Riverbend Readers - 'Lessons in Chemistry'

by Britt, Laura, and Vicky

Most readers thoroughly enjoyed reading Lessons in Chemistry, finding it an easy read with an interesting cast of characters. Some were unreserved in their praise, saying it was just the sort of light, upbeat read they needed after a string of more serious books. Others said that they had to suspend their sense of reality and just ‘go with it’ in order to enjoy the ride. However, for a small minority, the book’s cliches, happy resolutions and unrealistic aspects made it quite irritating.

Opinions on Elizabeth ran the full gamut with some readers finding her very real and fully fleshed out and others thinking that her talents as a chemist, cook, rower and charismatic TV personality gave her and the book a cartoonish quality. Her background was truly heartbreaking, and not unlike many heroes/heroines in literature, she had only herself to rely on. We wondered how her life would have panned out if she was not strikingly beautiful. Would Calvin have been attracted to her, would the rowers have accepted her and would she have made it on to TV?

Many readers thought she made things a bit hard for herself with her black and white thinking and refusal to compromise. This led to discussions about how women use their femininity and hide more masculine traits in the workforce. While many were appalled that this still happened, others felt that while it shouldn’t be necessary it was a legitimate weapon in a woman’s arsenal to smooth the path forward in their careers. Legitimate or not, using feminine wiles and not upsetting the status quo were not tools available to Elizabeth and we wondered whether her ‘bull at a gate’ approach was a product of her tough upbringing and need to survive in her ‘dog eat dog’ profession or whether she was born on the autistic spectrum. Much of the dialogue consisted of Elizabeth puzzling over how others made conclusions, which made for highly amusing encounters, and as readers we were impressed by Elizabeth’s clearheaded thinking.

While some loved her ‘take no prisoners’ approach, others thought she would have been difficult to be around. Despite this, we all thought she was highly resilient, moral to a fault, intellectually honest and a good mother - although some questioned her reading choices for her daughter thinking Hemingway and Faulkner a bit much for a five-year-old!

We talked about the role religion played in keeping many wives married to abusive husbands. Some readers loved the fact that the book highlighted the hypocrisy of the church in so many ways. Others thought it got unbalanced treatment in that there was no mention of the social services that organised religion has provided or examples of religious faith helping people through tough times.

Other than a bent towards atheism (which we didn't necessarily mind), we felt that Garmus wrote the novel with a fairly even hand, balancing out the benevolent characters (Harriet, Dr.Mason, Walter Pine etc) with the nasty (the college professor, her boss at Hastings, Frask and Mudford), and having both male and female heroes and villains. We love that Elizabeth, though ambitious, never belittled other women for staying home, but rather acknowledged the hard work they did by saying "Children, set the table. Your mother needs a rest."

Riverbend Readers shared personal experiences of having been sidelined as a professional, of endless mansplaining, of the unspoken expectations heaped on women, and of the excess mental labour carried out by wives, mothers and caregivers. We shared stories of past generations of clever and capable women who were denied education and professional work because of the objections of family, institutions and even the law. It was perhaps because of this that Elizabeth Zott captivated us, as she showed us how far we have come from the 1950s, and how far we have to go.

To sum up Lessons in Chemistry was a firm favourite and although we all agreed it was a book to be enjoyed rather than dissected, we somewhat surprisingly found plenty to talk about in all of our meetings.

Thank you all, once again, for another week of great discussions!

10 Minutes with Hayley Scrivenor

Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Oh that’s always a fun question, isn’t it? Because everyone has such a — I think writers are very superstitious. Once you’ve done something one way, that’s it. That’s how you have to do it forever. I’m definitely a pantser, but I have to have a bit of a lighthouse to know where I’m heading. So with Dirt Town I knew that a girl had died - and that’s not a spoiler, that’s in the first two pages - and I personally as the writer knew who had killed her. But that was before I understood who everyone was and I spend a lot of time writing and re-writing and so I definitely think I’m a pantser in that sense. But if I didn’t have that end point that I was shooting for I think I would have really struggled. And now I’m working on my second book, superstitiously I felt like I had to have those same things, where I know an end point that I’m heading for but I really like to let the characters dictate what happens, and you have to get to know them for them to do that otherwise you’re just moving around pieces on a chess board.

Before you start, do you do a map of who your characters are or do you figure them out as you write them?

I didn’t for Dirt Town but I’m doing it more for my next book where I’ve figured out it is like getting to know a real person, you have to see them in a bunch of different situations and you have to spend time with them and often what’s most fun is when they surprise you, they do something that’s kind of the opposite of what you think they’re going to do. And so I do start out not having a sense of what they look like, but I’ll just put them in a series of situations. I throw away a lot of writing, but I think that’s okay because it’s the only way I can do it. I don’t start with a fully formed character who strolls in. Often I’ll cheat by giving them bits of myself or giving them bits of people I know really well. That’s always an easy way to do it.

