Books

The March crime review

These are the crime books which have been read and reviewed by our excellent booksellers this month – all in one place!

What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan

Reviewed by Lian Hingee, digital marketing manager

Australia is blessed with some of the very best crime writers in the world right now, and Dervla McTiernan is without a doubt one of the finest. Her debut, The Rúin, was a global bestseller that won a host of awards when…

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The 2024 International Booker Longlist

The International Booker Prize has revealed the ‘Booker Dozen’ of 13 novels in contention for the 2024 prize, which celebrates the finest works of translated fiction from around the world.

The prize is awarded every year for a single book that is translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. It aims to encourage more publishing and reading of quality works of imagination from all over the world, and to give greater recognition to the role of translators…

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The Carol Shields Prize longlist 2024

The 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction longlist has been anounced!

The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction is the first major English-language literary prize to celebrate creativity and excellence in fiction by women and non-binary writers in Canada and the United States, awarding $150,000 USD to its winner, and $12,500 USD to each of its four finalists.

Explore the 15 longlisted titles below.

Cocktail by Lisa Alward

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

Dances by Nicole Cuffy

Daughter by Claudia Dey

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Best food and gardening books of the month, with Chris Gordon

by Chris Gordon

The Mediterranean Cook by Meni Valle

Meni Valle is a teacher and a culinary tour guide in the Mediterranean. This is excellent news because it means her recipes are easy to follow, considered for a range of skill sets, and include a historical background to each dish. This is her sixth cookbook, and it captures the Mediterranean approach of dishes that spread from the early afternoon through to the evening. Imagine filo pastries, stuffed vegetables, grilled meats, and delicious fruit-based…

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What we're reading: Okazaki, Scanlan & Blain

Each week our wonderful staff share the books and music that they've been enjoying.

Mark Rubbo is reading We All Lived in Bondi Then by Georgia Blain

I have been reading the posthumous collection of short stories by Georgia Blain, We All Lived in Bondi Then. It's an exquisite collection, moving, at times funny and so readable. I was reminded of Alice Munro and Tessa Hadley.

I've also just read Nicholas Jose's novel The Idealist. Think le Carré…

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The Women's Prize for Fiction longlist 2024

The longlist for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced! The Women’s Prize for Fiction celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing from throughout the world. The winner receives a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze figurine known as a ‘Bessie’, created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven. Both are anonymously endowed.

Below are the sixteen longlisted books.

Hangman by Maya Binyam

In Defence of the Act by Effie Black

And Then She Fell

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We test recipes from Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice

Recently our office was blessed with a visit from legendary local baker Natalie Paull. The visit coincides with the publication of her second cookbook Beatrix Bakes: Another slice (yes, we have signed copies), and to celebrate our multi-talented staff participated in an in-house bake-off, where we trialled recipes from Paull's latest collection.

With Paull on-site to judge an array of delicious bakes including tarts, chiffon cakes, buns and pies – this was truly a taste test to relish…

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The Most Anticipated Books of 2024

by Alison Huber

It’s that time of year again which I approach with equal parts excitement and dread – when I sit down under the weight of a too-close deadline to a blank page plus an overwhelming number of forthcoming titles kindly furnished by our friends in publishing, and try to find a way to cram a year’s worth of output into a jaunty piece of – let’s call it – creative nonfiction (overreach? more likely creative summary?) that doesn’t feel too much…

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Our books of the month, March 2024

Explore our books of the month for March; 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

Thanks for Having Me by Emma Darragh

Reviewed by Annie Condon from Readings Hawthorn

'This novel is for readers who enjoy writers who make the personal enjoyably political.'

Thanks for Having Me is a novel told in interlinked stories, and even though…

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YA fairytale retellings

by Lucie Dess

It's Tell A Fairytale Day! And to celebrate, I've created a list of young adult fairytale retellings. From feminist to queer retellings, you'll be reading long after the day is done.

Wish of the Wicked by Danielle Paige

A mash-up of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty with added inspiration from the Salem Witch Trials.

