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Readability Blog


readability.com.au
Readability is a blog about books and reading, featuring lists of favourite books and reviews of books, literature, ideas and novels.
2017-05-10 00:00
Hannah Kent is one impressive 32 year old, with honours for her first book, Burial Rites, including winning the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, The Indie Awards Debut Fiction Bo… Read More
2017-05-10 00:00
The ideal mother looms large in art and popular culture, from the ubiquitous image of Mary cradling baby Jesus to the modern day supermum. In literature, motherhood is not always depicted in… Read More
2017-04-11 00:00
Never has it been easier to write a review. Eat at a restaurant where the service is sluggish and you can post a scathing diatribe before the dishes have been cleared. Attend a concert and w… Read More
2017-03-29 00:00
They used to speak of their passion in hushed tones. After all, they thought, what fully-grown adult would freely admit to their love of young adult literature? More recently, the YA section… Read More
2017-03-21 00:00
Sadness is something we shun. We shrink from the grieving as if their condition was contagious, and we implore the depressed to ‘cheer up’. In fear of the spectre of sadness… Read More
2017-03-14 00:00
Some books are so unlike any others that it takes a while to understand what is happening when you start reading them. Their characters are unfamiliar and the situations unrecognisable, and… Read More
2017-03-14 00:00
There are two types of people in the world: one who loves a challenge, and one who likes nothing less. I’ve always thought that I was in the latter category, preferring contentment to… Read More
2017-03-07 00:00
To me, it seemed like the worst of times. A big, bright, multinational bookstore had opened up directly across the road from my favourite independent bookseller. Book lovers were m… Read More
2017-02-10 00:00
Commuting is bad for the body and mind. It increases the risk of depression, takes a toll on cardiovascular fitness and causes weight gain. It has even, somewhat melodramatically, been blame… Read More
2017-01-25 00:00
(My) Top 5 Aussie Books 1. Cloudstreet, Tim Winton 2. Monkey Grip, Helen Garner 3. The Getting of Wisdom, Henry Handel Richardson 4. The Secret River, Kate Grenville 5. Picnic at Hanging Ro… Read More
2017-01-24 00:00
It is a strange paradox that fiction can be a source of life's great truths. It is, after all, by its very nature made up. But there is no denying that fiction is one of the best conduits fo… Read More
2017-01-18 00:00
In the age of Skype, Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook, it is rare enough to disconnect from friends for an hour, let alone lose a friend for good. But letting go of friends is a sad and regula… Read More
2017-01-18 00:00
Top 5: Books it is hard to let go A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver White Teeth, Zadie Smith Brick Lane, Monica Ali Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden Read More
2017-01-11 00:00
Children’s toys are famously gendered. On the shelves of a toy shop, dolls might stare across the aisle at the army figurines, but never the twain shall meet. And as much as I disagre… Read More
2017-01-10 00:00
‘Tis the season to watch 'Love Actually'. At least it was a couple of weeks ago, before the New Year set in and we turned our thoughts from romance, back to real life. But I’m g… Read More
2017-01-10 00:00
"He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a… Read More
2017-01-03 00:00
Growing up, I was never fond of being called a bookworm. And while Roald Dahl’s Matilda went some way to improving the reputation of young booklovers, no one wants to be likened to a s… Read More
2016-12-22 00:00
Reality television should come with a warning like that on cigarette packs, such is its addictiveness. Perhaps, then, I would have been aware of what I was getting myself into when I started… Read More
2016-12-06 00:00
There is a tradition in Iceland of giving loved ones the gift of a book on Christmas Eve. Closer to home, as we frantically hit the shops to find that special present for our friends and fam… Read More
2016-11-18 00:00
Top 5 Teen Classics Space Demons, Sky Maze and Beyond the Labyrinth, Gillian Rubenstein Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger Looking for Alibrandi, Melin… Read More
2016-11-11 00:00
It feels as if spring has gone on strike, enabling winter to continue until December. The mercury is sluggish and the wind is fierce, and I have been stuck at home all week with three kids s… Read More
2016-11-09 00:00
High school years can be a minefield for introverts. During a typical day, opportunities to socialise are many, from arrival in the morning until the after-school pick-up. But opportunities… Read More
2016-10-26 00:00
The idea of a book being good or bad is enough to send many book lovers into a flurry of indignation. All books, they might say with fierceness and finality, are good just for the fact that… Read More
2016-10-20 00:00
Top 5 books with political ideology Animal Farm or 1984, George Orwell Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky Oliver Twi… Read More
2016-10-13 00:00
Rebecca Judd and Roald Dahl's The Twits might be strange bedfellows, but one response to the hoopla surrounding Judd's postpartum body selfie reminded me of a line from the book. The photo… Read More
2016-09-29 00:00
The best way to kill a book is to make it required reading at high school. Some of the world’s great novels have been ruined in this way, rendering tiresome and boring books that shoul… Read More
2016-09-20 00:00
The sound of toddlers singing ‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes’ rings out across the room, punctuated by squeals of laughter and the occasional teary tantrum. No, we are not at… Read More
2016-09-14 00:00
There is a particular kind of humour to be found in the pages of a book. It is often subtle and unexpected, creeping up on the reader who didn't expect to laugh. After all, isn't reading con… Read More
2016-09-07 00:00
Children can be fickle creatures. One minute they like something, the next minute they push it away in disgust. I’ve seen my kids do it with food, toys and occasionally, one of their r… Read More
2016-09-01 00:00
From the popularity of The Bachelor to the amount of paraphernalia surrounding Valentine’s Day, it seems that romance is having a renaissance. And with all the roses, candlelit dinners… Read More
2016-08-30 00:00
Just as the role of fathers has evolved in reality, fathers in fiction have also changed. Far from being the remote, cold and domineering figure who is often absent from the household, ficti… Read More
What Makes A Word Beautiful Or Ugly?
