Holiday Book Bag

Welcome to my first full posting and a little bit of an introduction to my reading interests. We’re off to Tassie next week and the inevitable question of which books do I take is almost taking up as much thought as what clothes do I pack and how much shaving kit can I sneek in without someone else noticing. As we’ll be taking the car over on the Spirit of Tasmania there’s a big temptation to pack a few extra books with the current count being two poetry books, a collection of crime short stories and an anthology.

I loved John Clarke and am not ashamed to admit I shed a few tears on hearing the news of his untimely passing. Tinkering is one of those books which you can dip into when you have limited time and thus is perfect for holidays. The same can said for short stories which is why Bloody Scotland will be in the book bag. Bloody Scotland, the festival Scottish Crime Writing which is held in Stirling, Scotland each year, is on this weekend and I think that’s a perfectly good reason to bring it along.

When it comes to poetry. I’m a novice with a willingness to learn. In the foreword to Dorothy Porter’s The Bee Hut Andrea Goldsmith wrote

Dorothy Porter never went anywhere without a volume of poetry. Whether to the local coffee shop or to Antarctica, a book of poems, and often several, travelled with her.

Hobart will be as close to Antarctica as I’ll get for awhile so The Bee Hut will be in the bag along with Ellen Van Neerven’s excellent Comfort Food.

Finally, you may have noticed the absence of a novel. Don’t worry, I’ll be heading to Melbourne for a day trip tomorrow with the main intention being a visit to the new Readings bookstore at the State Library. I won’t be coming away empty handed and thus something will be finding its way into the book bag for the trip.

Thank you for reading and any feedback or encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

Quote: Andrea Goldsmith, foreword to The Bee Hut- Dorothy Porter. Black Inc, 2009

Image: Sunset at Kilcunda. Victoria