For centuries, the enchanted members of the Entente used their magic to keep the Thirteen Queendoms in harmony. Until the day that Queen Magrit outlawed magic, executed…

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Why you should read Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Samantha Harvey's lastest novel Orbital, about six astronauts in their spacecraft contemplating the world below, has been lauded since its release in the UK late last year. Our booksellers are beyond excited that it has finally been released locally and want you to know why you should rush out and purchase a copy—NOW!

This is quite honestly one of the best things I've read – perhaps ever – and is so, so good and special that I don't even…

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Debut fiction to read this month

Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly

Siblings Greta and Valdin have, perhaps, too much in common. They're flatmates, beholden to the same near-unpronounceable surname, and both make questionable choices when it comes to love.

Valdin is in love with his ex-boyfriend Xabi, who left the country because he thought he was making Valdin sad. Greta is in love with fellow English tutor Holly, who appears to be using her for admin support. But perhaps all is not lost. Valdin…

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What we're reading: Mayo & Sacco

Each week our wonderful staff share the books and music that they've been enjoying.

Katey Bellew is reading Dear Son by Thomas Mayo

This incredibly moving collection features twelve letters by Indigenous men addressed to their sons and fathers. What results is a desperately brave and tender demonstration of decolonising masculinity. The Northern Territory Intervention, and the racist dialogue surrounding it, is raised by several of the men as having a particularly harmful impact on their relationships and sense of…

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Our books of the month, February 2024

Explore our books of the month for February; 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

We All Lived in Bondi Then by Georgia Blain

Reviewed by Aurelia Orr, Readings Kids

‘Imbued with loss, love, and a yearning for something beyond our grasp, We All Lived in Bondi Then is written with acuity and nuance’

Shortly after…

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Best of the Best 2023

Every year our staff vote for their favourite books of the past 12 months. From their votes, we uncover the titles they loved most. Across six categories – Australian fiction, international fiction, nonfiction & memoir, picture books, junior & middle books, and young adult books – we share with you our top ten bookseller-voted titles. This year we've taken it one step further and asked you, our customers, to nominate your top read from each list of ten. After tallying…

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Winners of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2024

Congratulations to all the winners of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2024!

WINNER OF POETRY AND WINNER OF THE OVERALL VICTORIAN PRIZE FOR LITERATURE

Chinese Fish by Grace Yee

When Ping leaves Hong Kong to live in Aotearoa New Zealand, she discovers that life in the Land of the Long White Cloud is not the prosperous paradise she was led to believe it would be. Every day she works in a rat-infested shop frying fish, and every evening she…

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25% off 25 personal development favourites

We’re offering 25% off a select range of our personal development favourites! Simply apply the code PD25 at checkout to receive a 25% discount on all participating titles.

If you've seamlessly slipped back into old habits and are already feeling an all too familiar lack of vigour and vitality, a change to your routine or mindset could be in order. But where to begin? We've brought together some of our favourite personal development titles – at 25% off! –…

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The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards shortlists 2024

Exciting news! The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2024 shortlist has just been announced. The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards were inaugurated by the Victorian Government in 1985 to honour literary achievement by Australian writers. The awards are administered by the Wheeler Centre on behalf of the Premier of Victoria.

Prize for Fiction

But the Girl by Jessica Zhan Mei Yu

Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko

Only Sound Remains by Hossein Asgari

Serengotti by Eugen Bacon

Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

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Our Teen Advisory Board's favourite books of 2023

It's been a huge year of reading for our Teen Advisory Board. Below you can discover some of their favourite books from 2023, what their go-to summer break reads are, as well as the books they're hoping to buy, borrow or be gifted these holidays.

Favourite book of the year?

'At the beginning of this year, I picked up a beautiful copy of Jane Eyre, which had been given to me as a Christmas gift. Delightedly, I flew through…

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2023 fantasy, sci-fi and speculative fiction highlights

It has been a bonza year for all things fantasy, sci-fi and speculative fiction! We've rounded up some of our favourite reads that include cozy fantasies, epic space operas, and multiple not-too-distant dystopias.

