Unexpected Love Stories

Prolific writer Alexander McCall Smith is in Sydney to promote his latest book, Chance Developments (2015). As I never miss an opportunity to hear him speak, I attended an event at the Seymour Centre as part of the Sydney Writers Festival. Over the course of an hour, McCall Smith spoke on a range of topics, delighting the audience with wonderfully humourous stories.

The author began by talking about hipsters with their tailored trousers, bicycles and beards. He pondered the difference between hipsters of today and the beat generation in the times of Kerouac. Somehow we segued into talking about photography, a passion of McCall Smith, and his Chance Developments.

McCall Smith wrote Chance Developments as a series of unexpected love stories. He came across several old black and white photographs and, not knowing the real story of the couples in the pictures, he wrote a fictionalised account of each couple's romance. The tales are set in far flung places: a circus in Canada, a goldmining town in Australia, a country village in Ireland, the Scottish highlands, and McCall Smith's beloved hometown of Edinburgh.

He talked at length about different kinds of love - reminding me of the scene in The English Patient where Katherine Clifton tells Almasy that "romantic love, platonic love, filial love - quite different things surely."

For McCall Smith love is central and takes many forms. He believes that one of the most heartbreaking kinds of love is that which is unspoken. His novel The Forever Girl is about unrequited love, in which a young girl falls in love with a boy and then spends much of her life following him around in the hopes that he will notice her. At the event McCall Smith spoke of the anguish of not being able to reveal your love for someone else.


The conversation then shifted to friendship. McCall Smith came to prominence with his bestselling series The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency which centres on the friendship of Mme Precious Ramotswe and Mme Grace Makutsi. The author has always been interested in the nature of friendship - how some people form a bond that cannot be broken, how others cull their friends on a regular basis, and how some friendships can withstand great distances.

McCall Smith greatly admires the writings of Patrick O'Brian and the relationship between Aubrey and Maturin which he believes is one of the best explorations of male friendship. McCall Smith writes many children's books and his School Ship Tobermory series is a tribute to O'Brian's series. He spoke about the differences between male and female friendships, and how he envies women for their ability to talk openly about things. He finds it relatively easy to write from a female perspective.

Of course he is always writing something and generally had three or four books on the go. He spoke about how he is currently working on the next instalment of the Scotland Street series and regaled the audience with some tidbits of where the story is heading. He is also working on the next Mme Ramotswe book and another Bertie novel. He tends to get up at 3 or 4am and write for a couple of hours before going back to bed and rising to write again. He cannot write all day but has found a workable routine. He has a full time assistant who aides him with his correspondence and appointments.

I really must get back into reading his books. I began with the Detective series many years ago and read the first three or four back-to-back. But then I took a break and now I am not even sure how far behind I am! The Scotland Street series is great too although I am not caught up with that either. I have never read any of the Sunday Philosopher Club (Isabel Dalhousie) novels. Hearing McCall Smith speak reminded me of what an excellent story teller he is, and has encouraged me to get back into his books again.

Modern workplace learning

Nigel Paine is an internationally renowned thought-leader in learning and organisational development. With decades of experience in corporate learning, including several years as Head of Training and Development for the BBC, Paine understands the evolution that is currently taking place in workplace learning and the opportunities this presents for learning practitioners.

In his book The Learning Challenge - Dealing with technology, innovation and change in learning and development (2014), Paine explores the change work landscape and makes the case for learning to be at the centre of a transforming workplace.
Using interviews with learning professionals from diverse companies, case studies and expert knowledge, Paine gives advice to learning and organisational development practitioners on how to transition to a redefined role of contemporary learning professional.

Work is no longer 9-5 and office-based, but takes place anywhere at anytime. Rapid advances in technology is changing how we work, communicate and learn. There is a shift underway from instructor-led to learner-focused, from courses to curation, from synchronous to just-in-time learning, from formal to informal learning.

