Mundane Chapters

Patting the Shark, Tim Baker | Book 84, June 2025 I picked up  Patting the Shark  by Tim Baker because I’m in the middle of making my own lifestyle changes and wanted to learn from someone who has faced immense challenges head-on. Tim’s career as a surf writer and journalist is extraordinary. I imagine it comes with its fair share of high stress too. This book has been on my radar for a while now. I keep starting it and putting it down, but with it due back to the library on Wednesday (and a jam-packed week ahead), I finally carved out time this weekend to read. Between a two-day course (Monday–Tuesday), working nearly 20 hours across those days (not including travel), and my son’s interschool carnival on Monday, my reading capacity is definitely limited. And let’s not forget it’s the final week before the school holidays (thankfully!). The book’s subtitle,  A surfer’s journey to living well with cancer  immediately drew me in. I’m looking for ways to make healthier ...

Milkshakes for Marleigh, Kate Fisher | Book 69, June 2025 Mum (aka Zebra) and I went on a little weekday date to visit Kate at Dymocks Hay Street for the  Milkshakes for Marleigh  book signing. We’ve made a habit of turning adventures into something more—like the time, back in maybe 2023, we took a selfie with the life-sized zebra in the furniture shop window in what is now Beaufort Street Books. Coffee followed, as it always does. Zebra—my preferred name for Mum on anything to do with the kids—is a retired aged care worker and Assistant in Nursing (AIN), most recently working in the ICU at Midland. So when I said,  “Mum, we must go—it’s a pink zebra, blood donations, a bookstore, and coffee at Dome after” , she was on board immediately. (Side note: Dome Hay Street is closed.) The last book signing I attended at Dymocks Hay Street was Julia Gillard’s. The line stretched up the street. I’m fairly sure the store was still family-run then. Crazy coincidence—while Mum and I w...

Painting Portraits of Everyone I’ve Ever Dated, Joseph Earp | Book 66, June 2025 “The easiest way to speak without actually having to say anything.” The long weekend—and that sneaky mid-week public holiday—threw me off completely. The school’s pre-set sirens rang out across the day, and for a moment, I was convinced I should be at work. Outside, it was wet and cold. I’d planned to take the kids down to the port to photograph a shipping container docking, but honestly, the motivation wasn’t there. Instead, we stayed in. We tackled a paint-by-numbers I picked up in Claremont earlier in the week, and I managed to bring in the washing just before the rain returned—small domestic victories. Later, Snapfish reminded me to “buy something or we’ll delete your photos.” So I went digging through old uploads. There were shots from a night out in my twenties, blurry with flash and joy; a surfing lesson I once booked a week off work for; the last gig my late cousin’s band ever played; and a night w...