Our latest reviews
Heat and Light by Ellen van Neerven
In 2013, a young Queensland writer, Ellen van Neerven, was awarded the prestigious David Unaipon Award. Among short-fiction writers in Australia, news travels fast when a new kid appears on the block. Along with many writers, I eagerly anticipated the…
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
Set in London in 1922 – a city still reeling after World War I and in the midst of a rapidly transforming social order – Sarah Waters’s sixth novel addresses the crumbling prestige of the genteel class and the transitioning…
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
In his award-winning 2004 novel, Cloud Atlas, British author David Mitchell interwove six disparate stories to form a narrative tapestry, taking the reader on a journey from 1850 to a post-apocalyptic future. Mitchell clearly realised from the positive reception…
We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas
We Are Not Ourselves, Michael Thomas’s debut novel, caused quite a stir at the London Book Fair last year, sparking a bidding war between UK and US publishers for the rights. There was much competition among Readings staff, too…
When the Night Comes by Favel Parrett
Favel Parrett burst onto the Australian literary scene in 2011 with the novel Past the Shallows, which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. Parrett was widely praised for her richly detailed writing and ability to create empathic characters…
Single Mothers by Justin Townes Earle
It’s been quite the turbulent 32-year journey for JT Earle, who is surely one of modern Americana’s brightest shining talents. After several stints in rehab it seemed, at times, that the burden of an all-too-famous father coupled with a self-destructive…
Lullaby and … The Ceaseless Roar by Robert Plant
With all the renewed interest in Led Zeppelin, firstly following their 2007 reunion shows and again on the re-release of their first three albums a few months ago, you might think their iconic vocalist would be interested in rekindling those…
On Sudden Hill by Linda Sarah and Benji Davies
A box is a wonderful thing. Of course, it’s useful for transporting things, but its most charming uses are when it’s a robot, house or a spaceship, really anything your imagination wants.
Birt and Etho are old friends who climb…
Hello from Nowhere by Raewyn Caisley and Karen Blair
Eve and her dad live on the Nullarbor Plain and she loves it ‘in the middle of nowhere’. She loves the wildlife, the ever-changing tourists, the locals and the freedom. However, she misses her nan and wants her to visit…
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
Somewhere between novel and autobiography, My Family and Other Animals is the story of 10-year-old nature enthusiast Gerald Durrell and his family’s four-year migration from England to Corfu in the 1930s. Gerald’s enthusiasm for the natural world finds the perfect…
Browse our reviews by category
