Our latest reviews
Letter to George Clooney by Debra Adelaide
Debra Adelaide’s new collection of short stories, Letter to George Clooney, is wonderfully dark and humorous, making wicked fun at the familiar typecasts of poets, internet dating, government warnings, signage and the tax department. I particularly enjoyed her portrait…
Changing Gears by Greg Foyster
Greg Foyster had a high-flying job in advertising and a steady income, worked in a fancy office and lived in a nice house. Then one day he realised none of that was making him happy. He quit his job and…
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
The Bone Season is set in 2059 and follows Paige Mahoney, a clairvoyant who can break into people’s minds. Since clairvoyance is punishable by death in Scion, the high-powered political and security establishment that controls London, Paige makes her living…
What Was Left by Eleanor Limprecht
This is one of the best debut novels I have read in a long time. It tells the story of Rachel, who is feeling alone in the sleeplessness, worry and physical pain of new motherhood. She finds it difficult to…
Boom by Malcolm Knox
Just as I finished reading Malcolm Knox’s comprehensive history of mining in Australia, the High Court dismissed a challenge by Fortescue Metals Group to the validity of the mining tax. Despite the facts that Fortescue has not paid any of…
And Then Like My Dreams by Margaret Rose Stringer
Heart-breaking at times, and at others uproariously irreverent, astute, tender, and with an earthy wisdom, this ‘first-timer’ is a gripping book – a love-story that confronts the struggles of living and a death than came too soon.
It opens with…
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
In 2006 I read and loved Marisha Pessl’s first novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, a 500-page coming-of-age story bursting with literary and pop-culture references. It was an ambitious, fascinating book that left me eager to read more of…
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
Mostly set in present-day Singapore, Crazy Rich Asians follows three incredibly wealthy, inter-married Chinese families, and let me assure you, crazy rich is an understatement. The story focuses on Rachel Chu, an accomplished ABC (American Born Chinese) economics professor who…
The Young Desire It by Kenneth Mackenzie
The Young Desire It was awarded the ALS Gold Medal in 1937, when the author was only 24. This extraordinary book, like many first novels, is largely autobiographical – the defining years of protagonist Charles Fox are simply crafted in…
A Spy in the Archives by Sheila Fitzpatrick
A Spy in the Archives, which began life as an essay in the London Review of Books in 2010, is a memoir rich in history as much as detail. Reading this book made me realise my own knowledge of…
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