#AusReadingMonth 2021 Wrap-up post

- It has been a long summer…
- filled with climate change events COP26 (fires, hurricanes, floods)
- ….USA finally ending a 20 yr war….(…exit was messy)
- ….battle to control Covid #DeltaVariant and now
- …a new #OmicronVariant continues!!
- I always look forward to #AusReadingMonth2021
- @bronasbooks (This Reading Life)
- ….and want to thank her for doing a wonderful
- …job hosting and reviewing!
For #AusReadingMonth2021 I read:
- Coda – Thea Astley (1994) (novella) REVIEW
- The Year of Living Dangerously – ( 224 pg) Chris Koch (1978) REVIEW
- Always Add Lemon – Danielle Alvarez REVIEW
- Vertigo: A Novella – (144 pg) Amanda Lohrey (2008) (novella) REVIEW
- The Newspaper of Claremont Street – Elizabeth Jolley (1981) (novella) REVIEW
- In Praise of Veg – Alice Zaslavsky REVIEW
- Australian Food – Bill Granger REVIEW
- Basics to Brilliance – Donna Hay (cookbook) REVIEW
- Tea and Sympathetic Magic – Tansy Rayner Roberts (novella) REVIEW
- I’m Ready Now – (156 pg) Nigel Featherstone (novella) REVIEW
#AusReadingMonth 2021 Cookbook nr 4
- Author: Danielle Alvarez
- Title: Always Add Lemon
- Published: 2020
- Trivia: Danielle Alvarez is the chef behind Sydney restaurant Fred’s.
- Monthly reading plan
- #NonFicNov 2021
- #AusReadingMonth2021 @bronasbooks
- #AWW 2021
Quick Scan:
- Of all the cookbooks I review for #AusReadingMonth 2021
- Danielle Alvarex is the chef with the most impressive credentials!
- Born to a food-loving Cuban family in Miami.
- She trained at some of the most prestigious restaurants in California:
- The French Laundry, then Boulettes Larder and finally Chez Panisse.
- She brought these culinary talents with her to Sydney in 2016.
- Ms Alvarez asked her to head up and design the kitchen the new restaurant, Fred’s.
Conclusion:
- Ms Alvarez sets the cooking bar very high!
- I thought I would dip into her book and select a recipe and have
- ….a meal quickly on the table.
- Little did I know, the author expects the reader to be a bit more serious!
- The book is full of beautiful, culinary inspiration,
- …but I found the recipes somewhat unapproachable.
- I became anxious just thinking of cooking Ms Alvarez’s suggestions.
- There are so many ways to go wrong.
- Funny, I am the only one in the kitchen…and eating my food
- …but still I feel judged (by myself) when I create a disaster.
- Looking at the photo’s of perfect food….by a master chef
- …intimidates me.
Personal Challenge:
- At first glance ….these recipes look a little too time-consuming.
- They feel more suited for a restaurant professional.
- The language felt complicated, ingredients that I had to look
- up in the culinary dictionary!
- Every time I decided to cook
- something I was discouraged halfway reading the instructions!
- I put the book away for weeks….just postponing the inevitable.
Results:
- Section: salads (17 recipes) I’m making the first 7 salads.
- As you can see many ingredients are not available for this mere mortal
- …and that is what makes many delicious recipes feel “unapproachable”
- I will improvise and do my best!
- Beetroot (yellow) – persimmons (not available) – feta, honey, pistachio nuts and
- Aleppo chili flakes ( not available..use ordinary flakes)
- Update:
- Best replacement or persimmon is a peach or nectarine.
- It is Autumn and…these fruits are NOT is season.
- I just used thinly sliced oranges.
-
Yellow beets..who would have thought!
-
My first attempt at Danielle Alvarez’s (top-chef) starters in
-
…her book Always Add Lemon.
-
No persimmon in my neck of the woods
-
…so I just used thinly sliced oranges.
-
This salad takes planning but is delicious.
-
You would easily pay 12-15 euro for this starter in a restaurant
- Fig and goat’s curd salad – smokey paprika vinaigrette
- (ingredient for dressing pimentón de La Vera dulce….not available)
- Tomato salad with sumac, onions, tahini yoghurt (not avaliable...
