Anne Skyvington
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Anne Skyvington

The Craft of Writing

  • Writing
    • Craft
      • Structuring a Short Story
      • Alternative Narrative Approaches
      • Genre in Writing
      • A Grain of Folly
        • Novel Writing
          • The Sea Voyage: a metaphor
          • How I Created My Debut Novel
          • What I learnt from writing a novel…
          • Short Story
            • At the Swimming Pool
            • The Night of the Barricades
          • Poetry
            • a funny thing happened …
            • An ancient mystic: Rumi
            • A Window into Poetry
            • The Voice of T.S. Eliot
  • Publishing
    • A Change of Blog Title
    • 5 Further Publishing Facts
    • 5 Facts I Learnt About Self/Publishing
    • Highs and Lows of Self Publishing
    • A Perfect Pitch to a Publisher
    • A Useful Site for Readers and Indie Authors: Books 2 Read
  • Book Reviews
    • A Story of a Special Child
    • Discovering Karrana
    • A Young Adult Novel: My French Barrette
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • The Trouble With Flying: A Review
  • Mythos
    • Ancient Stories from Childhood
    • Births Deaths and Marriages
    • Duality or Onenness: The Moon
    • The Myth of Persephone and Demeter
    • Pandora’s Box
    • 7 ancient artefacts in the British Museum
    • Symbolism of Twins
    • Voices From the Past
  • Australia
    • A Country College Residence
    • A Kit Home Goes Up in Vacy
    • A Sydney Icon or Two
    • 5 things about Coogee
    • Moree and Insistent Voices
    • Things To Do in Sydney
  • Travel
    • A Bird’s Eye View
    • A Tuscan Village Holiday
    • Back to Cavtat in Croatia
    • Travel to Croatia
    • 5 or 6 Things About Valencia
  • Guest Post
    • a father’s tale … by Ian (Harry) Wells
    • A Guest Poem: “First Loves” by Roger Britton
    • A Love Sonnet by Ian Harry Wells
    • “Snakey” by Roger Britton
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • A Story of a Genteel Ghost told by Roger Britton
  • Psychology
    • Creativity and Mental Illness
    • Networking and Emotional Intelligence
    • C.G.Jung’s Active Imagination and the Dead
    • Psychology as a Field of Study
    • Western Influencers Down Through The Ages
  • Life Stories
    • Adriatic Romance … Rijeka to Titograd
    • Always something there to remind me…
    • A Well-Loved Pet
    • Candidly Yours…
    • Memoir Writing
    • River Girl: An Early Chapter of my Memoir in Progress
Tag

cloudstreet a much-loved book

globe-australia
Book ReviewsBooks

Best Australian Books 2012

It’s that time of the year again when people start talking about the best books read during the year. I recently attended the 2012 “Nib Prize” awarded by the Waverley Library at Bondi for the best book linked to research. There were six finalists, including one work of fiction, Kate Grenville’s Sarah Thornhill about white and black relations during the early days of the colony of New South Wales.

Another interesting finalist that might have won was The People Smuggler by Robin de Crespigny. It’s about the Iraqui, Ali Al Jenabi. He is looked on by many as “the Oskar Schindler of Asia”.

However the winner of the $28,000 was a relatively slim book about, of all things, the history of bookkeeping!

Double Entry by Jane Gleeson-White.

double-entry

It’s much more exciting than it sounds. It traces the birth of double entry accounting back to the fifteenth century in Venice and comes to some very interesting conclusions. One of these was about the high monetary cost of a McDonald’s hamburger in terms of the environment.

And then there was the final of the “First Tuesday Book Club survey ” on the ABC. The results of a survey of viewers’ favourite Aussie books were revealed.

It’s no surprise which book headed the list: Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet.  It’s about two eccentric but endearing families, the Lambs and the Pickles.  They share a large, run-down house on the west coast of Australia.

Two of my favourite reads these summer holidays has been The People Smuggler (Robin de Crespigny) and Unravelling Anne by Laural Saville, both memoirs.

Related articles

Ten Australian books to read before you die – First Tuesday Book Club (booktopia.com.au)

The Oskar Schindler of Asia? (abc.net.au)
Best Australian Books 2012 was last modified: July 13th, 2018 by Anne Skyvington
December 8, 2012 0 comment
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About The Author

About The Author

Anne Skyvington

Anne Skyvington is a writer based in Sydney who has been practising and teaching creative writing skills for many years. You can learn here about structuring a short story and how to go about creating a longer work, such as a novel or a memoir. Subscribe to this blog and receive a monthly newsletter on creative writing topics and events.

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  • The Night of the Barricades

    February 15, 2021
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About The Author

About The Author

Anne Skyvington is a Sydney-based writer and blogger. <a href="http://anneskyvington.com.au She has self-published a novel, 'Karrana' and is currently writing a creative memoir based on her life and childhood with a spiritual/mystical dimension.

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