After detailing these changes, Paine then explores 'new ideas for learning'. Here he makes a passionate case for the 70-20-10 model of learning, popularised by Charles Jennings, and the need to measure impact. He cites Brinkerhoff's approach to evaluation and the business success case model, as a means for measuring learning transfer. He also looks at performance support and the evolving role of instructional design.  He concludes with 'the game changers' - learning analytics, neuroscience and technology - and how they will impact workplace learning.

I had the good fortune to hear Mr Paine speak at an Australian learning and development conference in 2014 and I was impressed by his ability to reinforce his ideas with relevant case studies and practical tips to apply in my own work. He does the same thing in this book, as each chapter ends with ideas to immediately start applying the concepts he describes.

This book is clearly written for learning and organisational development professionals and will benefit both those new to the profession as well as established practitioners. However, it should also be read by a broader audience including business leaders seeking to build an engaged, innovative workforce. There are lessons here for all of us as we rise to the learning challenge.

Stella Longlist 2016

The Stella Prize is an annual literary award celebrating women writers of both fiction and non-fiction. Named after Australian author Stella Miles Franklin, the Prize was created in 2013 in response to the lack of diversity in nominees for literary awards. It is hoped that through the promotion of excellent books by women, more people will be drawn to their works and inspiration will be given to emerging female writers.

Past winners include:

• Carrie Tiffany for Mateship with Birds (2013)
• Claire Wright for The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (2014)
• Emily Bitto for The Strays (2015)

On 9 February 2016, the longlist for the 2016 Stella Prize was announced with 12 nominees from over 170 entries. There is a great mix of genres (essays, short stories and novels) and a blend of new writers and established authors.

I must admit, I have not yet read any of the longlist. But there are a few on my 'To be Read' list. So, let's take a closer look at the longlist.

The Women’s Pages by Debra Adelaide 

Adelaide is an established author of both fiction and non-fiction. The Women's Pages is a novel about the decisions women make, their compromises and experiences of loss. The main character Dove reads Wuthering Heights to her dying mother and is profoundly influenced. She decides to write her own novel about an independent woman named Ellis.  As Dove writes her book, The Women's Pages becomes a novel within a novel.

The Other Side of the World by Stephanie Bishop 

Set in the 1960s, Charlotte is struggling with her life as a wife, parent and artist. Her husband Henry suggests travelling to Australia in the hopes of regaining their life before children. As they emigrate to Perth the novel explores themes of home, nostalgia, family and love. Bishop is an established writer and was previously shortlisted for the Vogel Literary Award as well as named one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Australian novelists. 

Panthers and the Museum of Fire by Jen Craig
This is a novella by Sydney based writer and micro-fiction blogger Jen Craig. The protagonist walks from her Glebe home to a cafe in Surry Hills with a manuscript written by a friend who has passed away. Another book within a book, Craig has been praised for her stream-of-consciousness style writing. I am particularly intrigued by this book as I know the Glebe to Surry Hills path well, and the title is taken from a sign on the highway in Western Sydney that I pass en route to the Blue Mountains.

Six Bedrooms by Tegan Bennett Daylight  (read review)

At the 2015 Sydney Writers Festival, Daylight moderated a number of the sessions I attended and I was impressed by her critical engagement with fiction and writers. She mentioned this new collection of short stories about that awkward period between adolescence and adulthood through which we all pass. Many critics have compared her work to Alice Munro. This book is definitely on my list for reading soon.

Hope Farm by Peggy Frew
In this coming of age story set in the 1980s, thirteen year old Silver is taken to a hippie commune by her mother.  Silver longs for stability, while her mother is infatuated by the new man in her life. Mother-daughter relationships, growing up, belonging and first loves are explored. This is the second novel from Frew, after her award winning debut House of Sticks (2010).

A Few Days in the Country: And Other Stories by Elizabeth Harrower 
Harrower is an internationally known author of five novels including The Watch Tower. This book is a collection of twelve short stories she has written over five decades. It includes the story "Alice" which was published in the New Yorker in 2015. I love short stories and I am interested in reading this collection.

A Guide to Berlin by Gail Jones 
The title of this book is drawn from a Nabakov short story in 1925, written when he lived in Berlin. Jones has set her sixth novel in a wintery Berlin and uses Nabakov as a catalyst. A group of international travellers gather in empty apartments to share memories and talk about the Russian author. Blending literature, history and storytelling this novel sounds intriguing.

