Back to the January we should have been having. The slow and carefree month of nothing much in particular. The month in which we hold for a few days our resolutions for the New Year. You know the ones. Move more. Eat less. Stop doom scrolling. Slow down. Be kinder. Say yes more often or perhaps say no.
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So today, let's step back from the news fray, reclaim a little of what is normally the slowest month of the year.
For me, January - summer in general - is traditionally about reading. Long sessions on the deck with a good book in one hand and a cool drink in the other. Despite all the noise of the news cycle, I've devoured a few since the beginning of December.
The reading frenzy was kicked off with the customary John Grisham: The Widow. The plotline involved a small-town lawyer who sniffs opportunity when an elderly widow entrusts him with her will and apparently vast fortune it entails. Before long he's in the frame for her murder. Grisham's great skill is hooking you early and sending you down dead ends with a slew of red herrings. A great whodunit.
Niki Savva's Earthquake came next. A searing inside look at the Liberal Party's calamitous defeat at the May 2025 election, it, too, was a page-turner, in some ways stranger than fiction. If you're not familiar with Savva's journalism, the first half of the book helpfully reprises her columns from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. But, for me, the second half, which chronicled the disastrous campaign and the ugly aftermath of the defeat, was the most compelling.
An aviation and history junkie, I couldn't walk past Atlantic Furies by Midge Gillies. It's the story of the women who competed to be the first to cross the Atlantic by air. A century ago, when aviation was in its infancy, the technical and physical challenges were immense. So were the social challenges. This was a time when society believed a woman's place was in the home and certainly not at the controls of an aircraft. Gillies does a great job bringing the era to life.
On the recommendation of an Echidna reader, I tracked down a copy of Karla's Choice by Nick Harkaway, the son of John Le Carre. For me, no summer is complete without a good espionage novel and by some literary magic Harkaway filled the void left by his late father by bringing one of his best characters, George Smiley, back to life. The same moral complexity, the same analogue tradecraft, the same threads teased out ever so skilfully were all there. Fingers crossed, Harkaway will follow it with another.
Finally, I'm working my way through the harrowing Nobody's Girl by the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre. This memoir of the Epstein-Maxwell sex trafficking survivor is not for the faint hearted. From her early childhood and the abuse she endured from her father to being lured by Ghislaine Maxwell into Jeffrey Epstein's evil trafficking circle, it's a stark reminder and warning about the impunity of the rich and powerful. Confronting yet inspiring because of the courage it took to write. Best taken in small doses.
Ah, there you go. Just reliving the paths these summer books have taken me down makes it feel like a little piece of January has been restored.
HAVE YOUR SAY: What have you been reading this summer? How many books do you read in a year? Is there a book so good you have read it a number of times? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Australia's credibility as a defender of international law is under renewed scrutiny after its closest security partner forcibly captured the Venezuelan president and threatened similar action against Colombia.
- BlueScope Steel shares have surged to the highest level in 17 years after Australia's largest steelmaker received a takeover offer by a consortium that includes a Kerry Stokes-controlled entity.
- Bruce Lehrmann has made a last-ditch effort to clear his name of findings he sexually assaulted an intoxicated Brittany Higgins in Parliament House.
THEY SAID IT: "Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers." - Charles William Eliot
YOU SAID IT: In a rare moment of honesty, Donald Trump revealed his decision to abduct fellow autocrat Nicolas Maduro was all about Venezuela's oil. And with that statement the rules-based international order teeters on the brink.
"Trump's actions in Venezuela, unless totally condemned by the rest of the world with consequent sanctions against the US, will give Xi the green light to annex Taiwan and possibly Kim the temptation of invading South Korea," writes Erik. "But no one should be surprised. Something like this has been coming quite some time. The US refusal to recognise the ICC and ICJ because their own citizens may end up before those courts shows their contempt for the rule of law. It just needed someone like Trump to take it to the next step."
Phil writes: "Venezuela is just the start. Trump has noticed that Zelenskyy has not had to endure an election while his country is at war. You can work out what's coming ..."
"You're right," writes Gwen. "The US doesn't have a good record, but the difference here is the open declaration of controlling the oil. When the CIA, in its first covert operation, overthrew the democratic government in Iran to protect theirs and Britain's oil ownership, the US celebrated the downfall of a socialist government, not the grab for oil. This was 1953 and since then the Iranian people have had a succession of suss rulers, including the present-day regime."
Barbara writes: "For Trump to call Maduro a criminal is like the kettle calling the pot black. Surely, surely he won't be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize next year, but never say never."
"What a contrast," writes Garry R. "A leader who takes action or a leader who refuses to lead but hides behind his failure to act. History will judge Trump just as surely as it will judge Albo but would Albo even make an impact big enough to justify a listing. Venezuelans fled the country it was so bad but are now hoping to come back if it can be made crime free and prosperous."
Arthur writes: "The Nobel prize for the most dishonest and most corrupt president of the USA was won by DT. He deserves it. Just ask the man himself."
"Increasing Venezuelan oil production by half a million barrels a day would take US$10 billion in capital investment," writes Mick. "There is a current oil glut. At $57 a barrel the price of crude is below many fossil fuel firm's break-even price. Greater supply could lower prices destroying the US fracking industry. Trump's actions are a combination of the revival of the Monroe Doctrine and a Thatcheresque Falklands-like attempt to counter tough headlines and slumping poll numbers."
Sue writes: "Does any action by Trump cause surprise? Disgust, concern, anger, worry, fear - all of these and more, but surprise? Not so much! US self-publicity has been telling the world for as long as I can remember that it is the 'greatest' country on earth, the 'greatest' this, that and the other, yadda, yadda and now its 'greatest' president is taking every opportunity to demonstrate that his and the country's 'greatness' are outside of the bounds of the laws which govern most other countries."