Do you have any writing rituals?

I do think if I can get to my study from bed - if I can literally get up, make a cup of tea, and be sitting down and not have to talk to anyone, those are always good writing days for me.

Do you have a favourite writing place?

I have a little study in my house which is far too hot in Summer and far too cold in Winter, but it’s where I wrote Dirt Town. And particularly with lockdowns I’m very fond of that room and I’m very fond of having a door that I can close.

If Dirt Town was made into a movie, who would you see playing the main characters?

It’s so funny - I joke with a friend of mine that everyone should be played by Cate Blanchett. Everyone, from the eleven-year-old boy through to Detective Sargeant Sarah Michaels, Cate Blanchett. I think if anyone could pull it off Cate could do it.

What are you working on next?

My next book is kind of - I’m quite superstitious again about not talking about it too much because I think when you open the door and you show everyone what you’re working on the light comes in and makes it all look a bit… you go “Oh, really? Is that it?” I keep the details fairly close to my chest, but I would say, like I said before, it’s similar in that hopefully a propulsive plot follows from knowing the end point that I want to get to, and knowing the kind of ride that I want to take the reader on. Which is kind of like Dirt Town in that I want you to pick it up and be so compelled that you have to find out what happens next. But I’m always a character writer first so I’m getting as deep into the characters as I can right now. I would say it’s not a sequel to Dirt Town and it is set in a different kind of community, but a small community. I’m interested in those kinds of spaces. So not the same geographical location, but certainly similar. I’m interested in how we define ourselves in opposition to other people - how the people in our life shape us and we shape them. So that will be a shared thing between Dirt Town and the next book.

The Riverbend Regulars Series - David Farrell

Q1. How long have you been coming to Riverbend? And do you have a favourite memory from Riverbend?

For about 12 to 15 plus years.

Yes, every day I arrive and get to chat to the friendly team. I really enjoy the Book Clubs, especially Classics, and especially when I've read the book beforehand!!!

Q2. How has reading influenced and impacted your life?

It has taught me more than anything I ever learned at school and has made me appear more intelligent than I really am!!!

Q3. What is one of your favourite books that you have read recently?

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Q4. Do you have a favourite all-time book or author?

Pre Riverbend - Jeffrey Archer and JK Rowling/Robert Gailbraith

Riverbend - The Girt Series by David Hunt

Q5. What do you think makes Riverbend so special?

The Wonderful Team!!! They are truly passionate, prolific and professional readers!!!

Down the Rabbit Hole - 'A Memory Called Empire'

by Chloe Townson

This is the first book all year that the majority of the group could not finish — either because they ran out of time (my bad) or because it wasn’t their jam. There were a handful, however, who did finish and who loved the book so much that they were looking to purchase the second. The conclusion was that A Memory Called Empire was a great book for its genre but that it would not appeal to everyone.

One of the things that the group struggled with was the terminology; the way the characters were named coupled with the heavy political nuance did, at times, make the plot hard to follow. The author, Arkady Martine, is a scholar in Byzantine history from which she pulled much of her inspiration - the naming of the characters, as well as the weight and influence of poetry on politics and every day life. It was interesting to go back and try to pluck out the historical influences of this future world, and to find the modern day equivalents of the political upheaval. The Empire, which believes itself to be the center of the universe and self-proclaiming itself the ‘world’, could have its comparison in America, or Westernisation as a whole.

There were plenty of comparisons to one of last year’s science fiction selections, Winter’s Orbit by Evarina Maxwell. Both novels had a similar vibe — a murder, a race to figure out who committed said murder, and developing relationships between diplomats and their guides. Where Winter’s Orbit focused more on the relationships as the driving force of the plot, A Memory Called Empire focused on politics as the driving force of the plot, with relationships as a secondary factor.

Overall, the group didn’t hate the book and there were a few voices missing due to work or illness that we were interested in hearing. There was an equal balance of love, like, and meh that contributed to a lively discussion. Isn’t it interesting that when everyone loves a book, there’s less to talk about?!

I look forward to seeing everyone for our next meeting — our next book is The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi. And, yes, I have taken note not to give you all heavy 600 page books with only a month between meetings!

Chloe

BEST NEW BOOKS COMING OUT IN JULY

July - we’re halfway to Christmas! Are we not supposed to be thinking about that yet? Whoops…

Click on the books for more information or to add to the cart for preorder!

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FANTASY

NON FICTION

10 Minutes with Dervla McTiernan

It’s not a surprise that we love Dervla McTiernan here at Riverbend Books. We were excited to catch up with her recently when she came to sign copies of her new book, The Murder Rule.