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong

Every year, thousands flock to San-Er, the dangerously dense capital twin cities of the kingdom of Talin, where the palace hosts a set of deadly games. Those confident in their ability to jump between bodies can enter a fight to the death…

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Great graphic novels for middle schoolers

Graphic novels are a great way to get even the most reluctant of children reading. Here is a collection of standout graphic novels released in 2023 that include fantasy stories about witches, mythical beings, contemporary stories of navigating friendships and new schools, and at least one very cute monster! There's something for every reader aged 8-12.

Nayra and the Djinn by Iasmin Omar Ata

Nothing is going right for Nayra Mansour. There’s the constant pressure from her strict family, ruthless…

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10 booksellers share their personal favourite reads of 2023

Below 10 booksellers share which books stand out as exceptional amongst everything they’ve read this year.

Art Monsters by Lauren Elkin

Art Monsters is the highlight book for me this year – energising, fresh, and entirely well researched this book combines visual and performance art with a series of powerful essays on the body in feminist art and practice by Laura Elkin. For art lovers, feminists and anyone grappling with where and how their body fits.

– Bec Kavanagh

Yellowface

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12 art and design highlights to gift this season

We consulted our most knowledgable art & design specialists to find out exactly what the art afficionado in your life may enjoy in their stocking this year! Below are 12 recommendations that include books on art, design, architecture and fashion.

The Japanese House Since 1945 by Naomi Pollock

Imagine a terraced house whose courtyard separates the kitchen from the bedroom. Or a tiny, triangular tower of rooms stacked one above another. Quirky, experimental and utterly fascinating, the houses produced in…

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Our 2023 guide to best books of the year

We’re sharing what we consider to be the best books of the year as well as a range of curated gift guides featuring hand-picked recommendations from our booksellers and online team. Keep an eye on this page as we’ll be adding to our list throughout the coming weeks.

Adult

Best of Australian fiction

Best of international fiction

Best of nonfiction

Must-read Australian debut fiction from 2023

Must-read international debut fiction from 2023

Great music books from 2023

10 booksellers share

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An Introduction to classics

by Ione Rawlings, Readings Teen Advisory Board

It is such a brilliant and exciting adventure to discover novels as a teen. After growing up on Tove Jansson, Enid Blyton and Harry Potter, I keenly await, as I get older, further broadening my tastes and knowledge, grappling with my mountainous to-read pile, and figuring out how on earth I’ll fit them on my bookshelf afterwards. I might have to resort to extreme measures, such as stacking them in great piles which intimidate visitors. Most of all, I’m…

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Vegan festive feasting

by Lucie Dess

Are you vegan and dreading another Christmas of a few wilted lettuce leaves and some turkey-tainted roast veg on your plate? Or perhaps you're not vegan, but you need to cater for some this festive season and aren't sure where to begin! Well, feast your eyes on this line-up of vegan cookbooks that will have vegan and non-vegan tastebuds singing this Christmas!

For those who like a traditional Christmas...

A Very Vegan Christmas by Sam Dixon

Do you miss iconic…

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Every day is teacher day in my book

by Rosalind McClintock

Teachers, what would we do without them? They are nothing short of amazing. Anyone who can not only corral a room of 20+ excitable children, but also teach them day in, day out, deserves something a little thoughtful. The following are some suggestions for all budgets that would be lovely teamed with a handmade card and a few lines on how they have helped you/your child this year.

For the teacher who loves to cook.

Low cost: We stopped for…

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The best food and gardening books of the month, with Chris Gordon

by Chris Gordon

Eat Lao by Sam Sempill

Sam Sempill is a Lao-born Australian textile artist and architect with a certain magical cooking skill developed through years spent in the kitchen with her grandmother. Like all good cookbooks, this collection of Lao-cuisine based recipes is more than a list of ingredients and instructions. It is a window into the past. Beautifully illustrated, you will find recipes for trout soup, custard pumpkin dessert and an enormous range of deliciously flavoured meals that, once seen…

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Mark's Say, November 2023

by Mark Rubbo

As I write this, I’m about to head off to Bali for the 20th Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. It’s a testament to its founders, Melbourne-born Janet DeNeefe and her Indonesian husband Ketut Suardana, that it has become a sought-after gig for writers and book lovers from around the world.

