What Am I Reading?
The Morbids – Ewa Ramsey
The Morbids (Allen and Unwin 2020) by Ewa Ramsey is, on a superficial level, a story about two female friends, love and romance, a typical 20-something tale of getting by and finding your place in the world. But anyone who reads this book will gradually realise that...
Jack – Marilynne Robinson
Jack (Virago Press 2020) is author Marilynne Robinson’s final book in her series of contemporary fiction that includes Gilead, Home and Lila. Set just after World War Two, Jack is the story of John Ames Boughton, or Jack as he is known, the prodigal son of the family,...
If Beale Street Could Talk – James Baldwin
Set in Harlem in the 1970’s, If Beale Street Could Talk (this edition produced as a Penguin Classic 2019) was originally published in 1974, with author James Baldwin gifting us a novella richly depicting the black soul of New York City. A compelling love story, the...
How Much of These Hills is Gold
Stone Sky Gold Mountain by Mirandi Riwoe – the story of our own Chinese people in the Australian Gold Rush – is kicking goals and winning awards all over the place at the moment and if you enjoyed that book, then you will also love the American debut novel How Much of...
Rivers: The Lifeblood of Australia – Ian Hoskins
Just in time for Christmas ideas for the nature lovers in your life is this stunning, hardcover book Rivers – The Lifeblood of Australia (National Library of Australia 2020), by award-winning author Ian Hoskins. Filled with gorgeous photographs, maps, old black and...
Flyaway – Kathleen Jennings
Oh, what a strange and wonderful gothic novella is Flyaway (Picador 2020) by debut author Kathleen Jennings. The prose in this magical story is beautiful, evocative, and endlessly fascinating. It reads like a fairy tale or a fable, a myth or a legend. Set in outback...
Trust – Chris Hammer
Mention Australian crime noir and the name Chris Hammer comes to the fore. His best-seller debut novel Scrublands and the sequel Silver have sold more than 285 000 copies internationally. Fans have been waiting patiently for the third book in the series, Trust (Allen...
Wherever You Go – Monique Mulligan
Wherever You Go (Pilyara Press 2020), Monique Mulligan’s debut novel, is a story of romance and friendship, heartbreak and hope, guilt and grief. A light and easy to read book featuring food at its heart, it also traverses deeper themes as two people attempt to save...
Love, Clancy: A dog’s letters home – Richard Glover
Many of you will be familiar with Richard Glover’s regular column in The Sydney Morning Herald (well, actually it’s written by his dog, Clancy, but Richard facilitates its publication). You may know him from ABC Radio. Or you may have read his hilarious but also...
Broken Rules and Other Stories – Barry Lee Thompson
The short story collection Broken Rules and Other Stories (Transit Lounge 2020) may be Barry Lee Thompson’s debut but many of the included stories have won awards or competitions or been shortlisted or published elsewhere. The overarching themes of the book relate to...
Life, Bound – Marian Matta
Life, Bound (Midnight Sun 2020) is an eclectic collection of short stories by Marian Matta featuring characters sometimes stuck in old habits and constrained by past events, sometimes challenged by obstacles or situations thrown unexpectedly into their paths, and...
All Our Shimmering Skies – Trent Dalton
Those of you who are parents of more than one will know that feeling when your second child is about to arrive and you cannot imagine you will love them any more than you love your first. For Trent Dalton fans, it will be difficult to envisage feeling as much for...