Our books of the month, April 2023
Explore our books of the month for April; each of the below titles has been read and recommended by our booksellers before being selected as our book of the month for its category.
FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop
Reviewed by Alison Huber, head book buyer
'I can’t speak highly enough of this literary work.'
One of the most wonderful and satisfying things about being a reader is following the careers of writers whose work you have found and loved, waiting expectantly for their next work, and then being rewarded when that anticipation is justified by the publication of an outstanding new book. One of the authors I follow is Stephanie Bishop. So many of us were transfixed by her breakthrough book and winner of the 2015 Readings Prize, The Other Side of the World, and her accomplished 2018 novel, Man Out of Time: I hope all these people and many, many more will discover her major new achievement, The Anniversary.
Novelist JB Blackwood is married to Patrick, a renowned filmmaker. They met when JB was a university student and Patrick was a charismatic visiting professor. He was much older of course, holding court to an enthralled cohort of disciples while exuding the kind of cultish rockstar-intellectual appeal (complete with leather jacket) that is peculiar to academia. Their chance encounter in the rain after he delivers a lecture leads to a passionate affair, but this was not a brief distraction for either of them, since they are now celebrating their fourteenth wedding anniversary on a luxury cruise. JB has organised the whole thing, despite Patrick’s lingering resistance to the effort involved in travel. She is hoping they can spend some quality time together; their relationship has been strained of late. But this dream of travel, imagined just as JB is about to be acknowledged for her writing with an important prize, becomes a tragedy when Patrick falls overboard and is lost at sea.
CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH
City of Dreams by Don Winslow
Reviewed by Pierre Sutcliffe, Readings St Kilda
'In this suitably brilliant end to his career, he has gone out with all guns blazing.'
City of Dreams is the second novel of a planned trilogy that began with City on Fire. The first book must be discussed because if you have not read it, you need to rush out now and get hold of it, as it is one of the most outstanding crime novels of recent years. If you have already read it, you won’t be bothering with this review as you will already have purchased City of Dreams.
The series starts in 1986 with a modern-day Helen of Troy emerging from the waves and igniting a war between the Irish and Italian gangster families of Providence, Rhode Island. Any fan of Mario Puzo will love this – as an intergenerational criminal-family saga, it has major The Godfather vibes.
Danny Ryan is a self-proclaimed ‘Mick’ from Dogtown who has survived the action in the first book. In this new instalment, we follow him and his young son as they escape the contract on Danny’s head and end up living in Hollywood. Avoiding all comparisons with Get Shorty, Winslow weaves a highly entertaining tale best described as Hollywood meets real gangsters. As the narrator sagely observes: ‘this is where the film industry and the criminal class intersect. A serene choir in a pitch-perfect harmony of indolence and greed.’ Last year, Don Winslow announced that this trilogy will conclude his writing career, which has been both exemplary and prolific. I find a lot of crime novels to be a little formulaic and/or lacking in ambition. Winslow has never been guilty of either crime.
NONFICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
Hanging Out by Sheila Liming
Reviewed by Margaret Snowdon, Readings Carlton
'I need to hang out to stay sane ... I feel we all do, so I highly recommend this book.'
Hanging out is to be in the moment, to become engaged with our less-than-perfect, or maybe just-perfect lives, without feeling constrained by the demands of work. Hanging out is discouraged by a constant engagement with social media and the digital world.
Sheila Liming frames her enjoyable book through a series of personal experiences interspersed with examples and relevant comments from literature, philosophy and cultural studies writing. She encourages us to see hanging out as giving ourselves over to whatever may happen, and that may involve challenging, awkward, and messy moments. Importantly, there is also the opportunity to move beyond those moments to a better understanding of ourselves and others. She shares experiences of loneliness in crowds, arguments between old friends, the pleasures of hanging out with the like-minded (in her case, musicians), and times when she’s had an awareness that she’s hanging out with someone who either actually doesn’t like her, or is no longer a friend. There is no disappearing into perfect Instagrammable moments or busy-busy work emails: hanging out is experiencing life with the challenges and pleasures of reality.
