Gold Coast Bookfest.

My daughter sent a text message asking if I wanted to go to the local Bookfest at the show grounds in Parklands. I don't usually go to those things, I have minimal self control when I'm around books. However, I gave in to temptation and went.

We went really early and there was a good crowd building as we left. There must have been twenty tables or more piled with books, but by the time I had done two tables, I had so many books I had to call it quits.  However, I did get one or two interesting books.

Over the past few years, studying for my BA and MA, I have had to read quite a bit of Australian literature. I have to say, it's a bit addictive. Unlike New Zealand, my home country, Australia has quite a rich legacy of early writings, and some of them are really good.

I'm not sure if you could call this 'literature', but I found Dame Edna's Bedside Companion. Printed by Corgi Books in 1982, it is pretty old fashioned in many ways, but still holds a few gems that housewives can learn from. One that really appealed was, 'No one ever died of sleeping in an unmade bed'. So if you are one of the un-fastidious housewives who doesn't get the bed made every day, don't worry, you are not going to die from it.

Peter is a great fan of Macca on Sunday mornings on ABC. I didn't know he has published some books, but there were several on the Australiana table and I got two for Peter. He has had his nose in them ever since, giggling and chuckling.

I got a two book set of everything that Banjo Patterson ever wrote, that will take me a while to get through, several books of short stories which is my favourite genre, The Man from Snowy River, and one of my all time favourites, Tirra Lirra by the River by Jessica Anderson. If you have not read this book, its worth getting it from the library.

Another one that will take a bit of reading is My Place, by Sally Morgan, an Aboriginal writer. I have read snippets in the past and was delighted to find it also on the Australiana table.

Apart from those, there are about another dozen books gracing the bookcase that we will slowly work our way through. You should have seen Peter's face when I staggered into the house with several bags full of books. I told you I had minimal self control around books. However I did learn one important lesson, there were people there with suitcases on wheels, filling them up. Now, thats the way to do it! Next time I'll do the same.