- I’ll make it with yogurt and sesame paste) – fennel
- Tomato and fried crouton salad with olive oil packed tinned tuna – capers
- Cucumbers with mustard vinaigrette and dille
- Belgian Endive (…radicchio (not available) with bagna cuda
- (Ms Alvarez raves about this dipping sauce) and walnut oil
- Zucchini with mint, lemon and bottarga
- (not available…and it is just as well, sounds vile, see Google)
Strong point:
- The book is a well-made beautiful book
- …feels luxurious with high quality paper.
- So impressed the images that I’ll add the links to the
- photographer Benito Martin
- stylist Jessica Johnson
- …just take a look at their portfolio’s ….creative genius!
Update:
Pg 16: How to dress a salad – Chardonnay and honey vinaigrette
- I have NO chardonnay or sherry vinegar.
- Substitute: balsamic vinagar
- Substitute: Listau Sherry ….made with grapes grown in the Jerez area of Spain.
- Lustau sherry is the industry’s gold standard
- … a sweet sherry from Pedro Ximenz grapes.
- Jury: unanimous vote…this is a keeper!
- Lessons learned:
- I did not know that a salad dressing should marinate 15 min before using!
- Always use just-washed hands (not tongs)…you need to feel the dressing coating the leaves!
- Taste….more salt? ….more honey?….more vinegar?
- Different salad leaves require different amounts of dressing
- …bitter radiicchio needs more dressing/salt
- …delicate leaf like arugula (rucloa) wants smallest amount of dressing
- …gentle touch just to coat them.
Update:
- Ms Alvarez challenges me again on pg 17 “Salsa Verde”.
- Original recipe was too salty for me (capers and anchovies).
- If I make this again I would reduce the acid (vinagar or lemon juice) and oil by half!
- I would use 1/2 amount of the “salty elements”
- ..and drain the shallots of vinegar and only
- add the shallots to the condiment.
- I froze 1 TB portions to be thawed in the fridge…worked perfectly.
- I TB is thawed within 5 mi…and I used it mixed
- into my mashed potatoes!
- Jury: Lovely burst of flavor, dille, chives, honey and parsely.
#AusReadingMonth 2021 Cookbook nr 3
- Author: Alice Zaslavsky
- Title: In Praise of Veg
- Published: 2020
- Monthly reading plan
- #NonFicNov 2021
- #AusReadingMonth2021 @bronasbooks
- #AWW 2021
Award:
- In Praise of Veg won the 2021 ABIA (@abia_awards)
- …for the best non-fiction illustrated book.
- This award is voted on by members of the publishing industry.
- The longlist is selected by a group of 250 publishers and book-sellers
- The winner is decided on by an esteemed panel of experts.
Quick Scan:
- 50 favorite vegetable varieties, offering 150+ recipes.
- The book is filled with countless tips on flavor combinations,
- rule-of-thumb buying/storing/cooking methods,
- shortcuts, and veg wisdom from over 50 of the world’s top chefs.
- Strong point: Very Educational
- ...and I thought I knew enough about veggies…but I learned so much
Conclusion:
- After reading Basics to Brillance by Donna Hay….on black paper
- …this book is a joy to open!
- The book is 70% reading….and 30% recipes.
- Weak point: recipes lacked imagination….
- I had the feeling I’d read these cooking suggestions in other books!
- I did find some very good tips about storing veggies and herbs
- …but the recipes were a big disappointment.
- Strong point: book is a visual delight!
- Within the pages of In Praise of Veg, the recipes are refreshingly grouped
- …together according to the color of each vegetable.
- Strong point: book is about vegetables but NOT purely plant-based
- Ms Zaslavsky says: “… it is a “plant-forward” source of inspiration.”
- The premise is… “to start with veg and build a dish around it”.
#AusReadingMonth 2021 Cookbook nr 2

- Author: Bill Granger (1969)
- Title: Australian Food
- Published: 2020
- Monthly plan
- #AusReadingMonth2021 @bronasbooks
- #NonficNov
Backround:
- Bill Granger is very famous in Australia.
