What Am I Reading?
When One Of Us Hurts – Monica Vuu
Another great debut rural crime novel in an Australian setting, When One Of Us Hurts (Pan Macmillan 2023) by Monica Vuu is a story of an isolated coastal town, Port Brighton, where Outsiders are not welcome and Insiders are expected to behave a certain way. But when...
A Million Things – Emily Spurr
Emily Spurr’s debut A Million Things (Text Publishing 2021) is a joy to read, crafted with the skill of a much more assured and experienced writer and delivering a story that is full of love, grief, friendship, resilience and humour. This novel will break your heart...
The Last House on Needless Street – Catriona Ward
Suspenseful, creepy and dark, The Last House on Needless Street (Viper Books Allen and Unwin 2021) by Catriona Ward is not only the ultimate novel highlighting unreliable narrators, but unreliable characters too. A nail-biting psychological thriller, this captivating...
Days of Innocence and Wonder – Lucy Treloar
Lucy Treloar is one of Australia’s finest current writers and her third novel, Days of Innocence and Wonder (Picador 2023) demonstrates her ability to experiment with different genres. Her first novel was historical fiction, her second dystopian fiction, and this...
The Midnight Library – Matt Haig
Over two million readers can’t be wrong. My daughter Kiara suggested The Midnight Library (Canongate 2020) by Matt Haig and it is the perfect holiday, new year read. Filled with magical realism, whimsy, poignant warmth, tenderness and optimism, this novel will leave...
Emergency Exit Only – Michelle Upton
Michelle Upton’s Emergency Exit Only (Harper Collins 2023) is the perfect summer beach read: light-hearted, full of warmth and wit, and imaginative, it is the stuff dreams are made of (literally). A local Brisbane author, part of Upton’s charm is that she writes about...
Stone Yard Devotional – Charlotte Wood
Sometimes a book comes to you at exactly the right time. Stone Yard Devotional (Allen and Unwin 2023) by award-winning author Charlotte Wood was for me a profound and affecting story that I didn’t know I needed, at a difficult time. Meditative, sharply observed, wise...
Strangely Enough: Short Stories for Strange Times – edited by Gillian Hagenus
We are certainly in global strange times so it seems perfect timing for this collection of the weird, the odd and the bizarre by creative Australian writers in the anthology Strangely Enough: Short Stories for Strange Times (Midnight Sun 2023), edited by Gillian...
Red, White and Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston
The New York Times Bestseller Red, White and Royal Blue (Macmillan Publishers 2019) by Casey McQuiston is a contemporary, queer, funny romance between Alex, the First Son of the (female) US President and HRH Henry, heir to the UK throne. In this absolutely delightful,...
Edenglassie – Melissa Lucashenko
Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Melissa Lucashenko’s most recent novel Edenglassie (UQP 2023) is in my opinion her best yet, a true masterpiece of historical and contemporary timelines woven together into a powerful story of love and brutality, and all the...
The Bone Hacker – Kathy Reichs
Full disclosure: I am not a particular Kathy Reichs fan, despite the fact that she is an internationally bestselling author of 22 novels. And so my review of her latest, The Bone Hacker (Simon and Schuster 2023) is coloured by my bias. I do realise, however, that...
Gunflower – Laura Jean McKay
Talented author Laura Jean McKay stunned and polarised readers with her award-winning debut novel The Animals in that Country, so there has been great anticipation for her debut short story collection, Gunflower (Scribe 2023). These stories will bemuse, confuse, and...