Making Nature by Peter Timms

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Genre - Non-Fiction


Take a walk with Peter Timms, or actually six walks, as he meanders off in six different directions from his charming little mudbrick house in Tallarook (where "things are occasionally crook", but more often wonderous; including magical encounters with wombats, with an echidna, with silence, or when closely observing his dog Max.

While walking with Timms through the bush, we are privy to his reflections on the environment, ecology, spirituality, history and on "seeing".

This last observation is prompted by strolling with a friend who has no visual sight, rather relying on some sixth sense.

I found this erudite story a delightful and thought-provoking read.

---- Reviewed by Clare, Guest

Mozart and the Whale by Jerry and Mary Newport

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Genre - Biography


Mozart and the Whale is an unusual love story told in alternating episodes by two people, Jerry and Mary, who have both been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Jerry, a mathematical genius, and Mary, a gifted composer, lead lives of misunderstanding and loneliness, however, on meeting each other, a sympathetic recognition draws them together.

They marry , but the continuing 'autistic' frustration and anger still lurking in each of them results in a separation. Jerry and Mary eventually re-marry and it is enlightening to hear the differing perspectives and feelings of these two unique individuals.

Aspergers is now realized to be so common that it is no longer considered an 'illness', but just part way along the spectrum between normal and autistic. This book, one of a raft of stories being written by and about people with Aspergers, elucidates the intricacies and quirkiness of a mind/brain affected by this condition.

---- Reviewed by Clare, Mooroolbark library

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

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Genre - Nature writing


Annie Dillard's writing is not to everyone's taste. She is primarily a "nature" writer, however her works are rendered more seductive by her philosophical meanderings, including ethical dilemmas, and intriguing God-problems. For instance, she asks if God is perhaps downright malevolent.

Dillard's close observations of nature sometimes result in troubling thoughts. Nature is not all beauty.- It is , as she says, a "chomp-chomp world". However her great joy and wonderment at the Pilgrim Creek happenings enthuse the reader.

"Pilgrim" is a book in which, according to your proclivity, nothing happens, or a great deal happens.

I found it quite inspiring and have since been searching out creeks and ponds and looking with a more observant eye.

---- Reviewed by Clare, Mooroolbark library

Sappho's Leap by Erica Jong

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Genre - history


This is a book to be read on a hot sunny day in the shade of an olive grove, or failing that, a sacred ti-tree grove, while eating pomegranates and sipping wine, near the sea, (where you may even see Aphrodite rising from the foamy waves).
Jong has researched the few available facts that have been recorded about Sappho the poetess, and woven an adventurous historical tale, combining Greek mythology, poetry , fact and fable in an imaginative easy read.

Sappho flourished in Lesbos circa 600BCE and was a contemporary of Aesop, Heraclitus and Nebuchadnezzer .

Sappho was a fiesty, intelligent and passionate woman. Jong has used the remaining fragments of her poems and songs to take us on an absorbing journey through Sappho's loves, fame, political intrigues and tragedies, while incorporating the rich and complex culture of archaic Greece.

---- Reviewed by Clare, Mooroolbark library