Book Reviews

Brought to you by Nicole and the team at Great Escape Books

One Hundred Days

by Alice Pung

At 16, Karuna, an only child, is constantly observed and managed by her obsessively over-protective mother. After a momentary sexual encounter, Karuna cannot deny the truth of her pregnancy any longer and as her mother uncovers the reality, their already tense, smothering and uncomfortable relationship implodes. As the baby grows and soon arrives, Karuna is locked inside the 14-storey housing commission tower for the next 100 days to protect her from the looming outside world – alone, isolated and afraid. It is in these moments that Karuna comes into her own. Long days lead to beautiful moments of connection with her new daughter away from the interference of Grand Mar. The author has so brilliantly articulated the nuances of emotional abuse and control in this story, which is written slowly and secretly by Karuna to her daughter. It is deeply personal, will challenge your beliefs and push and tug on all your emotions as you devour the pages. Messy, stirring and so, so good. Review by Lydia @ Great Escape Books

The Winter Road by Kate Holden Kate Holden casts a discerning eye on the incredible true story of the murder of environmental officer Glen Turner, by a member of the most lauded gentry in the district – an 80-year-old property holder and head of a farming dynasty, Ian Turnbull. Throughout the revisiting of the murder and subsequent trial, she explores in detail the philosophical notions of traditional white entitlement, privilege and land ownership. Do we step lightly on this great continent, or is it our right to reap, harvest and potentially lay waste to all it has to offer? What responsibility do we have for preserving remnant vegetation and wildlife corridors? These and many more environmental and social concepts are handled with a deft and clear sighted hand. A thought provoking read, and great addition to any collection on the natural world.

Review by Nicole @ Great Escape Books

The Dressmakers Of Yarrandarrah Prison

by Meredith Jaffe

In this wildly hilarious read, Derek’s only daughter and pride and joy, Debbie, is getting married. Even if in Derek’s eyes she is far too young to commit, he would do absolutely anything to be there. Only problem is Derek is stuck out in the Yarrandarrah Correctional Facility for a little crime known as embezzlement of funds from his local golf club. His ex-wife Lorraine has made sure all contact with Debbie stopped the moment he was locked up and now Derek just wants his daughter to know how much he loves her. Inspiration breaks through while Derek meets with his weekly prison sewing circle, and this dad decides to make a wedding dress for the occasion. Together, the motley crew of crims gather around to create the most enthralling gown, but not without some hitches along the way. Will they get the dress finished in time? Will Debbie let her Dad in? This gnarly and uproariously funny book is ultimately about unconditional love, courage and supporting others in the darkest of times. Review by Lydia @ Great Escape Books

The Girl Remains

by Katherine Firkin

Set in the Victorian coastal town of Blairgowrie, this chilling police thriller tells the story of cold case Cecilia May. Three young girls out on a midnight adventure on the cliffs are spooked and separated, and only two return. Their stories don’t add up and it has been a mystery ever since. After 20 years, Cecilia’s skeleton is found in a rocky cave along with articles of clothing and one shoe. T he Girl Remains is a clever, twisting tale with plenty of different suspects from which to choose. It is utterly impossible to guess the outcome, but an exciting race to the finish. I love to read Australian crime and this writer has arrived with a bang! Wonderful – can’t wait for more. Review by Sue @ Great Escape Books

Tech AngleTWITCHERS’ CORNER By Chris Dos Written and illustrated by Kaye Traynor

Shining Bronze Cuckoo Chrysococcyx lucidus

Two small cuckoos in our local area are Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo and the Shining Bronze Cuckoo. The Shining Bronze Cuckoo is a summer visitor along the entire east coast of Australia, including Tasmania and west of the Adelaide area. Another population occurs in the south west of WA. They are found mainly in dense foliage, rainforest woodlands, bushland, parks and vegetated gardens. During autumn, Western Australian birds migrate to Indonesia. In eastern Australia, the birds migrate north from southern regions while some northern birds move to Torres Strait and New Guinea. They also occur in New Zealand where the birds migrate to the Solomon Islands in the winter months.

Shining Bronze Cuckoos are named for the colour of their upperparts and wings which are a rich, metallic bronzed green. Above that is more purplish brown on the crown and nape. The underparts are white, boldly and conspicuously barred across the belly, throat and chin with dark bronze brown, which become closer and finer round the head. The upper tail has a broad dark band across feathers from the tip, and the outer tail feathers are conspicuously broadly banded with black and white. Immature birds are greyishbrown above, with only a dull bronze green sheen. The first sign that a Shining Bronze Cuckoo has arrived is the call, which is a series of repeated ascending whistles. They tend to prefer to remain in the dense foliage in the canopy where they search for caterpillars and other small insects.

Here the Shining Bronze Cuckoos remain during the spring nesting season. The nature of cuckoos is their habit of parasitising nests of other small birds, and the Shining Bronze Cuckoo lays a single egg in a host nest and removes the host egg. After hatching, the baby cuckoo ejects the host nestlings from the nest. They seem to prefer the domed-shaped nests, of smaller species, especially thornbills.

Breeding Season – August to January. One egg: pale olive green to bronze brown, 19 x 13mm. (References: Garden Birds - Clifford B. Frith. Complete Book of Australian Birds – Readers Digest)

By Chris Dos Cr yptocurrencies

Last week, I was advised that my family has invested in cryptocurrencies in yet another attempt to throw away our hard earned money. No doubt everyone has heard of Bitcoin by now, but it’s one of thousands of currencies currently available to buy, sell and, heaven forbid, actually use to purchase goods and services.

Plenty of cryptos can also be obtained by ‘mining’, using a powerful computer to do auditing work for the currency and verify their transactions. A small reward comes your way if you are first to find that digital needle in a haystack. However, most people doing this from home will be more likely to stumble across a gold nugget in their veggie patch.