The World Without Us by Mireille Juchau
Juchau is a well regarded Australian author who has previously been shortlisted for various literary awards. This, her third novel, is about the Muller family who reside on a farm on the north coast of New South Wales. Grieving the loss of a child, Evangeline is no longer able to paint and struggles to care for her remaining daughters. Her apiarist husband also mourns and seeks solace in drink. 

A Short History of Richard Kline by Amanda Lohrey 

Tasmanian author Amanda Lohrey's allegorical novel follows Richard from childhood to middle age, and is described by the publisher as a 'pilgrim's progress for the here and now'. As a middle class, middle aged man, he is is still trying to determine what he wants. While I have heard good things about this book, the subject matter - one man's first world problems - doesn't interest me.

Anchor Point by Alice Robinson
This is a debut novel of a Melbourne based writer. A woman disappears from a farm without a trace, leaving her family behind. Her ten year old daughter Laura takes on as much of the household duties as she can. Spanning the next 35 years of Laura's life, the novel explores families, nature, secrets and loss. 

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood  (read review)

Wood's novel has been compared to Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale and as such is definitely on my reading list. Two women are drugged and taken to an isolated property where they find they are imprisoned with eight other girls. Each has a common past for which they are being punished in this powerful feminist novel.

Small Acts of Disappearance: Essays on Hunger by Fiona Wright

The only non-fiction on the longlist, Australian poet Fiona Wright draws together ten intimate essays about anorexia and body image. In high school Wright developed an eating disordered that almost killed her after ten years with the disease. 

The Shortlist will be announced on 10 March 2016 with the prize announced on 19 April 2016.

G is for Grieving

In 2015 a lot of people were talking about Helen Macdonald's award winning book, H is for Hawk (2014). Indeed it appeared on many 'best of' lists for the year and has been hailed by many for its remarkable combination of memoir, natural history, biography and self-help. It was awarded the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction and the Costa Book of the Year award.

Helen was a research fellow at Cambridge University when her photographer father died suddenly. Consumed with grief, Helen went online, ordered a goshawk she named Mabel, and spent the next year immersed in training this bird of prey.

While the purchase may seem like a whim, Helen was well acquainted with falconry. As a child she was obsessed with birds of prey and read all sorts of books about hawks and falcons. She has trained birds before, but a goshawk is notoriously difficult to train.

As Helen learns about Mabel, the reader does too. Mabel and Helen discover together, through trial and error, how to fly, feed and hunt. Mabel helps Helen to resolve her grief and find happiness.

Macdonald's journey with Mabel is paralleled by TH White's experience with his hawk, Gos. English author White, best known for his King Arthur novel The Sword in the Stone (1938), was a deeply unhappy, lonely man, who described his attempts to train his hawk in The Goshawk (1951).  While White is cruel with his hawk - overfeeding, neglecting, smothering - Macdonald understands the nature of hawks and how they need to be treated.

I have mixed feelings about this book. Macdonald's writing is extraordinary - she is so descriptive that the reader is immersed in the feathers. You feel her pain as she describes her grief, loneliness and disappointment as well as her joy as she celebrates small successes while training Mabel. I am not a 'bird person' but I found myself enjoying the new terminology - bating, creance, jesses, tiring, yarak - and was keen to hear more about these remarkable creatures.

For me, the story was uneven, at times engrossing and then suddenly boring. I felt it lagged in the middle, spending too much time on the unlikable White, and not enough time on Helen and Mabel. The good far outweighed the bad and ultimately I would recommend H is for Hawk, especially for lovers of natural history and birds.

Remembrance of Things Past

In the most recent Quarterly Essay (QE60), Laura Tingle explores Political Amnesia - How we Forgot How to Govern. With a relatively new Prime Minister and an election on its way, this is a timely exploration of how politics in Australia has changed in the last twenty years. Tingle's main focus is on the value of institutional memory in the public service, Parliament and the media.