2016-08-19 00:00
There is a beautiful village in the Cotswolds in England, all stone walls and flower boxes, called Upper Slaughter, and another called Lower Slaughter. The macabre place names could not be f… Read More
As Sweet As A Madeleine By The Seine
2016-08-17 00:00
I usually prefer books that can be described as moving, heartbreaking, uplifting or captivating. I like to be lifted up and shaken when I read, and I love books that change my view on life o… Read More
How To Read To A Reluctant Baby Or Toddler
2016-08-09 00:00
Forget Sudoku for toddlers, in utero Mozart concertos and Baby Einstein DVDs, one of the best ways to promote babies' development is to read to them. And it is never too early for parents to… Read More
Why We Love A Fall From Grace
2016-08-01 00:00
A promising young swimmer is about to achieve his dreams of sporting glory, but just as his fingers are about to take hold of the prize, it slides out of his reach. He struggles to cope with… Read More
Therapy Does Not Have To Be By The Book
2016-07-29 00:00
Fiction can serve a lot of different purposes. It can entertain us, inform us, uplift us and move us. But can it counsel us as well? According to writers, researchers and psychologists, lit… Read More
Top 5: Aussie Books
2016-07-19 00:00
There are so many wonderful Australian books that it is difficult to choose just five. From all of the children's books, young adults books and literary fiction written and set in Australia… Read More
Aussie Kids Need Aussie Books, Too
2016-07-13 00:00
As I flew into Heathrow Airport for the first time, I felt like I had arrived home. Here I was, in the land of the Famous Five, The Secret Garden and Alice in Wonderland. The only problem w… Read More
2016-07-04 00:00
The titles of traditional business books are enough to make me want to have a cup of tea, a piece of toast and a little lie down. Smarter Faster Better; Grit; Winning; and Extreme Ownership… Read More
2016-06-29 00:00
My husband knows almost every line from The Blues Brothers. And nothing would make him happier than to watch it again. I, on the other hand, hate watching a movie that I've already seen. No… Read More
2016-06-16 00:00
They mightn't be the literary giants, but it's hard to deny that these books are addictive. Just try putting them down. These are the books that keep you up until midnight, reading just one… Read More
2016-06-16 00:00
More than 130 million Mills & Boon books are sold around the world every year, equating to four books every second.  These books are not just popular, they are a phenomenon. But I h… Read More
Top 5: Impossible To Put Down
2016-06-16 00:00
They mightn't be the literary giants, but it's hard to deny that these books are addictive. Just try putting them down. These are the books that keep you up until midnight, reading just one… Read More
2016-06-08 00:00
Some people swoon over Ryan Gosling in The Notebook. Others prefer Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise. A twist of Mick Jagger’s hips drives some people wild. Others can’t get enough… Read More
2016-05-30 00:00
Most readers of Cinderella like to identify with the modest, honest and hard-working title character. Realistically, they probably have as much in common with the Ugly Stepsisters. It is on… Read More
2016-05-18 00:00
Every reader dreams of a designated reading room, where they can quietly while away the hours, cocooned in a comfortable chair, with soft lighting, a beautiful view and, ideally, an open fir… Read More
2016-05-06 00:00
Jewishness passed down the generations by women. In my family, while scant attention was paid to our Jewish roots, another gift was handed from grandmother, to mother, to daughter in my fami… Read More
Top 5: To Make You Laugh Out Loud
2016-03-08 00:00
Vernon God Little, D B C Pierre A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K Jerome My Family and Other Animals, Gerald Durrell The Lost Continent, Bill Bryson Read More
2016-02-19 00:00
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy. This classic, while written to reflect 19th Century Russian society, put a magnifying glass on the society in which I lived in the 21st Century. It exposed snobbe… Read More
2016-02-14 00:00
I like to think of books as little building blocks, which placed together over a lifetime, help build a person's mind. Each one adds to the reader's knowledge of life, other people, and them… Read More
2016-02-10 00:00
My favourite children’s books 1.    Oh, the Places You’ll Go, Dr Seuss 2.    Stick Man, Julia Donaldson 3.    The Lorax, Dr Seuss 4… Read More
2016-01-06 00:00
If ever there was too difficult a decision for someone like me, who generally suffers from decision paralysis, it would be to choose my top five books of all time. After all, I struggle to c… Read More
2016-01-06 00:00
If ever there was too difficult a decision for someone like me, who generally suffers from decision paralysis, it would be to choose my top five books of all time. After all, I struggle to c… Read More
2016-01-06 00:00
When do you realise that something has drifted from being an innocent pleasure to becoming an obsession? Is it when a certain habit starts to impact on your daily life? When you start to ne… Read More
2015-12-17 00:00
Many books are forgotten almost as soon as they are read (or is that just me?).  But some stick in your mind long after the final page. Here is my list of memorable reads - not necessar… Read More
2015-12-17 00:00
Slaughterhouse 5 – a novel of multiple personalities Oh Billy Pilgrim, you are one of a kind. Has there ever been a character so pitiable, so pathetic, but so likable as the lead char… Read More
2015-12-03 00:00
Do you know that feeling you get when you start reading a book, only to get a creeping sense of deja vu? You give it a few more pages to confirm that, yes, you've read that particular book b… Read More

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