Summer leaves us bitter-sweet as the year turns on

Autumn afternoon, Lindisfarne Bay, Hobart

Re-homing books

I'm a little odd with books. Those that don't leave much of an impression get passed on to others quickly, but those I loved get held on to, even though I almost never re-read them (unless they're non-fiction or poetry, then they get referenced again and again). Eventually though, even some of the books I've loved get passed on. Very few books get held onto more-or-less permanently: the few I will re-read or refer to again, and my collection of Discworld novels (though I'm not sure who I'm collecting them for anymore, since kids seem out of the question, I still can't bring myself to let them go).

Usually I wait until I have the inkling that it's the right book for someone (which is how vaneramos ended up with my beloved copy of Death of a River Guide, which I now have the urge to replace), but at the moment I'm looking to move to a smaller place so it seems like a good opportunity to find some new homes for a few well-loved tomes (and a few "worthy" titles as well). Here are some books. If you'd like one, please let me know and I will send it to you.

• Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin - absolutely astounding auto-biography, recently made into a movie. Brilliant read
- to swirly_pie!

• Collapse by Jared Diamond - a hefty volume documenting "how societies choose to fail or survive" that I admit I never finished (as a scientist I get frustrated with Diamond's writing style - I understand the point already, please stop labouring it!). Signed by the author - to zhenzhi


• Growth Fetish by Clive Hamilton - a take on the problem with modern capitalism's obsession with continuous growth - to katmeow!


• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy - a heart-breaking story of one family's complex relationships


• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon - fantastically executed detective story that's actually about finding oneself, written convincingly in the voice of an aspergic teen.


• The Riders by Tim Winton - a tale of mystery, loss and family written in moving prose (my second-favourite Winton after Cloudstreet)

Send a book travelling and make many people happy. :)