Author Archives: susan

I am a bit of a sucker for: (a) Stationery, especially journals. I buy a lot of beautiful journals. (b) Resolutions, especially those starting at the beginning of a month, a season or – best of all – the year. … Continue reading →

A rainy day. I headed to the cafe, meaning to hole up with a pot of tea, a toasted sandwich and a book for the whole lunch hour. The book I grabbed from the pile of review copies was The … Continue reading →

On the plane to Vancouver recently, I watched about half of a movie called Book Club. It starred Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen and Diane Keaton. They played a group of  rich, attractive, over-60 American women, friends for many … Continue reading →

I’m still settling back into life after my holiday in Canada. I had nearly six weeks of feeling beautifully fancy free, travelling with only one 30 litre pack which weighed around 6 kilos. Now, back home, it seems that in … Continue reading →

It seems a long time since I sat down to write here. More than seems, actually. Is. The last time I posted was at the beginning of September. Though I was reading (I’m never not reading) my head was elsewhere … Continue reading →

A train trip on a cold, grey day, stretches of time spent waiting at stations or fighting my way through crowds, then a funeral in the rain… Friday was a sad sort of day. Brightened by junior fiction. The book … Continue reading →

After my mammoth YA effort for the Bendigo Writer’s Festival, I’ve been struggling to focus on reading. I’m not enjoying our Book Group August title – “Foal’s Bread” by Gillian Mears – and I don’t really know why. Perhaps I’m … Continue reading →

How come I’ve never read this before? I had a hour and a half train journey today, and just devoured this book. It is devastatingly good. Just as well I am somewhat inhibited – I felt like telling someone, immediately, … Continue reading →

Bendigo Writer’s Festival this week. I spent all day there Friday and yesterday –  listening, talking, meeting people. My brain is buzzing with ideas. A real winter boost for the soul, and so very, very enjoyable! I haven’t had time … Continue reading →

A shout out to Kathryn McAllister at Stonemans Bookroom in Castlemaine, where I work. She reads a lot more YA fiction than I do, and she pushed this one into my hands. I thought I would hate this book and … Continue reading →