The 2019 National Biography Award shortlist has just been announced. Links are to the State Library of NSW. I’ve read just one of them, but will add the links to other reviews as I find them.
Do Oysters Get Bored? A curious life by Rozanna Lilley
Miss Ex-Yugoslavia by Sofija Stefanovic see my review
No Friend But The Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani translated by Omid Tofighian see Bill’s review at The Australian Legend.
One Hundred Years Of Dirt by Rick Morton
The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster by Sarah Krasnostein see Sue’s review at Whispering Gums
The Wasp And The Orchid: The Remarkable Life of Australian Naturalist Edith Coleman by Danielle Clode see Theresa’s review at Theresa Smith Writes
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
Thanks for the link. Perhaps Miss Ex-Yugoslavia was the book Theresa Smith was thinking of.
LikeLike
By: wadholloway on June 26, 2019
at 12:47 pm
Could be!
LikeLike
By: Lisa Hill on June 26, 2019
at 12:49 pm
You’re right Bill but I haven’t read the book, just an essay response to it in a trade magazine we get at work in the school library. I figured it out today! I does remind me that I do want to read that book though.
LikeLike
By: Theresa Smith Writes on June 26, 2019
at 10:47 pm
Thanks for that list Lisa. I wouldn’t want to be up against No Friend but the Mountains.
LikeLike
By: shawjonathan on June 26, 2019
at 3:16 pm
You know, I nearly wrote that who would win was a foregone conclusion, but then I decided that it wouldn’t be fair to the other authors or the judges to assume anything.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By: Lisa Hill on June 26, 2019
at 3:28 pm
I’ve read ‘The Trauma Cleaner’ and ‘No Friend but the Mountains’. Now I want to read the others.
LikeLike
By: Jennifer on June 26, 2019
at 3:22 pm
I’m not great at reading biography. I keep promising myself to read the literary bios that I’ve got and yet here we are, half through another year and the only one I’ve read is Jacqueline Cook’s one of Kenneth Cook.
LikeLike
By: Lisa Hill on June 26, 2019
at 3:31 pm
Thanks for the link Lisa. I’m not really up to date with biographies either, but I do have No friend but the mountains on my TBR list, and, like you, I’m most interested in literary biographies.
LikeLike
By: whisperinggums on June 26, 2019
at 6:33 pm
The exception is of course anything by Brenda Niall!
LikeLiked by 1 person
By: Lisa Hill on June 26, 2019
at 6:43 pm
I have read and enjoyed The Wasp and The Orchid!
Here’s my review link:
LikeLike
By: Theresa Smith Writes on June 26, 2019
at 10:44 pm
I knew I’d seen it somewhere! Thanks, Theresa, I’ve added it above:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
By: Lisa Hill on June 27, 2019
at 9:47 am
😊 Thanks!
LikeLike
By: Theresa Smith Writes on June 27, 2019
at 10:10 am
One Hundred years of Dirt looks interesting. Amazon lists the price as Rs 2660/- here in India for a paperback *shocked * . Reading has become such an expensive hobby :( Thanks Lisa for bringing this book to my notice….Need to check if there are other affordable options…
LikeLike
By: sharonstephens26 on June 27, 2019
at 4:11 pm
Hello Sharon, I heard on the radio today that India has increased taxes on American goods in response to the trade war that Trump has started, so maybe you might be better off looking at a site that’s not American-owned? I can’t tell looking here from Australia, but try Fishpond https://www.fishpond.com.au/ – even with postage it might be cheaper.
LikeLike
By: Lisa Hill on June 27, 2019
at 4:52 pm
Thanks Lisa for your suggestion . Some Indian websites I tried don’t have the book copy . They don’t easily stock debutants / lesser known names when it comes to books unless it has been awarded recently or there are too many rave reviews : ( Will check out the link you have provided.
LikeLike
By: sharonstephens26 on June 27, 2019
at 5:23 pm
It can be difficult, I know. And it’s the same the other way, getting hold of lesser known Indian titles can be impossible if they haven’t sold the rights for overseas distribution.
LikeLike
By: Lisa Hill on June 27, 2019
at 6:48 pm
That’s astronomical. It’s a wonder that anyone in India reads at those kinds of prices….
LikeLike
By: BookerTalk on June 28, 2019
at 1:58 am
Luckily we have options like Kindle @ 700/- or so for books like these…So, people who are okay with Kindle can go for that.Me…I don’t like staring at a screen even while reading which is why I am hunting for hard copies at okayish prices…Yeah,prices like these are a major turn off for people when they are not that much into reading…
LikeLike
By: sharonstephens26 on June 28, 2019
at 2:39 am
I remember seeing in Mumbai people selling books to drivers stuck in traffic jams. I assume they were bootleg copies of best sellers?
LikeLike
By: BookerTalk on June 28, 2019
at 6:36 am
It must be… I am from Bangalore . So , I am not very familiar with the Mumbai scenes…
LikeLike
By: sharonstephens26 on June 28, 2019
at 2:48 pm
Is there a good second-hand market for books?
LikeLike
By: Lisa Hill on June 28, 2019
at 8:25 am
There is a pretty decent market for second hand books . While many of them stock the big names and the bestsellers ( sometimes upto 3 copies for a single book ) , it is a bit difficult to comes across some not-so-well-known names easily . But still it is a whole lot cheaper than what we have to pay for a new copy . Plus , we get more number of books for the same amount .
A few sell books by weight in which case you might get REALLY lucky sometimes . The other day I picked up 1 kg of books priced @ 250/- Rs only and got to check out Daisy Johnson’s Everything Under along with 2 other books !! The book was in pristine condition and the price label was still there with 699/- written on it !! Couldn’t believe my luck !!! But such instances are very very rare….
LikeLike
By: sharonstephens26 on June 28, 2019
at 2:47 pm
I’ve read Trauma Cleaner (and still think about it). Ex-Yugoslavia and No Friend are on my reading list.
LikeLike
By: Kate W on June 27, 2019
at 9:44 pm
It’s certainly an interesting selection this time: the impression I have of this list is that it’s more usually about famous people, usually men.
LikeLike
By: Lisa Hill on June 27, 2019
at 10:42 pm
Good to see some diversity in the list.
LikeLike
By: Kate W on June 28, 2019
at 6:19 am
I do think with books such as Trauma Cleaner, people pick them up not thinking of them as biography because they are not about someone well known. On a shelf of new releases I’d go for the cover featuring the rubber glove over the smiling cricketer/ scowling politician, dismissing the obvious biographies, which is not a genre I read a lot of 😁 (although I do read a lot of memoir).
LikeLiked by 1 person
By: Kate W on June 28, 2019
at 6:25 am
Yes, I think you’re right. And it is a catchy title.
LikeLike
By: Lisa Hill on June 28, 2019
at 8:24 am
I must say, that I initially thought The trauma cleaner was a memoir, until I really started hearing what people were saying about it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By: whisperinggums on June 28, 2019
at 2:50 pm