Our latest reviews
Angelo: David Macaulay
In an old Italian town Angelo, a plasterer and restorer of buildings, rescues an injured pigeon and coaxes her back to health despite ‘his professional dislike for pigeons’. In turn, though she is a bit skittish, the pigeon becomes a…
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Margo Lanagan is best known as a writer for young adults, but this is one Oz author who should not be pinned down. She delves into the realms of fairytale and folklore, sinking deep into the unconscious to pluck out…
Herding Kites: Michael Williams (Ed)
This eccentric, eclectic and electric anthology represents the last ten years of the National Young Writers’ Festival (NYWF). Play scripts and poems jostle beside cartoons and zines playing truth-or-dare with essays and fictions. Featuring well known and lesser-known talent signifies…
Real Dirt: James Woodford
Acclaimed nature writer James Woodford tells the story of his real-life sea change in this warm, wry and refreshingly honest book. He writes about his family’s purchase of a 120 acre block on south-coastal New South Wales, with the goal…
The Land I Came Through Last: Robert Gray
Though one of Australia’s most awarded poets, Robert Gray remains relatively unknown outside the local literary community. Undeservedly so – his poetry superbly captures the spiritual bond between Australia’s landscape and its inhabitants, much like the more prominent Les Murray.
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The Given Day: Dennis Lehane
Dennis Lehane has written a few books that have been made into movies: Mystic River and, more recently, Gone Baby Gone. I was excited to see this new book – or perhaps I should I call it epic, because…
House of Exile: Evelyn Juers
Writer Heinrich Mann, brother of the more famous Thomas, was a leading literary figure in Weimar Germany and an outspoken opponent of fascism. He escaped Germany just before Hitler’s ascent to power in February 1933. The Nazi regime subsequently burnt…
The Pyramid: Henning Mankell
When Kurt Wallander first appeared in Faceless Killers back in 1990, he was a senior police officer, just turned forty, with his life in a mess. His wife had left him, his father barely acknowledged him; he ate badly and…
Doors Open: Ian Rankin
Set in a very different Edinburgh to that inhabited by DI John Rebus, this new thriller will show a whole new side to Ian Rankin.
This novel centres on the glamorous uber-world of the Scottish capital. Mike Mackenzie is a…
The Brass Verdict: Michael Connelly
LA lawyer Mickey Haller barely has time to take in the news that his former colleague, Jerry Vincent, has been murdered before he receives an unexpected bequest: Vincent has nominated him the beneficiary of his practice. Most prominent on his…
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