1.       Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I am such a plotter it is not even funny. I am like colour-coded spreadsheets level of plotting. Yup. Has to be done.

2.       As you’re writing, who do you have in mind as your ideal reader?

Oh man, that is such a tricky one. I don’t ever have an ideal reader. I write the story that I would like to read! It’s so selfish. But I do, I write the story that I would like to read. So, myself.

3.       That makes sense. Isn’t that what they say? If you’re looking for a specific kind of book to read but you can’t find it, you should write it yourself?

They say that. I’ve heard screenwriters talking about that about movies, you write the movie that you want to see in the world so it kind of makes sense to me.

4.       Do you have a favourite writing place?

Home. Home with a cup of tea and a warm room.

5.       What element of your writing brings out the grammar police in your editor?

Repeated words I would say. It’s not a grammar thing so much as I tend to repeat words. Or there’s always something like with The Ruin it was ‘looking.’ Everyone was looking at each other constantly. So I had to cull all of that and I was over that by the time The Scholar came along but then I had something else, some other repeated little thing like a phrase or a word that you’re suddenly fascinated by that you’re just using to death. So that is probably what happens more than any grammatical thing.

6.       Are you reading anything at the moment?

Oh! What did I just read? I read Jane Casey’s new book, again, on the plane back for an event and it was brilliant and I wish I could tell you the title, to tell you! But it’s really really good, and I thoroughly enjoyed it and very very clever and sharp. (We looked this up after the interview and Dervla is talking about The Killing Kind.)

The Murder Rule

by Dervla McTiernan

First Rule: Make them like you. Second Rule: Make them need you. Third Rule: Make them pay.

They think I'm a young, idealistic law student, that I'm passionate about reforming a corrupt and brutal system. They think I'm working hard to impress them. They think I'm here to save an innocent man on death row. They're wrong. I'm going to bury him.

The Riverbend Regulars Series - Rose Thrupp

Rose Thrupp

Q1. What have you been reading lately?

Well, there are four books. Period Power by Maisie Hill, I am, I am, I am by Maggie O’Farrell, The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth (which is very Eleanor Oliphant-esque) and most recently, Beach Read by Emily Henry. This is by far the romance novel I have read in a very long time! I have just ordered all of the other books because I love how she writes, and she is so funny!

Q2. So, of the enormous number of books you read, Rose, do you have some real favourites?

Yes, lots of favourites. But I would say in recent years that my great favourites are Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton and Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell.

I picked up my copy of Boy Swallows Universe in Type Wronger Books in Edinburgh and it made me very nostalgic for Brisbane, the way he writes about it. I loved it so much and gave it to heaps of my friends in Scotland and said “read this, you are not biased towards Brisbane, you tell me - is this not amazing!?” They said 100%. They loved it. I recommended it to so many people over there.

I am such a huge fan of Maggie O’Farrell and have loved everything she has written, especially Hamnet. Such an amazing story. I think the way she writes is actual poetry.

Q3. Do you have a favourite Riverbend story?

Yes I remember coming in here and telling you that my friend had acknowledged me in her book It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake by Clair Christian.

Q4. What do you think makes Riverbend so special?

Books are 100% my favourite topic and I love walking into the atmosphere of this bookshop.

I think the best start to the day is to meet friends and come to the bookstore and talk about books. And I love the staff at Riverbend. Holly, Jessie and Vicky always remember my name and have some great recommendations.

Riverbend Readers - 'The Sorrow Stone' by Kári Gíslason

by Vicky, Laura, and Britt

There was a mixed response to The Sorrow Stone at bookclub this month. Those who liked it enjoyed the fact that it drew them into a time, place, and culture that they knew nothing or very little about. They appreciated the way a woman was central to the story and that it was based on an ancient tale that had been handed down over centuries and enjoyed the book as a refreshing change of pace. However, many readers found that the story was hard to follow, the prose was clunky and the characters were underdeveloped and as a result unrelatable. A few readers didn’t persist to the end.

Despite or perhaps because of these differences of opinion we had great discussions all week.

The Vikings and their reputedly violent and merciless sacking, pillaging and invading had been present in much of our knowledge of history and this book afforded us an opportunity to look at the world from their point of view. We talked about the harshness of the Nordic climate and the effect that would have on the inhabitants’ approach to life. The book made us understand that most of their day was spent simply growing and raising enough food to live on and creating sufficient shelter to protect them from the icy wind and cold. There was not much time to spend on chivalry and fancy manners when simply surviving took all their energy. In such a society reliance on family ties for strength and protection was a necessity and this in turn led to frequent violent acts of vengeance whenever anybody from outside the family group threatened those ties. Loyalty to blood relations took precedence over marital ties.

