Read: Tarcutta Wake, Josephine Rowe
I picked this up at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival, thinking it would be the next book to count towards my goal in the Australian Women Writers Challenge. A light volume of short stories, I imagined tearing through it in no time at all. After delving in while on a recent road trip, I found myself completely entranced. Some are as short as a single page, others quite a bit longer. I haven’t been this in love with a collection of short stories since The Fat Man in History or A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters. This is going to be my favourite book of the year, I can already tell. Instead of the fast paced reading I imagined, I am finding myself parceling out each story, trying to delay reaching the end of the collection.
Watch: Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
When I watched this series as it aired on the ABC earlier this year it took me at least three or four episodes to lose the cultural cringe of hearing ocker accents before I could really enjoy it. Having recently sat down to watch them all again, I’m pleased to say it holds up well on a second viewing. Aside from the fun of the costumes, the sets and trying to figure out where the various locations are (and how they disguised the modern elements), the stories are strong and the characters likeable. Kerry Greenwood’s novels have been well adapted for the small screen and it is fun to know that the series is faithful to the truth of the era. Also, Phryne is a kick arse protagonist. It’s so rare to see such meaty female roles on television, so I’m lapping it up. Production has recently kicked off for the second season, so I’m looking forward to seeing more of it on our screens.
Listen: The UK 1940s Radio Station
This station on TuneIn Radio plays music from the 1920s to 194os. Jive, big band, swing, crooners, it’s got it all. It’s pretty much the only thing playing in our house since we discovered it. There are minimal interruptions from DJs (and when they do interrupt they mostly have lovely British accents), and they also play ads/public service announcements/speeches from the era too. You can listen online or download to the TuneIn app for your various devices.
