Our latest reviews

Love in the Years of Lunacy by Mandy Sayer

Reviewed by Ann Standish, freelance reviewer

Sex, jazz, race relations, cross dressing, madness, death—there’s a lot going on in Mandy Sayer’s latest novel, set in wartime Sydney and New Guinea and it comes delivered in a fast moving narrative. Love in the Years of Lunacy tells…

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The Good Book: A Secular Bible by A.C.Grayling

Reviewed by Luke Meinzen

In The Good Book, readers will find creation myths, unpronounceable names, and instructions on ‘how to live’ in chapters titled Genesis, Acts, and Proverbs. Antiquated language scrolls down in twin columns ordered by book, chapter, and verse. The accuracy…

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Where's Walrus? by Stephen Savage

Reviewed by Holly Harper, Childrens' Book Specialist

While Zookeeper is taking a nap, Walrus escapes from the zoo and takes the opportunity to explore the city. With Zookeeper hot on his heels, Walrus comes up with a series of clever disguises to keep hidden. Is there something…

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That's Not A Daffodil by Elizabeth Honey

Reviewed by Kathy Kozlowski

One day Mr Yilmaz from next door gives Tom a daffodil bulb. ‘That’s not a daffodil,’ says Tom. ‘That’s an onion.’ So they plant it together and wait to see what happens.

Satisfying pictures to pore over tell a story…

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The Aunties Three by Nick Bland

Reviewed by Holly Harper, Childrens' Book Specialist

Knock! Knock! Knock! Uh-oh, there are visitors at the door, and who would it be but the aunties three? Things must be neat and tidy for stuffy Aunt Millicent, Aunt Alma and Aunt Ingrid. Only your best clothes are to…

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Too Small To Fail by Morris Gleitzman

Reviewed by Angela Crocombe

A boy, a dog, a girl and a camel. Throw in a kidnapping, bribery, and some (boring-sounding but actually hilarious) asset-backed derivatives and you have the latest novel by Morris Gleitzman.

Gleitzman has a well-deserved reputation for tackling difficult subjects…

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Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

Reviewed by Kathy Kozlowski

What a fascinating read. I loved it. Told through the eyes of Marcelo, a 16-year-old with Asperger’s Syndrome, it is a novel that inevitably will be compared to Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

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A Pocketful of Eyes by Lili Wilkinson

Reviewed by Marie Matteson, Readings Port Melbourne

Working in the taxidermy department of the Melbourne Natural History Museum over the summer holidays, Bee does not expect to be thrust into mystery and romance. However, the arrival of a good-looking but know-it-all university student and the death by…

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Plugged by Eoin Colfer

Reviewed by Fiona Hardy, Readings Carlton

Some voices in crime fiction are just so completely amicable that picking up the book every night is like calling an old friend … if your friend was constantly being chased by criminals and getting coshed over the headwith things…

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Divergent by Veronica Roth

Reviewed by Daniela Perinac, Readings Malvern

Imagine a society divided into five factions. Each faction represents a particular virtue its members are said to possess and are free to cultivate.

Candor is regarded for its honesty. Erudite is known for its intelligence. Abnegation prefers a life…

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