Success can mean many things in the life span of a human, but to be a success in any capacity, you need the ability to reflect. True reflection requires a complex language that incorporates many perspectives.
We don’t tell you to read because it increases your vocabulary, your communication skills and your creativity, though this is all true. We tell you to read because it exposes you to new ideas, new thoughts and new experiences. It allows you to build a complex language. The more complex your language, the better your ability to reflect on your own experiences and feelings and to grow and learn from them. It is your capacity to grow that makes you successful. So read. Grow.
Click through these long-form articles and opinion pieces that ask questions about race, identity, politics, climate change, that ask questions about celebrity, media, murder, body image and how to express yourself in a culture inclined to cancel at the slightest mistake. Here local and international writers explore questions and offer answers from many and varied perspectives.
School shootings are a modern phenomenon, overwhelmingly American, and most often committed by young white men. That’s where the similarities end. By examining the case of John LaDue, Malcolm Gladwell tries to make sense of one of the most senseless acts any human can commit.
G.K. Chesterton was an English philosopher and critic, who in this article from 1915, explores a theme even more relevant to our culture today. What is success and is it as complex as we believe? Are we worshipping an idea as we would worship a God?
Gypsy was a terminally ill teenager with the mind of a seven year old, right up until she planned the murder of her mother Dee Dee. Read the article which chronicles the true story of murder and Munchausen by proxy, and went on to inspire Hulu series The Act.
While examining the prevalence of surgery as a cure for weigh loss and its effectiveness ad documenting her own experience, Roxane Gay explores what it means to take up space and why we are so obsessed with the idea of thinness. Is weight loss often more about satisfying other people than the self? Click here to read more.
How much does race affect who I am? Does our racial and social identity infect and inflect everything we creatively produce? Noor Hindi reflects on being Palestinian, a Muslim-American poet, colonisation and intergenerational trauma, and what poetry means when, as a medium, it is inherently personal.
In exploring her newfound fame as a writer, Roxane Gay asks herself an interesting question, what is the measure of success? If we are to stand out in any way, then do we have to be exceptional? She questions the burden placed on minorities to earn their place in history by only the most exemplary behaviour. If you are interested in what it means to be a minority in the midst of the #blacklivesmatter movement, or in what it means to achieve long-held career goals, this article is for you. Click here to read a companion piece on Roxane’s appearance in Melbourne by Maxine Beneba Clarke.
Not everyone has access to an untouched, deserted library of good reads. *Ms Gilbert stares wistfully into the abandoned shelves of Loreto Library. So here are some top short reads she THOROUGHLY RECOMMENDS. Best part? They’re all ONLINE. *fake cheers. Click through for links and a brief synopsis of each story.
In a strange world, before ours - or after, Ikky’s sister tells the story of the day they say goodbye to her at the tar-pit. But what is this strange punishment and why is Ikky being punished at all? This is the kind of story that haunts you long after you finish reading it. Click here to download and read the PDF.
This is short and lyrical and, like a song, plays back to you over and over.
Micheline fights like a mother, and has crazy blue eyes that help her see the auras of the dead. Handy when she’s out ghost hunting and slaying necrophiliac monsters. This one’s all action pals, strap in.
Every year the town has a lottery where one family is chosen, one member of that family selected as tribute. Shirley Jackson is one of my all-time favourite authors. Her stories exemplify a deep understanding of the psychology of fear, playing with social expectation. They are suuuupppper creepy and beautifully written. The Lottery is one of her best.
A quietly beautiful story of grief, ancient traditions and the hint of burgeoning love. Erdrich masterfully depicts the struggle of Native Americans in post-civil war America.
Hughie Erskine is wonderfully good-looking and wonderfully stupid in this farcical story of fortunes both good and ill. No one does satire better than Oscar Wilde, click for a light read with some witty character studies.
This is the story of Kathijah, a 16-year old Rohingya refugee forced to flee to Malaysia with her brother Ishak in order to find safety. She has no legal status, no support, no security. Just this phone. Use this interactive app to explore the journey of a teenage refugee. Trigger warning, some scenes may be distressing to some viewers.
A good paired text if you liked The Lottery, The Man in the Well is a psychological thriller that explores the nature of children and the limits of their empathy.
A grandmother reads about a serial killer on the loose, just before a road trip with her family. This story comes with a trigger warning, it leaves you heavy.
Loricel is a Creweller, a mystical being with the power to manipulate the threads of time. But when she learns her life is maintained by the lives of the very people she is sworn to protect, she must make a terrible choice. This is a short story for lovers of science fiction and fantasy.
A humble home is visited by an angel, but how is the fantastical treated in the midst of a busy, mundane life? This story is about the strange, the beautiful and the ugly.
Should young people be worried about Coronavirus? Is climate change really happening? What is body positivity and can it change my mental health for the better, or is it another cultural expectation I am destined to fail? Is it ok to love/hate the Kardashians? Click through the following slides where we ask and answer the big questions relating to current events. Need some cold hard facts on a burning issue? Email Ms Gilbert your question, she especially takes anything related to Jeffree Star Cosmetics and the GDP very seriously.
Ok. So Coronavirus. Guaranteed to be the word of the year 2020. There’s a lot of reporting, a lot of social discourse about hashtag Rona. But what is actually true? How do I know all this information I’m receiving is correct? Let’s fact check it!
Some public libraries have free online only memberships that allow you to borrow from their vast collections of ebooks and audiobooks!
Join Melbourne Library Service and be just like all the cool kids.
Join Yarra Plenty Regional Library and access the biggest ebook collection in Australia.
Not to be confused with its more verbose cousin, Yarra Libraries also has a digital only membership to access it's online resources.
And of course there's always the municipal home of Loreto Toorak, Stonnington Libraries.
Boroondara Library Service doesn't have an exclusive digital membership but you can still join online to access their e-resources.
And that's the same for Whitehorse Manningham Library.
