Connie: A Star on her Door. The Life and Career of June Bronhill by Richard Davis
While Connie is generally not a fan of biographies, she chose this one because of her love of music and a personal connection with the subject.
But again she was disappointed, as after detailing Brownhills brilliant career, her later life was plagued by illness, money problems and a failing career before her death in 2005. This was not the way she wanted to remember her.
She wished she had read her autobiography.
Ed: Daring to Fly by Lisa Millar
Lisa Millar grew up in country Queensland and through her career as a journalist spent many years overseas as a foreign correspondent. Here she witnessed firsthand many tragedies and much human suffering. Her fear of flying was beginning to jeopardise her career and lifestyle until she found the strength and resistance to overcome it.
There is much more in this book, and it comes highly recommended.
Pat: Sam Bloom: Heartache & Birdsong by Bradley Trevor Greive, Cameron Bloom, Samantha Bloom
Sam and her husband live on the northern beaches of Sydney, living a lifestyle of surfing and travelling. On a trip to Thailand she was severely injured following the collapse of a balcony, ending up a paraplegic,
devasting for such an active person.
What Pat liked about the book was that Sam never coated her situation and was honest with her feelings and how hard everything was. But this didn’t stop her from returning to canoeing and surfing, representing Australia and winning world titles.
When one of her sons brings home an injured magpie, they name it Penguin. She looked after it and this relationship certainly helped with her recovery.
Pat described it as a lovely read with amazing photos taken by her photographer husband.
Judy A: Leaping into Waterfalls: the enigmatic Gillian Mears by Bernadette Brennan
The Australian writer Gillian Mears died by suicide aged 51 in 2016. She had been living with MS for 5 years. Her biography, written by Bernadette Brennan won this year’s National Biography Award.
Judy chose this biography for a couple of reasons. Her novel, Foal’s Bread is one of her very favourite books. After hearing her speak about her biography, she was keen to read more of her books. Also, Mears grew up in Grafton, going to the same High School as Judy and she enjoyed reading a book set in a place she was familiar with.
Judy J: Rogues: Trues Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe.
The author is an investigative journalist who writes mainly for magazines such as The New Yorker. These are previously published essays about people whose name we wouldn’t know although we may have heard of their crime.
One of these stories is titled The Avenger. David Dornstein was a young American living in Israel. His return flight to America was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
Although one Libyan man was charged over the bombing, his brother Ken spent the next 30 years trying to find and bring to justice others who were involved in the death of his brother. His dedication and his perseverance are outstanding.
Another story tells of Judy Clarke, a lawyer who defends only the ‘worst of the worst’. These are men whose crimes will lead to the death penalty.
Here she defends the younger of 2 brothers who left bombs near the finishing line of the Boston Marathon in 2013, killing 3 people and injuring 264 .She believes that people are not born evil and is a staunch advocate against the death penalty.
Julia: David Jason, My Life by David Jason
David has been a popular television personality for many years and appearing in many successful shows and series including Only Fools and Horses and Frost.
It’s a very amusing read with lots of great photos.
Rosemary: Speaking Tongues by Tom Tilly
Tom Tilly is a well-known and successful journalist, and his fascinating memoir tells of his early life growing up in Mudgee. His life revolved around football, his family, and the Pentecostal Church.
The close-knit community church was very restrictive leading to many conflicts and doubts in Tom’s mind. Foremost was the need to be able to ‘speak in tongues’.
He was torn between the life he had to live and the life he wanted to live.
A very interesting story said Rosemary.
Kris: Isabelle, The Life of Isabelle Eberhardt by Annette Kobak
An illustrated biography of Isabelle Eberhardt who, although she died young, became a legend in her own lifetime. Using her diaries and many previously unpublished letters, the author tells of her childhood in Geneva, her adventures in the North African desert and her identification with the Arabs. Although she died at the age of 27, she became known as “The Amazon of the Sahara”. Several books and a movie have been made of her very colourful life.
Pamela: Grimmish by Michael Winkler
This self-published and very strange book was short listed for the 2022 Miles Franklin Awards. Although unsuccessful, it has now been picked up a publisher and has become a cult favourite.
Joe Grim was an Italian /American boxer who came to Australia about 1908.
He didn’t win any fights but could absorb an incredible amount of pain, humiliating boxers because they couldn’t knock him out.
The book is partly non-fiction and partly meta fiction, the author breaking the tradition of fiction, for example, with a goat as the narrator. Sometimes it was difficult to know when fiction became the truth.
Pamela said it was not a depressing but quite funny. Joe Grim was a paid pain artist!
Val: Russian Roulette: The Life and Times of Graham Greene by Richard Greene
Val’s first comment was that she was struggling with the book but enjoying it. As Richard Greene (no relation) retells the story of Greene’s life, many scenarios and characters in his books can be identified.
As a manic depressive, Greene lived life on the edge and so deliberately put his life at risk, visiting countries at war and suffering from disease.
He knew so many influential people including politicians, royalty, actors and spies.
He was not a very nice man but had lived a fascinating life.
Joan: Boris Johnston: The Gambler by Tom Bower
Boris Johnson was born in New York where his father was a banker. His early life is well documented as are his marriages and career path until he becomes Prime Minister in 2019. While he is a very divisive and colourful character, the book is an excellent but long and fascinating read.
He was an overprivileged young man, but had a violent upbringing in his family.
Where will his career take him next?
Claurene: True Colours; My Life by Adam Gilchrist
Claurene loves biographies and is a great cricket fan, so this was an obvious book for her to choose.
She liked it because Gilchrist talks about his life beginning as a 10-year-old and he then documents his cricketing career, the different countries he played in and all the great players he played against and with.
He is also very honest with his opinion about many situations and characters.
600 pages of great reading.
Jo: The Barefoot Surgeon; The inspiring Story of Dr Sanduk Ruit by Ali Gripper
As a boy in lived in the mountains of Nepal, one of the poorest and most isolated countries in the world.
From the age of 7 he was away at boarding school and so had little to do with his family. His sister died when she was very young, so Sanduk decided he would become a doctor.
Not only did he do this, but studied further to become an ophthalmologist, working among the poor in his country. He has said he was inspired by Australia’s Fred Hollows.
A marvellous, beautiful story and very inspirational.
Next month’s author is Rudyard Kiplng
