"Well, there’s so much to read, and I’m so far behind." Wallace Stegner
All I can remember, and this is what I told the police over and over again, is that there was a party at the house and I'd been drinking. It took me several weeks to read Benang in preparation for Indigenous Literature Week. It was intense, demanding and confronting. I'm very grateful to have finally … Continue reading After Story | Larissa Behrendt
Margot is shuffling in a balletic first position along the strip of carpet between the legs of the already-seated people in the theatre and the chair backs of the row in front. The performance at the heart of The Performance is a Samuel Beckett play, Happy Days. It was Beckett’s sixth play, written in response … Continue reading The Performance | Claire Thomas
One gets to a time and place when one HAS to be done thinking about a book and what review to write for it. I have reached this point with Our Shadows by Gail Jones. I have done everything I can to put together some coherent, clever thoughts, from attending two zoom author talks with … Continue reading Our Shadows | Gail Jones
Written with unerring skill and insight, The Dyehouse is a masterly portrait of postwar Australia, when industrial work was radically transformed by new technologies and society changed with it. Mena Calthorpe—who herself worked in a textile factory—takes us inside this world, vividly bringing to life the people of an inner-Sydney company in the mid-1950s: the … Continue reading The Dyehouse | Mena Calthorpe
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
One of my good friends has adored Inga Simpson's previous two books, Nest and Mr Wigg, so when Simpson's third book hit the stands recently, I knew it was time for me to see what it was that Anne loved so much about Simpson's writing. Where the Trees Were appealed to me for lots of … Continue reading Where the Trees Were | Inga Simpson
I love reading books set in places that I know well. I love that feeling of being connected and in the know. It makes the story feel more personal - almost like the book was written just for me. Tranter used to live in the Inner West of Sydney but now works as a Visiting … Continue reading Hold | Kirsten Tranter
This is the week of the Sydney Writers' Festival.Realistically though, the whole month of May can be taken up with major book events.For anyone in Sydney or in the book trade this can be a big deal.I'm in both!Last week I had my book sellers cap on and attended two invitation only events.One was hosted … Continue reading Longlists and Shortlists Take 2
This is my kind of fiction. The Railwayman's Wife is heart-achingly sweet. Hay has created an emotional world that is absorbing and very tangible. She see-saws between loss & grief and love & hope. Her writing is tender & lyrical and full of the wonder & healing power of nature. I devoured this book in … Continue reading The Railwayman’s Wife | Ashley Hay #AWWfiction
I've been putting off writing this review, simply because I'm not sure what to say about Tim Winton's Eyrie now that I've finished it. Will this be a positive, negative review or a negative, positive review? I thought if I sat with it for a few days some reviewing inspiration would strike, but it hasn't. … Continue reading Eyrie | Tim Winton
I've enjoyed the Lily Brett novels, short stories and articles I've read over the years. And Lola Bensky was no exception. You know exactly what you're going to get with Brett. And for me that is a positive. You know there is going to be lots of Holocaust survivor issues, body weight issues and a … Continue reading Lola Bensky | Lily Brett
I don't normally write a review about a book before I finish it, but today is ANZAC Day - the perfect day to write a review about Tom Keneally's new book 'The Daughters of Mars'. This is the story of two sisters, Naomi & Sally Durance, from Kempsey, NSW. At the start of World War … Continue reading The Daughters of Mars | Tom Keneally
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