Tommy had intended to spend the last night at the old house sweating through three shirts and four pairs of underwear. I cannot remember the last time I devoured a book in a weekend. However, Michael Thompson has written an engaging, easy-to-read story with a fascinating premise that I couldn't put down. How To Be … Continue reading How To Be Remembered | Michael Thompson #AUSfiction
In a basement bar on a university campus, a boy and a girl hold each other, their limbs loose with alcohol. First, an apology for being pretty absent in blogger land lately. I'm keeping up with AusReadingMonth posts (just) and that's about it. Post scheduling errors, computer updates that end up requiring some IT input … Continue reading Love & Virtue | Diana Reid #AWWfiction
George Marsh had written another book. Virginia Feito was raised in Madrid and Paris, and studied English and drama at Queen Mary University of London. Mrs Marsh is her debut novel. She lives in Madrid. A movie starring Elizabeth Moss is on the cards. These are the things one quickly learns, when you Duck, Duck, … Continue reading Mrs March: A Novel | Virginia Feito #ESPfiction
An entire day had passed since George Walker had spoken to his wife. As so often happens when reading, one book reminds you of another. A character, a plot development, a thing said or done becomes linked in your mind to something else, purely by the serendipity of happenchance. In the early days of my … Continue reading The Sweetness of Water | Nathan Harris #USAfiction
Born Into This is a collection of short stories by an exciting new voice in Indigenous writing, Adam Thompson. Adam Thompson may be an emerging Pakana writer from Launceston, but there are powerful and promising things going on here. Some of his stories pack a serious punch, others creep in quietly under your skin. Either … Continue reading Born Into This | Adam Thompson #AUSshortstories
Many years ago, the year 2000 to be precise [I know this because], I read and loved Simon Winchester's The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words. Curiously and more sensationally, it was retitled The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford … Continue reading The Dictionary of Lost Words | Pip Williams #AWWfiction
When I was ten, I would have devoured this gem of a book, several times over! The Secret Library of Hummingbird House features a mysterious old house, a secret book and time travel (amusingly, back in time to the 1970's when I was ten)! What's not to love?Especially when it's all wrapped up with a very … Continue reading The Secret Library of Hummingbird House | Julianne Negri #AWW
My journey with The Parisian has been a labour of love. I started reading it the week before Australia went pear-shaped with Covid-19 back in March. I was really enjoying it, but it's a thoughtful read and I struggled to give this book the attention it deserved during those early, weird weeks of Covid confusion. … Continue reading The Parisian | Isabella Hammad #GBRfiction
When one sets out to read a book, you enter into a contract of sorts with the author. You agree to be apart of their world and to go along for the ride. As I've discussed before, we all have our own criteria by which we judge a book and whether we will pick it … Continue reading Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens #USfiction
The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay was a tremendous read. Fascinating, absorbing and eye-opening. I say eye-opening, because even though I've read a lot of Indian literature over the years, I don't believe I've read many that cover the conflict in Kashmir. Vijay doesn't answer all the questions or provide all the answers, she doesn't … Continue reading The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay
What a hoot! I wasn't expecting a neo-noir comedy from such a grim title, but I had some genuine laugh out loud moments throughout My Sister, the Serial Killer. Oyinkan Braithwaite has written a punchy, sharp, witty story that blew in like a breath of fresh air in this year's Women's Prize shortlist. One of … Continue reading My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
It's a long weekend in Australia, and for the first time in over a year, we've enjoyed a lazy, nothing-to-do-but-flop-around-the-house kind of weekend. It has been blissful. Even with the ghastly high temps and even higher humidity, or maybe because of, it has been the perfect time for reading, snoozing and listening to music as … Continue reading Flames by Robbie Arnott
I suspect I'm going to be the lone dissenting voice when it comes to Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton.This is a debut Australian novel garnering a HUGE amount of attention and rave reviews. In the lead up to our Christmas rush at work last year, this is the book many, many locals were asking … Continue reading Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
bronasbooks.com 