- Granger was born to a vegetarian mother and a
- father who worked as a butcher.
- He lives with his wife Natalie Elliott and their three daughters.
- Strong point: the dedication in the book is just so beautiful:
- “For Natalie”
- Her name might not be above the door,
- but the door would never open without her.”
- With eighteen restaurants around the world, Bill Granger has spread
- the Aussie way of dining far beyond the beaches of Sydney.
- There are 5 photo’s of Bill in the book
- …how approachable he looks and
- …how handsome padding across the beach in his bare feet.
- Bill’s crinkly smile is infectious…he makes me believe I can really cook!
- I was surprised he is photographed with a coffee and newspaper
- instead of a huge glass of wine in the kitchen…like me.
- Sydney-style avo toast, was popularized by
- Australian chef-restaurateur Bill Granger,
- whose early 90s version…toast, mashed avocado, lime, salt, chilli flakes
- …has since taken over the world.
Conclusion:
- Weak point: font used in the index is too small…or my eyes are too old
- Strong point: I made 1 recipe from each section except BBQ.
- I was introduced to at least 8 ingredients I never used before.
- This was because Bill Granger makes many Asian influenced dishes…all new to me!
- This aspect of the book makes it so exciting to cook with Bill Granger.
Update: 20.11.2021
- Leave it to Bill to come up with
- …the answer to my “Christmas Party” prayers!
- I’m hosting a 4 course Christmas dinner for friends.
- I love wine with my food….but don’t want to send the guests home
- and have them washing the wine and champagne out of their hair the next day
- …along with a hangover.
- So..Bill gave me the Negroni Spritz on page 174 (Australian Food).
- I’ve modified it to replace:
- 100 ml wine –> cold water
- 30 ml vermouth –> juice of one lemon
- ice cubes, curl of lemon peel and 40 ml Campari
- …small squeeze honey if you like a bit of sweetness!
- Absolutely a visual refreshing delight in a wine glass!
#AusReadingMonth 2022 Tansy Roberts
- Author: Tansy Rayner Roberts (1978)
- Title: Tea and Sympathetic Magic (pg 73)
- Genre: novella
- Published: 2021
- Monthly plan
- #AusReadingMonth2021 @Bronasbooks
- #NovNov @746Books
- @bookishbeck
- #AWW 2021
Quick Scan:
- Tea and Sympathetic Magic
- Miss Mnemosyne Seabourne teams up with a fascinating
- spellcracker Mr. Thornbury to foil the kidnapping of the
- Herny Jupiter the Duke of Storm
- …and prevent a forced marriage.
Notes:
- Strong point:
- Ms Roberts use names
- from mythology and the solar system for her characters!
- Henry Jupiter – is a very eligible bachelor, with grand library.
- The planet Jupiter’s most iconic feature is a
- giant STORM know as the Giant Red spot.
- The Duke is wearing “…a bright orange cravat.” (pg 10)
- …just like The Giant Red Spot on Jupiter!
- Ms Roberts uses this info to create
- “Henry Jupiter, the Duke of Storm”.
- Strong point:
- Ms Roberts uses lovely names of moons for female characters
- Moons circle planets…usually men in society!
- Mnemosyne – moon of Saturn
- Europa – moon of Jupiter
- Galatea – moon of Neptune
- Strong point: Ms Roberts does highlight important issues
- …that the main character Mnemosyne is passionate about:
- A) Rules for men were different than for women...
- Duke of Storm enjoys special rituals to meet his demands
- “brimming cup of tea and does not have to wait 2 seconds”
- ….and he had done nothing to deserve this attention. (pg 10)
- “This is the world we live in: one where
- B) Ladies traveled by the slow path,
- …while gentlemen were allowed short-cuts.” (pg 17)
- C) “No one should marry the wrong person.” (pg 39)
- Weak point:
- the title suggests “magic” but I was so
- …disappointed.
- The idea of a spellcracker…walking through portals, transforming
- a ball into a prickly hedgehog to stop a wedding and throwing
- tea cups at a wedding cake to release a captive wedding guest
- …is NOT my idea of magic.
- It is just not.
