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| Superb Fairy Wrens by Benjamint444, CC BY-SA 3.0 |
This means we're already at the end of our "Fact and Fiction" theme for the 2019 Reading Challenge. This week has gone to the birds. Scott reviewed a book about song birds and the evolution of the species we know and love, while Sharon read a book of modern myths that delve into a number of bird-based stories. Brenda's choice of a self-help book was slightly less bird themed, but if you were creative enough you could probably shoe-horn it in somehow.
Remember, the challenge is to read as many books as you can that fit (somehow) the theme of the month, making sure to read an Australian author, an author you haven't read before, a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction while you're at it. Happy reading!
Scott Dale read Where Song Began: Australia’s Birds and How They Changed the World by Tim Low.
I first
heard about Tim Low ‘s book, Where Song
Began, from my partner. Sarah was reading this book about Australia’s birds
and was unable to go five minutes without sharing something with me:
“Did you
know that…? Guess how many … Listen to this! …”
I was
pleased that someone was so excited by a book, slightly annoyed at being
constantly interrupted, and determined to read Where Song Began for myself. So I did.
This is a
book about Australia’s birds, their evolution, and how they shape and are
shaped by the environments in which they live. It’s a book about big ideas that
had a lot of revelations for me about Australian fauna and flora. And it’s a
fun read.
The
prevailing thoughts about songbirds were that they originated in the Northern
Hemisphere (just like Western science). Low presents the case for these birds
as having Australian or Gondwanan origins – newer DNA techniques have helped
with this.
This is a
very readable book for science people and non-science people alike. It’s
interesting to learn how similar Papua New Guinea and Australia are, to learn
about how intelligent and destructive parrots can be, and to see the connection
between plant life and birdlife. I learned that some birds kidnap the young of
other birds and put them to work, that it’s the accessible nectar that makes
Australian birds so aggressive, and that pigeons have introduced a lot of plant
life to Australia. When I go for walks these days I’m looking at the trees,
watching the birds, spotting bits of lerp on leaves, and looking at everything
in a new way.
Non-fiction,
Australian author I haven't read before, 598.0994 LOW
Brenda read Get
Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior by Mark Goulston and
Philip Goldberg.
It’s amazing what you find when you’re
shelving books or just browsing the shelves. Get Out of Your Own Way is
an easy to read self-help book by a New York psychiatrist. After many years
counselling clients with similar issues, Goulston has written a book which
examines 40 problems that affect the self, relationships and work and suggests
a few simple strategies to deal with each one. There’s not a lot of depth or
detail about each behaviour - this could be good or bad depending on your needs
and the amount of time you have for reading. You can always explore individual
problems more fully by searching One Search, the library catalogue or your
favourite database from the library
homepage.
With chapters such as ‘Taking things
personally’, ‘Saying yes when you want to say no” and ‘Procrastinating’, you’re
sure to relate to some of the self-defeating behaviours described. I found the
point-form summary at the end of each chapter a handy way to try and apply
Goulston’s suggested remedies. If self-development is on your agenda for this
year, Get Out of Your Own Way could help you on your journey.
Non-Fiction, Author I haven’t read
before, 158.1 GOU
Sharon Bryan read The Flying Emu and Other Australian Stories, by Sally Morgan.
By why settle for stories that have been around for thousands of years if, like Sally Morgan (one of Australia's most beloved authors and artists), you've got some great stories of your own begging to be told?
Sally's book presents a collection of new stories in the style of the old traditional tales. It covers origin stories like why emus don't fly (a bit of an Icarus theme, for that one) and where the first white man came from (a seriously scary fish), but also stories about lazy seagulls and odd-couple friendships between willie wagtails and kangaroos.
This is a lovely book full of stories that have a sly sense of humour and a moral to the tale (without being preachy). Definitely one to add to your list.
Fiction, Australian author, 820.94 MOR(S)
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