While most readers agreed that the story itself was a good one, the writing style divided readers with many wishing that more of the gaps in the plot and in the characters thought processes had been filled in. We wondered if perhaps a prologue providing more context would have been helpful. Though some were unsympathetic to the author’s stated intention of telling the story in the simple and unadorned style of the Sagas, saying that he should have made it clearer and more relatable to modern readers, others embraced the simple punchy prose and felt it took them straight into the harsh, no-frills life of the Vikings. They were happy to fill in the gaps from their own imagination and looked at the book as a gateway into further research about a fascinating part of history.

We thank the Riverbend Readers for another week of great discussions!

Riverbend Classics Bookclub - Jane Eyre

by Vicky and Laura

Despite our fears that our classics club members might judge Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel Jane Eyre as too long, too wordy and too dark to kick off the year, we were pleasantly surprised when the majority of readers enjoyed the book immensely.

Some had read the book before and were very grateful for the encouragement to revisit an old favourite. These readers said it was one classic that improved with age (both its own and the reader’s) observing that what they had originally thought was a love story became so much more on a second reading.

Those reading the novel for the first time could not believe the beauty of the language, the depth of the character analysis and the way the plot drew them in.

We all agreed that writing the novel in Jane’s voice was a clever device to make us relate to the protagonist from the beginning and that Jane’s honest assessment of her own character with all its flaws made us trust her as a narrator. Charlotte Bronte has been called a ‘minitiaurist of the soul’ and there is no doubt that the novel is a classic example of what is known in literature as a ‘bildungsroman’ or story of a character’s emotional and spiritual development over time.

We talked about Jane’s childish self. She was traumatised by losing her parents at an early age and was abused, ignored and treated as an outsider by her relations the Reeds, who she was forced to depend upon for shelter and survival. Some readers thought her struggle to repress her innate intelligence, passion and integrity in order to keep out of the poorhouse made her personality split into two people – the lonely, meek orphan who dared not show her true nature and the uncontrollable demon raging at the unjust treatment that was meted out to her.

We thought that every experience and relationship Jane had, both good and bad, helped to integrate these two opposing forces into a new Jane who by the end of the book was autonomous, calm, assertive and fulfilled and who could be true to her own conscience AND to her loving, passionate and intelligent nature.

Although on one level the book dealt with Jane, her personal journey and her relationships with others some readers emphasised its important commentary on religion, gender roles. colonialism and the class system at the time it was written. The hypocrisy of the Church as represented by Mr Brocklehurst pretending to care for orphans while treating them cruelly, the complete disempowerment of women without means or family to support them, the lack of morality and sense of entitlement displayed by upper class characters such as the Reeds and the Ingrams and the idea that a British clergy man would ‘save’ the souls of natives in India were all almost uncontested societal norms in 1847 when the novel was written. We marvelled at the courage of Charlotte Bronte who dared to question them in her novel and to challenge their power over her own life by doggedly seeking publication of her work and becoming a successful author.

There was so much to discuss about the intelligence of the writing. We talked of Bronte’s use of the weather to set the mood, the symbolic nature of the names of the various homes Jane occupied, the motifs employed throughout the book such as the moon as a guide and mother figure and nature as a great healer.

As usual the hour sped past and with the many insightful comments from our readers leading to still more interesting observations we could have gone on talking for many more.

Next May & June we tackle the smaller but no less challenging dystopian classic Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

BEST NEW BOOKS COMING OUT IN JUNE

The deluge of new releases for June has threatened to overwhelm the Riverbend staff. It was extremely difficult to narrow down the titles we are most excited for, but here they are!

Click on the books for more information or to pre-order.

FICTION

FANTASY

CRIME

NON FICTION

We Have Some Exciting News!

Dear Beloved Reader,

As a highly valued customer and supporter, I want to tell you about our exciting news.

Over the past 25 years Riverbend Books has been fiercely supported by so many. This is just one reason we treasure our place in the community.

In early 2023, Riverbend will commence a new chapter in its life. The next phase involves a new development of the whole block on which Riverbend sits, from Cambridge to Jamieson St. We believe this development will help regenerate business and community life in Oxford St. While our wonderful new space is being created, Riverbend will be temporarily relocating. As soon as we have confirmed this new local address we will be letting everyone know.

We are working closely with the developers, builders and the greater Bulimba community to ensure Riverbend will be able to continue to operate with minimal disruption during this phase. In time, we will have a wonderful new premise and be part of an iconic new development, ensuring Riverbend will be around for future generations.

For now, it’s business as usual. All book clubs and scheduled events will continue. We will still be getting all the latest releases in store and we can still specially order books for you.

We look forward to sharing updates with you as more information becomes available, including the local address of our temporary home which we are scheduled to move into for 18 months, from March or April of 2023.

