PattyMacDotComma’s Comments (group member since May 18, 2015)

PattyMacDotComma’s comments from the Aussie Readers group.

Has there been a discussion about this that I've missed? I just noticed that a bunch of my books are showing as not having READ dates. Some are showing they've been read twice, with dates only for the so-called first reading and the second one blank.

I was sorting a list by Date Read, and found these mismarked ones. I don't think I want to go through them all right now!

Anybody else noticed anything?

Happy Birthday Week, Veronica! Hope the actual day was a good one. 🎁🥳🎂🥂

Ted Chiang writes science fiction short stories and also writes nonfiction articles about AI for The New Yorker. His Story Of Your Life combines aliens, science, and family relationships - unusual and moving.

My review of Story of Your Life with a link to the story online and also to the film Arrival which was made from it.

The General Hospital is #3 in the Menzies Mental Health series about a fictional hospital, written by Aussies Anne Buist, a mental health psychiatrist, and her husband, author Graeme Simsion, best known for his popular books about The Rosie Project, which was delightful.

It didn't matter that I hadn't read the first two hospital books - they made it easy to pick up the connections.
My review of The General Hospital

I just read Anna Quindlen's latest novel, More Than Enough, which I'm sure her many fans will love. Me? Not so much, but I realise I am the outlier here.
My review of More Than Enough

If you've ever wanted to be a fly-on-the wall in a psychiatrist's practice, this selection of some of his cases, Love's Labor: How We Break and Make the Bonds of Love by Stephen Grosz, is for you. I have to say I felt a little nosy.
My review of Love's Labor

I hope tomorrow puts on a nice happy birthday for you, Angela! 🥳🎈🎁🎂

Kylie - hope you had a lovely celebration for your birthday! Sorry I missed it!

Another favourite Aussie author, Garry Disher, recently released Mischance Creek, the fifth in the excellent Hirsch series. Senior Constable Paul Hirschhausen IS the police force in a small outback town, with duties from facing killers to playing Santa at Christmas.
My review of Mischance Creek

This is not a romance novel. Trent Dalton is an acclaimed, empathetic Aussie author who warms to people and vice-versa. He took an old typewriter he inherited and set himself up on a Brisbane street corner to ask passersby to share Love Stories about anyone or anything. Even the folks who have had it really rough could recall some instances of love and felt better for it. So did I. Great collection.
My review of Love Stories

Finished More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen - 179 pages

Started The Peak by Sam Guthrie (AA) - 68 pages

TOTAL - 247 pages

Sally906 wrote: "Just a heads up - there are problems with books - 3 of Amazon’s servers have been bombed in the Middle East and Amazon web page is having huge problems.

Because Goodreads is linked to Amazon ther..."

And here I was hoping to escape news of any wars for a little while. But really, this is just an FWP, (First World Problem) for me. I wonder how much redundancy is built into these enormous company “clouds”.

Kylie wrote: "Completed

Progress: 26/26 AA: 6/6

✔️A - Read a book set in Australia
(AA) Comp: 22/01/26. 4 stars.
✔️B - Read a book with books on the cover
[bookcover:The Forget-Me-N..."

Wow, Kylie!

Herman Melville (of Moby-Dick or, The Whale fame), wrote the story of Bartleby the Scrivener back in 1853, and I was surprised by how modern the description of this young man's personality seems, although the language is beautifully of its time.

It's so old it's well out of copyright and readily available everywhere.
My review of Bartleby the Scrivener

ALL READ

Forgot to post that I just squeaked in (if I use the US timeclock). I changed historical fiction to a black author for Black History Month, and finished it over brekky on the first of March.

Summer Challenge - Mini Bingo
Duration: 1/12/25 - 28/2/26
Level: EASY 10/10 2AA (5-6 AA)

#1 Across

✅a) On Bestseller list - The Unquiet Grave by Dervla McTiernan AA 2026-02-01 4★
✅b) Dog on cover - The Humans by Matt Haig 2026-01-24 4★
✅c) Male MC - Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer 2026-02-22 4★
✅d) Aussie author - Love Stories by Trent Dalton AA 2025-01-26
✅e) Suspense/Crime - Dark Desert Road by Tim Ayliffe AA 2026-01-08 3.5~4★


#4 Across
✅a) Set in AU - Mischance Creek by Garry Disher AA 2026-01-18 4.5~4★
✅b) Historical fiction - Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley 2026-03-01 (oops 😊)
✅c) Novella (over 125 pp) - The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald 2026-01-10 5★
✅d) Set in another country (several)- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab 2026-01-03 4.5~5★
✅e) Love that cover! - The General Hospital: A Menzies Mental Health Novel by Anne Buist & Graeme Simsion 2AA 2026-02-12 4★

I loved Penelope Fitzgerald's Booker Prize-nominated The Bookshop, about a woman who wants to open her own, but between the damp and mould in the old building she's bought and the similar rot in the local snobs, she seems doomed to failure.

This edition has a preface by her biographer, Hermione Lee and a great introduction by David Nicholls.
My review of The Bookshop with links to other material

Yes indeedy!

Happy birthday, Jasmine! 🥳🎈🎂🎁💐

Regarding the Friends List. I have only just noticed that I can't sort my Friends List at all to see Top Friends first.

I also can't find a way anymore to identify whose updates I want to see on my Home page. When I went to HELP, there are questions from a couple of years ago about this, but I'm sure I've rearranged things more recently.

My guess is that it is actually a GR change because they want us to follow each other, not befriend each other.

Anybody know anything?

Jeanette - happy your special day! Hope it's been good. 🎁🥳🎂🎈