It's been two weeks since I posted! Shame on me. But I have to confess that winter has got the better of all my good intentions. On such chilly nights as we have been experiencing lately in Canberra, it's much more appealing to snuggle under the covers with a good book than it is to sit in the coldest part of the house staring at the laptop screen and wondering what to write. And blogging has been even less tempting when I know I could be in bed with a small boy snoring beside me (well, it's more like gentle snorts really) and heating the bed like a furnace. Tonight, at 9 pm, it's already icy and Mr M is in bed in his summer Buzz Lightyear pjs. Can you believe it? I even heard myself saying in my most 'motherly' voice: "If you must wear summer pjs, don't let me hear you complain about freezing."
I have, though, enjoyed a couple of really good books in my absence. I read Murray Bail's new novel, The Pages, which is a terrific, although somewhat slim, book. It doesn't matter that it's a slim book but I so wanted it to keep going for just a little bit longer. I have such fond memories of reading his previous novel Eucalyptus, that it doesn't feel like 10 years since it was released. In that book, I think he created a modern Australian fable. Reading The Pages I was alert to every single reference to eucalypts - and there were quite a few - while being thoroughly absorbed in the story of wanna be philosopher Wesley Antill. I enjoyed Bail's digs at psychotherapy. For a slim book, this is enormously wide-ranging, both in its geography, its timespan, and its ideas. When I reached the end, I felt I had only just begun to get my head around all the ideas Bail is exploring.
A less intellectually demanding but no less engaging book was The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones. I gave this to Alice at Christmas having been intrigued by reading the first couple of pages in a bookshop. The Australian edition is also very pretty to look at. What a great read it turned out to be. A bit of romance, a bit of intrigue, a lot of China and brimming with the most amazing food. Now I am inspired to try Eight Treasure Dongpo Pork or perhaps Beggar's Chicken should I ever find them on a restaurant menu. I romped through through the book over the space of a few days, reading late into the night and early in the morning only to reach the end too soon. Ah well, I have ordered Mones' two earlier books from the local library so I can satsify my craving. But although both are set in China, I don't think either is about food.
