Summer Reading
Summer time – time to pull out the hammock, make a cocktail and get out a good book. Journalist Tania Phillips has found a couple of new releases that just might fit the summer reading bill.
Get Well by Michael Leunig available through Penguin Random House
Deceptively wise, heartbreakingly beautiful and just plain hilarious, Get Well is a collection of Michael Leunig’s work over the past four years – a time when, quite remarkably, all has not been well with the world. “Simple rhymes, homemade aphorisms, sentimental yearnings, many daggy jokes, funny faces and mysteries from the heart abound in this collection of cartoons – which cause me to wonder what is becoming of me and my world”, says Leunig. More than ever, Leunig shines a light on questions about sanity and madness, innocence and corruption, friendliness and unfriendliness, joy and despair, and the possibility of an overriding eternal wisdom and beauty. Apart from the obvious calamities of fire, flood and pandemic, an unwellness of concern to Michael is the quiet erosion of poetic and philosophical perspectives in the feverish clamouring for science. Many of these pieces are what came to Michael most surely, naturally and sincerely during a recent, strange period of creative exile from what seemed to be an increasingly stern and unforgiving environment. He describes his approach as regressive, humorous, messy, mystical, primal and vaudevillian – producing work which is open to many interpretations and has been widely adapted in education, music, theatre, psychotherapy and spiritual life.
The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins by Peter Fitzsimmons – Hachette Australia
The brave and bold Sir Hubert Wilkins is Australia’s most adventurous explorer, naturalist, photographer, war hero, aviator, spy, submariner and daredevil – and his exceptional life is celebrated in this new book by Fitzsimons.
“Sir Hubert Wilkins is one of the most remarkable Australians who ever lived,” Fitzsimons said.
“He was nothing less than the Forrest Gump of history, with the uncanny knack of being Hubert-on-the-spot for magnificent moments with some of the greats of history.
“Sir Hubert lived the most extraordinary life of any Australian, ever, and in terms of thrills and spills, derring-do, new worlds discovered he could sit at the table with Attila the Hun, Alexander the Great, Captain Cook, and Shackleton and hold his own.”
Fiona Hazard, Group Publishing Director at Hachette Australia said of the forthcoming book, ‘I cannot wait for readers to discover the incredible story of Sir Hubert Wilkins.
Peter FitzSimons has once again brought to life a character and period of history that many of us are unfamiliar with. From South Australia to Antarctica via the Soviet Union, this incredible tale will have you on the edge of your seat from the very first page and will take you on adventures and to places we can only dream of at the moment.’
The Tea Ladies of St Judes Hospital by Joanna Nell
Sydney GP Joanna Nell is fast becoming the queen of over 50s literature. This is her fourth book in almost as many years and has all the charm of the previous books including her impressive debut novel The Single Ladies Of Jacaranda Retirement Home. This time around her book is inspired by a hospital visit (back to hospital she had worked in many years before).
The Marjorie Marshall Memorial Cafeteria has been serving refreshments and raising money at St Jude’s Hospital for more than fifty years. Staffed by successive generations of dedicated volunteers, the beloved institution is known as much for offering a kind word and a sympathetic ear as for its tea and buns.
Stalwart Hilary has worked her way up through the ranks to Manageress. Joy has been late every day since she started and doesn’t take her role quite as seriously as Hilary would like, but brings a welcome pop of colour. Seventeen-year-old Chloe, the daughter of two successful surgeons is volunteering during the school holidays.
Chloe is at first bewildered by the two older women but soon realises they have alot in common, not least that each bears a secret pain. When they discover the cafeteria is under threat of closure, they must band together to stop it from happening.
