How good are books?

I spent last weekend at the Port Fairy Literary Weekend — one of my favourite events — listening to writers talk about how they do what they do, and came home with yet more books for my never-ending To Read pile.

It's a marvellous festival and a timely reminder of the power and transporting nature of the written word.

Radio National is once again celebrating books, this time with their poll of the Top 100 Australian Books.

It's like triple j's Hottest 100, but with more biographies than bangers, more page-turners than floor-fillers.

Get in there and vote. The long list is an exhaustive selection of the books that have helped shape our nation, but feel free to add your own.

See you next week.

Matt Neal

Editor, ABC Ballarat & South West Victoria

The state of Victoria's roads is again in the spotlight after a motorcyclist died after reportedly hitting a pothole at the weekend.

A 71 year old motorcyclist died after reportedly hitting a pothole on the Western Highway, west of Ballarat. 

A 17-year-old girl and her 26-year-old boyfriend were found dead squatting inside a Ballarat house that had no running water or power. 

An A-grade netball team in Victoria's Wimmera region has won a high-emotion grand final after one of its most talented young players died in a car crash this week.

Unsuspecting shoppers are being warned about an online store claiming to sell handmade glassware from a non-existent Port Fairy artist.

Police arrested several people, including a patched Bandidos member, as part of an investigation into several incidents, including an alleged Melton firebombing where a man mistakenly set himself on fire.