Dim's Write Stuff

I often take a ridiculously long time to get around reading something I feel is going to be good. Rather like leaving the roast potatoes (my favourite part) to the very end of a roast dinner. Then suddenly a book will call to me, wanting to be read. I believe this way invites a more organic reading experience. And what a book at such a time! Lizzie and Margaret Rose is a gripping middle grade novel by accomplished historic children's author, Pamela Rushby set in the early years of World War II. Rushby wastes no words on superlative mundane description rather chisels her supremely defined characters from the world in which they exist. From the shrapnel strewn streets of London to the balmy coastal suburbs of Townsville, Rushby's talent for honing emotion from action allows readers to engage head on with ten-year-old Margaret Rose and her eleven-year-old Australian cousin, at least this reader did in a way that required the occasional swiping away of tears. When Margaret R...

A few dozen moons ago, this little black duck backpacked around Europe and the Middle East. It was the era of reverse-charges communications, before the advent of free Wi-Fi or even the Internet for that matter. The sensation of roaming freely through unknown countries and soaking up new cultures with nothing more than a well-thumbed travel guide, three pairs of gaily coloured socks and the budget of a nine-year-old was inexplicably fulfilling. Our packs contained our whole existence yet the horizon possessed everything else we really needed – or wanted. I suspect author, film-maker, adventurer extraordinaire, Tim Cope’s feelings about his incredible expeditions replicate those I had some 26 years ago – only, a thousandfold. Fast forward 12 or so years and I find myself watching this remarkable young man on the tellie, forging through extreme weather conditions on horseback across the impossibly remote Eurasian Steppes. His aim: to travel 10,000 kilometres from Mongolia to the ...

If you want that eat-all-the-icecream-you-want-super-satisfied feeling, read this exceedingly grand book. Chock-a-block filled with joie de vivre, llamas and teeny tiny dogs, this is a rollicking tale of following your heart's desire, grabbing opportunity by the horns and pure exuberant fun. Look between the witty one-liners and fabulously named rooms of the Grandest Hotel on Earth, though and you'll find a story imbued with heart promoting the courage to dream. Vincent is ordinary and often overlooked until the day not-so-ordinary, Florence Wainwright-Cunningham III invites him to her family's hotel establishment high in the Mabombo Ranges. Armed with nothing but his toothbrush and his grandfather's fantastical shoe-cleaning box, Vincent embarks on a journey of marvellous discovery. Although miles out of his comfort zone, Vincent soon adapts to the grandeur and unbelievable improbabilities the Hotel presents. He learns to love the art of shoe shining and repai...

I absolutely love getting inside the head of canines and living their stories and Cameron provides the conduit to do so with consummate grace, humour and palpable realness. How a dog thinks, reacts and feels is delivered so well that if this is not really how dogs behave, then it ought to be. That they should find us such a bewildering mix of befuddlement and wonderment is hilarious as well as far-reaching. A Dog’s Journey is the second in a duo of doggie / man friendship stories, and will require something to mop your eyes with for it is no less of a heart tug than its predecessor, A Dog’s Purpose . Our endearing canine character again bounds his and her way through a handful of different dog lives somehow miraculously always reconnecting with the person he needs to most, his girl - Clarity. It's a simultaneously heart wrenching and uplifting story about a troubled teen and her relationship with her narcissist, self-indulgent mother that somehow manages to end gently d...