What book are you reading?

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  • kitkatb
    kitkatb Member Posts: 442
    edited March 2019
    What an amazing story @Annie C .  I have read a couple of books on what it was like. I couldn't have imagined living through the experience.    I have driven quite a few times NT to Qld and you see quite a few of the old airstrips along the the Stuart Highway.  Even General MacArthur visited the old airstrip at Batchelor back then.  
    The great thing about Darwin is that it is a great gateway to so many places to visit.  I remember when I first went up that way the old Darwin airport was just a tin shed with overhead fans.  Times have changed but you still get glimpses on what it was like.  I love some of the Australian books which relate to that neck of the woods.  "We of the Never Never",  " No place for a Woman", "Boss Drover "  Plus Tom Cole's Books.  xox
  • Annie C
    Annie C Member Posts: 849
    @arpie
    Crikey we are twins!
    My parents were compensated for the Vesteys Beach house. It was taken over by the US Military. They were paid out after the war.

    When mum and my sister were evacuated the authorities only allowed a suitcase each of clothes (babies did not count). Mum left behind furniture and other possessions. My father crafted a beautiful wooden cradle for my sister. It was left behind. 

    The block of land just near the Post Office was a Conditional Purchase block. Certain conditions of improvement were needed to be undertaken before full purchase. The war interupted that. The block of land is where the NT Parliament and Supreme  Court now stands! One day I am going to claim Land Rights!


  • Annie C
    Annie C Member Posts: 849
    @kitkatb
    Tom Coles' books are priceless reading.

    When my husband and I owned the local newsagencey we stocked an extensive collection of Kimberley and Top End history books. They were good sellers. 

    One of my favourites is Edney Quilty's " No one Told Me". It is her story of her life on stations in the Kimberley. An eye opener.
  • arpie
    arpie Member Posts: 7,521
    I always KNEW I had a twin somewhere!   ;) 

    Good they got compensated for the house, at least!   Shame about the furniture & treasured belongings tho  :(  

    What's the name of the Di Morrissey book set in Darwin during the war @Annie C ....... 2 close friends (1 aussie & 1 jap) adversely affected due to the bombing etc & it was tied in with the pearl diving as well I think ...... I'd love to read that one again but can't think of the name!!!
  • arpie
    arpie Member Posts: 7,521
    Thank you @kitkatb .... I will check it out!!
  • Annie C
    Annie C Member Posts: 849
    "Tears of the "Moon" was set in Broome and up the penninsula. It is the story of Broome in the early days of the pearling industry.

    I cannot recall a book based on Darwin by Di Morrissey.

    Judy Nunn wrote "Territory" set in Darwin in the time from the bombing of Darwin to Cyclone Tracey. It is a good read.
  • arpie
    arpie Member Posts: 7,521
    ahaha, maybe it wasn't Di Morrissey who wrote it after all ...... The story also involved a teacher taking a bunch of kids away from the hostilities into the bush, camping rough wth aborigines ..... and the mother of the jap boy ended up being an enemy spy!  Ring a bell?
  • kmakm
    kmakm Member Posts: 7,974
    I've just read a book called "The Bus On Thursday" by Shirley Barrett.

    It features breast cancer but it's not the main storyline at all. The author had breast cancer and writes very accurately about it (in my opinion anyway!). It starts with the BC but then proceeds into more of a mystery/psychological thriller set in the Snowy Mountains. It ends up downright weird! It's also quite funny. I really liked it. It's very odd, but if you're game, I recommend it.
  • ~Millie~
    ~Millie~ Member Posts: 61
    I read “Bottle of lies “ by Katherine Eban . It was quite confronting given my cancer experience. I feel that with cancer V1 I was sucked into the vortex and wasn’t presented with the opportunity or time to properly research and process the options. The health care industry is disturbing. 
  • Artferret
    Artferret Member Posts: 259
    I've just read 'The Testaments' by Margaret Atwood, sequel to The Handmaid's Tale. I'm a person who loves re reading books but when i read The Handmaids tale years ago it unsettled me as it's  a rather in your face storyline. I never reread it till the tv series came out. It's a rather confronting story but the tv series were addictive. Can't wait for the 4th season but i hope they finish it there and not let it drag on. Books I have reread the most times? Easy...The Chronicles of Narnia.
  • lrb_03
    lrb_03 Member Posts: 1,267
    Books I've reread most, @Artferret.... Anne of Green Gables. In fact, re"reading" at the moment as a podcast book, on my lunchtime walks. Can't stop smiling as I listen. 

    Funny story about The Lion, The Witch &The Wardrobe. My 2nd grade teacher read it to the class, but I was so scared of the lion (in the title, just the thought) that I'd get almost hysterical,  so I was excused from class during all the readings. I've read them as an adult an realise how unscary the lion is,  and also love these books 
  • Artferret
    Artferret Member Posts: 259
    Yep, Anne of Green Gables too. Re read them many times. Plus Carole Wilkinson Dragonkeeper series. My children's book library at home is considerable...some really dated now in their ideas but i would never get rid of them e.g. The Chalet School series!
  • Sister
    Sister Member Posts: 4,960
    I got to revisit Anne of Green Gables a few years ago when I introduced them to my daughter.  My Mum shared them with me (her sister wrote to LM Montgomery and got a personal reply!).  The language may be more difficult for the younger ones to understand but Anne has never dated.
  • lrb_03
    lrb_03 Member Posts: 1,267
    I would get a book for my birthday, and at Christmas from my grandmother. It was almost invariably either one of the "Anne" books, or a book from the "Billabong" series, by Mary Grant Bruce. These were my other favourites,  about 3 children growing up in rural Victoria. 

    @Artferret, I'll have to look in to the Dragonkeeper series. I've never heard of it