KATE HAMER Crushed. Reviewed by Ann Skea
This new novel from the author of The Doll Funeral and The Girl in the Red Coat is a suspenseful tale of three teenage girls and dark magic. The idea of having a knife close by without him even knowing plunges through me in a shock … He will not see it. He will...
SUSANNA KEARSLEY Every Secret Thing. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Susanna Kearsley explores the impact of wartime secrets in Every Secret Thing. The award-winning author of Mariana is best-known for time-slip romances moving between the present and the distant past. Every Secret Thing, however, is a book somewhere between crime...
TOBY FABER Faber & Faber: The untold story. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Toby Faber delivers a slice of publishing history replete with (now) famous authors. Toby Faber is the grandson of Geoffrey Faber who, in 1929, established the publishing firm Faber & Faber. He tells the story of Faber & Faber mostly through original...
BENJAMIN LAW (ed.) Growing Up Queer in Australia. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
These personal essays in Growing Up Queer in Australia are full of insight and self-reflection. The queer community can take great pride in the quality of the stories and the voices that represent it. This is a very polished collection of stories, perhaps not...
LAVIE TIDHAR The Violent Century. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
What makes a hero? Lavie Tidhar’s novel explores another history behind the one we know, one peopled by those with superpowers. Superheroes are pretty much everywhere you turn these days, whether it is the bright colours of the Marvel cinematic universe, the...
JOHN CANN with JIMMY THOMSON The Last Snake Man. Reviewed by Ashley Kalagian Blunt
A dangerous way to make a living: John Cann’s autobiography tells the story of his life as a professional snake handler. George Cann was a snakey – a snake handler – all his life. His son John grew up to be a snakey too. One...
ADRIAN MCKINTY The Chain. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Adrian McKinty has won multiple awards for his crime novels featuring Belfast detective Sean Duffy. With The Chain he moves into new territory, producing a flat-out thriller. This is one hell of a ride. If you’re looking for a book to keep you up and turning the...
PAM MENZIES Port Kembla: A memoir. Reviewed by Pip Newling
In this lively and affectionate social history of place, Pam Menzies reveals Port Kembla to be both remarkable and ordinary – a driver of the nation as well as being, like so many places in Australia, on the receiving end of change and globalisation. The book is...
KATE MASCARENHAS The Psychology of Time Travel. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
In this debut novel Kate Mascarenhas creates a world where time travel is not only possible, it could be linked to a murder … In 1967, four female scientists invent time travel, but only three of them become household names for the right reason. The fourth,...
ROB HART The Warehouse. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Rob Hart’s dystopian novel about an online fulfilment warehouse describes a world that feels disturbingly familiar. Consumerism and the American Dream are in the firing line in Rob Hart’s debut novel The Warehouse. David Eggers mashed Google, Microsoft and Apple...
TANYA HEASLIP Alice to Prague and YONGEY MINGYUR RINPOCHE with HELEN TWORKOV In Love with the World. Reviewed by Ann Skea
These two memoirs of travel and dislocation present contrasting approaches to venturing into the unknown. Alice to Prague and In Love with the World are very different books with contrasting styles and perspectives and different stories to tell. Yet, fundamentally,...
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