Ask Agatha

Ask Agatha: hay fever, lies & true crime nuts

Our book advice column is back, and so is our wise and learned bookseller Agatha, who is ready to answer all your tricky (book-related) questions.

If you have a question for Agatha please email [email protected].

My friend has lent me a book they absolutely LOVE and which I absolutely hate. Do I need to pretend I enjoyed it or can I admit my true feelings?

I know the truth can set us free, but so does a sweet little…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha

by

Our book advice column is back, and so is our wise and learned bookseller Agatha, who is ready to answer all your tricky (book-related) questions.

If you have a question for Agatha please email [email protected].

Dear Agatha

I’m seeing more and more of my friends switch to KeepCups and beeswax wraps, while I am still out here filling up bins with Styrofoam noodle cups. I know I should probably be doing more for our planet; I’m really starting to…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha

by

Our book advice column is back, and so is our wise and learned bookseller Agatha, who is ready to answer all your tricky (book-related) questions.

If you have a question for Agatha please email [email protected].

Dear Agatha

I get up in the evening and I ain’t got nothing to say. I come home in the morning and I go to bed feeling the same way. I ain’t nothing but tired. Man I’m just tired and bored with myself. Hey…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: Is it rude to admit I dislike a book that was a gift?

Our wise bookseller Agatha answers all your tricky questions.

I’m half-way through a book I received as a Christmas gift and have just considered throwing it across the room. If the gifter asks me what I thought, is it rude to come clean about how much I hated it? Should I just pretend I enjoyed it?

In this situation, you’re going to need to do some risk assessment: How often do you receive gifts from this person? How likely is…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: How can I turn my fussy eaters into vegetable-lovers?

Our wise bookseller Agatha answers all your tricky questions. If you have a question for Agatha please email [email protected].

My mother-in-law is always criticising my children for being fussy eaters. How can I transform them into vegetable-lovers by 25 December and prove her wrong? We are having parsnips, carrots, sprouts and peas: please help.

Studies have (probably) shown that children who experience an intense period of reading books about vegetables, followed by exposure to said vegetables, will show a…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: How can I convince my housemate to let me bring a cat home?

Our wise bookseller Agatha answers all your tricky questions. If you have a question for Agatha please email [email protected].

I’m obsessed with the podcast Serial and am so disappointed they’re taking a break this week. But (sigh) I’ve decided to turn this event into a positive and use the time to read something that will complement my listening of it. What would you suggest?

Buzzfeed recently published an article about why Janet Malcolm’s The Journalist and the Murderer is…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: What are the best books about writing?

Our wise bookseller Agatha answers all your tricky questions. If you have a question for Agatha please email [email protected].

What do I get my mother-in-law for Christmas? She’s a high school English teacher and loves reading - but she’s usually always read something before me so I find it tricky to get her something new.

I see two options here….

The first would be to choose a book that is ‘hot-off-the-press’ so that she simply doesn’t have enough time…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: What's a book to scare my brother?

Our wise bookseller Agatha answers all your tricky questions. If you have a question for Agatha please email [email protected].

I want to read a prize winner from this year but don’t know which one! Help?

Well, well, well this question is perfectly timed! We just happen to be announcing the inaugural winner of our New Australian Writing Award this very evening. So, of course, the best place to start with prize winners is to read our winner (announced sometime…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: Can I burn my ex's books?

Our wise bookseller Agatha answers all your tricky questions. If you have a question for Agatha please email [email protected].

My boyfriend left me because of uncertain reasons. I have some of his books. Is it morally wrong to keep the one I like and burn the rest in a pit?

Don’t punish good books because their owner is terrible. That’s my motto. Give those unwanted books to a secondhand shop, a charity shop, a free library (like the Little…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: What is the best show on TV right now?

Our wise bookseller Agatha answers all your tricky questions. If you have a question for Agatha please email [email protected].

Readings recently suggested The Scarecrow’s Wedding as a cute gift for a couple getting married (see here). I like the idea but think scarecrows are quite creepy. Do you know of any other kids books that would work just as well?

Jennifer Adams and Alison Oliver are the brains behind Baby Lit – a stylish series that recreate classic…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: Should I give an author a second chance?

Ask our wise bookseller Agatha all your tricky (book-related) questions.

Is the book actually always better than the film? Or is that just a myth invented by book lovers?

Yes. I’m sorry to have to tell you this but the book is always better than the film.

