Reading Challenge Week 51 (and 52) - Books from there and here.

This is the last post for the 52 Book Reading Challenge from 2018! My, hasn't the year been action packed? There's nothing quite like a reading challenge to remind you that you don't have time to read anything, don't you think?

 Well, the last two weeks for the year have been rolled together for expediency, and so we present our books for the last two challenges. There aren't many of us around at the moment, but we've managed to rustle up a few reviews.

 51. A book set in a country you’ve never been to

 Louise Cottrell read Alanna: The first adventure (Song of the Lioness) by Tamora Pierce.
A country I’ve never been to? Well, I’ve never been to Tortall. Created by Tamora Pierce way back in 1983, the Tortall Universe has been one of my favourite fantasy realms since I was 12. Alanna: The first adventure was recently named one of the 100 best fantasy novels of all time. This book (C810 PIE) is the beginning of the Tortall universe, following the adventures of Alanna who decides she wants to be a knight, not a lady, and sets off disguised as a boy to fulfil her dreams. As another reviewer noted “Alanna is also one of Pierce’s most compelling protagonists: stubborn, Gifted, and unwilling to let the world dictate who she should become.”

Swords, magic, knights, political intrigue, and a bit of a love story. What’s not to enjoy? 
Brenda Carter read Out of Africa by Isak Dinesan

“I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills.” 

So begins Out of Africa, the memoir of Danish writer Isak Dinesan (whose real name is Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke or Karen Blixen). I have been to neither Denmark nor Africa but Dinesan’s evocative descriptions of Africa between 1914 and 1931 make me feel as though I have.

Karen Blixen left her homeland to manage a coffee plantation in Kenya and stayed there until it became obvious that growing coffee at that altitude was not economically viable.  Blixen had a deep connection to and affection for Africa. This comes through loud and clear in both the detail and warmth with which she recalls her experiences and her relationships with the indigenous people with whom she lived and worked.

Blixen was fortunate to experience Kenya during a period when many European settlers regarded it as a ‘timeless paradise’. She describes the highlands as “the Happy Hunting Grounds…the pioneers lived in guileless harmony with the children of the land”. Reminiscences of Africa’s beauty are counterpoised with a strong sense of loss – of the farm, close friends and of Kenya as it was when she arrived, replaced by aggressive agricultural development and unsustainable hunting.

Dinesan’s talent as a storyteller makes this a highly enjoyable read, despite the fact that English was not her first language. You can find it on the shelf at 967.62 DIN.


Sharon Bryan read Ojibway Heritage, by Basil Johnston.

Ever since I first read The Song of Hiawatha, by Henry Longfellow, I’ve longed to visit “the land of the Ojibways ... [and] the land of the Dacotahs ... the mountains moors and fenlands where the heron (the Shuh-shuh-gah) feeds among the reeds and rushes".

The “land of the Ojibways” is around the Great Lakes area of North America (Ontario in Canada and Michigan in the USA) and some of the plains areas throughout Ontario and Manitoba, with a bit of Minnesota thrown in for good measure.  Basil Johnston was one of the first people (who wasn’t a white 19th Century poet) to write about the religio-cultural world of the Ojibway, and this book, from 1976, is an absolute gem. I’ve been interested in the Ojibway since Longfellow introduced me to them, but through this book I’ve fallen in love with their view of the universe. 

Johnston’s book (299.7 JOH) chops and changes between explaining the Ojibway religion and telling stories (or parables) from the culture. It’s a bit discombobulating at first, if you’re used to a more linear structure or a book that’s one thing or another, but eventually you fall in with the rhythms of the book. It’s one of my favourite books from this year’s challenge.



 52. A book set in the place you live today

 Louise Cottrell read Doreen by C.J. Dennis.
Okay, this one was stretching the implied boundaries, but ‘Australia’ is certainly a place I live today, though I must admit if I hadn’t found something I liked I was eyeing off ‘planet Earth’ and ‘the Universe’ as potential ‘places’. Doreen (820A DEN 1B DOR) is a book(let) of poetry containing 4 poems within its 23 pages. The only thing strenuous about it is getting used to the way C.J. Dennis writes the character’s accents.

As it says on the dust jacket, "It 'contains more married love to the square inch than anything I ever read,' wrote E. V. Lucas when Doreen was first published in 1917.” Basically, the Sentimental Bloke and his Doreen have been happily married for 6 years, have a child, and spend their time arguing, making up and looking after each other, in 4 poems that made me snort, giggle, and run around the office telling everyone to “read this!”

Oh, and apparently ‘spotted dog’ is another name for ‘spotted dick’ which is a type of English pudding. Just in case you read the poem and are worried he’s eating an actual dog.

Brenda Carter read Tropical Walking Tracks: Cairns and Kuranda by Kym Dungey and Jane Whytlaw

Now that the Christmas break is in full swing, it’s a good time to get out and enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the Far North. The library can help with Tropical Walking Tracks (919.43604 DUN), a clear and simple guide to the best areas to explore in the Cairns region.

Each walk contains a description, map, difficulty grading and approximate duration. The tracks are varied and include bush tracks, disused forestry roads, paved paths and boardwalks, many passing through rainforest or open eucalypt woodland.

The book includes a handy Day Trip Check List with essential and recommended items to take and precautions to be aware of. It’s a short, light, no-frills guide with all you need for lots of enjoyable excursions.




I could have reviewed this book for Week 46, but I wanted to save it for the grand finale.

Trisha Fielding is a local historian who spends a lot of her time hanging around libraries and archives in Townsville (as well as the "big guns", like the State Library). She has spent so much time hanging around libraries, in fact, that we thought we'd better hire her. She's now one of our Special Collections Officers.

This book (994.36 FIE) is a collection of stories from Townsville's history. These aren't the dry "and in 1889 Frederick Hubertsford officially opened the Blah Blah" kind of stories we often find in local history books. These are all stories that would make fine "pub" conversations. You can be that person who sits next to someone at a bar and says "you know that lighthouse outside the Maritime Museum? It used to be on Bay Rock. Turns out the last lighthouse keeper was lost at sea - they never found his body. Left behind a wife and five kids - and all because the duffers in the coastguard couldn't figure out that fifteen signal fires and a bunch of flags means 'send help'!"

If you ever find yourself sitting next to Trisha in a pub, buy her a drink and ask her to tell you a yarn. She knows a few good stories. Or you could just buy her book, I guess, she'd probably like that, too. It's available in a number of local bookshops.

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