What Am I Reading?
Wedding Puzzle – Sallie Muirden
Wedding Puzzle (Transit Lounge Publishing 2019) is the new novel by author Sallie Muirden, a sort of blend between a romantic comedy and a YA coming of age story. Over the course of one very important day – her wedding day – 24-year-old Beth Shaw contemplates her life...
The Department of Sensitive Crimes – Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith introduces us to a new detective series with the Swedish-set novel The Department of Sensitive Crimes (Little, Brown and Company 2019). This prolific writer, with over 80 books and counting to his name, is famous for his gentle and meandering...
Boy Swallows Universe – Trent Dalton
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, you will surely be aware of Trent Dalton’s debut novel Boy Swallows Universe (HarperCollins2018). The eye-catching hot pink and orange cover (with the legendary blue wren) and the intriguing title have graced...
Raising Readers: How to nurture a child’s love of books – Megan Daley
This book review is a little different. I have in front of me a copy of the newly released Raising Readers – How to Nurture a Child’s Love of Books (UQP 2019) by Megan Daley. Not only have I read this book, but I have now covered the text with highlighted passages and...
Star-crossed – Minnie Darke
Literary author Danielle Wood assumed the pen name Minnie Darke to write the commercial fiction novel Star-crossed (Penguin Random House 2019), which has already sold into 20 territories and garnered attention from movie production houses. So it seems she has already...
A Lifetime of Impossible Days – Tabitha Bird
Every so often, a book comes along that reaffirms the glory and beauty of life. Tabitha Bird has gifted us this wonder in the pages of her debut novel, A Lifetime of Impossible Days (Penguin Random House 2019). This story is a fantastical mix of literary fiction and...
My Name is Revenge – Ashley Kalagian Blunt
I first became aware of Armenia in 1988. I was working for the Australian Red Cross at the time the massive earthquake decimated the population, killing 25 000 and destroying the homes of half a million people. But even then, I was not really cognizant of Armenian...
Exploded View – Carrie Tiffany
Author Carrie Tiffany was one of the first Australian writers to instil in me a love of writing and an ambition that I could perhaps write myself. Her previous books Mateship with Birds (which won the inaugural Stella Prize) and Everyman’s Rules for Scientific Living...
Dying: a memoir – Cory Taylor
Recently I interviewed Kat Mulheran, the owner of Bent Books, a second-hand bookstore in West End, and while wandering around afterwards, I picked up a copy of Cory Taylor’s book Dying: a memoir (Text Publishing 2016). It has been on my TBR list for ages, but the...
Clock Dance – Anne Tyler
Just like a box of chocolates, Anne Tyler’s writing is comforting and moreish, but unlike Gump’s chocolates, you do generally know what you’re going to get: well-developed and engaging characters; tricky family situations or relationships; and great arcing overviews...
My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Ottessa Moshfegh
My Year of Rest and Relaxation (Jonathan Cape Penguin Random House 2018) is by Ottessa Moshfegh, the author of the dark novel Eileen, which I absolutely loved. My Year of Rest and Relaxation is similarly dark – blackly funny, keenly observed and introspective. A...
The True Story of Maddie Bright – Mary-Rose MacColl
Brisbane Writer Mary-Rose MacColl’s latest novel The True Story of Maddie Bright (Allen & Unwin Books 2019) is an historical mystery that revolves around the royal family and explores the complicated dynamics of power within relationships. With themes of...