and Dateline TV Episodes Concerning the Story of Pam Hupp. It’s very intriguing and Renee Zellweger is a standout as Pam Hupp.
What I’ve been reading:
Two Irish novels, both fantastic, a short story collection from the fabulously imaginative Chris Flynn, and I’ve started on with Lucy Barton. Will definitely be continuing with this series.
Until next time, good reading…
November 22, 2022
Book Review: My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
A heart-wrenching story of mothers and daughters from the Pulitzer prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge.
A mother comes to visit her daughter in hospital after having not seen her in many years. Her unexpected visit forces Lucy to confront her past, uncovering long-buried memories of a profoundly impoverished childhood; and her present, as the façade of her new life in New York begins to crumble, awakening her to the reality of her faltering marriage and her unsteady journey towards becoming a writer.
From Lucy’s hospital bed, we are drawn ever more deeply into the emotional complexity of family life, the inescapable power of the past, and the memories – however painful – that bind a family together.
Published by
Released October 2016
My Thoughts:I attended Elizabeth Strout’s session at MWF Digital a few years back and since then, have been steadily picking up copies of her books as I see them. But Bronwyn, over at Brona’s Books, is the one who finally gave me the prompt to read one with her recent review of Lucy by the Sea, and here we are, first one done and dusted. What a marvel Elizabeth Strout is, and what a character she has created in Lucy Barton.
It’s hard to describe what this novel is about. A young woman telling her story from a hospital bed? Hardly inspires a literary pulse. But essentially, that’s what it is. But of course, it’s also so much more. It’s a story of a woman who has left her poverty stricken and abusive rural childhood behind, at least physically, but emotionally, she is very much still tethered to it. As she recovers in hospital from a long illness and is visited for a week by her mother, their conversations, along with Lucy’s introspection and reflections on different encounters from both the past and the present, form a picture of who Lucy is, how she came to be living in New York with two daughters and a husband, estranged from her family, and where she might be headed.
It’s a deeply personal novel. The power of it lays in what is left unsaid, the things Lucy can’t say, but only allude to. And yet, despite its gravity, it’s also incredibly uplifting. I loved Lucy’s voice, her strength and her vulnerability. I’ll definitely be reading the rest of this series sooner rather than later. Thanks Bron!
Book 18 in my 22 in 2022 challenge.
November 20, 2022
Book Review: Here Be Leviathans by Chris Flynn
A collection of funny, brilliant, boundary-pushing stories from the bestselling author of Mammoth.
A grizzly bear goes on the run after eating a teenager. A hotel room participates in an unlikely conception. A genetically altered platypus colony puts on an art show. A sabretooth tiger falls for the new addition to his theme park. An airline seat laments its last useful day. A Shakespearean monkey test pilot launches into space.
The stories in Here Be Leviathans take us from the storm drains under Las Vegas to the Alaskan wilderness; the rainforests of Queensland to the Chilean coastline. Narrated in Chris Flynn’s unique and hilarious style by animals, places, objects and even the (very) odd human, these short fictions push the boundaries of the form by examining human behaviour from the perspective of the outsider.
Published by UQP
Released August 2022
My Thoughts:It’s not usual to see a short story collection reviewed here, generally, I avoid them; my reasons are many. However, I was a big fan of Mammoth and really enjoy Chris Flynn’s humour and how experimental he is with his perspectives and style, so I put my hand up for a copy of Here Be Leviathans, and I’m so glad I did. Once again, we are treated to a variety of perspectives, from animals to inanimate objects, he makes it work. Each of the stories are so different from each other, even in pacing and tone, so it’s almost a collection that you want to take a break between each story with, rather than reading it like a novel. Indeed, there were a few stories that left me in a state of contemplation about things I’d never really given much thought to.
As is to be expected with a collection of stories, some appealed more than others. I particularly enjoyed the one about the grizzly bear (Inheritance) and the one about the sabretooth tigers (Here Be Leviathans) the most, but I do really love how Chris writes from the perspective of animals, so perhaps I’m showing some unconscious bias here. Plus, the sabretooth tiger one also reminded me of Mammoth, so it was probably always going to be a standout for me on that basis alone.
