Neville talked about Bill Birtles’ book Talk About China which he found a bit patchy. Birtles is the ABC’s China correspondent based in Taiwan. Neville was also reading some of the complete works of Shakespeare, and talked about the difficulty of understanding some plot lines and characters.

Graham had just acquired Disaster Capitalism by Antony Lowenstein, which has given him a much greater understanding of the global munitions industry.

David had just read the Splendid and the Vile, a Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz. It is mostly a domestic look at the lives of Winston Churchill and his family and close associates in the first year of WWII, after he was elected prime minister. Highly recommended.

​David Palmer

At our August session, Neville talked about The Kennedy Curse, “six generations of adultery, addiction and tragedy” by James Patterson.

Graham is continuing The Palestine Laboratory.

David outlined The Horse by Geraldine Brooks, a compelling novel set mostly in the 1850s in Kentucky. Also, Infidelity and Other Affairs by Kate Legge where she traced infidelity in her husband's and her own families through four generations.

New members welcome! Our next meeting is on Wednesday 27 September at 2pm.

​David Palmer

At our meeting in July, Graham talked about the Palestine Laboratory by Antony Lowenstein. The book investigates how the Israelis have perfected the architecture of control, using the occupied Palestinian territories as a testing ground for weaponry and surveillance technology, that they then export around the world.

A book Graham, a Vietnam veteran liked, was Black Horse Riders by Philip Keith. It records the efforts of rescuing a small US Army unit which discovered a Viet Cong stronghold.

Neville talked about The Diaries of a Welsh Swagman (1869 – 1898) by Joseph Jenkins. Jenkins wrote of three characteristics peculiar to the Victorian colonial farmer: 'exhausting the land, abusing the horses and bouncing men.' The diaries were bought by the State Library of Victoria and are one item of only 21 in the Library's Treasures and Curios collection.

David spoke about Nuts and Bolts by Roma Agrawal, who looks at the impact and development of nails, wheels, springs, magnets, string and pumps on our lives.

Our group meets on the 4th Wednesday from 2 to 4pm.  Our next meeting is on Wednesday 23rd  August.  More 'wise guys' welcome!
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David Palmer

Brian started the meeting with a summary of one of Tom Cole's best seller autobiographies, The Last Paradise. It is mostly about Tom's life in the 1950s and 1960s, shooting crocodiles across New Guinea's south coast and his later establishment of a coffee plantation in the highlands.

Neville recommended four nonfiction books: The Golden Mile, a history of Prague by Richard Fidler, A Short History of Almost Anything by Bill Bryson and The Happy Isles of Oceania by Paul Theroux. He also recommended the novel, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantell.

David highly recommended Alexander McCall Smith's recent collection of stories about espionage and intrigue, The Private Life of Spies, and rated it highly entertaining.

Keith said Colleen McCullough's six novels, which started with The Thorn Birds, captured his reading for about two years despite them each being about 800 pages. He also liked The Queen and I, a political satire by Sue Townsend, describing it as one of the funniest books he had read.

Growing With Autism captured Graham's imagination as had Terry Pratchett's writing.
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David Palmer

A distinct preference for military books, which emerged at our inaugural meeting last month, continued at our March session. Brian talked about the Empire Air Training Scheme centred on Canada, which trained 131,000 air crew during WWII.  Then Neville positively mentioned a volume by Winston Churchill, outlining his WWII experiences. Neville also mentioned he was reading Bill Birtles' book, ‘The Truth About China: Propaganda Patriotism and the Search for Answers’. He said the book becomes less interesting once Birtles, the ABC's China correspondent, was expelled from China in 2020. That prompted some discussion about what threat China poses for Australia's security. Also, Frank recounted his experiences as a “nasho” in the 1950s. He believes compulsory national military service should be in place. 

Books still on the table for discussion in future sessions include ‘The Ballad of Abdul Wade’ by Ryan Butta; ‘Undoctored’ by Adam Kay, ‘The Secret Code Breakers of Central Bureau’ by David Dufty, and ‘The Private Life of Spies’, by Alexander McColl Smith.

Group members are asked to bring along a book or books by their favourite author, in addition to what they are reading at the moment, to our next session on 23 April.
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David Palmer

The inaugural meeting of the Wise Guys Book Group brought five men together to discuss favourite books and the direction the group might take. The group professed a preference for non- fiction although novels will not be excluded. More specifically, war stories seemed to strike a chord, highlighted by the presence of a war veteran.

We next meet on Wednesday 22nd March at 2pm in the U3A Meeting Room.  New members welcome.
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David Palmer

Bring along two of your favourite non-fiction books to discuss with the group at our first session on Wednesday, 22nd February from 2 to 4pm.

David Palmer

David Palmer - 4th Wednesday 2 to 4 pm,  U3A Classroom 1  ​