I only read novels, but lately I’ve found myself increasingly bored, stuck in a rut of reading the same thing over and over. I want to diversify and try some non-fiction. Can you…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: early Man Booker predictions and reading fan-fiction

The latest installment of our book advice column where you can ask our wise bookseller Agatha all your tricky (book-related) questions.

Based on the longlist, which book do you predict will win the Man Booker Prize this year?

I haven’t read everything on the longlist as yet but I’d argue that Siri Hustvedt’s The Blazing World is well-placed to win – it’s a superbly intricate novel set in the New York art world. I’d also like to mention Karen…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: Books to make you seem smarter and the ideal Agatha Christie reader

The latest installment of our book advice column where you can ask our wise bookseller Agatha all your tricky (book-related) questions.

Agatha, I have a question about your namesake, Agatha Christie. Where do I start? Are her books an acquired taste or can you jump straight in? Who is the ideal ‘Agatha Christie’ reader?

Well, I daresay it’s lovely to get a question about my namesake. I have long adored the works of Agatha Christie. She was a dynamic woman…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: dyslexic teen readers and literary books that will make you laugh

The latest installment of our book advice column where you can ask our wise bookseller Agatha all your tricky (book-related) questions.

I’m into literature but I think most of it is painfully unfunny. What books can I read that will actually make me laugh?

To my thinking, Lorrie Moore is essential reading for the Literary lover who enjoys funny books. Of her latest short-story collection, Bark, our reviewer writes: ‘Moore’s use of humour is underhanded, her jokes sneaking up…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: lying about books you've never read

The latest installment of our book advice column where you can ask our wise bookseller Agatha all your tricky (book-related) questions.

I’ve recently made a new friend who is very well-read. I’ve been lying about my reading habits to make them think I’ve read as many classics as they have. Is this wrong?

If you really want to hear about it, it is a truth universally acknowledged that hardly anyone has read the classics they claim to have read. In…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: how to read Peter Carey and great female villains

The latest installment of our book advice column where you can ask our wise bookseller Agatha all your tricky (book-related) questions.

Ever since I read all of Gillian Flynn’s books, I’ve been in the mood for reading about dark, complicated female characters. Can you recommend a book with a great female villain?

If you are looking for a dark female lead, look no further than Alissa Nutting’s Tampa. A lot of people really hated this book (about a psychopathic…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: Reading at the dinner table and not crying in books

The latest installment of our book advice column where you can ask our wise bookseller Agatha all your tricky (book-related) questions.

My husband and I need you to help settle an argument around book etiquette. Is it really that rude to read at the table during a meal? If yes, can exceptions be made if you are at a crucial part in the story?

It’s not really a question of where you are in the story but which meal you’re…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: Hilary Mantel, The Leftovers and romantic comedies

The latest installment of our book advice column where you can ask our wise bookseller Agatha all your tricky (book-related) questions.

I’ve really enjoyed the Hilary Mantel Cromwell novels. Can you recommend other historical novel writers/titles?

Isn’t Mantel spectacular? If you haven’t yet tried her previous books it’s worth testing a title from her backlist. Beyond Black is one of the best.

Other writers of historical fiction who draw comparisons with Mantel include Vanora Bennett (try Portrait of an

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: reluctant readers, David Gemmell and books set in Texas

Welcome to our new book advice column where you can ask our wise bookseller Agatha all your tricky (book-related) questions.

I’ve read all of David Gemmell’s books and don’t know what to read next. Who’s an author like him?

This is a tricky question because really, there is no single author that matches Gemmell’s style to perfection. Luckily, his influence is strongly evident in a number of fantasy and historical fiction novels and depending what aspect of his books you…

Read more ›

Ask Agatha: Fun Fiction, Tear-Jerkers and Binge-Watching TV

Welcome to our new book advice column where you can ask our wise bookseller Agatha all your tricky (book-related) questions.

I’m looking for a really light, fun read, but something that’s still good quality. I don’t want to be embarrassed when I’m reading it on the tram, or if someone sees it in my bookcase. (I have a lot of book anxiety, okay?) Help me please! – Self-Conscious Reader

Anyone who manages to make death, divorce, amnesia and stalking both…

Read more ›

Meet Agatha, our resident agony aunt for all your bookish queries

Ask Agatha!

Starting in May, we’ll be running a regular book advice column where you can ask our experienced and extremely wise bookseller Agatha all your tricky book-related questions.

You can ask her anything and everything, as long as it relates to books in some way. Some examples of questions she might answer:

My friend has just been dumped by her boyfriend and she’s heartbroken. Can you help me find a book that will cheer her up?

Who wrote that

Read more ›