Last Thoughts:
- I decided to read this novella because I so
- enjoyed Girl Reporter by Ms Roberts last year.
- I missed a great story idea, a memorable main character
- and unique writing style.
- IMO this novella is like cotton candy
- …sickly sweet, all fluff and just melts away.
- #IAmNOTIntendedTargetAudience
#AusReadingMonth 2021 Christopher Koch

- Author: Christopher Koch (1932-2013)
- Title: The Year of Living Dangerously
- Published: 1978 (224 pg)
- Trivia: This book helped Australia to shift its cultural focus from
- Britain and Ireland toward its increasing engagement with Asia
- ….and continuing into 21st C (nuclear powered submarines from USA)
- Trivia: The banned film (1982) version directed by Australian Peter Weir
- was shown for the first time in 2000 at Jakarta Film Festival.
- Monthly planning
- #AusReadingMonth2021 @bronasbooks
Quick Scan:
- C. J. Koch’s The Year of Living Dangerously takes its title
- from Sukarno’s term for 1965, the year in which the novel takes place.
- R. J. Cook, first-person narrator, recounts the events that occurred
- during that tumultuous, chaotic year.
- In 1965 Sukarno was overthrown (see book published 2020: The Jakarta Method)
- and Suharto, a right-wing officer, assumed control of the Indonesian government.
- Sukarno’s fate, however, is linked to the fates of the characters:
- Guy Hamilton – a correspondent for an Australian news network
- Trivia: loosely based on Mr. Koch’s younger brother, Philip.
- Billy Kwan – an Australian-Chinese dwarf who is a highly intelligent cameraman
- Jill Bryant – the woman both men love.
Conclusion:
- This was an amazing book…just stunning!
- I saw the movie version in 1980s and didn’t understand any of
- the politics in Indonesia and USA’s use of…
- The Jakarta Method.
- Now I do..and it isn’t a pretty picture for America’s foreign policy.
- Has anything changed?? (Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan….and now Taiwan?)
- Chris Koch is an excellent writer/journalist and several intrigues
- were weaved seamlessly into the story.
- I could not stop reading…..
- Billy Kwan is the “spider in the web”
- …the Wayang shadow play puppet master!
- The ending of the book was genius.
- Please, don’t miss this #classic
- It is probably waiting for you on the library shelf
- …better yet, buy it and support your local bookstore.
- #MustRead.
#AusReadingMonth 2021 Cookbook nr 1

- Author: Donna Hay
- Title: Basics to Brillance
- Published: 2016
- Monthly plan
- #NonFicNov 2021
- #AWW 2021
- #AusReadingMonth2021 @bronasbooks
Background and authority.
- Donna Hay (1971)
- Author of 27 bestselling cookbooks
- Her books are known for their simple recipes
- …and beautiful photography.
Identify the intended audience.
- Foodies: love her recipes
- Professionals: irritated that this self starter has become rich and
- famous by peddling recipes that a child could master.
- Nancy: not one of Donna Hay’s fans…after reading her book!
Conclusion:
- Strong point:
- If you love beautiful food photography…this is you book.
- I am more interested in cooking….and not picture gazing.
- This coffee table size cookbook is not
- …something that is easy to use in the kitchen!
- Strong point:
- Ms Hay includes handy “notes” in each recipe.
- Weak point:
- Many recipes include references to basics…
- for example: chicken base soup “see basic recipe”
- or…basil pesto “see basic recipe”
- …but I wish she would include the
- page number where the reader can
- …FIND the ‘basic recipe”.
- I lost time and interest searching in this
- chunkster of a cookbook!
- Weak point:
- Buyer beware!
- ratio price/quality
- 36% of the book is filled with full page food photography
- 32% recipes (some were spread over 2 pages that easily could have been 1 page)
- 32 % miscellaneous – glossary, measurements, bio of Ms Hay, Thank-you note and index
- Weak point: personal note…all recipes are printed on black paper
- …depressing and difficult to read!
