Books

Unconventional Women

Book Review: Unconventional Women unveils the secret life of nuns in mid-20th Century Australia

Unconventional Women by Sarah Gilbert, published in July, is an impressively researched and empathetically put together biography of a group of Melbourne-based nuns. In Unconventional Women, Gilbert masterfully recounts their personal stories which span over decades of tremendous social changes in Australia between 1950 and 1970, touching on religion, women rights, historical events and much…

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The Ledge

Book Review: The Ledge is Christian White’s latest rural thriller

Christian White’s The Ledge is a thriller-mystery about revisiting the past and not liking what you find there. Set in the fictional Victorian mountain town of West Haven, chapters alternate between the present and the past, carefully holding the tension between the two in terms of both storytelling and broader themes of nostalgia and growing…

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Most Bizarre Crimes

Book Review: Peter Coleman’s Australia’s Most Bizarre Crimes is no ordinary true crime book

If you’ve been an Australian for more than about five minutes, you know some of the wild things we can get up to –  legal and illegal. It’s the latter that Australia’s Most Bizarre Crimes author Dr Peter Coleman takes a deep-dive into – the weirdest and wackiest crimes that Aussies have committed over the…

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Can't Spell Treason

Book Review: Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea is fun, but could’ve been steeped a little longer

Cosy fantasy is in the midst of a bit of a boom right now, and Rebecca Thorne’s new novel Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea is an intriguing entry into the genre. Originally self-published in 2022, it follows the blossoming relationship – and the struggles of – two young women living in a fantasy world filled…

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In The Margins

Book Review: In the Margins is an accomplished story of a real historical person… it’s just not about Shakespeare

In 1647, rector’s wife Frances Wolfreston is uneasy about a new task she has been given. England is under Puritan rule, and it is Frances’s job to record the names of those who are not attending church – those who may still be practising the Catholic faith in secret. But, Frances knows that those whose…

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Lest

Book Review: Mark Dapin’s Lest is a lighthearted account of Australia’s Military History

Just as the world seems to be again on the verge of WWIII, Lest serves as a timely reminder of previous wars and military operations the ADF were part of. Mark Dapin, who has a PhD in military history, adopts a fresh approach of debunking popular myths around Australia’s military record, emphasising the cultural shifts…

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Language of Limbs

Book Review: A Language of Limbs is an affirming celebration of queer joy

Dylin Hardcastle’s A Language of Limbs is a profound and compelling exploration of Queer identity set against a backdrop of 1970s and 1980s Australia. Written as part of their PhD in Creative Writing at UNSW, the narrative unfolds through two intertwined ‘limbs’, each following a distinct yet deeply connected journey of self-discovery. Beginning in 1970s…

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Book Review: Lynda Holden’s This Is Where You Have To Go is a memoir of love and loss

This Is Where You Have To Go – that is what Dunghutti woman Lynda Holden was told when she became pregnant. Directed to stay at a Catholic home for unmarried mothers, her child was taken from her and put up for adoption without her consent. Many years later, those same words have become the title…

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Fruit of the Dead

Book Review: Rachel Lyon explores power, temptation and Big Pharma with Fruit of the Dead

Readers should be advised that this book contains themes of sexual assault. Inspired by the Ancient Greek myth of Persephone and Demeter, Rachel Lyon’s sophomore novel Fruit of the Dead is an inventive tale that explores mother-daughter tensions, power plays and addiction amidst the backdrop of a billionaire’s private island. If you haven’t brushed up…

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Mark Muposta-Russell

Book Review: Mark Muposta-Russell’s deadly debut The Hitwoman’s Guide to Reducing Household Debt is a hit(woman)

I have to admit, I mostly picked this one up for two reasons – the title, and because I chuckled at the premise. The Hitwoman’s Guide to Reducing Household Debt, the debut novel from Mark Muposta-Russell, promised to be everything I love in a book – funny and quirky, but still full of enough heart…

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The Spellshop book cover

Book Review: Sarah Beth Durst’s The Spellshop is a sweet fantasy story about finding home

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst is a sweet, cosy fantasy story about letting people in, building community, and making a home for oneself. Kiela has lived and worked in the Great Library in the city of Alyssium for many years. She’s sequestered in the stacks with the previous volumes that she is responsible for…

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The Oxenbridge King

Book Review: The Oxenbridge King is a quirky delight that’s full of soul (literally)

King Richard the Third is dead, but his soul is not at peace. Guided by a quixotic raven, he makes his way through the space in between life and dead, searching for the angel who will lead him to what is next, whatever that may be. Meanwhile, at an Abbey in Oxenbridge, a monk named…

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Book Review: Last Best Chance explores themes of motherhood and climate catastrophe

Award-winning West Australian writer, Brooke Dunnell, published her second novel earlier this year, turning her pen to the climate crisis and modern motherhood. While her first novel, the Fogarty Literary Award winning The Glass House explored themes of aging parents and suburban life, the follow-up, Last Best Chance has a bit more of a futuristic view. Following two…

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Book Review: How to Avoid a Happy Life by Julia Lawrinson showcases an extraordinary talent for finding light in the dark

Julia Lawrinson, known for her books for young adult and middle grade readers, has written about her own life before – albeit in a highly fictionalised way. Longtime readers of Lawrinson’s work will recognise elements of her new memoir, How to Avoid a Happy Life, released this May through Fremantle Press. And though the book itself…

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Interview: Katherine Allum on mutton bustin’ and Mormons in her debut novel, The Skeleton House

