Emily Paull

The Book of Strange New Things Michel Faber Canongate (I own a copy courtesy the publisher) 9781782114079 When reformed drug addict turned priest, Peter Leigh, embarks on a long journey to the new interplanetary colony known as Oasis to serve as a spiritual advisor for the native population, he expects he will be home in a few months.  He leaves behind his wife Beatrice, and his cat, Joshua, and travels via space ship to the USIC base that will serve as his home.  But USIC, a governmental body shrouded in mystery, is far more alien to Peter than his new congregation, and while the Oasans are willing to receive the word of God, Peter's mission grows harder as he learns of the terrible disintegration of life back on Earth. Most alarmingly, his relationship with Beatrice is not faring as well through the separation as he'd hoped. Told from the point of view of Peter, with several "Shoots" (a kind of email) from both Peter and Beatrice, this novel represents an int...

Euphoria Lily King Picador, 2014 (I own a copy courtesy the publisher) 9781473534991 In the deepest part of the rainforest, a lone anthropologist named Andrew Bankson decides that he can no longer go on living, and wades into the Kiona River with his pockets full of rocks.  Moments before he drowns, he is pulled from the river by a native man, who laughs and tells him he had better be careful and clear the rocks out of his pockets before he goes swimming, lest he should accidentally drown.  Thus Bankson is prevented from killing himself, and not long after, he is informed of the arrival of two more European anthropologists.  Desperately lonely, he goes to meet them, and everything changes. Partly inspired by the life of Margaret Mead, Euphoria is a book which uses anthropologists as characters in order not to study a foreign culture, but to study our own.  The book takes place in the 1930s, and in the shadow of the second world war, which seems imminent. ...

I've done it again, left another big stack of books for reviewing next to my workspace, and it's getting so that work in said space is actually becoming difficult.  A lot of these books I read while I was in Residence at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre, so if you think I read a lot more than usual this time around (considering this post only actually covers about two weeks of reading) then you would be right! I love this time of year for reading: there's not a lot going on, so long as you've finished your Christmas shopping, and it's too hot to do anything much.  When I get home from work, I like to change into comfy clothes or pyjamas and curl up with a tea and a book.  Last year, my summer read of choice was Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries-- I spent Christmas day reading it in between visitors and meals, and finished it on Boxing Day when I was sent home early from work (due to lack of customers, not due to a hangover, thanks very much.)  This...

My toughest critic was not invited to participate in the Young Writer in Residence program at KSP Writers Centre, and so I left her at home. I tried to remind myself, daily, that I had been selected to be there.  I had been given permission to not do laundry or vacuum or cook nutritious meals, and was really, in fact, expected to be writing for a large portion of the time.  It wasn't all that hard to remember.  Katharine's Place is a hub of writerly enthusiasm, and through reading the guest book, I could see my place in a long literary chain of names I knew and names I didn't... people like Tracy Farr, Alice Pung, PA O'Reilly and Annabel Smith. For the first time, I looked at my novel with properly new eyes.  The pressure was gone.  No, it was not perfect, but it was not awful either, and every new word I put down on the page was a mark of progress and improvement.  The work that I did over the ten days I spent in Greenmount was some of the most i...

It seems like this time of year has come far too quickly, but already people are counting down their favourite books, albums and films of the year!  I've just finished one of my New Year's Resolutions, which was to read 110 books this year- 10 more than I planned to read last year.  It seemed pretty ambitious when I set the goal, but there are still a few weeks of the year left and I am very proud of having made it over the line... When I sat down to look at all the books I read over 2014, one thing struck me about five star books.  There are two kinds.  At the time you finish a book, and you rate it five stars, sometimes it feels like the best book you have ever read, but I wonder if it really deserves five stars if all that impact is gone when you think about it months later? All the books that made my shortlist this year were books which made me want to read more, write better, and left me with a lingering emotion, whether that be joy or anger (at the truth ...

Well, here I am at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre in the Perth hills.  I am settled into Aldridge cottage, one of three self contained writing units modelled after Katharine's original studio, which still stands.  I have a large desk, a comfy writing chair, and a kettle; therefore I have everything that I need to write.  And writing I have been. After spending 24 + hours in the unit between yesterday and today, I felt it was time to venture out this afternoon, under the pretext of taking my rubbish out.  I armed myself with a small digital camera, and as the light was beginning to fade around the house, there was something magical about it.  I decided to explore. My work station, complete with Hello Kitty folder. What I can see, most of the day.  It's prettier in real life, I swear.  This is just my inept photography... See?  Told you the view was better!  This is it, later in the day, as I took in the magnific...