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Book Reviews
There are reviews in the archives.
We plan to run at least one book review each month. With the rare exception, all books are available at the Oberon Library.
 | Book review - "Seven Brief Lessons On Physics" by Carlo Rovelli This wonderfully short book (83 pages) explains many of the mysteries of the universe in language that can be understood by someone with no training in physics or mathematics. Written by an expert and there are no equations! You can read it in an afternoon, and that would be an afternoon well spent. |
Book review - "Republic Of Lies" by Anna Merlan There has been a bit of conspiracy theorising around town recently, so a book about this phenomenon could be useful. |  |
 | Book Review - "Living Treasures of Oberon" by Mick Joffe See more about the book here |
Book Review - "Humanity's Moment - A climate scientist's case for hope" A real scientist who actually knows what she is talking about presents arguments showing that the climate is changing and not for the better. This is a disturbing and depressing book, because it is written by an expert in climate science. It should be disturbing, though, to anyone who cares about the future of the planet and isn't prepared to reject science. There's also a short review of a climate change denial book, just for balance. |  |
 | Book Review - "From the pens of the Oberon Writers' Workshop" Everyone seems to want to become a writer but it can be a lonely trade, sitting at home producing words and hoping that someone somewhere will read them. In 2019 the members of the Oberon Writers' Workshop decided that the best way to get their work in front of readers was to collect a selection of works and publish an anthology. The anthology includes works by ten past and present members of the group, plus four invited authors. |
Book Review - "Deep Listening to Nature" by Andrew Skeoch You might expect a book about birds to have lots of photos, but this isn't a book about what birds look like, it's about what they sound like. The only picture of a bird is the one on the cover, the Southern Scrub-robin ... |  |
 | Book review - "Rhyme and Reason" by Susan Ackroyd We all grew up with nursery rhymes, those cheerful little ditties that our mothers said or sang to us to get us to go to sleep. But what do these short poems mean and where did they come from? This book, subtitled "English history through nursery rhymes", answers some of those questions. It's the result of a lot of research into the last few hundred years of English history and produces a few surprises that suggest that hidden meanings could require some sensitive explanation if the young recipients start asking too many questions. |
Book Review
- "Material World" by Ed Conway There are six substances that underpin our modern society - sand, salt, iron, copper, oil and lithium - and which will be vital in the future, but as well as being essential they also pose problems of sustainability. Three years of research went into the writing of this book and it contains valuable lessons about where we came from and where we might be going in the future. |  |
 | Book review: "Ladies' Rest and Writing Room" This slim novella (just over 120 pages) tells the story of two women who had been at school together and who meet up again as adults in totally different life circumstances - one as a socialite from a wealthy family, the other a shop attendant at the Farmer's department store. Daisy Bluebrook comes to the Ladies' Rest and Writing Room in the store to write undeliverable letters to her lover who didn't return from the First World War; Clarinda Littlemore is the shop assistant who tends to the needs of the ladies who use the room. |
Book review - Sunburnt Country: The History and Future of Climate Change in Australia There has been a lot of discussion and controversy around Oberon lately concerning renewable energy. While there are legitimate concerns about the location and effect of renewable energy projects, in many cases the objectors seem to be working from a basis of climate change denial to deny any need for new sources of energy. "If we don't need it, we don't need it." This book is by an expert in the field of climate, and is definitely worth a read. |  |
 | Book Review - "No Less The Devil" by Stuart McBride Scotland has been a fertile ground for crime fiction for many years, with the TV series "Taggart" created by Glenn Chandler set in Glasgow, Ian Rankin's "Rebus" novels from Edinburgh, also a long running TV series, a bit further north for Anne Cleeves' novels about police life in the Shetland islands. Stuart MacBride joins this group with books set in Aberdeen and other cities. This recent book makes a break with the McRae character with a different location and new characters… |
Book review - The Purple Copper's Secret The Purple Copper butterfly is almost an Oberon Local. This book is notable for two reasons. The first is that it is actually three books in one, because each page has text suitable for very young children, people with a little more education, and an explanation for adults. Each of these pages is accompanied by artwork by the author to illustrate the text. The second reason is that the book tells they story of the amazing symbiotic relationship between a single species of ants (Anonychomyrma itinerans), a single plant and the butterflies.… |  |
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