Katherine Allum‘s debut novel was released in May after winning the 2023 Fogarty Literary Award last year. The Skeleton House is the story of Meg, a young woman living in a tight-knit Mormon community in a small American town outside Las Vegas, Nevada. Meg lives with her husband and two children in a caravan when…

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The Cautious Travellers Guide to the Wasteland

Book Review: The Cautious Travellers Guide to the Wasteland is a mysterious adventure about connection and belonging

There are books where you feel like you are watching the action unfold and there are books where you feel like you are somehow part of the action. The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wasteland, a historical fantasy by Sarah Brooks, is certainly one of the latter. This is largely due to its intimate setting on…

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The AU’s Most Anticipated Books of 2024: July – September

We have already sped on past the halfway point of the year and we’re edging ever closer to the busiest time of the bookselling year. As ever there is another bumper selection of books being published in the coming months to comb through. From fantasy to horror, from historical fiction to mythic retellings, and from…

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Interview: Kate Kruimink on her new novel Heartsease, “I don’t think you can get away from yourself as a writer. I think you give yourself away.”

I recently spoke to Kat Kruimink about her brand new novel, Heartsease, a complicated book about familial ties, friendships, flowers, grief, trauma, memory, ghosts, and sisterly love. You can read my review of the book HERE, and read on for our interview! Hi Kate, thank you so much for taking time out of your day…

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Dune Exposures

Book Review: Dune: Exposures is a diary and memory album for Dune 2’s production        

A diary is the only place that someone writes with complete candour. So, only in a diary do we often get the truest insight into a person’s life and motivations. Dune: Exposures may be billed as a photo book, and although it’s true that Dune 2 cinematographer Greg Fraiser has taken some gorgeous photos capturing…

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Depth of Field

Book Review: Heartbreaking and evocative, Depth of Field is Kirsty Iltner’s incredible debut

A portrait of two people, of their grief and regrets and relationships, Depth of Field is author and photographer Kirsty Iltners’ emotionally charged and deeply effective debut novel. It was the winner of the 2023 Dorothy Hewett Award, and it’s a beautiful novel well deserving of its accolades. Told through simple yet evocative prose, Depth…

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Ziggy Alberts talks inspiration, poetry and his latest collection sun memos

Last month saw Australian musician and writer Ziggy Alberts release sun memos, his second collection of poetry. The collection, was self-published, through his family founded independent imprint Commonfolk Publishing. It follows the release of Alberts’s first collection brainwaves, which was released in 2021. As you would expect from someone who has made a name from…

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Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?

Book Review: Nicci French’s missing mum mystery is compelling but ultimately underwhelms

Crime writing duo, Nicci French (a.k.a. husband and wife team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French) returned with a new detective series earlier this year. The first offering, Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? is set to be the first in the Maud O’Connor detective series. Though curiously, the eponymous heroine does not actually appear until the latter…

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Review: International Crime fiction takes center stage at the 2024 Brisbane Writers Festival

This past week, Brisbane hosted its annual Brisbane Writers Festival, drawing thousands of eager bookworms to Southbank for four days of literary celebration. With 150 events packed over four days, there was certainly plenty on offer. Featuring author panels, speeches, and performances showcasing both international and domestic talents from blockbuster bestsellers to literary luminaries, BWF…

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Book Review: Hello Keanu! is a poetic love letter to everyones favourite Hollywood icon

“Here, one man becomes a multiplicity. Here, the star is both indie and a block, busting.” – Scott-Patrick Mitchell, “Hello Keanu” Canadian actor Keanu Reeves has captured hearts around the globe with his thrilling action blockbusters on screen and genuine affable nature off-screen. Hello Keanu! is a quirky love-letter to the actor from the contemporary poets…

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Book Review: It’s a tale of two cities in Siang Lu’s Ghost Cities

Following his well-regarded first novel The Whitewash, Siang Lu returns to long form fiction with his latest novel Ghost Cities, an unusual tale filled with imaginative twists and turns, philosophical discussions and sparks of dry humour. Ghost Cities is a novel told in two parts. The first in the modern day, follows a young man…

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The Ministry of Time

Book Review: Kaliane Bradley’s blockbuster debut The Ministry of Time is a charming mix of quirky and critical

Some books really pack a punch, stuffing so much into their pages that it’s difficult to know where to start in a review. Kaliane Bradley‘s The Ministry of Time is one such book. The endorsements plastered across the cover and inside pages describe it as everything from clever, witty, charming and wonderful, to brilliant, thrilling,…

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Book Review: Lauren Chater’s latest explores the high cost of beauty in the 17th Century

Bestselling author of historical fiction, Lauren Chater returned this year with her latest novel, The Beauties – a story of independence, loyalty, desire and fine art. The novel follows Emilia Lennox, a noblewoman who loses everything when it is discovered that her husband’s family have aided and abetted traitors to the crown in the years following the restoration…

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Deep in the Forest

Book Review: Cults and crimes in Erina Reddan’s Deep in the Forest

Author and former journalist Erina Reddan delves into grief, cults, and power in her latest novel Deep in the Forest. The result is a thriller which, though not perfect, holds a deliciously tense and twisty layered mystery. As her hometown’s resident pariah and suspected arsonist, our protagonist Charli is a young woman who spends most…

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Heartsease

Book Review: Heartsease is a refreshing book about familial ties and the complexity of memories

Kate Kruimink, the Fiction Editor at Tasmania’s literary magazine Island, has just released her second book – Heartsease. Heartsease is a beautifully complicated story that focuses on two sisters, Charlotte (Lot) and Ellen (Nelly), who are doing their best to process their mother’s death while also trying to get sober at a retreat. However, this…

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