The Circle of Days

Once again Ken Follett tackles a family saga set in ancient times. This time it is the rebuilding of part of Stonehenge [the Monument] in 2500 BCE. Several communities live close to each other in the valley, plains and nearby woods. A group of priestesses operates at the monument, conducting services which allow for the understanding of the seasons and time in general. Few people can count but the priestesses have devised a system for recording the weeks, months and seasons as the sun rises and set throughout the year. The biggest festival is midsummer.

The monument where the services are held is partly stone with an inner circle made of wood. When some of the locals wreck the wooden structure, it is suggested that the large stones from the quarry should be transported to the monument to replace the wooden structure. It is many years before this plan can be eventually undertaken, especially as some of the male members of local communities do not like the priestesses taking a key role in the endeavour.

The Circle of Stones by Ken Follett Provides an insight into what life may have been like living in the farming, herder, wood-lander and mining communities of the time. Life is made more difficult during years of drought and other natural disasters. For some of the leaders force is the only way to gain ascendancy over other groups and this can lead to tragic results. Meanwhile Joia and her followers are determined to complete their mission.

Pix: the magazine that told Australia's story

In the 1950s and 1960s I can remember my father sometimes bringing home copies of the magazine Pix. I often enjoyed flipping through the pages to look at the wide variety of photographs. I therefore borrowed a copy of this book from the library as soon as the book was published.

Pix: the magazine that told Australia's story is a large book containing full scale photographs as they would have appeared in the magazine. The State Library of New South Wales has digitised many of the images (available on Trove) and recently held an exhibition showing a selection of the photos that portray everyday Australia in the past.

The first edition of Pix was  published in January 1938 and publication of the magazine continued until 1972. The book contains short essays on the publication of the magazine and making the exhibition but it is the images themselves that are the main feature of the book. Exploring the large sample of black and white images in this book is a great way of exploring life in part of the twentieth century.

Wild Dark Shore

The Salt family are caretakers of a small island, Shearwater, near Antarctica. Everyone else has left. The island is particularly important as it houses the world's largest seed bank. A ship is due shortly to remove the seeds from the island to deposit safely at another location. However a severe storm is threatening to destroy the island and only a selection of the seeds can be saved in time. Then a woman's body washes up on the beach. She is still alive but the Salt family wonder why she has come to this island in the middle of nowhere.

It is obvious that something sinister has happened on the island and secrets are being kept, but the new arrival has secrets of her own. As the storm makes life on the island more dangerous the island occupants must decide if they can trust each other. Is it possible for them to make changes in their lives?

However the fate of the environment is the main theme of the book as the effects of global warming impact severely on the island.

Wild Dark Shores  by Charlotte McConaghy is a tension driven novel as the extent of the danger to the island inhabitants becomes apparent and the island occupants must determine their future plans.

Wild Dark Shore won the 2025 Dymocks Book of The Year.