This weekend was the annual Clunes Book Town Festival. Two days on the celebration of books and story telling in a rustic town of Clunes which is about two hours west out of Melbourne. We headed off nice and early so that we couldn’t be stuck in Saturday traffic and stopped at a service station […]
The Genius or Maniacal Man When It Comes To Technology
A recent book review I uploaded (thanks to a recommendation by my friend Fiona who I have some back and forth conversations about AI), was Benjamin Labatut’s The Maniac. I think it’ll be one of the best books I’ll read this year as it’s about how man wants to understand – and overcome – nature. […]
We Had Our First Book Club Author Event for 2025
Last Wednesday I hosted author, Caroline Petit who wrote the book, The Natural History of Love to our golf club. I started and run the Birdies, Bogies and Books Club at our golf club and every month we have a book to read and discuss. Sometimes I source the books from a local library who […]
How I Take Notes When Reading a Book
A couple of weeks ago, I published this video where I shared how I take notes while reading using note books where I journal my thoughts. It’s got many views and it made me realise how it might be an important topic for some people. I was interested in their comments which showed that we […]
Creating a Book Club Journal
I’ve been on a roll lately creating a couple of journals that are not only creative to make but also a lot of fun. Recently I made a Reading Journal that I could use to write notes every time I read with the intention of selling it on Amazon. However I keep delaying putting it […]
The Moon & Sixpence Book by Somerset Maugham Book Review
Here’s the latest video book review which was interrupted by my husband (who does not read my type of books! )
My Annual YouTube Analytics
Every couple of weeks or so, as a YouTuber, I get a wrap up of the analytics of my channel. It’s interesting to go through it and see how it’s being received but if I want more details, you can drill down into the analytics in that specific section in YouTube Studio which is the […]
My Year in Books – Reading in 2024
103 books and over 25,000 pages read. It’s been a brilliant year of wonderful reading – and very little television watching. I hope to continue the trend in the new year…..
What I’m Reading
When we were in Canberra a couple of weeks ago, we caught up with friends whom we hadn’t seen in years. Over dinner, the discussion started on our favourite books and this one was mentioned. It was published some years back and it was one that had some popularity. Certainly the film also helped to […]
Book Review of She and Her Cat by Makoto Shinkai
Here’s the latest weekly video that I uploaded this morning on Makoto Shinkai’s debut novel, She and Her Cat. He’s a well-known Japanese anime film maker who created this story first as anime so I assume that as a novel, it would reach a wider audience….
Book Review of Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
This week I uploaded this book which is the first time I read this author. It’s written beautifully but the subject makes you feel concern for the main character, a young woman under the power of her harsh father. Lots of themes of personal power, patriarchy and domestic violence.
Creating a Reading Journal
One of the things I’ve been doing in my spare time is creating a Reader’s Journal. I enjoy reading and writing my notes into my journal and I figured, “Why not share what I do?” So for the last week, I planned out the entire annual journal and what will go on each page. It […]
Book Review: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
Here’s the latest book review. I was hanging around the Monash University book store one day and saw it. I made a mental note then found it at my local library. I didn’t mind it. It was enough to keep me intrigued but I was slightly let down with the ending.
Last Book Club Chat for the Year
I run the Book Club called Birdies, Bogies and Books at our golf club. There’s about 20 or so people who are signed up in our WhatsApp group and although we don’t have everyone come along to the meetings every month, there’s about 8-10 people who do. To my surprise, I’ve had positive feedback about […]
New Book Review: Home by Toni Morrison
Book Review: The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
My latest book review is on this book that was surprising. For a book that is well known but didn’t receive acknowledgement or popularity (much to the annoyance of its author), I’m glad I read it. If you want a book where you will detest all the characters, then look no further. If you’re not […]
Talking About Books ~ Vlog Q and A
My latest video is a vlog where I answer some questions that no one has asked (let’s get real about that ) The questions are: There’ll be some other questions which I’ll answer on another video (Part 2) and I’m thinking of answering these questions: I’m also thinking of doing a video on how I […]
Looking Forward To Book Club Tonight
It’s a bit hilarious to think that the highlight of this week will be Book Club. We are both looking forward to it as an event not to be missed! Why? Well, the book this month was Australian author, Christos Tsiolkas new book “The In-Betweeners”. For anyone who knows his writing, well you can understand […]
Selling My Books
This year, I’ve taken to selling stuff – mainly my business, HR, management, learning and development books to get some pocket money. Nothing too much mind you (it’s a long game) but I’ve realised that I have some great books which could be references that others may need now in the workforce. The only books […]
Book Review of East of Eden by John Steinbeck
This book was brilliant. Just do yourself a favour and read it. (Just found out that Netflix is doing a series on East of Eden! )