People have been reporting sleeplessness all across town. Even correspondents in the UK have been complaining of the same, so clearly this Melbourne mid-winter heatwave is infecting the ENTIRE WORLD.
Well, if you just happen to be awake in the wee smalls, you could always steal those precious moments and read a brand new book. A book born in August will surely understand and soothe your discombobulation.
No doubt it will shock and amaze you to hear that we have some suggestions...
Only Ever Always by Penni Russon
The title sounds like a lullaby doesn't it?
Feel the tug of the story, the flow between worlds. Be borne away by the writing and the rhythm. Penni's brand new novel is a moving, challenging, immersive, beautiful reading experience. Okay, so Only Ever Always won't pull you into sleep so much as pull you compulsively through to the very end. But on the plus side you won't be worried about your insomnia anymore.
Let's Go Baby-O! by Janet & Andrew McLean
Let's Go, Baby-o! You and me! To the up, to the down and the turn around, to the wibble and the wobble, and the flip, flop hop. Then twist, twirl, whirrrl...
So this one's not exactly soporific either. But the illustrations are so totally gorgeous, you won't care! Cha-cha-cha.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C Stead and Erin E Stead
A legitimate bed-time book! A legitimate Caldecott Medal-winning bed-time book. Can't you feel poor sick Amos and his helpful zoo friends lulling you to sleep? We can feel it from here - so there's no use denying it. I think somebody's a bit tired.
The Road To Goonong by David Cox
'The most important thing,' my dad said, 'is to learn to fall off a horse. And the next most important thing is to get straight back on the horse that threw you.'
Ahem. That doesn't really sound very restful either, but if you turn your mind to country life of old, and long dusty journeys by horse and cart, and blacksmiths at work with their hammers and anvil, and timber-cutters felling the big ironbarks, and cow-milking and horse-riding and dashing down the dark track to the toilet way out the back, you'll be so exhausted from all that country-living that you're sure to be asleep before your head hits the pillow. Well at least until the howling dingoes and wailing curlews start making an almighty racket.
A Straight Line to My Heart by Bill Condon
There's nothing quite as good as folding up into a book and shutting the world outside. If I pick the right one I can be beautiful, or fall in love, or live happily ever after. Maybe even all three. If you can't get a boy, get a book, that's my motto.
Sound advice. Get thee to a bookery. This book won't keep you awake with snoring and it won't steal the covers - but it just might steal your heart, or at least creep in close and snuggle up against it.
Sensitive Creatures by Mandy Ord
This might be a book for night-owls-by-choice. It's a book to read on the late train, to refer to in the pub, to comfort you as you work deep into the night. Shaun Tan says it's a book about 'the small crises of daily life, the ink-cluttered streets, the pockets of joy and ugliness.' And Shaun Tan is an Oscar-winner - so he knows about stuff like this.
Enjoy the heat while it lasts, Melburnians. We feel a change in the air. Luckily, all these August books will be just as beneficial when applied on cold winter days.
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