Prue:
‘Remembering Aboriginal Heroes’ by John Ramsland and Christopher Mooney documents the biographies of nine aboriginal people. They are artists, actors, poets, ministers, soldiers, singers, activists and sportsmen of the early 20th century who struggled against the “stolen generation”, children’s homes, racism and discrimination. By succeeding in the Australian society of their time, they set footprints for their people to follow.
A hard truth telling collection of people’s lives written in a very academic way, showing their successes and failures as they lived their lives.
Kris:
Set against Argentina’s turbulent years following the collapse of the corrupt Peronist regime, ‘The Penguin Lessons’ by Tom Michell is the story of Juan Salvador the penguin. He had been rescued by English school teacher, Tom Michell from an oil slick in Uruguay just days before the new term. He becomes an instant celebrity at school, winning the hearts of students and staff.
The story is heartwarming, very amusing and written in a style that is easy to read.
Jo:
Lynda La Plante is not only a successful writer of over 40 novels but also trained at drama school, becoming a television star and tells her life story in ‘Geeting Away with Murder’.
She also wrote and produced many television plays and series.
In the 1980’s she was trailblazer for female authors and other transgender people.
A book to make you laugh, cry and be inspired to live your own life.
Theresa:
It took a long time for the Wiggles to achieve the success and status they now enjoy, and it was not an easy road. Their story is told by Anthony Field with Greg Truman in ‘Out of the Blue: Everything this Wiggle Journey has taught me.’
Starting with their childhood, the creation of their first band, and studies in early childhood education, all these led to the beginning of the Wiggles. Over the years they have experienced incredible successes, unexpected failures and exciting reinventions. He speaks honestly about struggles with chronic pain and depression, and discusses the glory and challenges of his unique fame.
A fascinating read.
Pat:
The notes written by her mother Margaret were the basis of Malta A Childhood Under Siege by Linda Peek.
Margaret Staples and her 4 siblings were living an idyllic life in Malta where her father had been transferred from England. All this changed when the Second World War broke out.
The story of their survival reminded Pat of those told to her by her mother, who also grew up in Malta.
The book covers a very important and human part of Malta’s history.
Kerrie:
‘Madeleine- A Life of Madeleine St John’ by Helen Trinca
Madeleine was the first Australian woman nominated for the Booker prize but is better known for her book ‘Ladies in Black’ which tells the story of migrant women and women at that time.
But her personal life was anything but happy, her mother suicided when she was twelve, she had a difficult relationship with her father but her talents for writing and film making took her to the USA and eventually UK.
She lived a huge, small life, stylish, with good friends but cruel and fascinating to others.
Kellie:
Listening to Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ gave her a new insight to her upbringing in Chicago, meeting her husband Barak and more idea of her life in politics. She tried to give their two girls as normal a life as possible and really promoted the value of education for girls world-wide.
She was a very interesting narrator.
Rosemary:
Hannah Kent’s autobiography ‘Always Home, Always Homesick’ tells of her visit to Iceland as a 17-year-old Rotary exchange student. Just wanting an adventure, she certainly had that in a country whose culture is bizarre, it’s very cold, she lived on a farm and couldn’t speak the language.
The book gives an amazing insight to the culture of Iceland from the perspective of a young girl and certainly was the inspiration for her first book.
Joan:
‘The Man Who Left Too Soon – The Biography of Stieg Larsson’ by Barry Forshaw tells the story of this Swedish journalist and his worldwide success with his ‘MILLENNIUM TRILOGY’ of crime detective novels.
In 2001 he began writing fiction to make some money and originally had planned to produce 10 books but only 3 were published before his early death at age 50.
An absorbing read.
Judy A:
Maurice and Maralyn were an excentric couple, who when bored with suburban life decided to sail from New Zealand.
The journey is described in Maurice and Maralyn: An Extraordinary True Story of Love, Shipwreck and Survival by Sophie Elmhirst.
They’d been sailing for 9 months when an injured sperm whale breeches under their boat.
They float for 117 days before they are miraculously rescued, and their lives are never the same again. A truly amazing story.
Bev:
Bryce Courtney’s second wife Christine tells the life story of her husband from his early days in South Africa until becoming one of Australia’s most popular writers. ‘Storyteller’ by Christine Coutney is a very personal account of their lives. From Bev’s perspective there seemed to be too much emphasis on Christine’s life with little mention of his 2 sons.
Tam:
‘From here to the Great Unknown’ is a memoir by Lisa Presley written with her daughter, Riley Keough.Presley had asked Keough to assist her with the writing shortly before her death.
It gave a great insight into life inside Graceland and how a normal life was not possible.
Rosemary:
Richard Scolyer was one of the world’s leading melanoma pathologists and in ‘Brainstorm ‘he tells the story of how he unexpectedly became both doctor and patient after being diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, the deadliest form of brain cancer.
Just months before his diagnosis Scolyer and colleague Professor Georgina Long had been awarded the title of Australian of the Year (2024) for their work with melanoma patients.
It’s a deeply moving and human story of family, hope and what it means to fight for life while contributing to knowledge that one day may save others.
Judy J:
‘Unstoppable My Life So Far’ written by Maria Sharipova tells the journey of picking up a tennis racquet at 4, and 3 years later she and her father headed for Florida, the centre of tennis in USA in the 90s.
By the time she was 11 she had a sponsorship with Nike, turned professional at 14 and went on to have career which included 5 grand Slams and many months ranked number 1 in the world.
It’s an amazing story of her dedication, determination and hard work from which she has amassed a fortune from her winnings and endorsements, for which you must admire her .
Lyn:
When people think of Hedy Lamar they usual refer to the beautiful movie star that she was.
But ‘Hedy Lamar – The Most beautiful Woman in the World’ by Ruth Barton tells a more interesting story.
She was an inventor, taking out a patent in Spectron Technology. She emigrated to America and became very involved in the war efforts, selling war bonds and entertaining the troops.
Unfortunately her personal life was not always a happy one and included many failed marriages.
Judy De la T:
Yiyun Li in ‘Things in Nature Merely Grow, considers the loss of her son James who suicided at nineteen.
‘Raising Ryland - our story of parenting a transgender child with no strings attached’ by Hillary Whitington. After discovering her son was both deaf and transgender, Hillary began dedicating her efforts to raising awareness about the transgender community.
Pamela:
The book she read was Ellen Clacy ‘A Lady’s Visit to the Gold Diggings in 1852-3’.This is a woman’s perspective of life in the Australian Gold Rush, in the form of a journal. You might think that the 20-year-old daughter of a clergyman who accompanied her brother smiled sweetly as they toured. They, in fact, walked with a small group and a dray from Melbourne where a log was needed to get across wet roads. Ellen was a sensible, clever and educated woman.
Val:
Val read ‘Confessions of a Bookseller’ by Shaun Bythell, an entertaining memoir.
Ed:
Ed read Dr Andrew Browning’s memoir ‘A Doctor in Africa’. He wrote the book in 2021, and it is the story of his life that he spent in Africa for nearly 20 years.
It is an inspiring story of his selfless life, working in remote, harsh and vastly under-resourced regions and very moving stories of the women whose lives he has transformed forever through fistula surgery and access to free maternal healthcare.
It was a lovely story but heart breaking at times.
OCTOBER BOOK CLUB: Women’s Prize-Winning Books.
Books that have won the Stella Prize, The Carol Shield Prize or the Women’s prize for Fiction
