Book Review
Following an Eastern Star to The Wilder Shores of Love
The Wilder Shores of Love is a terrific tale about four women who were summoned by the eastern star. It is the exotic true-life stories of some of the key women in history Isabel Burton, Aimee Dubucq de Rivery, Jane Digby, and Isabelle Eberhardt. They all took great risks, whether their choice or not, and ended up either pursuing their passion for romance, or making the best of it.
Cherishing Wisdom – Treasures of the Bodleian and Humankind
The Bodleian Libraries at Oxford are safeguarding and showcasing outstanding texts and ephemera so we can all enjoy the benefits of 21st century enlightenment
Monet’s Passion – The Painter’s Garden by Elizabeth Murray
In the annals of garden history design Monet’s Passion by Elizabeth Murray is a worthy contribution to the conservation of creativity, the preservation of art, of nature, and a celebration of human achievement. Importantly, it is also a splendid tribute to the man, and the artist Claude Monet, whose life was so passionately devoted to the cultivation of beauty.
Abydos & Herculaneum – Helping Us to Understand Antiquity
Professor David O’Connor and Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill have spent a great deal of time excavating and conserving the sites of Abydos in Egypt and Herculaneum in Italy respectively. Both continue to yield spectacular discoveries invaluable to classical historians and the world at large.
Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs – Astrology and Humankind
Astrology, according to the dictionary, is a study of the positions and relationships of the sun, moon, stars and planets in order to judge their influence on human actions. Making a study of the sun and star signs for many is a hobby. But now and then there has been some really serious diviners out there. None more effective in my experience than America’s Linda Goodman 1925 – 1995 (real name Mary Alice Kemery) a former New York Times bestselling astrologer and poet.
For Everyone: Words and Paintings – Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox
For Everyone: Words and Paintings from Brisbane based artist Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox will be launched on February 23 at the Fireworks Gallery at Brisbane.
The Culture Concept Circle – You Tube Channel
On our You Tube Channel you will find our mini-documentaries, which provide an insight into the evolution of art, design, music, fashion and style.
Reading, TV and Music Choices for Festive Season 2011/2012
Riveting reading, considered DVD watching and beautiful music listening are all great can-do activities for the festive holiday season, as are long walks each day. This is the time of year we all need to recharge not only our body batteries, but also refresh our mind, spirit and soul.
Notebooks by Betty Churcher – My Favourite Book 2011
Having been an avid, voracious reader of all types of texts since I was a very small child today, in reality, it takes a lot to get me excited about a book. I have read many of the classics, lots of classic novels, masses of thriller fiction works and non-fiction works, including autobiographies, biographies, books [...]
The Cello – The Nature of Sound and an Art of Sophistication
Along with my passion for early music is an enjoyment and love of music written for the violencello. Often shortened to Cello. I would ride through storm and tempest to attend performances by Steven Isserlis and Peter Wispelway or the acclaimed 2Cellos, Croatian musicians Luke Sulic and Stjepan Hauser.
Alan Bennett Playwright – a Class Act like No Other
‘You are a rent boy. I am a poet. Over the wall lives the Dean of Christ Church. We all have our parts to play’ It seems to me that it is always a perfect time of year for an Alan Bennett celebration. England’s local hero highly acclaimed author and playwright Alan Bennett (1934 – [...]
Reading Aloud Rocks – Benefiting Children by Sharing the Joy
A book for everyone for Christmas is surely the way to go. And, if you read it aloud to children you can be sure that you are providing many benefits, including sharing the joy around.
Lord of the Flies – ‘Boys Own’ Manuscript On Show at Oxford
The Bodleian Libraries at Oxford are putting on show for the first time the original manuscript of the ‘boys own’ essential reading material Lord of the Flies. It is a human behaviour story par excellence about order and chaos, capture and torture, morality and immorality, being civilised and the dreadful consequences of completely uncivilised behaviour.
What Is: Noah’s Fludde, did it really happen?
Noah’s Flood ? According to investigative author Ian Wilson’s book Before the Flood, the answer is Yes, it really happened! As toddlers many of us thrilled to the story of Noah building an Ark to save his family and animals from a world Flood – only later to learn from our science teachers that within the time of humankind there has never been any universal Flood. (This despite many ancient cultures seeming to remember such an event in their folklore). So who might have dreamed that so early in our twenty-first century substantial elements to the Noah story would be discovered to be true after all? Or that the discoverer would be Dr. Robert Ballard, who brought us such spectacular images of Titanic more than seven decades after the vessel disappeared beneath the waters of the Atlantic?
Favourite Books – Andrea Palladio, The Architect in his Time
Professor Bruce Boucher’s scholarly and accessible work, Andrea Palladio, The Architect in his Time was first published in 1994 in a ‘user friendly version’…to fit comfortably into a suitcase or backpack for a quick trip to Vicenza, the scene of many of Palladio’s triumphant works in architecture. Don’t know about you but I have always [...]
In Trust for a Nation – A Jane Austen Treasure, The Watsons
The Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford has acquired at a Sotheby’s auction the last Jane Austen original manuscript, which has been in private hands
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