As Jill said, better late than never!
The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type
You are encouraged to add extra comments in brackets after each item
Which of these apply to you? reading
1.
Have you written any books? Not yet J I need to
gain some confidence – I do have some chapters that will eventually make up a
book
2.
Have you published any books? No
3.
Can
you recommend an inspiring biography? Lot’s, but the most recent one I read and
couldn’t put down was called “His Majesty O’Keefe”. First published in 1950, it
follows the trials and travels of an Irish American trader who set up a trading
post on the Micronesian island of Yap,
which is part of the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific
Ocean, during the late 1800’s. It describes the life and beliefs of the islanders,
and the consequent colonisation of Yap by the Spanish and Germans, as well the
life of his own families – one from Savannah, Georgia – and his second wife, an Islander woman
4.
Do
you keep a reading log? If yes, in what format? I used to keep an excel spread
sheet, then Collectorz book collection
software (when it was free); I now use LibraryThing
5.
Are
you a buyer or a borrower of books? Mainly a buyer; if I love a book, I find it
hard to give back, especially with the large cull that our local library is
undergoing. I may love the idea of Libraries, especially as an ex-Librarian,
but I have also seen many Libraries close, cull their collections as a book
hasn’t been borrowed enough times, or was published too long ago for it to be
(not my words) “relevant” – such policies can really get me going….
6.
Where
do you get reading recommendations? Newspapers, magazines, blogs, radio, word
of mouth….
7.
What
is the one genealogy reference book you can't do without? “The mechanical eye
in Australia : Photography 1841-1900” by
Alan Davies and Peter Stanbury. I use this book for dating photographs as it
list photographers from all over Australia, with their address and date that
they were in operation. It has helped me pin down accurate dates for many, many
photographs
8.
Do
you hoard books or do you discard them when you have finished? Hoard definitely, though it depends on the
book! A light read will probably end up at the op shop, my collection consists
mainly of reference, biography and non-fiction and faction or historical
fiction, like “The harp in the south” by Ruth Park, along with two shelves of
classics, a shelf of children’s books and folk and fairy tales from around the
world, and finally my genealogy collection
9.
How
many books are in your genealogy library? About 400-500?
10.
What's
your favourite genealogy magazine or journal? Inside History, Australian Family Tree Connections, and Your Family Tree (UK) are three
that I subscribe to. I also love the journals published by the various Genealogical and
Historical Societies to which I belong
11.
Where
are the bookshelves in your house? Two walls in the Lounge room, two walls in
the hallway, one whole wall in my office, three shelves in the bedroom; then
there’s my husband’s collection…
12.
Do
you read e-books? How? e-books on Kindle and Google books on my computer
13.
How
many library cards do you have? Local Regional Library which encompasses 6
libraries, State Library of Victoria and
the National Library of Australia; The Genealogical Society
of Victoria has a wonderful and accessible Library as well. Being an alumni
of the SLV and CSIRO also allows me
access to their collections, which equals access to 6 regional and 4 other major
Libraries = total 10!
14.
What
was the last genealogy title you read? A family history book, self-published by
my cousin’s partner, Tony Berry called “From paupers
to iPads”, looking at his family’s history in the UK.
15.
What
is your favourite bookshop? Mainly online second hand bookshops, then there a
few second hand book shops in different Melbourne suburbs that specialise in history
and Australian titles; The GSV
bookshop is a bit of a trap as well!
16.
Do
you have a traditional printed encyclopaedia in your house? Yes, a 1961
edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica that was bought for my husband when he was
a boy
17.
Who
are the authors in your family tree and what have they written? My mother wrote
many articles for the Randwick
Historical Society during the 1970’s. Some were published and others remain
in their archives; many of which are still referenced in some recent local
histories – I get great pleasure and joy to see my mother’s name in the index
of a published work!
18.
Who
is your favourite author? US Crime writer extraordinaire and (in my view) social
commentator James Lee
Burke
19.
Where
do you buy books? Anywhere I find them
20.
Can
you nominate a must-read fiction title? Yes, but how long should the list be?
21.
How
many books are in your personal library? 3000 odd, after a cull when we moved
about 18 months ago. It is gradually building up to the 4500 we had before the
move
22.
What
is your dictionary of choice? Oxford English Dictionary for words; Dictionary
of philosophy; Medical dictionary; Dictionary of scientific terms…. However I
really need a “Macquarie dictionary” to check my words when playing along with
the SBS TV show “Letters
and Numbers” A must watch in our household!
23.
Where
do your read? On the couch, on the veranda, in bed…
24.
What
was your favourite childhood book? “Swiss Family
Robinson”, Heide, Robinson Crusoe, Coral Island…. (all of
which I still have – a real sucker for escapism and tropical isles it seems)
25.
Do
you have anything else to say about books and reading? They are my life, heart
and soul. I could not live without them.
