What Am I Reading?
Cautionary Tales for Excitable Girls – Anne Casey-Hardy
The title of this book Cautionary Tales for Excitable Girls (Scribner 2022) is exactly what is says: warning stories for adventurous females. In one sense it’s an old-fashioned expression but do not let that fool you! This collection of short stories by debut author...
Moon Sugar – Angela Meyer
Author Angela Meyer has a reputation as a writer who creates stories with shifting genre boundaries; stories with heightened passions and senses; stories that are set in a world we know but also give us glimpses of magical fantasy combined with scientific...
Time and Tide in Sarajevo – Bronwyn Birdsall
Author Bronwyn Birdsall has given us a glimpse into a world that probably not many readers are familiar with, in her novel Time and Tide in Sarajevo (Affirm Press 2022). Birdsall lived in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and taught English for four years in her...
Catch Us the Foxes – Nicola West
Encapsulating popular Aussie rural noir combined with sinister ritualistic killings and a quirky dark humour, Catch Us the Foxes (Simon and Schuster 2021) by debut author Nicola West is one of the more unusual crime novels I’ve read. The story is narrated by Marlowe...
The Liars – Petronella McGovern
Author Petronella McGovern has her finger on the pulse of contemporary Australian crime writing. Her latest novel The Liars (Allen and Unwin 2022) is a complex mix of difficult family relationships and the unique dynamics of a small country Australian town, all set...
Rattled – Ellis Gunn
Rattled (Allen and Unwin 2022) by Ellis Gunn is a memoir/thriller/guide/manual of fear and optimism like no other I’ve read. The main context is a first-person account by Gunn of the intimidating and menacing Man who stalked her. He was a stranger; a person who...
Young Love and Other Stories – Felix Calvino
Felix Calvino must surely be one of the most underrated short story writers in this country. Young Love and Other Stories (Arcadia 2021) is his fourth collection, and my favourite so far. Calvino was born in Galacia in Spain and his stories always feature a mix of...
The Stone Road – Trent Jamieson
Whether fantasy is your go-to genre, or something new for you, you can be guaranteed that any novel by Trent Jamieson will be a fantastic tale with detailed world-building, complex characters and an intriguing story, no matter whether you are reading it because you...
Reputation – Sarah Vaughan
Looking for your next absorbing, compelling, page-turning psychological thriller read? Look no further than Reputation (Simon and Schuster 2022) by Sarah Vaughan, the UK author whose previous novel Anatomy of a Scandal is currently showing as a Netflix series (and has...
The Jaguar – Sarah Holland-Batt
I am the first to admit that a lot of poetry to me remains beautiful but elusive, the meaning somehow slipping from my grasp, my lack of astuteness or cleverness obvious by my ignorance; yes, it sounds lyrical, but what does it mean? This is not true of Sarah...
Joan Smokes – Angela Meyer
Holy smokes! A good novella is one that packs a punch with so few words it seems impossible; a great novella is the likes of Joan Smokes (Contraband 2019) by Angela Meyer, the winner of the inaugural Mslexia Novella Award. Featuring themes of grief and loss, ambition,...
The Registrar – Neela Janakiramanan
The Registrar (Allen and Unwin 2022) is a fictional but very real account of the drama of work/life balance for a medical professional in training. Authored by Neela Janakiramanan, a reconstructive plastic surgeon with special expertise in complex hand and wrist...