If you are new to the work of Chris Flynn, be prepared to have your mind boggled. He is without doubt, one of the most creative storytellers I’ve read. A total legend on breaking all the rules and redefining what you can do with fiction if you just let go and use your imagination. Fans of Mammoth will be thrilled with this new release. I enjoyed reading the endnotes on each story, as is to be expected, there is so much in each one and I was awed by the fact that this collection took 10 years to come into being. As you read each story, you are given a sense of hidden depths, from the inspiration through to the intent. This is definitely a short story collection of note. Highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
Chris Flynn is taking to the road over the coming months, October to December, to celebrate the publication of his latest book. For info regarding dates and appearances, head to Here Be Leviathans: The Tour, designed by O’Creative.
November 19, 2022
Book Review: Forever Home by Graham Norton
Carol is a divorced teacher living in a small town in Ireland, her only son now grown. A second chance at love brings her unexpected connection and belonging. The new relationship sparks local speculation: what does a woman like her see in a man like that? What happened to his wife who abandoned them all those years ago? But the gossip only serves to bring the couple closer.
When Declan becomes ill, things start to fall apart. His children are untrusting and cruel, and Carol is forced to leave their beloved home with its worn oak floors and elegant features and move back in with her parents.
Carol’s mother is determined to get to the bottom of things, she won’t see her daughter suffer in this way. It seems there are secrets in Declan’s past, strange rumours that were never confronted and suddenly the house they shared takes on a more sinister significance.
In his tense and darkly comic new novel Norton casts a light on the relationship between mothers and daughters, and truth and self-preservation with unnerving effect.
Published by Hachette Australia – Coronet
Released September 2022
My Thoughts:I have said it before, with every review I’ve written on one of his novels, but Graham Norton really is in a class of his own. Settling in with one of his novels is akin to sitting down with an enormous cup of tea at the end of a very long day. Nothing beats it. In this latest release, Norton blends his signature style of warm and cosy Irish humour punctuated by topical issues with an almost macabre black humour that offered many priceless moments of entertainment.
Without doubt, the shining star of this novel is Carol’s mother, Moira. She was such a wonderfully realised character, literally popping off the page in every scene she was in. The perspectives shift from chapter to chapter, from Carol to Moira, Sally to Killian. Norton excels at painting everyone in their true colours, even if at times their introspection and feelings towards others was less than charitable.
‘Her outrage from the afternoon still pulsed inside her, violent and unwelcome. Did she feel judged by her brother or was it simply jealousy? She wasn’t sure. Before that afternoon she had never thought she was that desperate for a child, but Killian’s big smug face had triggered something. Maybe it was just that she wanted something, anything, when he seemed to have everything. The husband, the house, the lack of guilt. Was that it? The absence of any sort of conscience when they had spoken that afternoon? It just seemed so twisted and wrong to Sally that Killian was to become a father when he showed so little love for his own. The sense of unfairness that had knocked her so badly wasn’t because she didn’t have a baby, but because her brother didn’t deserve one.’
The main issue at hand within this novel is that of financial elder abuse, and Norton shows the chilling ease at which this can be accomplished with little to no intervention from authorities. It’s a stark reminder to get your affairs in order as you age before you are no longer able to do so. Carol’s situation that she ended up in was also a shocking example of what happens when you give up all your own assets and agency for a partner. I like how Norton weaves these issues into his story, the humour not detracting from the serious nature of them.
I devoured this novel within two days, it was an absolute joy to read and I highly recommend it to all.
Book 17 in my 22 in 2022 reading challenge.
November 15, 2022
Book Review: Ithaca by Claire North
Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the isle of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom.
Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door.
No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus’s empty throne – not yet. But as everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war.
From the multi award-winning Claire North comes a daring, exquisite and moving tale that breathes life into ancient myth and tells of the women who stand defiant in a world ruled by ruthless men. It’s time for the women of Ithaca to tell their tale.