On the Australian Public Service (APS), Tingle reminds readers of the value of the bureaucracy which has provided successive governments with valuable, contestable advice. In the past twenty years or so the APS has been devalued. The push to privatise, with more emphasis being placed on consultants, has seen expertise leave the APS. The terminations of heads of department when governments change, has brought about a more cautious and cowardly APS. The managerialism from the private sector has also given way to an APS that believes in changing portfolios every two years so that no one gains deep subject expertise. The once revered APS has become a shadow of its former self.

On the media, Tingle talks about feeding the beast of the 24/7 news cycle. She argues that journalists have by and large become generalists, rather than subject matter experts. This means that policies can be reported on by people who don't have the deep understanding of the subject area and are unable to provide an effective critique. She also questions the value of the talking points given to all Ministers where they repeat predetermined lines about the issue of the day. With immediate deadlines and yesterday's news forgotten, journalists no longer have the time (and perhaps skill) to engage in thinking through policy, relating issues historically, and understanding the broader context. This results in taking at face-value what we are told without really engaging in issues.

But politics is Tingle's main target. She looks back over the years - Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating, Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott and now Turnbull - and how they valued or dismissed institutional memory. As governments become younger and less experienced, Ministers race to make their mark through 'reform' - often introducing new policies that were tried and failed years earlier or trying to recreate something they have a vague memory of working previously without understanding the context of the time. The centralisation of control in the Prime Minister's office has also meant that debate and deliberation of an issue had been dismissed as undesirable.

Spanish philosopher George Santayana famously wrote that 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'. For the last twenty years so much of what has come out of Canberra has been ensconced in a sense of deja vu. Let's hope that every member of government reads Tingle's essay and makes a conscious decision to build institutional memory and rebuild the APS.

I really enjoyed this Quarterly Essay. It is a compelling, intelligent, piece of journalism which makes a powerful case for improved policy making. 

Included in this essay  is correspondence related to the previous Quarterly Essay - Faction Man (QE59) by David Marr.

Planning for 2016

I know it is not smart to plan my reading for the year too much, as inevitably I never read what I plan to anyway. But, in the spirit of getting myself organised for the year, I thought I should set out some goals for 2016.

I would like to read at least two books a month - 24 for the year - which is what I feel I can manage with my work and other commitments. I blog about most of the things I read, so that should give me a good year of blogging as well.  In 2015 I picked up a lot of books at various events like the Sydney Writers' Festival. I need to finish those so that I am free to do more shopping when the Festival rolls around again.




In the first instance, I need to finish books I have already started:

• H is for Hawk (2015) by Helen Macdonald (Update Jan 16: read review)
• The Executioner's Song (1979) by Norman Mailer
• Not My Father's Son (2015) by Alan Cumming
• Women I've Undressed (2015) by Orry Kelly
• Go Set a Watchman (2015) by Harper Lee
• Quarterly Essay 60 - Political Amnesia (2015) by Laura Tingle (Update Jan16: read review)
• A Spool of Blue Thread (2014) by Anne Tyler

Add to this some of the books I have recently acquired or borrowed:

• My Brilliant Friend (2012) by Elena Ferrante - which I gave my mother for Christmas and promptly borrowed from her!
• Career of Evil (2015) by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling)
• The Learning Challenge (2014)  by Nigel Paine

Finally, I need to leave a little room for new books that have been recently published and those I might gather along the way. I am very keen to get my hands on A Little Life (2015) by Hanya Yanagihara and Fates and Furies (2015) by Lauren Groff as these sound very interesting. Yanighara's book is a 700+ page monster, so I will need to put that off for a while so I finish some of the others. There are some new books I want to read too like Christopher Hitchens'  And Yet: Essays (2015) and Julian Barnes' The Noise of Time (2016).


Now if only I could have a few more weeks off work so I had more time to read....

My 2015 in books

Another year has passed and it is time to reflect on the year that has gone by and the books I have read along the way.

In 2015 I set myself a goal of reading 24 books - two a month - and blogging in equal measure. I managed to write 39 blog posts about books of all kinds, but did not quite make the 24 books (damn you epic tomes!).

