Our latest reviews
Big Brother by Lionel Shriver
Pandora is waiting at the airport for her older brother, Edison, when she averts her eyes from a morbidly obese man being wheeled into baggage claim by two flight attendants: ‘Looking at that man was like falling into a hole…
The Memory Trap by Andrea Goldsmith
It’s been three years since Andrea Goldsmith’s Reunion, a big, bold work. In both Reunion and her new novel, The Memory Trap, relationships, family, ambition, lust and goodness come together to make a magnificent story.
Nina, a consultant…
Destroying the Joint edited by Jane Caro
This collection of essays, edited by Jane Caro, was written in response to Alan Jones’s infamous announcement that ‘women are destroying the joint’ and the subsequent retaliation on social media. Covering everything from Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech to the difficulties…
Good on Paper by Andrew Morgan
It’s no secret that a great novel is not just the work of a great writer, but of a great editor as well. In Good on Paper, the debut novel from Melbourne writer Andrew Morgan shows us a publishing…
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
In rural Iceland, 1829, a woman named Agnes Magnúsdóttir is sentenced to death for her part in a brutal double murder. As she awaits her execution, she is sent to board with a local family on their farm: District Officer…
Sun Catcher by Sheila Rance
Sun Catcher by Sheila Rance is a great book. I loved it. It is a fantasy set in the Bronze Age that would appeal to people who like the thrill of a good adventure mixed with a quest. The characters…
Toscano's Family Table by Jo Toscano
I would like to let you know that my garden provides enough fruit and vegetables for my family all year round, but sadly that would be a huge lie. I would also like to tell you that I never shop…
Machines of Love and Grace by Martha Tilston
British folk singer Martha Tilston first came to my attention with the release of 2007’s Of Milkmaids & Architects, about the same time that I began listening to The Unthanks, another band who brilliantly meld the traditional and modern…
Talé by Salif Keita
Salif Keita does an acoustic album every now and then, but Talé is not one of those. Rather, it’s a contemporary record full of modern dance grooves, a host of special guests and that golden voice.
Keita references early 70s…
Jama Ko by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba
Mali’s Bassekou Kouyate is a virtuoso on the Ngoni (an African string instrument similar to the lute). Jama Ko was recorded in Kouyate’s house, not far from where last year’s coup occurred in the capital, Bamako.
Produced by Howard Bilerman…
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