This trip comes on the back of a jaunt around Italy and Greece with my sister, with side trips to New York and Montreal. She’s a researcher at the Columbia…

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The Prime Minister's Literary Awards winners 2023

The winners of this year's Prime Minister's Literary Awards have been announced! The Prime Minister's Literary Awards celebrate outstanding literary talent in Australia and the valuable contribution Australian literature and history makes to the nation's cultural and intellectual life.

Fiction winner:

Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au

Nonfiction winner:

My Father and Other Animals by Sam Vincent

Australian History winner:

Unmaking Angas Downs by Shannyn Palmer

Poetry winner:

At the Altar of Touch by Gavin Yuan Gao

Young Adult

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The November crime review

These are the crime books which have been read and reviewed by our excellent booksellers this month - all in one place!

The Mantis by Kotaro Isaka & Sam Malissa (trans.)

Reviewed by Joe Murray from Readings Kids

Kabuto lives a double life: one as a loving father and dutiful husband, the other as a cold-blooded contract killer. Only one of those lives is terrifying – the other is just murder for hire. Trouble is, Kabuto wants out of the…

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Top picks for book clubs this month

Australian Fiction | The Conversion by Amanda Lohrey

Nick: so persuasive, ever the optimist, always on a quest to design the perfect environment, convinced it could heal a wounded soul. The conversion was Nick’s idea, but it’s Zoe who’s here now, in a valley of old coalmines and new vineyards, working out how to live in a deconsecrated church. What to do with all that vertical space, those oppressive stained-glass windows? Can a church become a home or, even with…

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Our books of the month, November 2023

Explore our books of the month for November; 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

Women & Children by Tony Birch

Reviewed by Ruby Grinter, Readings Carlton

'Tony Birch crafts a story that perfectly encapsulates the innocence of childhood, and the creeping recognition of how the world ignores the voices of women and girls.'

Lovely, mischievous…

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Thoughtful picture books for tough days

These recently published picture books are just the thing for when days don't go to plan.

Woo Hoo! You’re Doing Great! by Sandra Boynton

Whether you are learning to skate, baking a cake, or even making a mistake, this hilarious and heartfelt rhyming book reminds us that trying our best is reason to celebrate. From children trying to master new skills to adults who had a hard week at work, we all get overwhelmed sometimes and need reassurance. And who…

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News from the Readings x Ubud Writers and Readers Festival trip

by Chris Gordon

Recently our own Mark Rubbo and Chris Gordon accompanied a group of Melbourne readers to the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival.

First, and most importantly Mark Rubbo and I were delighted to welcome new friends to the tour. What a joy to meet in a tropical (read: very hot) environment with people that love to talk, share, drink (gin and tonics being firm favourite bevvy of choice) and read! Our type of people.

On the first night of the tour…

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A recipe from Rumi by Joseph Abboud

Rumi is a wonderful collection of over 60 recipes from chef and restaurant owner Joseph Abboud. Below, we're pleased to share a recipe from this heartfelt – and delicous – collection of recipes.

Freekeh, feta and pomegranate salad

Freekeh is wheat, picked green (young) and then toasted or smoked. It comes from the Arabic word farik, which refers to the rubbing of the grains to remove their husks. It’s highly nutritious and it seems the more you eat, the better

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The Gab Williams Prize inaugural winner

The Gab Williams Prize seeks to acknowledge the contribution of young adult author and immediate past manager of The Readings Prize, Gabrielle Williams, who passed away early in 2023.