In my first post of 2015 I announced my plans for the year and described an ambitious list of to-be-reads. While I started well, ticking off my list as I went, I soon found that I needed to replace many titles on the list with more pressing reads.

My reads in 2015 can be roughly clustered as follows:

Fiction

I didn't read a lot of fiction in 2015 but some of my most favourite reads this year were by Australian writers. I highly recommend both The Golden Age (2014) by Joan London and Emily Bitto's The Strays (2014).  Both of these novels were recipients of numerous awards and have an authentic Australian voice.

I also really enjoyed The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (2015) and Patricia Highsmith's classic The Talented Mr Ripley (1955). I look forward to continuing other books in the Ripley series.

Two of the other novels I took off my 'to-be-read' pile were Ann Patchett's State of Wonder (2011) and Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature of All Things (2013).


True Crime

I have never really thought of myself as a true crime reader, but started out the year reading a book I had given my mother for Christmas, Last Woman Hanged (2014) by Caroline Overington, about Louisa Collins who was sentenced to death for allegedly killing her husband. A few months later I read another version of the same case in Carol Baxter's Black Widow (2015). It was really interesting to compare and contrast these two accounts.

After hearing Asne Seierstad speak at the Sydney Writers' Festival, I also read the compelling and challenging One of Us - The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre of Norway (2015). This was a remarkably detailed depiction of a horrific crime.

I should also mention that I really enjoyed the Serial podcast. Season one told the story of Adnan Syed who had been convicted of murdering his former girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Told over twelve weeks, this fascinating drama replaced much of my commute reading.

Biography

I read a lot of biographies this year which told the life stories of remarkable women. I really enjoyed reading Julia Gillard's recollection of her years as Prime Minister in My Story (2014).

I laughed aloud at Amy Poehler's Yes Please (2014) and despite high hopes for Lena Dunham's Not That Kind of Girl (2014), I found it to be a bit of a disappointment.

One of the most interesting biographies I read was One Life (2015) by Kate Grenville, an account of her mother's extraordinarily ordinary life.

Other Non Fiction
I read a lot of other non-fiction in 2015 including Roxane Gay's essays Bad Feminist (2014), Asne Seierstad's The Bookseller of Kabul (2002), and Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (2006). The non-fiction highlight for me was Jon Ronson's So You've Been Publicly Shamed (2015).

I really enjoy the Quarterly Essay which arrives every three months in my mailbox. They are always interesting and expose me to new ideas. In 2015 I read:

• Quarterly Essay 56 - Clivosaurus: The Politics of Clive Palmer (2014) by Guy Rundle  
• Quarterly Essay 57 - Dear Life: On Caring for the Elderly (2015) by Karen Hitchcock
• Quarterly Essay 58 - Blood Year: Terror and the Islamic State (2015) by David Kilcullen
• Quarterly Essay 59 - Faction Man: Bill Shorten's Path to Power (2015) by David Marr

Random Musings

Part of the reason I didn't quite achieve my reading target is that I attend a lot of events where I am introduced to new authors and new ideas. I also listen to a lot of podcasts, like Chat 10 Looks 3, The Guardian Books, and Slate's Audio Book Club, so I am constantly being sent off to other reading adventures.

I have blogged about many of the events I attended, like the Sydney Writers' Festival, the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, and All About Women. I also wrote about plays like The Present and King Lear and about various literary awards that crop up throughout the year.

Favourites of 2015

If I had to chose, I would select as my favourites of 2015, The Golden Age (2014) by Joan London  and Jon Ronson's So You've Been Publicly Shamed (2015). 

But I would give an honourable mention to Kate Grenville's One Life (2015) and Asne Seierstad's One of Us (2015) for their amazing skills as writers.

Nothing can come of nothing

I was thrilled to score tickets to the Sydney Theatre Company's production of King Lear this week. I had not studied Lear since high school (more than a few years ago) and I had forgotten so much that I essentially came to it fresh. This is a play about power, relationships between parent and child, parallels and divine justice.

