No Document is an elegy for a friendship and artistic partnership cut short by death. The memory of this collaboration becomes a model for how we might relate to others in sympathy, solidarity and rebellion. At once intimate and expansive, Anwen Crawford’s book-length essay explores loss in many forms: disappeared artworks, effaced histories, abandoned futures. Written … Continue reading No Document | Anwen Crawford #AWWnon-fiction
There are few things as startling as encountering an unearthly glow in the wild. Confession one: this book was a chore to read. Confession two: for the past week I have been trying to read three books that were a chore to read. Why, I hear you ask? Confession three: I made myself finish one, … Continue reading Phosphorescence | Julia Baird #AWWessays
'Tis the season for book award longlists and shortlists! I've decided to use this season to pull together which books I've read from the various lists and which ones I hope to read. However, the main reason for embarking on this list-making is to 'force' me to tidy up the relevant books posts from last … Continue reading Longlists and Shortlists
Sometimes a reading experience is not as straight forward as you might first think. There are some books that demand more of the reader. The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones was one of those books for me. I feel a little guilty about confessing that this was my first Gail Jones. One of … Continue reading The Death of Noah Glass | Gail Jones #AWW
The World Was Whole by Fiona Wright is a difficult book to review. It's a personal collection of Wright's essays, anecdotes and snippets. They are revealing and specific, almost like reading someone's private journal. Yet, all these sketches are written with such emotional intelligence and compassion that they become universal, finding their own connection with … Continue reading The World Was Whole by Fiona Wright
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree has been attracting my attention for several months now, however it took its recent longlisting for this year's Stella Prize to finally make me pick it up. I'm nothing but a Stella groupie!The cover alone might have been enticement enough (a collage of three of Azar's art works), but … Continue reading The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar
Usually I prefer to start a book knowing as little about it as possible, especially contemporary fiction. I like to come at it without any prejudices or preconceived ideas so that I can make up my own mind. However that was not the case with the Stella Prize winning book The Museum of Modern Love … Continue reading The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose
I have no idea how to adequately review Offshore: Behind the Wire on Manus and Nauru.Refugees, asylum seekers and offshore processing has polarised politics and opinion in Australia for several years now. A book like this, that attempts to provide an 'uncompromising' overview that 'gets behind the rumours and allegations to reveal what is known' … Continue reading Offshore: Behind the Wire on Manus and Nauru by Madeline Gleeson
I really enjoy the idea of the Stella Prize and love the announcement of each year's longlist. I know I will never have the time to read all the books on the list, but I do love how the list helps to push me towards books I may not have tried otherwise.I have found some … Continue reading Stella Considerations
Writing a book about your experience with the IVF program comes with many emotional pitfalls and landmines. It crashes into the brick wall of other people's preconceived and often strongly held opinions.The trick, obviously, is to connect emotionally to your reader very early on.I find that books like this, about topics like this, are a … Continue reading Avalanche by Julia Leigh
A Few Days in the Country and Other Stories has been shortlisted for this year's Stella Prize.I find short story collections a curious choice for a major award (and this year, the Stella has two short story collections) and I'm trying to work out why.I really enjoy a good short story - over the years … Continue reading A Few Days in the Country by Elizabeth Harrower
Six Bedrooms has been on my radar ever since an ARC turned up at work last year, but something about "the dangerous, tilting terrain of becoming an adult" from the back blurb put me off.The becoming an adult stage was traumatic enough to live through first time around; I wasn't sure if I was brave … Continue reading Six Bedrooms by Tegan Bennett Daylight
One of the things I love about the new Stella Prize is that it encourages me to read authors & books that I might otherwise overlook.Heat and Light had slipped under my radar last year, but when it was shortlisted I did a little research and found some very interesting reviews.I dived in with great … Continue reading Heat and Light by Ellen Van Neerven
It's that time of year again when the book world goes crazy with longlists, shortlists and highly commended's! No matter what you think about the various awards, their merits & selection criteria's, it's very difficult not to get caught up in the buzz.In Australia, the Indie Book Award has come and gone... and the Stella longlist has … Continue reading And the Winner Is….
It's Monday! has been in repeat mode for the past few week as I've slowly, sadly read Vera Brittain's memoir of her WW1 experiences in The Testament of Youth.But this week will see it draw to a close. It has been such an emotional read and so consuming that I'm struggling to see what book … Continue reading It’s Monday
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