• About
  • The Boy With Blue Trousers
  • The Concubine’s Child
  • News and Media
  • Events
  • Bookclub Questions
  • Younger Readers
Start typing and press
Enter to search
  • Follow me on Facebook
  • Events
  • Bookclub Questions
  • Younger Readers
  • News and Media
  • The Concubine’s Child
  • The Boy With Blue Trousers
Follow
Skip to content

Carol Jones

Author of The Boy With Blue Trousers and The Concubine's Child

open search form close search form
  • About
  • The Boy With Blue Trousers
  • The Concubine’s Child
  • News and Media
  • Events
  • Bookclub Questions
  • Younger Readers

All articles filed in The Gift of Rain

Reading Now

By: Carol Jones July 13, 2018
Author, Book Review, LiteratureTan Twan Eng, The Gift of RainLeave a Comment on Reading Now

A rich and complex narrative of divided loyalties…

Read More
Author, Book Review, LiteratureTan Twan Eng, The Gift of RainLeave a Comment on Reading Now

Instagram

I couldn't resist posting this gorgeous Jacaranda in Melbourne city centre this morning. 😊 #Jacaranda #melbourne #gardens #citywalks #citylife #writersofinstagram
This is the first book by Ali Smith that I have read. The style took me a few chapters to settle into, especially since the beginning was more reminiscent of a poetic essay than the opening pages of a novel. As the main character made his entry I warmed to it more but we'll see how I go. Any Ali Smith fans out there? #currentlyreading #currentreads #bookstagram #bookish #nowreading #bibliophile #booknerd #spring #alismith #literature #modernliterature #fiction #readersofinstagram #reading #writersofinstagram
REVIEW* Well this house doesn't look much like the house in the novel except that it's old and it has gumtrees. It's also next to a creek but unlike the picturesque country riverbank with its own punt to cross the river in the story, this creek is inner urban. . One thing that drew me to House for All Seasons was its rural setting and that didn't disappoint. I really felt that the suthor transported me to this small town in NSW. The premise of four former friends drawn back to the town they escaped many years before was also intriguing, with the layers of secrets to be discovered and the reunions with people left behind. The characters were all distinct and well drawn and I really wanted to know what happened to them. Each story was satisfactorily well rounded and concluded. A very enjoyable read. #readingnow #australianfiction #ausfictionmonth #auswomenwriters #ruralfiction #bookstagram #bookish #books #igbooks #nowreading #bibliophile #booknerd #currentreads #bookreview
Some of my favourite research resources are straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. These are just a few of the collections of memoir, diaries and letters I enjoyed reading when researching The Boy With Blue Trousers. They're so immediate and have quirky details you don't find in secondary sources. The open page is from The Governesses: Letters home from the colonies 1862-1882. It was particularly helpful in giving me a picture of the difficulties my character Violet would have faced when she landed on South Australian shores a few years earlier in 1856. Fauchery's letters were also vital in giving a picture of the life of a digger. Fauchery was a French photographer who chronicled life on the goldfields in the 1850s through his lens and his letters home to France. The letters were first published in French in 1857 and published in an English translation in 1965. . I often pick up books like this in second-hand stores, reading them for pleasure and hoarding them for future use. . Do you ever hoard books... just in case? #nonfictionnovember #nonfiction #history #australianhistory #historybooks #historicalfiction #australianfiction #auswomenwriters #memoir #letters #bookstagram #bookish #books #igbooks #aussiewriters #writersofinstagram #bibliophile #booknerd #writingresearch
REVIEW# Crime novels aren't my usual reading fare but I wanted to read some Australian crime for #ausreadingmonth and #auswomenwriters so Candice Fox seemed like an appropriate choice, given she is lauded both in Australia and internationally. Gone by Midnight certainly lived up to my expectations. . Tightly plotted, with neat twists and a cast of idiosyncratic but likeable main characters, the novel raced along. Add to that the far north Queensland setting with its rainforests and lurking crocodiles and the result is a taut thriller. It helped that I recently spent a few days in the Cairns region enjoying its wonderful beaches, forests and waterfalls. . I will definitely be reading more of her work. Any suggestions? #crimefiction #thrillers #candicefox #gonebymidnight #bookreview #nowreading #currentreads #fiction #bookstagram #bookish #books #igbooks #readersofinstagram #reading #aussiereaders #aussiewriters #writersofinstagram #bibliophile
Another matched pair for #nonfictionnovember. This time rather than English history I am moving to Chinese history with a history of one of my favourite historical queens, the infamous 7th-century Empress Wu, an intriguing and divisive figure in Chinese history. 💪💪Have you heard of her? . I found this book, which was first published by Australian National University in 1955, in a secondhand bookstore and it partly inspired me to write the children's nonfiction book It's True: Women Were Warriors way back in 2006. . Not long after that I came across this delightful novel My Life as Emperor about a boy who suddenly becomes emperor. Written in the first person in beautifully poetic language, it is quite captivating. Flipping through the pages as I write this post I realise I need to reread it. The translation is lovely. Su Tong is also the author of Raise the Red Lantern, which is probably better known in the West due to the movie of the same name. Also a brilliant book. . PS. Empress Wu also inspired my daughter's grade six famous persons display where she dressed up as the empress, complete with an elaborate homemade headdress. I would post a picture but she would kill me. . #nonfiction #history #historybooks #historicalfiction #chinesehistory #empresswu #empresses #mylifeasemperor #sutong #chinesefiction #books #igbooks #bookstagram #bookish #bibliophile #oldbooks #reading #chinesereaders #booknerd #booklover
Follow Carol Jones on WordPress.com

Archives

Goodreads

Categories

Author Bookclub Quesitons Book Review historical fiction Literature Media new release Research supernatural The Boy With Blue Trousers The Concubine's Child Travel Writing hints Writing research

Tags

An Ocean of Minutes Archer Rings archives Australia Day australian history BFM89.9 Blog tour bookclub questions Book Tour bullock teams China Chinese gold seekers Convenience Store Woman featured Fujian Fuqing China Ancestors Fuzhou ghost houses ghosts Girls Burn Brighter goldrushes Hiro Arikawa historical fiction indigenous literature Interviews Jane Austen Japan Japanese literature Jin Yong kangaroo inn Kazuo Ishiguro Kevin Kwan Kim Scott Kuala Lumpur Legends of the Condor Heroes Lisa See maps Melanie Cheng Min Jin Lee Nanjing new release old photographs old stables Pachinko paperback release pawangs pictorial research Ponti Presidential Palace Nanjing Radio interview reblog review Review revision Rich People Problems Robe SA Scholar's House Sharlene Teo Shobha Rao Taboo Tan Twan Eng Thea Lim The Buried Giant The Concubine's Child The Gift of Rain The Island of Sea Women Theresa Smith Writes thesaurus The Travelling Cat Chronicles Things To Do trek from Robe Tulou writing writing habits writing historical fiction Writing research

Archives

Follow Carol Jones on WordPress.com

Goodreads

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com