Drawing together musings on feminism, race, and religion, Canberra writer Zoya Patel’s debut No Country Woman explores her experiences as a Fijian-Indian migrant. From the stereotypes that followed her family, to her attempts to rebel against her heritage, and to the months she spent in Scotland examining things from afar. No Country Woman is a well…
Read More
A Coveted Possession documents the popularity of the piano in Australia. Once a treasured member of the household, the piano fell out of favour once people became switched on to the likes of radio and television. Michael Atherton’s highly readable and intriguing book explores the rich cultural history behind this, at times, beloved instrument. Atherton, a professor,…
Read More
Fans of Robert Drewe are in for a treat, with his newest collection, The True Colour of the Sea, published late last month by Hamish Hamilton. The eleven stories, all themed around coastal living, the ocean and the Australian fascination with it are all written in Drewe’s signature style. Each one showcases that Robert Drewe…
Read More
Author Jessie Cole had a relaxed childhood in Northern NSW, there were no words like “must” or “should” spoken by her parents. Instead, Cole and her brother learnt freedom, and were given free range to explore the trees and shadows around their rainforest home, unafraid of the spiders, bugs or the unknown. It all seems…
Read More
Johanna Morrigan is back and she’s living the good life. Writing as Dolly Wilde, she has a column in music magazine The Face, and her best friend (and unrequited love) John Kite has hit the big time. But when John begins to spiral out of control, and comedian, creep, and all-round dickhead Jerry Sharp takes…
Read More
In San Ginese, life and death live side by side, as do prosperity and poverty, opportunity and desperation, friends and enemies. But filled as it is with bawdy gossip, tall tales, and plenty of manure, The Fireflies of Autumn, and Other Tales of San Ginese is not just a story of hardship and hope, but…
Read More
The Geography of Friendship, the second novel from author Sally Piper, tells of the journey of three young girls, Samantha, Lisa and Nicole, who set out on an adventurous five-day hike as teenagers. Three young girls who found and befriended each other at school, because no one else had, or would. Their frightening adventure starts…
Read More
In 2015 writer and academic, Mandy Len Catron went viral when an article she wrote was published in The New York Times. It was called, “To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This” where she described her recent date with a new acquaintance. They had answered 36 questions together from a research study designed to…
Read More
Mulga’s Magical Musical Creatures is the latest release from the Sydney-based artist, illustrator and poet Mulga (Joel Moore). Formerly a financial advisor, Mulga’s artwork can be found all over Australia, from cafes to shop fronts, from t-shirts to drink bottles and now once again on your bookshelves – or in this case your children’s bookshelves…
Read More
There are few who seem to understand the concept of the coffee table book as well as photographer Simon Griffiths, who today releases Boat – a “celebration of the humble vessel that symbolises escape, trade and travel” – as the press release aptly puts it. The beautifully designed book is one you can judge by…
Read More
Friday on my Mind is a murder mystery set in contemporary London, penned by Nicci French. The story begins as a man is pulled from the Thames, his throat cut. He is wearing a hospital wristband marked F. Klein, which seems to make identification simple. Only Freida Klein is still very much alive and is…
Read More
For anybody struggling — whether it’s with sickness, relationships, or finishing that last task for your boss — phrases like “but it’s not that bad” and “you’ll be fiiiiiiine” are sometimes more harmful than helpful. Guardian journalist Oliver Burkeman seeks to challenge these frustrating fragments of advice with what he calls “the negative path to…
Read More
Romer’s debut novel is a murder mystery spanning four generations, set against the unique landscape of the Australian outback. It’s an ambitious project, and while it’s not without it’s weaknesses, the end result is an engaging story that would appeal to fans of suspense and stories about family secrets.
Read More
Peter Goldsworthy may be one of Australia’s most accomplished writers, but you wouldn’t know it from the title he’s chosen. Or perhaps you would: this self-deprecating mood colours his memoir — from the bizarre range of childhood obsessions to the first fumblings of adolescence — with sunny, occasionally glaring insight that can only be attained…
Read More
Sexually repressed, separated Greek girl on a rampage. There’s no love here, just fucks. But is she fucking him or fucking herself? Koraly Dimitriadis’ work was first published as a zine in 2011. It quickly sold out of stores. Now reissued as a book with extra poems, her first erotic verse novel strips itself down,…
Read More
Writer Paul Ham gives the history of the Sandakan Death March, a war march that lead to only six survivors. Nothing is spared in this book, which gives details of the gruesome punishments the prisoners went through, how they died and how the very small few survived. Cannibalism, bayonetted, shot, starved, given no illness, medical…
Read More
Welcome to the world of Lola Bensky, born in Germany to parents who survived the Auschwitz death camp. Lola grows up with her parents dodging questions about their past, a dysfunctional family due to the war with a language barrier with unhappy yet loved times. After leaving school Lola found herself travelling to America and…
Read More
I’ll See You Again is a book that will resonate with any person, male or female, with or without kids. A family is pulled into darkness at the awful and sudden loss of their three daughters in a car accident and the parents Jackie and Warren have to come to terms with a house filled…
Read More
In 2008, it hit Mary Beth Ditto that she was now a celebrity (she was 27 years young); it took her raunchy photo gracing the cover of the NME magazine to realise this. Yet it was only after people told her she is a celebrity that she finally believed it. After walks up the red…
Read More
