Member: thewordygecko

CollectionsYour library (6,044), Currently reading (4), All collections (6,044)

Reviews21 reviews

Tagsfiction (75), novel (65), UQ Alumni Book Fair 2009 (53), Australia (48), Lifeline Bookfest 2012 (36), literature (26), memoir (20), poetry (18), autobiography (18), history (17) — see all tags

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About meWriter living in The Gap, Brisbane, with her partner, Craig. Jack the Big Cat died in February 2012, a fondly remembered scallywag.

About my libraryWide range: lots of books on mental illness and psychology, literature and writing (not so much 'how-to' as 'why' and 'what'), politics, animal rights, feminism, autobiographies and biographies and memoirs. Fiction is mixture of classic and contemporary, if I can put it like that: more Jackie Kay than Jackie Collins, Bill Shakespeare than Bob Barrett. We're not science fiction or fantasy readers, and there's not much crime and no horror (don't mind a good crime novel, hate horror I'm afraid as it gives me nightmares for days). Mind you, there's a fair bit of crime and horror in King Lear...

Favourite bookshops in our town are Avid Reader at West End and Folio Books in the city for new stuff, and Bent Books (just a few steps up from Avid) and Archives Books in the city for second hand. A wonderful sense of community combined with an excellent selection of titles (plus DVDs) at Avid; Folio has beautiful big books on art and photography and history and architecture, as well as literature and psychology and lots of delicious things; Sean will always greet you at Bent, knows his shop inside out and has a great paperback novel selection (and more out the back); and Archives is a place to lose yourself for some hours (watch out for the overhead fans if you get up on a stool to investigate the many, many volumes out of reach).

Sadly, I think Charing Cross Books has gone, as the last time I drove past the shop, it was empty. I would guess, though, that the owner may be still selling rare and interesting books, somewhere, to his regular customers.

Groups1001 Books to read before you die, Art is Life, Australian LibraryThingers, BBC Radio 3 Listeners, Biographies, Memoirs and Autobiographies, Book reviewers, Bug Collectors, Favorite Bookstores, Legacy Libraries, Loitering with Intent —show all groups, Lovers of NZ Literature, Pynchon Pandæmonium, ReadaThing, Virago Modern Classics, Vissi d'Arte: Lorrie Moore fans unite!, Writer-readers

Favorite authorsMargaret Atwood, Yvonne Audette, Jane Austen, John Berger, Charlotte Brontë, Don DeLillo, William Faulkner, Janet Frame, Liz Hall-Downs, Barbara Hanrahan, Henry James, Doris Lessing, Lorrie Moore, Toni Morrison, Ffion Murphy, Flannery O'Connor, Caryl Phillips, Carol Shields, Lesley Singh, Colm Tóibín, Patrick White (Shared favorites)

VenuesFavorites

Favorite bookstoresAmerican Bookstore, Archives Fine Books, Avid Reader Bookshop, Bent Books, Black Cat Books & Cafe Paddington (formerly Mary Ryan's), Coaldrakes Bookshop, Folio Books, Riverbend Books, The Book Bank

Other favoritesUniversity of Queensland Alumni Book Fair, Lifeline Bookfest

Homepagehttp://thewordygecko.wordpress.com

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Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

Real nameSue

LocationAustralia

Account typepublic, lifetime

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/thewordygecko (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/thewordygecko (library)

Member sinceNov 3, 2005

Currently readingReading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives, Second Edition by Sidonie Smith
Autoethnography as Method (Developing Qualitative Inquiry) by Heewon V. Chang
Why Not Say What Happened?: A Memoir by Ivana Lowell
Lives by Peter Robb