See what I'm reading

I aim to read 150 books a year, so am always looking for recommendations!

Find me on StoryGraph

Check out my bookstagram

Toxic: The Rotting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry, by Richard Flanagan

A blistering exposé of Tasmania’s salmon farming industry, Toxic unveils the hidden environmental cost behind the industry’s glossy facade.

Flanagan argues that the Tasmanian salmon industry is responsible for a huge amount of ecological destruction, from polluting waterways to putting unique marine life at risk of extinction. Flanagan critiques the Tasmanian government’s unwillingness to challenge corporate profit, even as evidence mounts of the industry’s inefficiency and environmental destruction.

To Flanagan, this issue is personal. His initial observations of the environment's 'slow destruction' occurred at his family's shack on Bruny Island, where he witnessed the decline of marine life first-hand.

Much of Flanagan's argument relies on this concept of collective ownership of Tasmania's land and waters. He argues that Tassal + its compatriots owe it to the Tasmanian people to protect—or at least stop damaging—the natural environment.

There is some irony here, given that Flanagan's family's ownership of a parcel of Bruny Island was necessarily predicated on a violent and genocidal colonial campaign that sought to remove the Traditional Owners, whose culture advocates for protecting land and waters from individual greed.

That being said, I don't think it negates the harm being done by the salmon industry, nor the truth of the need to look after and care for our planet. Just another example of the long arm of colonisation and its impacts.

It is disheartening to read of yet another instance of profit taking priority over people and planet. This is a powerful book that has no doubt changed many people's minds about what kind of salmon (if any) they consume. Let's hope it is able to lead to more concrete and wide-scale change.

#auslit #ozlit #bookstagram #bookreviews #nonfic #nonfiction

February’s reading wrap up 💚

Fiction (not much this month!)
📚 Scenes of a Graphic Nature, Caroline O’Donoghue
📚 Special Delivery (Leesa Ronald)

Nonfiction
📚 Drop Bear, Evelyn Araluen
📚 The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, Lucia Osborne-Crowley
📚 A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy, Sue Klebold
📚 You’re Gonna Die Alone (and Other Excellent News), Devrie Brynn Donalson
📚 Consent Laid Bare, Chanel Contos
📚 The Believer, Sarah Krasnostein
📚 Strong Female Character, Fern Brady
📚 The Season, Helen Garner
📚 Long Yarn Short, Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts
📚 Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America, Beth Macy

'The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell' by Lucia Osborne-Crowley.

Every day of Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial, @luciaoc braved freezing temperatures for hours—sometimes overnight—to secure one of just four coveted courtroom seats.

Most days, she secured her spot by lining up from midnight and standing out in the freezing cold until the court opened the next morning.

Osborne-Crowley delivers a committed, clear-eyed analysis of the trial. She puts the victims of Maxwell and Epstein at the centre of the story, where they belong.

Osborne-Crowley is probably the best person to write this story. Her background as a journalist, legal reporter, and victim of grooming and sexual assault leads to a compassionate understanding of the victims' stories, which we are all better for.

Most poignantly for me, is the way that Osborne-Crowley shows that some of the things that are perceived to make victims' testimonies less reliable, like gaps in memory, are actually the 'truest part'—further evidence of the abuse and indicators of the trauma's lasting harm.

This is a tough read, given its sensitive topic. However, if you feel up for it, I would highly recommend it. Similarly, Osborne-Crowley's previous two books, 'I Choose Elena' and 'My Body Keeps Your Secrets,' are both well worth the read.

‘Less’, Andrew Sean Greer

Who says you can’t run away from your problems?

Arthur Less is a failed novelist about to turn fifty when he receives an invitation to his ex-boyfriend’s wedding. He can’t say yes – it would be too awkward; he can’t say no – it would look like defeat. So, he begins to accept the invitations on his desk to half-baked literary events around the world. Anything to take him away from his ex’s wedding.

ID: a pale hand holding up the book ‘Less’ against a white wall.

January reads 📖
💛 Born Again Blackfella, Jack Charles—A memoir about Charles’s experience as a member of the Stolen Generation.

👔 Less, Arthur Sean Greer—Writer Arthur Less embarks on a literary trip around the world to numb the pain of his ex-boyfriend’s wedding.

✋ The Psychic Tests, Gary Nunn—An investigation into the industry of psychics and mediums from the perspective of a sceptic and with the open-mindedness of a believer.

🦚 Post Traumatic Church Syndrome, Reba Riley—Riley embarks on a spiritual quest after her 29th birthday to experience 30 religions before her 30th birthday to heal the religious trauma caused by her evangelical Christian upbringing.

🦗 Bitch: A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal, Lucy Cooke—A look at how sexist assumptions and blinkered research have tainted the field of evolutionary biology. From murderous meerkat matriarchs to same-sex albatross parents and sex-switching fish, Cooke reveals a new evolutionary biology that throws out the androcentrism of the past.

🌈 Growing Up Queer in Australia, Ed. by Benjamin Law—Stories from LGBTQIA+ Australians.

🎣 Toxic, Richard Flanagan—A searing exposé into the corruption and damage wrought by Tasmania’s salmon industry.

🦼Growing Up Disabled in Australia Ed. by Carly Findlay—Anthology collection of writing from Australians with a range of disabilities and chronic illnesses.

💡Light Switches are my Kryptonite, Crystal Jeans—A tender but raw account of a week in the life of a young man living with OCD, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and compulsions.

⚡️ The Electricity of Every Living Thing, Katherine May—A memoir of walking and grappling with an adult diagnosis of Autism.

🧠 Brainstorm, Prof. Richard Scolyer—Richard Scolyer is famous for his groundbreaking research at the Melanoma Institute. In 2023, he was diagnosed with brain cancer, on which he chose to undertake world-first experimental treatment based on melanoma science to advance scientific understanding and ultimately help save the lives of others.

🔪 Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, Benjamin Stevenson—A funny, semi-satirical take on the murder mystery whodunnit with a really strong voice.

.pro-gallery-wix-wrapper {display: block !important;} .pro-gallery-wix-wrapper .gallery-item-container {opacity: 1 !important; display: block !important;}

@kristins_reads

a-pile-of-books-2022-01-28-19-51-37-utc (1) (1) (1).jpg

Contact me

I'm always looking for books to add to my ever growing (and out of control) TBR list!

bottom of page

See what I'm reading

​

Contact me