The story is a tragic tale of an elderly King who decides to divide his kingdom among whichever of his three daughters expresses their love for him in the most pleasing way. His eldest two daughters, Goneril and Regan, gush glowingly of their father. His youngest, Cordelia, refuses saying 'nothing', and she is immediately disinherited. The eldest two, and their husbands, are awarded the kingdom. Having given away his power, Lear now finds himself shunned by his eldest daughters, and he descends into madness.

Acclaimed Australian director Neil Armfield AO has helmed this production, bringing together a star-studded cast of actors and putting them through their paces.

The stage is minimalist - starting with a cavernous black, shifting to a grey, before finishing in a blinding white stage - designed to reflect the changing phases of Lear's mind. Designer Richard Cousins has created a subtle set, devoid of props, in which all eyes are on the talent and the words. The storm scene in particular was marvellous, with wind and rain pouring on the stage for over thirty minutes.

As the curtain rises on an empty stage, Marilyn Monroe approaches a microphone and sings a sultry 'happy birthday'  to Lear before pulling off her wig to reveal herself the Fool in disguise. This marvellous opening provides a reason for the court to come together to celebrate the 80th birthday of the monarch.

We then meet Lear, played by the legendary Geoffrey Rush. Lear begins with an arrogance and rage that has come from his decades of ruling the kingdom, his frustration of having no son to be a natural heir, and his ego that requires undivided admiration and loyalty from all about him. As Lear descends into madness, Rush's skills as a mime come to the fore. His ability to transition - through his rubbery facial movements, mannerisms and voice - are compelling. It is a marvellous portrayal of a tyrant who becomes increasingly fragile and delusional.

Nevin's Fool is a curious creation. After the Monroe sequence, spoke with a broad Aussie accent and dressed like Sir Les Patterson.   Her wisecracks are punctuated by percussion from the band.

The daughters played by Helen Buday, Helen Thomson and Eryn Jean Norvill were uniformly excellent. It was also lovely to see Max Cullen as Gloucester. The standouts of the non-headliners were Jacek Koman (Kent), Mark Leonard Winter (Edgar) and Meyne Wyatt (Edmund) and I look forward to seeing their careers progress.

On the night I attended, there was a QnA with the cast after the show. This was an intriguing event, with Rush being generous with his answers. Nevin and others seemed to wish they were elsewhere, were curt in their answers, and left quickly when it was over. I appreciate that they had just spent an exhausting three hours on stage, but it did feel a little dismissive of the audience after the thrill of seeing the production.

It is a rare treat to see an actor of Rush's calibre up close and personal and I feel privileged for having witnessed his brilliant Lear portrayal. I have had the great pleasure of seeing several Sydney Theatre Company productions in the last year or so: Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh in The Present, and Hugo Weaving in Macbeth. STC always produces interesting plays with incredible talent, wonderful set decoration, and artistic direction. I was also able to see Kevin Spacey in Richard III in 2011 which was a real treat. My reviews of these productions are also on this blog.

Beauty and Depth

Last night in Sydney the Prime Minister, the Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, announced the winners of the 2015 Prime Minister's Literary Awards. I am thrilled that Joan London won for best fiction for her magnificent The Golden Age.

The shortlist for the fiction prize was a tight contest with some well regarded authors rounding out the top five:

• Peter Carey for Amnesia;
• Elizabeth Harrower for In Certain Circles;
• Rohan Wilson for To Name Those Lost; and,
• Sonya Hartnett for Golden Boys.

I had expected it to be a tight race between The Golden Age and Golden Boys. London had missed out on this year's Stella Prize and Miles Franklin Award, so I am excited that she triumphed for this award.

When I reviewed this book earlier this year, I noted how Australian this book is with its depictions of the landscape, culture and language of Australia. 

The judges of this prize commented that it "is a grand narrative written on a most intimate and modest canvas" and "a novel of great beauty and depth", which captures the book beautifully. 