- Last thought: not recommended
#Novella nr 2: NovNov – AusReadingMonth 2021

- Author: Nigel Featherstone
- Title: I’m Ready Now (pg 156)
- Genre: novella
- Published: 2012
- Monthly plan
- #AusReadingMonth2021 @Bronasbooks
- #NovNov @746Books
- @bookishbeck
Quick Scan:
- Chapters 1-12
- Introduction characters and backstories
- …marriages, childhood, deaths, abandonment.
- Chapters 13-16
- The tension rises to a boiling point: Gordon (son),
- Mother and Levi (Gordon’s lover) are all about to make
- a life changing decisions but it
- …is unclear to the reader what that will be!
- Conflict: should mother just listen to her son’s plans
- …or try to stop him from making a grave mistake?
- Chapters 17 – 23
- The story reaches the climax
- ….during Gordon’s 30th birthday dinner celebration.
- Chapters 24 – 32
- The resolution…each character embarks on their own paths.
- ..and perhaps those paths will cross each other in the future
- ….at least Nigel Featherstone ends the book on an optimistic note!
- Conclusion:
- Ending:…feels like the sound of a bell ringing.
- #Bravo !!! Nigel!
- Strong point: Structure – Alternating narrator:
- ch 1 Son (Gordon) and ch 2 Mother (Lynne)…etc
- Strong point: Thoughts and inner dialogue
- 70% of the book is inner dialogue that
- raises the emotional level in every scene!
- It reveals the truth, the darkness, hopes and dreams
- …that are often lost in direct dialogue.
- Mother (Lynne) is worried about her son
- …but cannot let him notice her concern.
- Son (Gordon) feels his heart is torn in half.
- ..one part for his lover (Levi) the other part
- for his determination to continue with
- …the “Year of Living Ridiculously”.
Major theme: loss, abandonment
- In chapter 9 we hear Mother say words that left me puzzled.
- Gordon: “Is there anything you need while I’m up the street?
- Mother: “No, just make sure you come home.”
- Gordon “…of course I’ll come home…”
- Mother: “Than that’s all I need.”
- As you read Nigel Featherstone adds layers
- with backstories about the characters and their lives.
- Only then does this short dialogue between mother and son make sense.
Characters:
- Gordon (Donian, nickname) 29 yr, born 23 October 1981
- Levi Greenguard (Jewish social worker, Gordon’s lover)
- Mother (Lynne)
- Eddie (stepfather) – recently deceased
- Margie Ardmore (friend of Mother…feels like an aunt for Gordon)
- Patric Finn (…just mentioned as mother’s first love)
- Minnie and Lenah ( Gordon’s step-sisters)
- Ailis Kildare (Lynne’s mother, from Ireland, died in Hobart 62 yr)
- Father – (name?) died 6 months later
- Shanie Doyle – G’s childhood friend …followed him from Hobart to Sydney
- Delia Canola – Shanie’s fiancée
Best Quote: chapter 19
- “I think birthplace is a matter of DNA.
- You can try running from it….
- ….but it’s always in you, mapping you out.”
Locations:
- Mother takes a flight from Hobart, Tasmania to…
- Sydney – Gelbe, NSW (inner-city suburb) – Gordon’s appartment
- Convict-era cottage on 11 Union Street (polished doorknob) (backstory)
- Point Puer (place where Patric Finn made a film)
- Battery Point…where Shanie used to live
- Battery Point House – owned by mother Lynne
- Gleeson House (1839) (..the family home Hampton Road, Hobart)
- …is about to be sold at an auction…so Mother is visiting her son Gordon.
- Sydney apartment (Eddie’s place at Manly on the Corso)
Title: “I’m Ready Now”
- Ch 27 – quote … to bookend the story:
- Mother: “There’s a future in abandonment, so it seems.
- I’m ready for it.”
- Ch 30 – quote … as Levi leaves he says to Gordon:
- “marriage is not out of the question”..in the future.
- Levi calls for a taxi and says “Yes, I’m ready now”.
#Novella nr 1: NovNov – AusReadingMonth 2021
- Author: Amanda Lohrey
- Title: Vertigo ( pg 144)
- Genre: novella
- Published: 2019
- Monthly plan
- #AusReadingMonth2021 @Bronasbooks
- #NovNov @746Books
- #NovNov @bookishbeck
- #AWW
Introduction:
- Sometimes I search days for a good book
- …and sometimes one just falls into my lap!
