Book Chat Issue #105

Shelves and shelves of books

Hello reading friends

I’m currently working my way through a potted history of my reading life. I hope it’s not too self-indulgent and encourages you to reflect on your own reading journey and the books that have influenced your life.

I would love to hear about significant books in your life, if you feel like sharing.

This issue features Part 6 - the eighties!

If you missed the previous entries, you can find them here:

Part one | Part two | Part three | Part four | Part five

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In the last instalment I had just started work at the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) in the film editing department.

Read on…

I love working as a film and sound editor but a repetitive strain injury in my wrist prompts me to move into a management role. I am surprised to find I quite enjoy all the different aspects of the job, which include scheduling, allocating staff, and managing a myriad of HR issues.

Queen of my domain - circa 1985 (not sure why I had two phones because I could only answer one at a time)

Tony and I get married and soon we are expecting our first child, who turns out to be a serious, but delightful baby boy.

One day our landlord’s daughter knocks on the front door and tells us they are selling our rental house and we have to move out. We quickly find a home to purchase on the Central Coast, about an hour from Sydney, which is lucky because baby number three is already on the way.

We all make the long trek down to Sydney every day until I go on maternity leave. I decide to have a home birth which puzzles everyone in my family. My mother travels from Perth to be there for the birth and the baby (a girl) arrives safely, assisted by a very experienced midwife. When people ask Ellen where she was was born, she still says “on the brown lounge”.

I loved being a mum, but I am also quite bored, so I enrol in a university degree. It’s something I have always wanted to do but I soon discover that it’s no mean feat studying with a baby, a toddler, and a teenager. Thank goodness for children’s television. It gave me a whole hour and a half to study like mad.

Tom aged two and a half, Ellen aged six months and Katie aged 13

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I’ll never forget the first time I walked into a university library. I discovered a whole new world of things I knew nothing about, but immediately felt at home.

All those books - shelves and shelves of them!

During the course of my studies I read lots of textbooks, but I also discover books on writing. Who knew there was such a thing? It was all so new and wonderful.

The most life-changing was Natalie Goldberg’s “Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within”. I’d never read a book which spoke so closely to my heart. It was probably a case of right time, right place. Like all my favourite writing books, it’s less about the craft of writing and more about being granted permission to think of myself as a writer, something I still struggle with.

First published in 1986 and still in print

Since then, I have continued to read and love books about writing, and especially books which focus on writing as therapy. Another favourite is Allison Fallon’s The Power of Writing it Down, a book about using writing as a way to reduce anxiety, manage depression and gain clarity. I often recommend this book to people who are struggling to make sense of their lives and/or their feelings.

Do you have a favourite writing book?

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What I’ve been writing lately

One of the reasons I started this newsletter was to feature my own writing. These articles live on my website, which you can find here.

My writing efforts are sporadic, partly due to being pre-occupied with other things (including this newsletter, which I love) and partly due to my confidence waxing and waning.

My recent post is about the joys of having a brain that is slightly overloaded with too much information. If you aren’t subscribed to my blog (which is not the same as being subscribed to this newsletter) you can read it here.

Recent reads

• Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors - a powerful story about three sisters bound by love and grief. I really enjoyed this one.

• The Examiner by Janice Hallett - written as a series of emails and text messages, it tells the story of a group of students brought together to complete a masters degree in art. Mystery and mayhem abound. It’s very similar in style to her previous books, cleverly plotted and very entertaining.

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What I’ve been eating

Last weekend I went to a trendy little Japanese cafe in an equally trendy part of Sydney and enjoyed a very pretty avocado on toast. No recipe today, but look, isn’t it lovely? The toppings included crispy lotus root, edamame beans, pomegranate seeds, and thinly sliced green apple.

The prettiest avocado toast ever

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That’s all for this issue

Thanks for reading and look after yourself.

Marg xx

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