Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (Comments)

 An inspiring story about a woman, atheist, at bedrock in her life, who goes to live in an abbey with a group of nuns. It is situated in a barren place, in Australia. Themes of forgiveness, grief and survival, thread their way through this amazing story.

The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (a brief review)

My thoughts on The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante. The story of a young woman growing into adulthood, describes how she discovered the way her parents lied all the time. Her meeting with Aunt Vittoria, (the hated aunt) and the knowledge of "the bracelet" her aunt had left her as a baby, seemed to symbolise how she discovered the layers of lies behind it. "The bracelet" became the object, sought after, but for the wrong reasons. It embodied the lies of the adults in her life and gradually became the epitome of lies, as if it was cursed and those who wore it were also cursed, because of the way it came into the hands of her aunt in the first place. A great story for in-depth character portrayal and how the Lying Life of Adults also became part of her own psyche, although at least she was aware of what was happening.

A Plea for Mercy @AmnestyNZ

  Humanitarian worker #PakhshanAzizi, from #Iran's Kurdish minority risks imminent execution, after Iran's Supreme Court rejected her request for judicial review. I urge Iran's authorities @khamenei_ir to immediately halt plans to carry out her execution! @AmnestyNZ

 

Orbital by Samantha Harvey (a brief review)

This book gave insight into how fragile out world is. The descriptions of the astronauts' view of earth from space must have made them feel insignificant, and because the space station was cramped, small and beginning to deteriorate, their existence was even more at risk. The way they fell in love with being in space, seemed to me like a child in the womb. Floating, yet existing only because of the mother. So the astronauts also floated but were always connected to earth, which they depended on. 

The Revenge Notebook

First three sentences from my new novel - yet to be published.

 The young woman was tired. Her pack felt twice as heavy as it had when she’d set out early in the morning, planning on being home two hours ago. She was a keen backpacker and often spent the day alone in the bush.

Me visiting the Viewing Platform Marine Parade Napier

Getting some sea air in Napier, my adopted home, since leaving the hustle and bustle of the big city.
 

Skein of Geese seen in Onekawa Napier

Tonight at 6:20 p.m. I was outside when I heard a honking noise and looked up to see a skein of geese flying overhead. They were in a perfect V shape and quite numerous. This seemed to me to be an unusual time for them to be flying as it was already after sunset. I think they were heading for Anderson Park. It brought back memories of the times we heard and saw skeins of geese in Albany Auckland, where we lived a few years back. It was a common sight then. Wow, I was awestruck to be so lucky to see them tonight.