Our latest reviews
Underbelly: Tale of Two Cities: John Silvester and Andrew Rule
Melbournians rejoice – not only is there an Underbelly series we can legally watch this time, but the producers have promised more nudity! If that isn’t enough to whet your appetite, this collection of stories the second series is based…
The Life You Can Save: Peter Singer
Peter Singer knows how to confront you, to make you feel uncomfortable. If a person was walking down a road past a pond and saw a small child in trouble, most of them would jump in without a thought. But…
Say When: Catherine Deveny
I read Catherine Deveny’s previous book, It’s Not My Fault They Print Them on a 12-hour train journey from Melbourne to Adelaide. The other passengers glanced worriedly at the crazy lady (me) guffawing and knee-slapping and murmuring ‘yes!’ and ‘absolutely!’…
Toad Surprise: Morris Gleitzman
Toad Surprise is about two toads who go looking for Santa to become his helpers. It is all about Christmas and is a very weird book. The two toads Limpy and Goliath try to make their friend Stan (a human)…
Why Is The Sky Blue?: Geraldine Taylor and Amy Schimler
This lift-the-flap book with its big clear illustrations, in muted colours on recycled matte paper, is a lovely introduction to the natural world. As it says on the front cover the book answers ‘real questions that children ask about the…
Diana and her Rhinoceros: Edward Ardizzone
When the rhinoceros first arrived in their comfortable sitting room in Richmond, Surrey, England, Diana’s father called for help and her mother fainted by the sofa. It was left to Diana, a resourceful child, to notice that the rhinoceros had…
The Last Supper: Charles McCarry
Following The Tears of Autumn and The Secret Lovers, another of Charles McCarry’s masterly spy thrillers is being reissued.
The Last Supper sees CIA agent Paul Christopher in Paris, about to set out on a mysterious assignment in Vietnam…
Murder On A Midsummer Night: Kerry Greenwood
Oh, to be rich, beautiful and dangerous in 1920s Melbourne! If you share this dream and haven’t discovered Kerry Greenwood’s masterful Phryne Fisher series or those of you familiar and waiting desperately, tongues hanging out, for this, her seventeenth instalment…
A Simple Act of Violence: R.J. Ellory
On the surface, Washington D.C. seems one of the most progressive cities in the world; but underneath, a serial killer is preying upon the city’s women. To unearth him, Detectives Miller and Roth must plunge into the city’s dark side…
The Reinvention of Ivy Brown: Roberta Taylor
Readers may best recognise Roberta Taylor through her successful career on British television, acting in popular soap operas East Enders and The Bill. Perhaps as a result, Taylor has imbued her debut novel, The Reinvention of Ivy Brown, with…
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