Thank you so much, Cathy, your parcel arrived at last! You are too good to me. I remember how much you liked this book and I think I will too. We are planning a week away in June, I am going to put it aside for then.

Showing my age here, but there's no doubt my #1stcartooncrush was Roger Ramjet ❤️ sigh...

Love this idea @rohit-sawant

#GailSimone

And I'm claiming it for #MayMovieMagic #OriginsOfLove

This is a brilliant novel. I am really struggling to find the words to adequately describe it. At its core it is about the friendship between two women, but it is also about friendship more broadly, the consequences of disfunctional families and toxic relationships between men and women. Presented in the form of an intriguing mystery and cleverly laced with ideas from psychological and feminist theory, I couldn't put it down. #ozfiction

This is the first book in what is currently a trilogy revolving around TS Eliot (I see them now being numbered as books in the Eliot Quartet so I assume another is coming) I've read them out of order, but I don't think it matters. This is a delicate and beautifully written story about first love, both the transient and the lasting kind. It isn't fictionalised biography, rather it presents Eliot obliquely as observed by others. #ozfiction

Two different responses to literary criticism. I understand both points of view.

StarTrekSummerMay #Manhunt

Either of my most recent review posts could have doubled for this prompt, but I'm going with this story about a teenage girl discovering her father.

I've been indulging my puerile tastes in m/m #romantsy this weekend. Plenty of hockey here and 🔥🔥🔥🔥🙀🙈

#ModernLove #MayMovieMagic

Enjoyable m/m #romantcy, but I didn't think it was as good as the other collaborations by these authors. Maybe I just missed the hockey #YouNeverCanTell #MayMovieMagic

1. Wow, that's a good question! I have to completely believe in the characters and situations, there can be nothing that makes me go "huh?" Some humour and a nice turn of phrase helps and if I learn something, or there's a perspective I hadn't considered before, it's a winner.
2. Souvenir fridge magnets and pens
3. Tagged and also the AWW New Cookbook
4. Too many to list
5. @LeeRHarry @JennyM @Freespirit

#wondrouswednesday

#GimmeShelter House for an Art Lover, Glasgow, Scotland
#MayMovieMagic

The story of the end of a relationship told with dispassionate wit. Very enjoyable.

#HowFarIllGo is a question that confronts a world leader in in vitro fertilisation when a new job involves a program that has cloned a Tasmanian Tiger from DNA in a museum specimen and her boss holds a DNA sample taken from the Holy Nail of Monza. #MayMovieMagic. #ozfiction

#Brothers #StarTrekSummerMay

I remember enjoying this book a lot, but I don't remember anything about the story😂

Another book for my IRL book group's Graham Greene month. Intriguing story about a group of strangers on a long train journey as they reveal themselves to one another and form relationships. There is racism, sexism, homophobia and even classism, both in the story and the writing, although I felt that Greene was trying, at some level at least, to challenge preconceptions and stereotypes.

Is this an interesting idea or a literary joke?

I confess the only other Melina Marchetta book I've read is Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil and I was not impressed, but I absolutely loved this tale of families lost, found and created. I'm going to have to read Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son now. #ozfiction

Maggie and Ira set out on a road trip to attend the funeral of an old friend and on the way a lot is revealed about them, their marriage and their family. I absolutely loved it. In my memory Ira spends a lot of the book #BehindTheWheel #MayMovieMagic

Squeeze is one of my favourite bands and #Eastside Story is one of my favourite records. The book provides some interesting background for all the songs.
#AMonthOfSongs

When I was a law student Lord Denning was everybody's favourite #Justice
#StarTrekSummerMay

Madeleine is writing a novel about a writer named Edward who begins a novel about a writer named Madeleine. Who is in fact writing who? It's #AMatterOfPerspective but the story is taking them on a #HighwayToHell

#StarTrekSummerMay #MayMovieMagic

I'm proclaiming #AllMyLove for jazz on International Jazz Day. #AnglophileApril

Thanks, lovely hosts, for another fun month of prompts😘😘😘😘

Cassandra is absolutely an #OwnerOfALonelyHeart #AnglophileApril

#Saved #SpringIntoReading

This is an easy and entertaining read, but it's pretty forgettable. I found it difficult to believe in the band. I've read a lot of magazine stories in that format so that didn't bother me one way or another. There was a lot of "Insta" here (love, musical skill, song writing, success) that was unconvincing. If they make a movie I bet they'll make at least one very significant change to the story (see spoiler in comments)

#NeverGoingToGiveYouUp #AnglophileApril

A variety of #OneWordTitles. #SpringIntoReading

Even though I never want to live there again, there is a sense in which Adelaide will always be home
#TakeTheLongWayHome #AnglophileApril

I'm glad this was a short book, or I think I would have bailed. For most of the novel I was feeling that I was too old to have any sympathy for the characters, particularly the immature and irresponsible MC narrator, but by the end I found myself saddened by the situation he found himself in. There is some amusing social satire along the way but overall it only rates a So-So.

