Dracula is going well so far. I didn’t realise we get the story from multiple perspectives which is nice. Story sets up quickly and we already have most of the classic signs of vampirism, it gets going quickly. Excited to see what happens next.

Dracula was not expected to be on my reading list for 2026, however I ended up reading the first section of it by happenstance and got intrigued.

Tallerack

1 month ago

We have an account of Christianity going down in popularity in the European world in… *checks notes* …1914. Reminder that Christianity has been falling in the Western world for generations and is not a recent phenomenon.

I have heard people say that books are getting increasingly dumber. It’s a hard thing to measure because the English language itself has changed over time so novels written at different time periods are hard to compare if the standard of English is different.
However – underlying story structure is not language dependant and I have seen some e…Read More

And while I am in a mood to criticize book related trends, the thing around “adult book reports”.
More evidence that there is a group of women who wish to be still in high school whereby things were clearly laid out, responsibilities were minimal and the biggest problem was what color highlighter you used for your notes in class. I’m all for…Read More

A “reading retreat” sounds kinda pointless. I guess if you have the money to spend to go somewhere and chill out that’s fine but we already have the word “vacation” for that.

I would love to go to a cabin in the forest and read some books though…

I started reading this book over the weekend. While the view while reading was great, I just wasn’t feeling it and decided to put it down after the first few chapters. I’ll go back to something else. I was borrowing this book from someone else, and if it’s a book that’s been loaned to you my opinion is “read it or give it back, don’t hold onto…Read More

I like this feature 😀

I don’t want it to look like I don’t support writers developing their own culture or ecosystem. But, all this focus around formal ways of developing writers like writers centres and writing degrees, I do wonder if it is truly necessary.

The great writers in the English language through time, so many of them were not developed in these kind of…Read More

Writers Victoria has been defunded – but writers’ centres are ‘fundamental’ to literary culture

Authors Hannah Kent and Toni Jordan got their start through writers centre initiatives. If Victoria loses its centre, it will be the only mainland state without one.

theconversation.com

I have still not completed Midnight Sun. It is taking me a very long time. In my defence, it’s a very long book and because I more or less already know what happens it doesn’t matter if I leave it for a long time between sections. I’m also a bit apprehensive to take the book out of the house and ruin it because unlike all my secondhand books I’d b…Read More

Source: https://www.theintrinsicperspective.com/p/how-the-mfa-swallowed-literature/comment/6159111

A very strange and bizarre controversy featuring Jamie Oliver’s first children’s book has occurred – what are your thoughts?
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/nov/09/jamie-oliver-apologises-after-childrens-book-criticised-for-stereotyping-first-nations-australians-ntwnfb

Happy Melbourne Cup day to those that celebrate.

Good to see an Australian version of the best books of the century list – since the NYT’s list was US centric it’s good to have our own lists!

Best Australian books of the 21st century: as chosen by 50 experts

We were dismayed to see no Australians on the New York Times Best Books of the 21st Century – so, with the help of 50 experts, we created our own, all-Australian list. You can have your say, too!

theconversation.com