Tis the season…….2025
The ranking of ‘the best of’ or ‘my top ten’ of all manner of things happens between now (Boxing Day in Australia – 26 December) and New Year’s Day; the lists seem to filter through in all forms of communication - social media posts, traditional media, family correspondences, and in general conversation. It is a way we mark the beginning and end of “a year in the life of…..”
In terms of the books I have read over the past twelve months, there are far too many to refine down to just ten and, in any case, the act of reading is like breathing to me – I don’t ‘rank’ the individual book per se, I just enjoy all reading. And, no twenty-four hours pass without picking up a book.
That said, many years ago I decided I did not have time to waste so instituted my rule that if the first 100 pages don’t get me, it is on to the next book. And, thinking about this, I realised that to single out books from a year of reading is to follow the pattern of a lifetime – a book invariably links to a moment in time and/or a person in my life. My long bookselling career also means, from my late teens (starting in bookselling in 1978), the connections made over the years remain inextricably linked to books.
Examples of this, in no particular order:
1. The Book Makers: A History of the Book in 18 Remarkable Lives. Adam Smith. The Bodley Head.
This became the latest addition to my “Books on Books” collection that includes bookseller anecdotes, rare book explorations, and beautiful pictorial tomes of the world’s most stunning libraries. The Book Makers is ‘…about grand, two-volume folio Bibles, and quickly Xeroxed 2020s zines, and the many books in between. It’s about the lives that brought these forms – forms variously wondrous, strange, familiar, new – into being’.
Thinking about the ‘lives’ reference, vale Dr. Jonathan Burdon who partnered with Kay Craddock to become among the most influential Antiquarian Booksellers in Melbourne, Australia. I met Jonathan when our bookstores became neighbours in the heart of Melbourne and he was, from the first meeting, pleasant and supportive of me.
2. A Killer of Influence. JD Kirk. Canelo Crime.
From the mid-nineties, Simon Clews became pivotal to the events program I developed for my bookstores. He is a writer, educator, arts/events specialist and has an impressive career spanning several countries and disciplines. Over hours in each other’s company at various literary festivals, Simon and I would swap book recommendations, especially in the crime fiction genre. Were it not for Simon, I wouldn’t be heading into summer holidays with the latest JD Kirk packed. A Scottish writer who, under this and other pen names, has given us a most entertaining crime detective, DCI Jack Logan. He is also, interestingly to me with my bookselling hat on, one of the early, very successful self-publishers.
3. MUP: A Centenary History. Stuart Kells. The Miegunyah Press.
As a bookseller, I became aware of Melbourne University Press / Melbourne University Publishing when Louise Adler was appointed as CEO in 2003, and she oversaw the subsequent broadening of the list and its infiltration into mainstream trade publishing. The reason this book is among my ‘influential books’ booklist is because Stuart Kells is a remarkable writer. I think of him as the polymath of the Australian book industry. He writes with clarity and deep knowledge on a range of subjects, and the many radio interviews and guest speaking events he has undertaken are always entertaining. He is also among a relatively small list of people from my bookselling years who was unfailingly supportive, and helpful in practical ways.
4. Not Making Hay: The Life and Deadlines of a ‘Diary’ Farmer. Frank McNally. Gill Books. (review at maryjldalmau.com)
In 2006, I took an exhibition to Dublin, Ireland to James Joyce House at 15 Usher’s Island. It came about because one morning I was listening to the ABC Radio National morning presenter, Peter Thompson, when I heard him say that he was about to interview an Irish barrister who had saved the rubble of a James Joyce house. Again, with my bookselling hat on, (James Joyce reference) and also training from having family members who have a liking for bricks and concrete (construction industry brothers!) I interrupted my commute to work to listen. That set off a chain of events, meetings, plane trips between Ireland and Australia, and introductions in both countries that also included a meeting in Ireland with Mr. McNally. He interviewed us for the exhibition, and I have become a regular reader of his column in The Irish Times (An Irishman’s Diary / An Irish Diary). It is invariably interesting and the epitome of good (Irish) storytelling. Thus far, this Christmas, I have presented many copies of the book – to a brother who lived in Chicago before returning with his family to Australia (he was the designer of a ‘seat’ on the forecourt of the State Library of Victoria that was a direct result of that morning radio interview); two of the Australians who joined me in Dublin; two O’Connor’s (Rosie, who was my assistant manager in the bookstore for 25 years, and her brother, John); and Ms O’Shea who is in her nineties now and who was one of the wonderful customers who supported us all the years and with whom I still share book recommendations.
5. Saltwater Fella: An Inspiring True Story of Success Against All Odds. John Moriarty. The Miegunyah Press. (review at maryjldalmau.com)
One late night in 2010, as I was compiling the quarterly book guide for our store, I opened a new release called Listening to Country. Written by Ros Moriarty, it has a special place in my home library; that inclusion in our book guide has resulted in close friendships with both Ros and her husband, John Moriarty. John is of the Stolen Generations, and he has led an exemplary life of rising to challenge and surpassing all expectations, with great success personally and professionally. Saltwater Fella is his story and it is a privilege to know him.
Reading this, I realise once again that those of us who have the opportunity to do something we love or have a commitment to it, are aware that it is acceptable to have career and personal life intertwine. More, that the unexpected relationships that form through our working life become important touchstones. I am now building the same with yet more stories from my legal colleagues.