The popularity of investing in these products has risen dramatically in recent times for many reasons. The fees involved are low compared to the regular stockmarket, you don’t need a middle-man – just an app to make your transactions – and they exist separately to governments so are seen by some as a safe and secure option.

Even so, they can be volatile. Their stability relies on a giant trust exercise and if big players in this game start to get the jitters, things can turn ugly real quick. A late night tweet from the right billionaire can wipe out your fortune before breakfast.

In other news, sales of Apple’s new AirTag have been paused by the major retailers due to safety concerns that the battery can be too easily removed and possibly ingested by young children.

AirTags emit a signal that the Apple ‘Find My’ system (usually used to locate a lost phone) picks up to pinpoint its location. You could attach one to your keys, your wallet, your backpack and then track it down using the Find My app.

Unfortunately, far less is being made of their potential to track unsuspecting people, compromising their privacy and possibly endangering them.

Even the way the ‘FindMy’ system works using any nearby device to relay information from the tag is cause for unease.

It’s one thing to give permission to have your activity tracked but quite another to have it done without that permission being granted.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens with this one.

By Mayor Libby Stapleton, Anglesea Ward Councillor We would like to remind Anglesea and Aireys Inlet residents of the risk of fires in your home. Firefighters attend more than 3,000 house fires in Victoria each year. Many could be prevented by taking simple precautions to reduce the risk of fire.

In the kitchen: Never leave cooking unattended, keep tea-towels and flammable items away from the stove and keep grills, fans and cooking surfaces free from grease. In living areas: Have gas heaters and chimneys checked, make sure heaters are off before going to bed or going out, always use a fire screen in front of an open fire and keep clothing, curtains or toys at least one metre away from heaters. Keep candles, incense, and oil burners away from anything flammable and matches out of children’s reach.

Wood fires: Have your chimney checked. Ensure fire ashes are completely cold before removing them from the fireplace. An Anglesea house was destroyed around three years ago as a result of warm ashes being cleaned from a fireplace. We have also attended several shed and back yard fires caused by ashes. Power and appliance safety: Never overload power boards, and replace faulty appliances immediately. Check power leads for damage or kinks. Clean the lint filter on your clothes dryer after each load. In bedrooms: Don't leave electric blankets on for more than 30 minutes. Never put weight on the bed while the electric blanket is switched on. Never smoke in bed.

Smoke alarms: Working smoke alarms save lives. It is law in Victoria to have at least one smoke alarm on each level of every home. Extra smoke alarms are recommended to ensure every sleeping zone is protected and in bedrooms where the door is closed when sleeping.

It’s hard to believe we’re already more than half way through the first year of our four-year term as local councillors. We’re currently in the midst of preparing our Council Plan, and other strategic plans, using the community panel’s People Place Future report as our guiding framework.

Reflecting on the first part of my first year on Council, there are many achievements to celebrate. Some highlights for me so far include:

Reconciliation Action Plan: Council’s commitment to respectful reconciliation and the need to grow our understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. We will develop and deliver a Reconciliation Action Plan – titled Reflect – by the end of 2022. Social Housing: Our dr aft social housing plan will help deliver a $20 million state government commitment to social housing in our region. This is the first step in helping those most in need of a place to live. We recently declared a short-term accommodation crisis on the Surf Coast, so are working on strategies to accommodate key workers as we head back into the busy season. The ongoing lack of affordable housing in our coastal towns concerns me greatly, and is a key focus for our current Council.

Climate Emergency Corporate

Response Plan 2021–2031: Sets out important goals for us to achieve in response to the community’s call for urgent and extensive action on climate change. Aquatic Centre: I know this isn’t in Anglesea! But it is something that should benefit many in our community. Securing the remaining funding to finally make a pool a reality for all locals is worth celebrating. The new aquatic centre will be the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken by Council, and will deliver wellbeing benefits to many across the Shire. We’re hoping to see it built by the end of our four-year term!

Anglesea Netball Pavilion: While we are still awaiting news of a recent grant application for the development of a new netball pavilion for Anglesea, we know we’ve put in a really strong bid and are hopeful of positive news on this front. Again, this is a significant investment in local infrastructure, with Council committing $775,000 if we’re successful in securing the $500,000 through the state government’s Local Sports Infrastructure Fund.

IDAHOBIT Day: Raising the Rainbow Flag and launching the inaugural ‘IDAHOBIT Cup’ between Anglesea and Torquay women’s football clubs. A strong crowd of local supporters gathered on a wintery night to witness a brilliant match, with a fitting result – a draw! I’m excited that this will now become an annual event on the fixture.

Budget: Fr om the Anglesea Ar t Space to drainage at the Aireys top shops, we have been advocating strongly for local needs to be included in the next budget. The final budget is still to be approved as I write this, but we have seen strong submissions from various local groups, such as the Community Garden 3231, the Aireys Open Mic Music Festival, a Library of Things, and improved local pathways. Thanks to all in our community who took time to submit, review and comment on what’s been proposed.

Casuarina Leadership Program: It was such a privilege to watch the 25 Casuarina participants graduate from this leadership program. I was witness to so many passionate ideas and felt really inspired by the way this group connected, encouraged and supported each other. Brilliant work!

One of the things I love most about being mayor is the opportunity to connect with so many different people in our community. It’s such a privilege to attend so many openings and events, to meet with local community groups and to advocate to state and federal politicians for the things that matter most in our region.

Thanks for putting your trust in me to do this.

By Tony Revell Anglesea CFA Community Engagement

Is Your Home Fire Safe?

Change smoke alarm batteries every year and test them regularly.

More information? Visit www.cfa.vic.gov.au