This week....

I'm reading...

In the last week I managed to finish three books. The first one I finished Secrets of Saffron Hall which I mentioned last week. After finishing that I was really looking for something really fun and engrossing to get lost in, and so Matilda Next Door by Kelly Hunter fit the bill perfectly.

Kelly Hunter is one of those authors who I know that I can pick up at any time and will love. There's just something about her writing.  The other reason why this is such a comfortable read is that this is the first book in the third quartet of books set in the small fictional town of Wirralong. Each book in the quartet is written by a different author, but Kelly Hunter has written one of the books in each of the quartets. Because this is the ninth book set in the town there are many familiar characters and land marks, but there was a part that was also set in London. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I might have tempted fate by jumping straight into the next book in the series, Maeve's Baby by Fiona Macarthur. The weird thing is that I have no recollection of pre-ordering this book but it was already on my Kindle, but it was already there, so I must have done. This book unfortunately didn't work quite as well for me, but that's okay. The next two book in the quartet are out later this month and you can guarantee I will be returning to Wirralong then.

The I started reading The Last Charm by Ella Allbright. I love the concept, which is that it tells the story of two young friends through the charms on a charm bracelet. So far, I am enjoying it, so hopefully I will continue to do so.

I also finished listening to The Roommate by Dervla McTiernan and started listening to Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown.

I'm watching...

Our quest to watch all the feel good shows continues with Anh's Brush with Fame. Anh Do is an Australian artist/author/comedian/so many other things. The premise of his show is that he invites a celebrity to come into his art studio and he talks to them about their lives while he paints their portrait.

His style of painting is quite unusual but very effective. He has even been nominated for the Archibald Prize, which is Australia's most prestigious portrait prize. He uses trowels and knifes to slather paint on and then he uses his fingers, and other small tools to finish off. Some times I am blown away by the painting. Other times not so much. I am always impressed with the stories that he manages to get out of his guests, often emotional and often funny.

The other thing that we started watching this week is Umbrella Academy. My son suggested that we watch it not long ago. I did mention to the team at work that we were going to start it but I was told that it wasn't my kind of thing. I am pleased to say that I am proving him wrong.

Life

We took a day off on Friday to give ourselves a three day weekend which was needed because work has been very intense.  One day back in the office today and I am already feeling the strain.

I spent most of the weekend attending Melbourne Writers Festival (you can read my wrap up here) so I did enjoy getting to indulge in all things bookish. I am going to be continuing to indulge by attending a few session at Edinburgh Writers Festival, although I probably won't do write ups for those. This morning I listened to Hilary Mantel talk about her final book in the Cromwell trilogy, Mirror and the Light which was a very interesting conversation.

We also did some cooking and we started a new jigsaw puzzle (I say we, but really it is my lovely husband). It is actually a picture of us at Top of the Rock in New York. My husband is cursing me a little bit because apparently doing an arty angle is fine for putting a photo on Instagram but it doesn't translate particularly well into a jigsaw.


Don't forget you can now follow my blog on Facebook here.

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I've Loved but Haven't Reviewed Yet
Library Loot
Alphabet 2020: Q is for Quiet Please
Weekend Cooking: Making Macarons
Sunday Salon: MWF Digital Week 2

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

The Happiest Refugee: A Memoir by Anh Do

Anh Do nearly didn't make it to Australia. His entire family came close to losing their lives on the sea as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. But nothing -- not murderous pirates, nor the imminent threat of death by hunger, disease or dehydration as they drifted for days -- could quench their desire to make a better life in the country they had dreamed about.


Life in Australia was hard, an endless succession of back-breaking work, crowded rooms, ruthless landlords and make-do everything. But there was a loving extended family, and always friends and play and something to laugh about for Anh, his brother Khoa and their sister Tram. Things got harder when their father left home when Anh was thirteen -- they felt his loss very deeply and their mother struggled to support the family on her own. His mother's sacrifice was an inspiration to Anh and he worked hard during his teenage years to help her make ends meet, also managing to graduate high school and then university.


Another inspiration was the comedian Anh met when he was about to sign on for a 60-hour a week corporate job. Anh asked how many hours he worked. 'Four,' the answer came back, and that was it. He was going to be a comedian! The Happiest Refugee tells the incredible, uplifting and inspiring life story of one of our favourite personalities. Tragedy, humour, heartache and unswerving determination -- a big life with big dreams. Anh's story will move and amuse all who read it.

The subtitle of this book is "the extraordinary true story of a boy's journey from starvation at sea to becoming one of Australia's best-loved comedians" and that pretty much covers this book!

I was familiar with the comedy of Anh Do after watching him perform on late night TV shows for several years but it was only earlier this year that I recall having heard about the story of how he and his family came to live in Australia. The first time I heard any of the story was during a History Channel documentary about the history of Australia hosted by Tony Robinson (who is probably either best known as Baldrick from Black Adder or as the host of Time Team) where the focus of the episode was multiculturalism, particularly against the current political climate in relation to refugees here in Australia.

Fast forward a short period of time, and I watched the SBS series Go Back to Where You Came From (which I posted about here), and the timing seemed to be just right for reading an immigrant story, talking about the contribution that so many refugee have made to Australian life. And what a story Anh has to tell. His family were boat people, escaping from Vietnam in the late 1970s on a very leaky boat, surviving near starvation and much more. Instead of me recapping, I thought I would let Anh tell you some parts of his story:



I don't read a lot of autobiographies but I do think that a sign of a good one is when you can hear the voice of the person clearly in the pages, and this was a book where that really happened for me.

Particularly poignant for me were the sections which dealt with his school life, with his single mum struggling to make enough money to raise her three children and still send them to good schools, and then his eventual reunion with his dad. One thing that was conveyed very clearly through the book was the importance of family to Anh. If you want to make me cry, then mention children's relationships with their father, particularly if they are reunited after a period of separation! As an aside, the other time I am guaranteed to cry is about fathers at weddings...every damned time.

Anh tells about starting out as a comedian and as an actor, touching on his time on Dancing with the Stars and more, about studying to be a lawyer, meeting his now wife and more. His positive attitude shines through hardship, through hard work, through trial and through triumph.

If you need a book to touch you, to make you laugh and cry, this one might be just what you are looking for.

This book recently won Book of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and was joint winner of Biography of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards.

Rating 4/5