Thank you for your continued support as we navigate this next chapter, and being part of the Riverbend Story.

Warm regards,

Suzy Wilson & the Riverbend team.

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FAQs

Where are you going?

We will be going to an interim premises before we move back into the new building, after which we will be on the same corner at street level.

Are you closing?

No, we aren’t closing. We will be bigger and better, ensuring Riverbend’s longevity.

Why are you closing?

We aren’t closing. We will be relocating somewhere very close while a great new space is being built for us.

Isn’t the development going to be terrible for the area?

Any short-term inconvenience will be worth the long-term prosperity of Oxford Street as a destination high street. The development will regenerate the whole precinct.

Will there be parking?

Yes, there will be multiple levels of parking and a lift in the building.

Isn’t this building heritage listed?

No, this building is post war and so isn’t heritage listed.

Is the shop going to be smaller?

No, the shop will be much bigger. More room for more books!

Will it be easy to access?

Yes, we will be on street level with no stairs and no ramp. The shop will be vastly more accessible.

Will you still have bookclubs in the interim?

Yes, we will still have book clubs. Vicky and the bookclub team are working on dates and interim venues and bookclub members will be informed at every step.

Will there still be a cafe?

The new building will have a cafe while our temporary shop location will be near a cafe.

Will the temporary shop still be on oxford street?

We are still finalising details of the new location, however we are aiming to still be on Oxford Street.

What will happen with Riverbend Staff?

All staff jobs are safe.

If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! You can contact us on 3899 8555 or shoot us an email at info@riverbendbooks.com.au

10 Minutes with Victoria Carless

Recently we had Victoria Carless in store to sign copies of her new book Gus and the Starlight. We took the opportunity to ask her a few questions!

1.       Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Good question. I think I’m somewhere in between. I do have a  few scenes ahead plotted out and I usually know the ending but I like to have a bit of a problem or a mystery as well to solve, that’s what keeps me writing.

2.       What is your number one rule for writing?

Set a goal and try to stick to it. If in doubt, do a scene map. A scene map is where you very broadly plot out what scene it is, who’s in it, who’s the point of view and what happens. And then you get to see clearly where your gaps are and how you can develop your story further.

3.       Do you have a favourite writing place?

I feel like my answers are very boring! Just my office, when no one else is at home. For obvious reasons. But it’s nice if the pets are there.

4.       Are you reading anything at the moment?

Yes, I am reading We Run the Tides which I’m really enjoying because it is published for adults but it’s from the perspective of 13 year old girls and it’s kind of all about understanding your place in your community and getting a sense of your power as a young woman, I guess, and how you grow into that.

5.       What are you working on next?

I’m working on two middle grade works – I kind of alternate between them. The first one I’m trying to incorporate some elements of quantum physics in there which I don’t really understand so it’s taking me some time to kind of understand how that works and how that might become a metaphor in the story. And I’m also trying to write one called Stella the Bad and Stinky Fairy which is about girls being able to be naughty and smelly if they want to!

Gus and the Starlight

by Victoria Carless

Gus doesn't want to make friends. She also doesn't want to be intrigued by the cat-lady teacher at her new school, or the Riley's Comet project that she and her seaweed-eating science partner are working on together.

And she definitely doesn't want to fall in love with her job as the projectionist at the Starlight, a drive-in movie theatre that her family is reviving.

Because, knowing Gus's luck, she and her family could be moving on in a day, or a week, or a month. When the ghosts that haunt Mum catch up with them. Or if the Starlight doesn't succeed.

Then she'll have to say goodbye. Again.

And saying goodbye is too hard.

See What You Made Me Do

by Suzy Wilson

Dear Reader

Every now and then an author tackles a subject of deep concern to us all. 

Jess Hill's book, See What You Made Me Do  is intelligent, sensitive and insightful.  It is an incredible book and offers real and practical insights and solutions for a problem which is too often put in the ‘too hard’ basket. The subject is domestic violence.

It is a book which is hard to put down, horrifyingly compelling, beautifully written, and I believe everyone needs to read it. It is possibly one of the most important books published in this country in recent years.

If readers like us look away and don’t attempt to understand DV, then we can’t hope to do something about it. For me reading this book provided a pathway to understanding the ‘How could they?’ And ‘Why do they?’ elements of DV. 

Hill concludes the book with some very practical actions for communities to take on board as proven pathways for dealing with DV. 

Our State member for Parliament, Di Farmer,  is proactively engaging with our community on the subject of Domestic Violence on June 2 at Lourdes Hill soon (details below). Hannah Clarke’s parents will be there.  If we want women to be safe in our community, we all need to be there.

