What Am I Reading?

The Naturalist of Amsterdam – Melissa Ashley

The Naturalist of Amsterdam – Melissa Ashley

Brisbane author Melissa Ashley has made a name for herself with novels that reimagine or rediscover the lives of women overlooked by history, giving these women a voice and a life supported by meticulous research and an attention to detail that breathes authenticity...

Manhattan Dreaming – Anita Heiss

Manhattan Dreaming – Anita Heiss

Wiradyuri author Anita Heiss has recently re-released her earlier works, and Manhattan Dreaming (Simon and Schuster 2010) has had a contemporary revision which maintains its relevance as a light-hearted romantic comedy combined with a powerful Koori protagonist forced...

Big Weird Lonely Hearts – Allen C. Jones

Big Weird Lonely Hearts – Allen C. Jones

I really enjoyed Allen C. Jones’ debut novel so what a delight to read his debut short story collection Big Weird Lonely Hearts (Midnight Sun Publishing 2023), available by pre-order now for release in November. My recent reading of George Saunders’ interpretation of...

Lucy by the Sea – Elizabeth Strout

Lucy by the Sea – Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout’s spare and detailed writing, her careful observations, her evocative descriptions, her layered characters and their authentic dialogue contribute to making her one of my very favourite authors. Lucy by the Sea (Penguin Random House 2022) follows the...

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain – George Saunders

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain – George Saunders

I was initially a bit intimidated to read George Saunders’ A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (Bloomsbury 2021), subtitled as it was: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading and Life. Good grief! What do I know about Russian writers? Very little....

Fat Girl Dancing – Kris Kneen

Fat Girl Dancing – Kris Kneen

Raw, vulnerable, confronting, self-reflective and questioning, Kris Kneen’s memoir Fat Girl Dancing (Text Publishing 2023) is an examination of the body in all its manifestations, and specifically Kneen’s feelings about their own body, its capabilities, its strengths...

Perfect-ish – Jessica Seaborn

Perfect-ish – Jessica Seaborn

Jessica Seaborn’s debut novel #Perfect-ish (Penguin Random House 2023) is described as a ‘smart, funny and heartfelt anti-romcom’, and so it is, a bright, clever and sophisticated contemporary genre that focuses on women in their late 20’s or early 30’s who are...

Sunbirds – Mirandi Riwoe

Sunbirds – Mirandi Riwoe

As with all of Mirandi Riwoe’s writing, her latest novel Sunbirds (UQP 2023) immerses the reader in a sensory, cultural experience full of the tastes, sights, sounds and emotions of historical Indonesian / Chinese life. Sunbirds includes Dutch heritage and again...

Bound to Happen – Jonathon Shannon

Bound to Happen – Jonathon Shannon

Bound to Happen (Ultimo Press 2023) is a whip-smart, witty, warm rom-com about two people who have never met although we suspect from the very first pages that their connection is bound to happen. A debut by Jonathon Shannon, this novel takes its cue from the chance...

The Sitter – Angela O’Keeffe

The Sitter – Angela O’Keeffe

Winner of the 2023 Quentin Bryce Award, The Sitter (UQP 2023) is a luminous, poetic and moving novella by Angela O’Keeffe. In this slim volume, O’Keeffe explores the relationship between art and artist, between author and words, between mothers and their children. The...

Aphrodite’s Breath – Susan Johnson

Aphrodite’s Breath – Susan Johnson

Memoir is a slippery beast, one person writing their own truth not only about themselves but about other significant, real people in their life. Rarely have I read a memoir that is as brutally self-reflective, as honestly interrogative, as beautifully written, and as...

The Crying Room – Gretchen Shirm

The Crying Room – Gretchen Shirm

The fact that the novel The Crying Room (Transit Lounge Publishing 2023) by Gretchen Shirm has cover endorsements from Helen Garner and Tegan Bennett Daylight gives you an indication of the quality of the prose and the skilled crafting of the writing. Luminously...