There is a lot to digest in this story of modern Aboriginal life. The people and situations Lucachenko creates are so very believable and relatable, even though they are living experiences that are a very long way from my own. I didn't find this book as satisfying as Too Much Lip but it's still very good. #ozfiction

Peter Morrow is missing. Clara calls on the help of Gamache and Beauvoir to find him. I enjoyed the way they followed the trail, and the people and places along the way were interesting, but I found the solution unsatisfying and the end a little rushed. I'm left with quite a few questions. Maybe they'll be answered in the next book. This isn't one of the best books in the series but it's still a pick.

Some light relief

The story of a boys' school love affair and it's continuing effects on the life of one of the parties. It's quite a melancholy book, but I enjoyed it.

As a comment on global politics, a window onto the reality of war, a character study and a story of a love triangle, this is a novel that works on every level. It may have been written in the 50's about a conflict happening then, but its themes are still very relevant. I wish I'd read it years ago.

My IRL book group is having a Graham Greene month - each of us reading the Greene book or books that take our fancy. I'm starting with The Quiet American and hoping to read at least 2 more.

#CarelessWhisper
A university friend of mine had family in Singapore. In January 1985 I went with her to visit them. Everywhere we went this wretched song played. I got so I could recognise the first 2 bars and I'd be out the door before I was forced to hear any more. I hadn't minded it before we left home. To this day the song drives me mad, but it always reminds me of having fun in Singapore.
#AnglophileApril

What fabulous descriptions! I can see these people!
#catherbuddyread

I don't know what to make of this. On face value the parents are alternately neglectful and abusive to their children, probably as a result of mental illness, yet ultimately they run a thriving business. The family suffer an extraordinary number of serious accidents from which they recover without medical attention. Tara receives the barest minimum of home schooling, yet apparently achieves mainstream academic excellence with little effort.👇

I didn't think I'd have many #YellowSpines (forgetting all about the Text Classics) and then I turned up a few more
#SpringIntoReading

#SpiceUpYourLife with a bit of Ginger (Rogers)
#AnglophileApril

Breathtakingly good - I read it in one sitting. The first part so cleverly and wittily parodies film, television and literary culture (is it just me or was that 2+ page paragraphless extract from the novel being adapted a pastiche of Milkman?) while the later parts take a more serious tone in addressing our treatment of refugees. Ali Smith, like Paddy, knows stuff ("years of reading") and her literary and artistic references are always on point.

I'm still walking @kaye but not posting about it. It was such a lovely morning this morning I stopped to take a photo of the city from Rucker's Hill. The doctored poster has been there for a while , but now the federal election has been called it seems an appropriate time to post it. Gotta love Northcote, I don't think Clive's candidate will get many votes in this electorate! The books were $3 each - how could I resist? #LitsyWalkers

Lady Caroline Lamb may have called Lord Byron "mad, bad and dangerous to know" but he had the last word. #Remember #PoetryMatters
Do you think she's made him #paranoid? #AnglophileApril

1. I wasn't going to do this but then I got curious about the popular songs from the year I was 18 (1983) and it was too good not to share with the other Australian Littens. It's not actually a song, but the best selling single in Australia in 1983 was Australiana by Austen Tayshus. Don't look it up if you are of a sensitive disposition😂
2. Pisces
3. C.P. Snow
4. Anyone who hasn't posted yet.

#wondrouswednesday

If you are interested in British theatre and/or film from the mid 20th century you need to read John Mills's delightful autobiography. The title comes from a director's instruction to the actors for one of his war films, but unfortunately I can't remember which one.
#Clouds #SpringIntoReading

15 year old Judith isn't interested in school heart-throb Larry until he starts appearing in her #Dreams. A sweet YA romance.
#AnglophileApril

#PoetryMatters #Quiet

It was difficult to warm to Frances, the central character in this story - #ShesSoCold
#AnglophileApril

I'm reading this for my IRL book group. I'm amazed that Tara and her #Siblings survived their childhoods. I'm finding the insanity difficult to deal with.
#SpringIntoReading

PS I posted this before for the wrong challenge so I've deleted that one. Sorry if you're seeing this twice

I've been a #BadGirls buying books again. Spelling OK today, but my grammar has gone to pot 😉
#AnglophileApril