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Date: Thursday 2 June 2022

Time: 6:30pm to 8.30pm

Venue: The Good Samaritan Centre (GSC),  Lourdes Hill College, 86 Hawthorne Rd, Hawthorne. Entry via Gate 2. Street parking only.

RSVP by COB Tuesday 31 May

10 Minutes with Tom Tilley

We were lucky enough to have a chat with Tom Tilley when he visited Riverbend Books this week and signed copies of his newly released memoir 'Speaking in Tongues'.

Did you have any writing rituals when writing this memoir?

I wrote the book by hand with pen and paper. I mostly wrote outdoors, usually at a park bench by a beach in Sydney. I loved the ritual of looking at the horizon and then looking at the page. Just taking moments to think, jog memories, then going back to writing by hand. I also only liked to write if I had at least three or four hours of space. I never needed a whole day, but I couldn't just go for an hour or two. I needed the right vibe.

How do you feel about the book now that it is out of your hands?

I'm really happy with it and loving the reactions I have been getting from people. I thought it might give people hope who are, even broadly, in similar situations. What I am amazed by is the people who have been in very similar situations telling me that they feel like I am telling their story. The power of reading something you can relate to seems to be really liberating. Somehow people feel supported or acknowledged or even seen by just reading a story that is similar to their own. I think it's because no one had really explored this tiny corner of the Pentecostal experience.

And also it's representation. To see yourself somewhere else can be hugely impactful for people, especially when it comes to minorities, or a sub group of a minority.

Yeah, and I hadn't understood that as well as I do now. Even after being on radio and putting everyone's stories to air for years and hearing people respond on talk back. But this is a whole other thing - and this story is told in the kind of detail you can only do in a book, where you have that much space.

If 'Speaking in Tongues' was made into a movie, who do you see playing the main characters?

I would like to have Aaron Eckhart from 'Thank You for Smoking' and 'The Dark Night'. We have a real resemblance and I like him on screen. So he would play me. Maybe Ron Howard for later in my life?

What are you reading at the moment?

I am reading Kate Langbroek's 'Ciao, Bella!' We are going to speak together at a writer's festival next week. It has lots of cute Italian texture and a heart-felt family at the centre of the story.

What are you working on now?

I'm thinking about documentary ideas that might be adjacent to my book. But that's in very early stages.

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Tom Tilley is an Australian television and radio presenter and journalist who is currently a reporter for the news talk show The Project. He was previously the host of daily radio news program Hack on Triple J between 2011 and 2019.

Riverbend Readers - 'The Promise' by Damon Galgut

by Vicky, Laura, and Britt

We had an overwhelmingly positive response to this month’s book, The Promise by Damon Galgut, with many readers saying that they were engaged and incredibly moved by the book from start to finish. For the most part, readers loved the unique “movie camera” narrative style of the novel and found that this bird’s eye view allowed the reader to gain a more complete picture as the story moved forward. Though it took some readers a little while to get into the flow of the novel, they were intrigued by the narrative shifts and found it compelling to read. Galgut’s use of language, his mastery of metaphor, dark humour and sense of the absurd made this deeply sad and layered story a joy to read for may of our book clubbers.

However, the book was not without its critics, and some bookclubbers loathed the chopping and changing narrative voice, the multiple perspectives, and most especially, the lack of punctuation. They found the story a chore to follow, the subject matter bleak and lacking in hope, and the characters unlikable and unrelatable. Some readers felt that this book was quite inaccessible to the reader who was not prepared to research and dig around into the ugly history of the race divide in South Africa.

Others who liked the book admitted that their appreciation was a rather intellectual one in that they could see the writing was brilliant and unique and that the story line was important but that it failed to engage them on an emotional level. We talked about Prize winners - particularly Booker Prize winners - and what expectations we brought to a book that had won one. For some it lowered expectations since they often disliked the books chosen and for others it made them persist with a book and look for brilliance that was not immediately apparent to them.

We spoke about our limited experience in reading novels from South Africa. Apart from a few authors, Including J.M Coetzee, Bryce Courtney, Wilbur Smith and Alan Paton, most readers had not read South African literature widely. We discussed Galgut’s claim that South African writers are almost always expected to place their novels against the changing backdrop of South African politics, and thought he had managed this quite cleverly by using the Swart family’s troubles as an allegory for what was happening in the country.

The structure of the book around the four funerals of four different religious denominations was a clever device and showed that divisions were not just between blacks and whites. To readdress their moral failings, the characters sought absolution or relief in religion. Most of the characters had a connection to a faith-based community, all of them non-African religions. The author has a lot to say about religion and the blind following of various faiths, and each of the spiritual leaders depicted appeared either corrupt or comical.

Overall, The Promise was well received by our Riverbend Readers!

The Riverbend Regulars Series - Dame Quentin Bryce

Q1. What do you think makes Riverbend so special?