Published by Hachette Australia
Released September 2022
My Thoughts:Feminist retellings of Greek mythology are being released so frequently now, you could consider it a genre all on its own. Ithaca is a feminist retelling of the ancient myth of Penelope, who was weaving at a loom for years and said she’d choose a suitor once the shroud she was weaving was completed, yet she would unpick her stitches each night, therefore delaying for another day having to choose a replacement for her missing (presumed dead) husband, who also just happened to be the King of Ithaca. Despite being Penelope’s story, the novel itself is narrated by Hera, who is, according to ancient Greek religion, the Goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. According to myth, she is defined by her jealous and vengeful nature in dealing with those who offend her. Within this novel, the author really taps into that, and we are treated with a narrator who tells us the story with a heavy amount of sarcasm and a good deal of irony, which honestly, was entirely amusing and on point.
‘The gods are foolish and blind – they think the greatest poems are the ones of death in battle and the ravishing of queens. But the stories that will live for ever are of the lost ones, the fearful ones, who through bitter hardship and despair find hope, find strength – find their way home.’
I did find this novel a hard one to get into. I enjoyed the narration right from the start and the overall tone of the novel, but in the first half, there were a lot of characters and different story threads to get a hold of. Hera was a flighty narrator, not always just telling Penelope’s story, but also wandering off and telling many other ones, and a lot of these characters had names that were similar. It’s not an ideal novel for just picking up and putting down for a quick read here and there. Once I was able to just sit with it and read large chunks, I began to enjoy it more and also appreciate the world building as well as the intent of the author. I believe this novel is the beginning of a series, so perhaps with all the foundation laid in this first novel, subsequent ones will be easier to get into from the outset.
‘If the kings of Greece find out that you are thinking of raising an army – women – and army of women! – if the suitors find out…’
‘They will not. No one will.’
‘How do you hide an army?’
‘Medon,’ Penelope tuts, ‘what a foolish question. You hide them in precisely the same way you hide your success as a merchant, your skill with agriculture, your wisdom at politics and your innate cutting wit. You hide them as women.’
Overall, if you are a fan of feminist retellings of Greek mythology, you should add this one to your list. I have liked others more, but in the end, I enjoyed this one enough to mark the forthcoming second novel in the series as one I will be reading.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
November 12, 2022
The Week That Was…
It’s Christmas at my house now. The decorations are all up and the Christmas movie festival has begun. So far, we’ve watched Love Actually and Last Christmas. The adventures of the naughty Christmas Elf have also commenced…
Even Zeus is fully embracing the Christmas spirit…
Joke of the week:
What I’ve been watching:
Not just Christmas movies! I caught up on all of The Handmaid’s Tale and enjoyed the finale immensely. That ending scene was television gold! I’ve enjoyed the last two seasons of Handmaid’s the most out of all, I think. I have been trying to watch The Winchesters, which is a prequel to my all-time favourite, Supernatural, however, I’m finding it a bit hard to get into. At first, there was a fair bit of nostalgia that was enough to keep me watching but then I got to episode three, I think, and it just got a bit weird in a silly way with a bit of a musical vibe thrown in… I’ve put it on the backburner for now. The second season of The White Lotus has hit Binge and while it’s a tad less funny than season one, I’m really enjoying it.
But wait, there’s more! I went to the theatre this week and was mesmerised by Jane Eyre, presented by the Shake & Stir Theatre Co. This was completely engrossing and totally blew all of my expectations out of the water. Loved it, even if it was a massive challenge to get to the theatre on a weeknight after working a ten-hour day. Performed with only four actors, it was incredible, and they were each of them amazing. Best two and half hours I’ve spent in the theatre in years.
Around the garden:
This beauty was a housewarming/welcome home gift from a dear friend two years ago and I had all but given up hope of seeing it bloom. But there you go, at long last, it’s flowered for the first time.
What I’ve been reading:
A couple of cookbooks, a non-fiction essay style read, a brilliant historical fiction (Horse) and then a Greek retelling (Ithaca), which, to be honest, I’m struggling with. I normally enjoy Greek retellings, and while I’m really enjoying the sarcasm of the narrator, it’s a novel dense with characters and multiple threads, so maybe it’s just requiring too much attention from me at present, more than I have to give. I have put it aside and begun both of these:
My Name is Lucy Barton is being read on my Kobo, which I read from at work during lunch and on the go. Forever Home is a hardcopy, reading at home. Both will count to my 22 in 2022 challenge as neither is a review book.
