Memoirs

I have just discovered the most amazing and friendly group on Facebook. We Love Memoirs is all about memoir writing and reading, obviously, but it seems to be so much more. I am already beginning to suspect this may be the group I have been looking for to lead me to good writing, offer encouragement and a place to make new friends. I am not even sure how I found them; I was looking at Goodreads and possibly I found a mention of the FB group in there. My year of reading is becoming exciting again.

I am really enjoying the book references in The End of Life Bookclub but as mentioned in my previous post I do find many of the books esoteric. I find the cancer journey of Americans so interesting, they seem to have so many specialists looking after different aspects of their health, unlike here where most people have an oncologist and their own general practitioner.

The downing of MH017 has devastated so many families - a whole family from Melbourne wiped off the face of the earth, a couple who have lost their three children being taken home to Western Australia by their grandfather, I cannot imagine the depths of their anguish and grief. The behaviour of the Ukranian separatists is appalling; bodies need to be retrieved and returned to loved ones as quickly as possible. It is heartbreaking. I have flown over the the Ukraine, Afghanistan, even parts of Pakistan - now I wonder what could have happened.

Last night I watched Philomena, a movie so unlike the book one wonders how Michael Sixsmith managed to give permission for the movie. When I saw it at the movies I left the theatre really angry and could never understand why. Now I think I know - Philomena's lifelong indoctrination by the Catholic church prevented her acknowledging the damage they had done to both her and Anthony. Also, I think it has stirred up levels of dissidence in me about the level of secrecy around adoption and the lifelong damage this does.

I have recently bought several new kindle books, I cant read fast enough to keep up - they include Fraud on the Court, another adoption story; the Happiness Project and Kayak Morning. I think it is time I purchased some more travel books to help me get the confidence to travel again. Places I have been beckon, as do new ones.

 
I would love to go here again, I took a friend's advice and only stayed in Venice for 3 days. Three weeks seems more realistic, one day maybe.


Warsaw was amazing, so many remnants of the soviet era make it interesting to the antipodean traveller. I would love to study there, possibly a pipe dream but time spent in Poland is time given to the soul.