I should mention the other books that won at the PM's Literary Awards:

Poetry 

Geoffrey Legmann for Poems 1957-2013

Australian History (Joint winners)

Ross Coulthard for Charles Bean

David Horner for The Spy Catchers - The Official History of ASIO Vol 1

Non Fiction (Joint winners)

Marleen Bungey for John Olsen: An Artist's Life

Michael Wilding for Wild Bleak Bohemia

Young Adult Fiction

Claire Zorn for The Protected

Children's Fiction

David Metzenthen for One Minute's Silence 

I must admit to being disappointed that Helen Garner's gripping This House of Grief  was overlooked for the non-fiction prize. It should have won.

For more information on all the winners and shortlisted books, see the PM Literary Awards website.

End of 2015 Book Lists

As the year draws to a close, the "Best of 2015" lists begin to be published. Inevitably these lists contain very few books that I have actually read, so I enjoy being introduced to books and authors I may have overlooked. I particularly like lists that choose quirky, unusual titles that don't normally get much attention. So, before I compile my own list, let's look at what some of the others have to say...

The New York Times list features 100 notable books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Given that I am always reading, I would have thought that I would have instantly recognised the bulk of the titles with a nod of agreement that they are in fact notable. In turns out however that I have only read one title - the very notable One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Asne Seierstad.

I  have started but not yet finished H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald, her memoir of raising a goshawk as she mourns the loss of her father. But there are quite a few titles that I am interested in, such as Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff which looks at marriage from the points of view of both husband and wife. Chigozie Obioma's The Fisherman also makes this list and is on my to be read pile.  I have also been hearing a lot of good things about A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and I am keen to get hold of this novel.

The Guardian has invited a variety of writers to nominate their favourite books of the year. I always find it interesting to hear from writers I admire about what books they have enjoyed. I will take Julian Barnes' advice and read Colm Toibin's Nora Webster as I absolutely loved his previous novel Brooklyn (2009). Margaret Atwood recommend's My Life on the Road, a memoir by Gloria Steinem. I enjoyed Paula Hawkins debut novel The Girl on the Train, so when she recommends Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff I am keen to take a look.

Jeanette Winterson recommends Atwood's The Heart Goes Last, her latest dystopian novel. Laura Barnett suggests Anne Tyler's A Spool of Blue Thread which I have started and not yet finished. Edna O'Brien's Little Red Chairs gets a couple of mentions and, since I enjoyed her Down By the River (1996),  I may seek out her latest. A number of writers have recommended the works of Elena Ferrante and I might check her out in 2016.

The Guardian list also has a Part 2! From this list I appreciate Ali Smith's recommendation of Jeremy Gavron's A Woman on the Edge of Time, a memoir of his mother which I think would make an interesting counter point to Kate Grenville's One Life.  The other memoir of interest is Patti Smith's M Train. Damian Barr recommends Alan Cumming's memoir Not My Father's Son which I am currently reading. Naomi Alderman mentions one book I have actually read and enjoyed, Jon Ronson's So You've Been Publicly Shamed.



Slate's Book Review writers Laura Miller and Katy Waldman identified 10 books worth reading. Of Miller's list, The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith is one I think I would like. Jonathan Frazen's Purity is another novel I might get around to next year. Katy Waldman's list appeals more to me. Of the ones she has listed, I am attracted to Groff's Fates and Furies, Macdonald's H is for Hawk, Yanigihara's A Little Life, Ferrante's The Story of the Lost Child, and Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Time magazine names 10 works of fiction including Louis de Bernieres' The Dust the Falls from Dreams, Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick DeWitt, A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson, as well as the novels of Groff, Ferrante and others. Time's non-fiction list includes The Witches by Stacy Schiff, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Marilynne Robinson's The Giveness of Things, and Macdonald's H is for Hawk.