There are so many things that make Riverbend so special but really, it's the atmosphere and and the warmth and the welcome. You come in and you know you are going to have a good time and you are going to go home loaded with books, absolutely loaded. That you’ll be here four times longer than you thought you’d be and there is absolutely no chance of not grabbing something.

It's the engagement of people here too, everybody's talking, and you hear people engaging in such interesting conversations. And there are so many little treasures, I'm just sitting here looking at the Imagine and Magic Beach trinkets by my very favourite Alison Lester. I could go on and on, I love to come here, and I always look forward to coming. I could sit at this table all day; this place is so special to me and my family.

Q2. Do you have a favourite memory from Riverbend? How long have you been coming to Riverbend?

Well, I’ve been coming here for a long time but definitely much more regularly since I came back to live in Brisbane after having been away for a number of years. I’ve got so many very happy memories here, times that have been such fun. Book chats with Laura are what first come to mind, just the laughter of those nights and my admiration for the way she prepares so thoroughly. I love the way people who come to the book chats engage, they all feel like old friends. Many many happy memories.

Another truly happy memory is sitting at this table with Michael (late husband) amongst piles of books and being here for 2-3 hours choosing Christmas presents for the little ones.

Q3. How has reading impacted/ influenced your life?

Enormously. It has brought be every sort of emotion. When I look back, I can remember the first time I stayed up really late reading long after everybody else had gone to bed. I can remember that book so clearly; it was about kids living on a farm. It was the first time I had that wonderful feeling of not being able to wait to see what was coming next, it’s really never left me.

Reading is so important to me as a companion. There is nothing like the excitement of getting into a book that you can’t put down. I always think of a book as a best friend.

Q4. What have read recently?

I just finished April in Spain by John Banville… I’m still thinking about the ending of it.

I’ve also just reading the 2021 booker prize, The Promise by Damon Galgut, which requires a much more thoughtful read than the Banville. At one stage I had Banville upstairs and The Promise downstairs!

And of course, The Burnished Sun by Mirandi Riwoe which has won the UQP Quentin Bryce prize, so of course I’m feeling very proud about that! It is such an honour to have a book prize in my name at UQP.

Q5. What’s your favourite book of all time?

The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard, I absolute loved that book and there are some quotes I can rattle off that I have used again and again in speeches.

Brisbane’s Very Own Ann Patchett, Suzy Wilson

How a bookstore makes a community 

by Alexandra Browning

After reading Ann Patchett’s latest collection of short stories entitled These Precious Days I could not help but compare the way Patchett described her beloved Nashville bookstore to our very own Riverbend Books. 

Behind the busy cafes and leafy parks along Oxford Street lies a little store by the name of Riverbend Books. 

For over twenty years Suzy Wilson has gifted Bulimba the love of literature, learning and a rich sense of community. 

Like Ann Patchett, Suzy has created a space for people, young and old; for writers to connect with readers and readers to connect with books. 

In an old postwar timber home filled from top to toe with books, Riverbend has a charm to it that makes one’s heart all warm and fuzzy. 

This space is more than just a bookstore, it has fostered a neighbourhood and a community; something so rare in these disconnected times. 

As discussed in Patchett’s latest book, a bookstore provides a place where everyone feels welcomed and understood.

When I think of Riverbend, I picture the warm summer evenings on the timber deck when friends gather to support a local author, or gush to hear a hilarious conversation between Suzy and Trent Dalton, or Laura Sweeny and Quentin Bryce. 

Or early Saturday mornings when the toddlers in their lilac leotards cross the street from ballet class at the church and skip hand in hand straight for the children’s section. They plop themselves in a row on the tiny timber bench buried in tulle and are taken to the world of Fancy Nancy or Alison Lester.  

Or hysterical laughter from the book clubs where women (and men) gather at the back table between the classics and crime to sometimes discuss all things books and sometimes nothing to do with books at all. 

Or on an October afternoon when the jacarandas are in full bloom and a thunderstorm is brewing and the children from Bulimba primary school come in in their blue check uniforms to buy the latest Anh Do or David Walliams with their very own pocket money.

Or when adults who once upon a time were those little children come and visit the store and reminisce on ‘these precious days.’

There is nothing quite like an independent bookshop. 

How lucky we are… to be a part of this wonderful community.

If you are reading this, I am going to assume you too share a love of the written word and I therefore highly recommend purchasing a copy of These Precious Days, which is in stock now. 

Not only does Ann discuss her love of writing and of her community, but she shares stories about her marriage and her relationships with her family. Perhaps most notably, she shares her life changing friendship with Tom Hanks’ assistant Sooki, and the long days they spend together in Ann’s home during the height of the lockdown. 

It is heartwarming, profound and altogether wonderful. Well worth a read, and of course, a visit to Riverbend Books!