PICTURE BOOK OF THE MONTH
Pasta! by Felice Arena and Beatrice Cerocchi (illus)
Reviewed by Kim Gruschow, co-manager at Readings St Kilda
'A lovely picture book that the whole family will enjoy reading together'
Felice Arena’s new picture book is a colourful celebration of all things pasta. ‘Macaroni, Rigatoni, Cannelloni, PASTA! ... These pasta words are fun to say,’ the book declares and it really is impossible to resist joining in and reading all these wonderful words out loud! ‘Pennette, Trenette and those little ears Orecchiette.’ Try saying them faster for a delicious tongue twister!
With lovely endpapers showcasing diverse pasta, young readers will enjoy identifying and choosing all their favourite pasta shapes. Bold and beautiful illustrations by Beatrice Cerocchi throughout display the many ways to enjoy pasta – and these aren’t limited to eating! (Penne necklace, anyone!?)
Even the fussiest of young eaters love pasta, and this is a lovely picture book that the whole family will enjoy reading together. For ages 2+.
KIDS CLASSIC BOOK OF THE MONTH
Mulga Bills Bicycle by AB Paterson, Kilmeny and Debora Niland (Illus)
Reviewed by Alexa Dretzke, children's and YA book specialist at Readings Hawthorn
'A.B. Paterson knows a thing or two about penning a rousing rhyme that begs to be read aloud.'
The saying ‘pride comes before a fall’ aptly applies to Mulga Bill, who boasts about his ability to ride a bike based on his prowess on a horse. Oh dear!
Over rough terrain a bike will not be as biddable as a horse, and Mulga Bill takes an ignominious dip in Dead Man’s Creek. The writer of the epic The Man from Snowy River knows a thing or two about penning a rousing rhyme that begs to be read aloud, and the energetic, rustic illustrations by the Niland sisters add to the imagery. Poetry enrichens children’s imaginations and their language, so once you have moved on from Hairy Maclary and his many titles, AA Milne’s Now We Are Six and Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, Mulga Bill would be a fun ride! For ages 4+.
YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE MONTH
The Quiet and the Loud by Helena Fox
Reviewed by Claire Atherfold, manager at Readings State Library
'an accessible and thought-provoking read for ages 14+.'
The Quiet and the Loud is the latest novel by Helena Fox, the award-winning author of How It Feels to Float. It is set in Sydney, just before and during the 2019 bushfires – some of the worst fires Australia has ever seen. The initial scene is peace, stillness, and quiet, as early in the morning we meet George, who glides along the waters of Sydney Harbour in her kayak. This hushed world is rudely interrupted by a loud beep from her phone.
Her estranged dad is texting: he wants to talk; George doesn’t. She ignores him, well, tries to, but he persists. Text after text. George continues to paddle, attempting to find her calm, and then sees a welcome distraction – a girl cartwheeling on the bank, all joy and light. George can’t look away.
This ‘vision’, we later discover, is Calliope. She may be just what George needs.
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE MONTH
Breathing Space by Genevieve Lacey
Reviewed by Kate Rockstrom, friend of Readings
'Lacey has created a multilayered sound world to reflect the rich landscape of symbols that identify place, Country and home.'
At the centre of the National Museum of Australia is a ‘Garden of Australian Dreams’, a symbolic landscape exploring ideas of place and country. An outdoor courtyard, it features water, landscaping, lighting, cartography and now, a sound installation. Genevieve Lacey was commissioned to celebrate and explore these ideas through the medium of sound. A recorder virtuoso and arts advocate, Lacey has created a multilayered sound world to reflect the rich landscape of symbols that identify place, Country and home.
Seamlessly blending text, natural sounds and music, this album is a distillation of the larger work. Titled Breathing Space, the full work will be a permanent sound installation and its subtitle of ‘a rewilding in sound’ is eminently suitable. Blending the hush of cicadas, some gentle growling trumpet, harp, choir, susurration of leaves, bird calls, and more, central to it all are words inspired by the award-winning writer Alexis Wright, a member of the Waanyi Nation of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Using the essay ‘Thinking about Writing Climate Change Fiction’ and turning it into a series of short texts, it is read by women and gender nonconforming people aged 6–87.