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Dear Reader, August 2016
I feel very lucky that my time on Earth coincides with that of Maxine Beneba Clarke’s and her powerful talent. August brings us her much-anticipated memoir, The Hate Race, our Book of the Month. This book is a confronting story about the lived experience of racism in Australia. It’s honest, shocking, and will provide readers with an alarmingly familiar depiction of the casual and overt racism commonplace in the Australia of the 1980s and 90s. It should therefore make…
What we're reading: Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, Megan Abbott and Ian McGuire
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Stella Charls is reading You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott
I seem to have spent a lot of time on this blog raving about Megan Abbott (see here and here). I only discovered her work last year and I subsequently felt obligated to share her with pretty much everyone I’ve crossed…
Man Booker Prize longlist 2016
The longlist, or ‘Man Booker Dozen’, for the £50,000 Man Booker Prize has been announced. Longlisted authors include two-time Booker Prize winner J.M. Coetzee, as well three debut novelists: David Means, Wyl Menmuir and Virginia Reeves.
Chair of the 2016 judges, Amanda Foreman, writes: ‘This is a very exciting year. The range of books is broad and the quality extremely high. Each novel provoked intense discussion and, at times, passionate debate, challenging our expectations of what a novel is and…
Ned Kelly Awards shortlists 2016
The Australian Crime Writers Association has announced the 2016 shortlists for the Ned Kelly Awards for the best in Australian crime writing.
Here are the shortlists in each category:
Best Fiction
R&R by Mark Dapin
The Heat by Garry Disher
Fall by Candice Fox
Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty
Ash Island by Barry Maitland
Before it Breaks by Dave Warner
Best true crime
Certain Admissions by Gideon Haigh
The Sting by Kate Kyriacou
A Murder Without Motive by Martin McKenzie-Murray
…
July in review
July saw our staff sharing recommendations for novels that imagine life in cults and communes, memoirs that examine depression and anxiety, and hot reads to help readers stay warm in winter – everything from heart-warming to heart-racing.
This month also saw the release of a new Liane Moriarty novel (here’s why you should read her books), and we published a short update from the Readings Foundation about one of the amazing projects they’re supporting in 2016.
This…
Davitt Awards shortlists 2016
Sisters in Crime has announced the shortlists for the 2016 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women. Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors.
Here are the shortlisted books in each category:
Adult novels
Medea’s Curse: Natalie King, Forensic Psychiatrist by Anne Buist
Fall by Candice Fox
Give the Devil His Due by Sulari Gentill
Storm Clouds by Bronwyn Parry
Time to Run by J.M. Peace
Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic
Young adult novels
The most interesting books customers have special ordered this month
We love hearing new recommendations. Here’s 10 of the most interesting books customers have special ordered this past month…
Two Fat Ladies and Hercules Tom by Terence Fitzsimons
The Queer Art of Failure by Judith Halberstam
Seeds of Change: Six Plants That Transformed Mankind by Henry Hobhouse
Psychology at the Movies by Skip Dine Young
Architecture Visionaries by Richard Weston
Terrific Australian YA thrillers for teen readers
The Road to Winter by Mark Smith
Since a deadly virus and the violence that followed killed his parents and wiped out most of his community, Finn has lived alone on the rugged coast with only his loyal dog Rowdy for company. He has stayed alive for two winters – hunting and fishing and trading food. He’s managed to stay hidden from the Wilders, an armed and dangerous gang that controls the north, led by a ruthless man named Ramage…
Terrific Australian YA romcoms for teen readers
The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil
17-year-old Alba is an aspiring comic-book artist, pastry enthusiast and eternal optimist. She thinks small town life is awesome (if predictable) and she never wants it to change. Then, a questionable television psychic predicts the end of the world and her tiny town is besieged by doomsday enthusiasts, throwing Alba’s life is thrown into chaos. The childhood friend she thought was gone unexpectedly reappears; the boy who has been her best…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Run, Pip, Run by J.C. Jones
Tomorrow, When the War Began (TV tie-in edition) by John Marsden
All My Treasures: A Book of Joy by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey
Pax by Sara Pennypacker and Jon Klassen
Charlie and the War Against the Grannies by Alan Brough
The World’s Worst Children by David Walliams and Tony Ross
Big Rain Coming by Katrina Germein and Bronwyn Bancroft
Ella Diaries: Worst Camp Ever! (Book 8) by Meredith Costain and Danielle McDonald
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