International Women's Day

BY KATHLEEN NOONAN

Because Tuesday is International Women’s Day and because it has been such a tumultuous year for women in this country and because a war is going on in the world, I’d like to read some of Second co-founder Dale Spender’s most famous words:

“Feminism has fought no wars. It has killed no opponents. It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practiced no cruelties. Its battles have been for education, for the vote, for better working conditions, for safety in the streets, for child care, for social welfare, for rape crisis centres, women's refuges, reforms in the law. If someone says, 'Oh, I'm not a feminist', I ask, 'Why? What's your problem?”

Dame Quentin Bryce says after men fight wars and bomb countries, it is women who knit it back together again, doing the emotional heavy lifting, caring for children and elderly, making sure everyone doesn’t go mad. They literally knit society back together. The work of piecing together society after wars or pandemics or family violence or floods is not easy. It’s messy. Think about your own families. After the physical heavy lifting - comes the emotional heavy lifting.

The Invisible Women’s Work of caring for others – unpaid, unseen. We do it all the time. Every woman in this room does. So today - International Women’s Day - make sure you make some time for yourself. Demand it.

Supporting other women has been central to Second Chance for 20 years. We assist homeless women, women at-risk AND their children.  Old and young. It's not just women fleeing domestic violence. It is young mothers and babies. It is  women with mental health challenges, immigrant women and older single women at risk of homelessness – and that number is growing every year. We do it through a range of partners – like Brisbane Housing Co, through fantastic Combined Women’s Refuge Group, through Anglicare homelessness services or Bahloo indigenous shelter.

There was a crisis in affordable housing in Qld before the pandemic and floods. Now…think about this. …the women we assist would usually be housed in lower-rental suburbs – the same suburbs now flooded and unlivable. Floods are gendered. Those at the bottom of the housing pile are hardest hit – and that is women and children.

We assist women all over the State. In Gympie even before this last flood you had women living out of tents. Now I read they have run out of tents.

We aren’t interested in Band-Aid solutions. We assist women onto a pathway - from  shelters to transitional housing to private housing market or public housing – with wraparound support to help them succeed. The aim is a life of dignity and safety.

There’s a lot to do – we can not do it without your wonderful generosity.

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Kathleen Noonan is a Brisbane-based journalist and columnist, who has reported in South Africa, the UK and Australia over three decades. Her weekly column and reporting appeared in newspapers throughout Australia for 16 years. She has a long-standing interest in what makes society fair.

Bookish Words from Suzy Wilson

If the past two years have made you feel like a broken down car without any petrol, I would love to recommend to you dear readers, a book that sang to me this January - The Luminous Solution by Charlotte Wood.

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“I’d like to think of this book as a conversation not just with the guides on my shelves, but with all the writers and artists I’ve met, and many I haven’t, over the last three decades.”

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I have always loved the writing of Charlotte Wood. Her novels (see below) look below the surface of their character’s lives and never fail to explore the essence of our world and our communities. She challenges us, her readers, to look hard. 

My whole family has shared this book over Christmas. Imbued in the author’s words is a personal honesty, a humility, an acute intelligence, which we all enjoyed meeting. You can’t help but like the person behind the words. And if you have ever doubted your creative spirit, there is much solace, encouragement and quiet joy to be found here. 

Each time I picked up the book a wave a calm washed over me. Thank You Charlotte Wood for the luminous hours you give us your readers.

If you are a creative, then I would consider this compulsory reading. This is a book to keep on your shelves forever, it has in turn become a guide, not a dictatorial guide but one that is insightful and encouraging. However it is not only for those working in the creative arts. As Charlotte says:

“The joys, fears and profound self-discoveries of creativity - I believe to be the birthright of every person on this earth. If you live your life with curiosity and intention - this book is for you.”

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Getting to Know Your Riverbenders - Maz

How long have you been working at Riverbend Books? 
I started several days before the shop opened - shelving! That was 1998 - 22 years ago. 

And what's your job? 
I work on the shop floor, serving customers and shelving. Sometimes I even pull returns and vacuum.

What do you like best about working at Riverbend? 
I love helping our customers to find books they will enjoy reading. 

What's been your favourite event or story? 
My favourite events/authors have been those with Tim Winton and David Walliams, though the image of the tiny, bubbly Marian Keyes in her stilettos being interviewed by our tall manager is quite unforgettable. 

If we were to come to you for recommendations, what kind of books do you like best?
I try to read over as broad a spectrum as possible so am happy to read just about anything though I’d probably struggle with politics.

Lastly, what are you currently reading?

Hamnet. It’s brilliant!

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If you want to be more like Maz, check out what she’s reading via the links below!

Hamnet

By Maggie O’Farrell