Until next week, yours in reading…
November 10, 2022
Book Review: Not Now, Not Ever by Julia Gillard
Ten years on from the speech that stopped us all in our tracks – Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech. Where were you then? And where are we now?
On 9 October 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard stood up and proceeded to make all present in Parliament House that day pay attention – and left many of them squirming in their seats. The incisive ‘misogyny speech’, as her words came to be known, continues to energise and motivate women who need to stare down sexism and misogyny in their own lives.
With contributions from Mary Beard, Jess Hill, Jennifer Palmieri, Katharine Murphy and members of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Julia Gillard explores the history and culture of misogyny, tools in the patriarchy’s toolbox, intersectionality, and gender and misogyny in the media and politics.
Kathy Lette looks at how the speech has gained a new life on TikTok, as well as inspiring other tributes and hand-made products, and we hear recollections from Wayne Swan, Anne Summers, Cate Blanchett, Brittany Higgins and others of where they were and how they first encountered the speech.
While behaviours may have improved since the misogyny speech, there remains a way to go and Julia Gillard explores the roadmap for the future with next-generation feminists Sally Scales, Chanel Contos and Caitlin Figueiredo to motivate us with that rallying cry: Not now, not ever!
Proceeds from the book will go to the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL).
Published by Penguin Random House – Vintage Australia
Released October 2022
My Thoughts:Where was I when Julia Gillard made her ‘misogyny speech’? I’m not entirely sure where I was while the speech was being made, but I certainly know where I was when I heard it on the news that evening. In the kitchen, making dinner for my (ex) husband and three children. I had only recently moved to the outback of Queensland, giving up a well-paid and very rewarding job so that my (ex) husband could take one that would further his own career. I was already regretting the move and resenting my sacrifice. This seed of resentment would grow and grow and continue to grow, like a weed that just can’t be killed. But at that point, as I paused in my cooking to listen to our Prime Minister deliver a speech so filled with truth and poised rage, I felt seen. My admiration for Julia Gillard sky-rocketed on that night, and I have loved her since.
Not Now, Not Ever is a book I have been looking forward to reading since I first heard of its release earlier this year. It did not disappoint. I particularly enjoyed the recollections at the end of each chapter from various people on where they were and what they thought at the time of the speech. And of course, the parts written by Julia herself were a highlight. I have done a lot of feminist study and feminist reading throughout and since my university days, so much of the historical context on sexism and misogyny offered by some of the contributors was not new to me. I more enjoyed the anecdotal sections, particularly about the deplorable state of our Australian parliament within the context of misogyny in action.
The new wave of feminism is here but there is still a long way to go. Books like this are essential to creating awareness and momentum. I think it would be an incredible asset to the Australian education reading list for seniors – as a teaching tool, it would be phenomenal. As a book to read for information and entertainment, I highly recommend it for that also.
Book 16 of my 22 in 2022 challenge.
November 6, 2022
Book Review: Bliss on Toast by Prue Leith
What’s more comforting and satisfying than toast? And if you top it with a few cleverly paired ingredients, it can be a full meal, not to mention pure bliss. These 75 recipes for things on toast will help you make quick, delicious and versatile meals year-round – for working–from-home lunches and cosy Sunday suppers, to light bites, indulgent treats or impressive canapés. Recipes include:
Avocado, summer tomatoes & tapenade rocket on olive bread
Bubble & squeak with hollandaise on fried bread
Falafel, edamame & red pepper hummus on flatbread
Grilled chicken tikka with yoghurt on naan
Smoked salmon, wasabi & avocado on granary bread
Bliss on Toast is as much a toolkit for quick fridge-raids as it is inspiration for seasonal delights. With 82 years’ experience of good eating and 60 years of cooking, writing about and judging food, there is no-one who better knows what makes a meal bliss than Dame Prue Leith.