- I ordered this book a year ago.
- This year for #AusReadingMonth I am determined to
- sweep through my Kindle TBR and read as many Aussie
- authors as I can.
- Also this review is ….for #NovNov @746Books
Conclusion:
- Veritigo is a stunner.
- Luke and Anna, thirty-something…. decide on a change.
- Worn down by city life they flee to a sleepy village by the coast.
- One senses that the change of living area is only nothing more than as escape
- for a couple who have difficulty communicating.
- The neighbours are strange but authentic.
- The problem is the drought.
- The book felt like a compact box of chocolates.
- I ate the first few bonbons (part 1) and
- as I continued to remove the layers (part 2) of paper
- only to come deeper (part 3) into an exquisitely crafted novella.
- Chocolate and this story are
- so addictive that one cannot stop reading/eating it.
-
“this book is unputdownable!”
- The last layer was one one the best descriptions I’ve
- ever read of a bush fire….incredible!
- #MustRead
- …absolutely a “coup de coeur”.
After the Count…should have won Walkley Award 2020
- Author: Stephanie Convery
- Title: After the Count
- List of Challenges 2020
- Monthly reading plan
- Trivia: Shortlist Walkley Award 2020
- Trivia: Shortlist Nib Literary Award 2020
- #AWW2020 @AustralianWomenWriters
Introduction:
- When young and fit professional boxer Davey Browne died in the ring
- pummeled to death in front of his family and friends…
- it was the result of a perfect storm of
- …incompetence by members of the boxing fraternity.
- For journalist Stephanie Convery it hit home hard.
- She was beginning her own serious boxing training
- …when she heard the news.
- After the Count investigates:
- the title fight
- the aftermath of David Browne Jr’s death
- interrogates the culture and history of boxing
- its gender dynamics
- the visceral appeal of the ring and
- the inherent contradictions of a violent sport
- …that refuses to face up
- the consequences of that violence.
Conclusion:
- Strong point: excellent ‘hook’ …hits you with a 1-2 punch
- Strong point: excellent introduction revealing the structure of the book.
- Strong point:
- The very personal perspective written by a woman
- ..boxing and trying to come to terms
- ..with the fear head injury and permanent brain damage.
- …this makes the book tremble
- …in my hands (pg 83-84) she must have a CT and MRI scan.
- Strong point:
- Ms Convery alternates between x-examination at
- inquest (lawyer vs neurosurgeon) with her personal visits to GP
- and hospital for CT scan.
- This makes for intense reading that keeps
- this reader glued to the page.
- Strong point:
- Ms Convery…adds her own questions to the narrative:
- How many deaths attributed to the boxing sport?
- How knocks to the head change the brain?
- What is the link between concussions sustained in
- contact sports and
- CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy)?
- This is a neuro-degenerative disease which causes severe and
- irreparable brain damage, as a result of repeated head injuries.
- Her research reveals the shocking facts.
- Eye-opener:
- It wasn’t unusual for boxers to break their hands
- in fights and to punch on regardless! (pg 76)
- Strong point: pg 253-261
- The reader follows Ms Convery during
- her Fight Night for her final grading
- as boxing student at Joe’s Gym.
- Just amazing listening to her thoughts as she
- prepares herself explaining
- ….that with all the knowledge she as
- learned during her research for this book about concussion
- as she tries to pull herself away from the sport…
- …it draws her back somehow.
Last Thoughts;
- What a powerful book….I am absolutely bowled over by
- Ms Convery’s investigative research, her coverage of the death inquest
- and most importantly her conclusions in the last chapter.
- Sometimes the shorlisted book is BETTER that the prize winner!
- This is the best non-ficton read of 2020!
- I guess I’ve saved the best for last!
- #MustRead
Books read:
- Fallen – Lucie Morris-Marr
- City On Fire: The Fight For Hong Kong – A. Dapiran
- Penny Wong – M. Simons
- The Altar Boys – S. Smith
- Hazelwood – Tom Doigt
- We Can’t Say We Didn’t Know – S. McNeill