The biggest list I could find was from Canada's National Post, which lists 99 best fiction and non-fiction books of 2015. Despite the length of this list, the only book that I have read is Jon Ronson's So You've Been Publicly Shamed (#29). This tells me that the awesome Australian authors I have read this year need more exposure overseas as certainly authors like Joan London and Emily Bitto are worth reading!  However this list provides plenty of other titles to be added to my "to be read" pile, including:

• Hanyi Yanigihara's A Little Life (#98),
• At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen (#90), 
• Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick DeWitt (#87),
• Margaret Atwood's The Heart Goes Last (#82), 
• Miranda July's The First Bad Man (#77)
• The Cartel by Don Winslow (#73)
• Gut by Guilia Enders (#61)
• Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own by Kate Bolick (#57)
• H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald (#27)
• Submission by Michel Houellebecq (#21)
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (#1)

Newsweek published a list of the best and worst books of the year. The article is a bit stupid, with categories like most overrated, worst cover, most stupefyingly boring work of history, least essential celebrity biography and the like. Amongst the nonsense is some worthwhile content. The best books include Hanya Yanigihara's A Little Life, TC Boyle's The Harder They Come, and history of the Nazi regime KL by Nikolaus Wachsmann.

Buzzfeed has chosen 24 works of fiction for their "Best of" list. I have not read any on this list, but in addition to Groff's Fates and Furies and Yanagihara's A Little Life, the books on this list that interest me are The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante and Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick DeWitt.

I have yet to see any Australian publications list their "best of...." for 2015, but I suspect there may be some titles on those lists that I have read. The cumulative effect of all of these lists leads me to prioritise some reading for next year and acquire some new books by Yanagihara, Ferrante, Coates and other authors I have not previously read.

Mister Fifteen Percent

Bill Shorten has been the leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition since October 2013, following the election of Tony Abbott's conservative government. Over the past two years he has been in the national spotlight, but it seems to me like the real Bill Shorten is not really known.

David Marr, one of my favourite journalists, has written about Shorten in the Quarterly Essay (QE59). Faction Man (2015) explores Shorten's early years, his rise through the union movement, his involvement in the political executions of Rudd and Gillard, and his quest for the top job.

While Shorten is obviously intelligent, he lacks the charisma of Rudd, Gillard, Hawke, Keating and many other Labor leaders. He comes across as wooden and scripted, slightly daggy and bland. But more importantly, his politics are so beige. He has not lived up to the promise of Opposition, and instead has sided with the government on heinous policies and essentially painted himself into a corner.

As Marr writes, "It isn't true he stands for nothing. There is a list of decent Labor policies he's always backed: jobs, prosperity, education and health. What's counted against him is he stands for nothing brave." A damning indictment on a man desperate to lead the nation.

This Essay was published the week that Tony Abbott lost the leadership to the charismatic Malcolm Turnbull, and now Shorten's fate has taken a turn. His standing in the polls has dropped to a pathetic 15% as preferred Prime Minister, yet he is unlikely to face a challenge from within his own ranks because of Turnbull's popularity. So he will stay and lead Labor to the next election.

Marr's previous essays on George Pell, Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd were far more engaging. But I really don't believe it is Marr's fault that this essay didn't have the same appeal. His subject matter is just so boring, despite his Machiavellian machinations to remove Rudd and Gillard. I was hoping to find more character and less robot, but you can't find what isn't there. That said, Marr is a brilliant writer and investigative journalist.

Also included was correspondence related to the previous Quarterly Essay, QE58 Blood Year by David Kilcullin.

Normal service will resume....

It has been a few weeks since my last blog post and my loyal readers (Hi Mum!) may be wondering if I have stopped reading.  The answer is no, in fact I have been reading too much, all over the place, and consequently not finishing anything.

The problem is twofold. First, I started walking home from work which has seen me shift to listening to podcasts rather than reading. Second, I picked up Norman Mailer's Executioner's Song (1979), an engrossing epic of over a thousand pages and this weighty tome is my bedtime reading.

In the meanwhile, the other books I had started to read have been pushed aside. These include:

• Faction Man (2015) by David Marr (Quarterly Essay)
• Career of Evil (2015) by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling)
• Women I've Undressed (2015) by Orry Kelly
• Go Set a Watchman (2015) by Harper Lee

The problem is added to when the books keep piling up. The latest Quarterly Essay (Laura Tingle) has arrived in the mail and the latest Margaret Atwood has arrived on my eReader. Plus, that podcast I have been listening to is Chat10Looks3 by Annabelle Crabb and Leigh Sales. The two of them always have reading ideas and got me started on the Executioner's Song! I have a lot of reading to do before the end of the year.