Unlike the other prize winners, which are chosen by panels of Readings booksellers this prize has been chosen by teens themselves, all aged between 14 to 18, and all participants in The Readings Teen Advisory Board. The board read the shortlist for The Readings Young Adult Prize and came together to…

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Decent people, a leering myna, and an unexpected inheritance

by Robyn Annear

To celebrate the release of her new book, Corners of Melbourne, award-winning author Robyn Annear very kindly investigated the history of a street corner well known to Readings Carlton and Kids customers – Carlton’s Tyne Street. Here, Annear takes us back in time and along Tyne Street, revealing a healthy locale with a surprisingly colourful history.

If we’re talking street corners, Readings Carlton is ideally positioned. The two Lygon Street shops occupy facing corners of the west-running Tyne Street…

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The 2023 Prime Minister's Literary Awards shortlist

The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards acknowledge the contribution of Australian literature to the nation’s cultural and intellectual life.

643 entries were received across six literary categories: fiction, non-fiction, young adult literature, children’s literature, poetry, and Australian history. The winners and shortlisted authors will share in a tax-free prize pool of $600,000 – the highest literary prize in the nation. Each shortlisted entry will receive $5,000 with the winner of each category receiving $80,000. Expert judging panels have carefully considered entries…

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The Readings Prize 2023 winners

This year marks the 10th anniversary of The Readings Prize, a significant milestone in the Australian book industry for this veritable tastemaker of emerging talent.

From over 100 books that were considered this year, only six could be chosen for each shortlist. Just to be on the shortlist is an incredible achievement for an emerging author. Every single author whose book made it to one of our shortlists should feel extremely proud. It’s always difficult to choose a winner, and…

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The Readings Prize – pathway to publishing

The winners of the Readings Prizes will be announced later tonight. Below, a number of this year's shortlistees discuss their pathways to publishing.

Shirley Le: I have been raised by a community of writers at the Sweatshop Writers Collective, a literacy movement based in Western Sydney that empowers writers from culturally and linguistically diverse communities to tell our stories on our own terms. In 2021, Affirm Press started a mentorship for Sweatshop writers and I was fortunate to…

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Recent spooky reads for children

October, and the lead-up, never fail to provide a bounty of scary, eccentric and thrilling tales for our bookshelves. Filled with doomed school camps, wandering souls, small town mysteries and, of course, a fabulous vampire – there's something for every level of spooky comfort in the below recommended reads.

Spooky Stories of the World by Wendy Shearer & Teo Georgiey (illus.)

This spine-tingling collection of spooky stories features over 20 eerie tales from across the globe. Discover bewitching retellings of…

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Bestselling books in new, compact formats

These bestselling books are now available in smaller, more portable formats!

Willowman by Inga Simpson

Allan Reader, one of the last traditional batmakers in the country, keeps his family business alive in a small workshop in Melbourne.

When Todd Harrow, a gifted young batter, catches Allan's eye, a spark is lit and Allan decides to make a Reader bat for him, selecting the best piece of willow he's harvested in years to do so.

As Harrow charts a meteoric rise…

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We test recipes from Philoxenia

Recently we tested a selection of recipes from Philoxenia: A Seat at My Table, a new cookbook from Kon Karapanagiotidis, founder of the ASRC, and his mother, Sia.

We were of course thrilled to then have Kon and Sia themselves stop by to taste test our attempts and judge the best replication.

Joe Rubbo made Spanikopita

I made the Spanikopita. Although I cheated by not making the phyllo pastry, using store bought instead. This shortcoming was spotted immediately by…

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The October crime review

These are the crime books which have been read and reviewed by our excellent booksellers this month – all in one place!

Everyone On This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

Reviewed by Lian Hingee from Readings online

Benjamin Stevenson’s bestselling novel Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone was a comedic delight: Agatha Christie meets Knives Out via a distinctly Australian first-person narrator.

In Everyone On This Train Is a Suspect, Ernest Cunningham – mystery-solver and now…

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Top picks for book clubs this month

Australian Fiction | Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton

A girl and her mother are on the lam. They've been running for sixteen years, from police and the monster they left in the kitchen with the knife in his throat. They've found themselves a home inside an orange 1987 Toyota HiAce van with four flat tyres parked in a scrapyard by the edge of the Brisbane River.

The girl has no name because names are dangerous when you're on…

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