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Good Reading : July 2005
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Only room for 5 books! In our May issue we asked you which five books would you take to a new planet? Mike Lowe wrote in with his list: herlock Holmes Complete Collection Sir Arthur Conan Doyle he Collected Works f P.G. Wodehouse AS Survival Handbook y John Wiseman A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Keep them coming! Email editor@goodreading magazine.com.au Happy 10th Birthday The Dylan Thomas Society of Australia is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.To help celebrate, the society is offering free membership (usual membership subscrip- tions are: family and couples, $25; single adult, $20; children, students and concession $10). So, if you have ever thought of joining the society, this may be the year to do so! Society members receive circulars and flyers about all its events; the newsletter Down Under Milk Wood (three issues a year); and reduced entry prices to some events. Direct membership enquiries to: Ross Southernwood, Secretary Dylan Thomas Society of Australia 25 Mackenzie Avenue,Woy Woy, NSW 2266 Email: rsouthwood@mail.fairfax.com.au 12 goodreading book trivia BORN IN THE MONTH OF July Robert Heinlein was born on 7 July 1907 in the town of Butler, Missouri, USA. In 1929 he graduated from the US Naval Academy and went on to serve on aircraft carriers and destroyers. In 1934 he was retired out of the navy because of tuberculosis so he decided to study physics. But he never finished his studies, opting instead to take odd jobs in mining and real estate – without real success. Heinlein never got over his navy discharge. He tried to re-enlist after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor but was rejected. During World War II Heinlein worked as an engineer at the Naval Air Experimental Station in Philadelphia. His first novel, Rocket Ship to Galileo, was published in 1947 and began the genre of children’s science fiction. Between 1947 and 1959 Heinlein produced 16 adult novels, beginning with Starship Troopers which earned him the prestigious Hugo Award and demonstrated his fascina- tion for high-tech weaponry. His book Stranger in a Strange Land, published in 1961, became the most successful science-fiction novel ever published. Altogether, Heinlein wrote over 50 novels and short stories. He was awarded the first Grand Master Nebula in 1975 and was voted ‘best all-time author’ in readers’ polls held by sci fi magazine Locus in 1973 and 1975. He died on 8 May 1988. Which book would you save? The State Library of Victoria ecently ran a competition asking ds which Victorian book they ould save if a tidal wave was com- g and they could only save one ok. Which prompted us to ask you hich book you’d save? Karina Grech wrote in to tell us ich book she would save: ‘When I was 14 my class read a book called The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. This book had a powerful effect on me. As a child growing up in a very stoic religious environment, I identified with the characters in the book. Looking back, it was this book that sparked in me the idea that there is no black and white, or absolute right or wrong, when it comes to so many things. It just broadened my then extremely nar- row views (my parents never found out I read it – they would never have allowed it had they known!). That is why I would save this particular book – because it was the beginning of a whole new way of thinking and new way of life for me.’ Ough nough! The English syllable ‘ough’ can be pronounced nine different ways. One sentence that contains them all is: ‘A rough-coated, dough-faced thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough and after falling into his slough he coughed and hiccoughed.’ From The Ultimate Book of Useless Information by Noel Botham, Blake Publishing 2003.
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