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
Released October 2022
My Thoughts:I love toast. So much so, when my son goes away, he always cautions me to eat more than toast for dinner. He knows me too well. It’s not just the toast I love, but it’s stuff on toast too, the sort of food you load onto toast that does it for me as well. This little book is the sort of cookbook I love. It’s more of an ideas book than a recipe book, although the recipes are included. As soon as I opened it, I was delighted by this:
I absolutely love Camembert on toast, but I usually drizzle honey over it. I adore blackberries, it’s a combination of taste and nostalgia, childhood days of blackberry picking and then eating the homemade jam straight from the jar. I hadn’t thought to put blackberries with my Camembert toast – but I shall remedy that with the next punnet of blackberries I get my hands onto.
Then there is this:
Mushrooms on toast…another win for the nostalgia as well as the taste. This recipe is close to what I already make but with a dash of flash that I am keen to incorporate.
Not all of the recipes in this book appeal, I’m not going to lie, fish on toast is not for me. But many of the recipes do look and sound great, and they also use pantry and fridge ingredients that most of us, perhaps those of us who cook a lot, that is, will have on hand.
Highly recommended for the toast aficionados out there.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
October 31, 2022
A Month of Reading: October
Throughout October I read six books, four I rated at five stars and two I rated at four stars, so once again, quality is winning out over quantity. A couple of them were actually pretty thick too, 600 pages and 400 pages, so I felt like I definitely got more reading time in this month, which is lovely.
22 in 2022:
Only one read for this challenge.
Review Books:
The remaining five were all review books, of which I have been receiving some fantastic titles of late.
Until next month, good reading…
October 30, 2022
Book Review: Is This a Cookbook? Adventures in the Kitchen by Heston Blumenthal
Is this a cookbook?
Well, it’s full of Heston’s typically brilliant, delicious and inventive recipes, including green gazpacho, beetroot and pea salad, quinoa with vegetables, Moroccan pasties, hemp panna cotta, banana and parsley smoothie, tomato and coffee muffins, parsnip granola, rice ice cream, sherry vinegar posset, cricket ketchup and thyme and orange kombucha, not forgetting popcorn chicken with real popcorn. Every recipe is simple, straightforward and totally do-able. This is Heston at his most accessible.
But there’s so much more. Each of the 70 recipes is accompanied by Heston’s thoughts, stories, insights and hacks, turning each cooking session into a journey that’ll excite and inspire and reveal a whole world of culinary possibilities and fresh perspectives. Brought to life by the incredible illustrations by Dave McKean, Heston’s long-term collaborator and widely acknowledged as one of the greatest illustrators at work today, it’s the next best thing to having Heston as your sous-chef.
So why not get in the kitchen and have an adventure?
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
Released October 2022
My Thoughts:What a delight this book is! I have enjoyed watching Heston’s food extravaganzas on TV in the past and this book offered the same level of engagement and enjoyment. Is it a cookbook? Well, yes, there are recipes in it, themed into chapters and easy to follow. But it’s also a book about food and eating with mindfulness, focusing on the enjoyment of what you are eating and taking the time to ‘listen to your gut’ when deciding what to eat.
‘What we’re exploring here is not what we eat but how we eat it.’
The book has a combination of stunning photos and quirky illustrations throughout. It’s a visual feast for your eyes. The recipes are clear to follow with the added bonus of notes from Heston inserted to guide and offer advice. The thing I love most about this book is the tips about food preparation, such as eggs and the way in which the yolk cooks at a different rate to the white and how to balance this depending on what you’re doing with your eggs. And he has a whole section on different salad dressings which are so easy to make from your pantry and so adaptable for a variety of dishes.
‘How we react to food and how we experience its flavours depends on so much more than just what’s going on in our mouth and nose. It’s about an emotional response – what memories, what associations are triggered – which is very personal. We can talk about taste receptors and the like but, in the end, there’s nothing objective about food and flavour. I love tonka beans for their almost rubbery flavour, which reminds me of beach shoes I wore as a kid when on holiday. A friend of mine hates them for much the same reason: rubber reminds her of the anaesthetic mask at the dentist. No two people perceive and experience a flavour the same way.’
I actually sat down and read this cookbook as a book, from cover to cover, delighting in all of it. So, if you want to find out what quantum gastronomy is, then Is This a Cookbook is the book for you. You may also discover something new to make and a whole new way to eat it.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
