Latest Reviews

History

Queensland Reviewers Collective (QRC) is the new name for an initiative that began eighteen years ago. Up until November 2016 it was known as M/C Reviews. In December 2015, the M/C Reviews website had a major security breach that took it down, and the editor of the book reviews section and some of the reviewers responded by starting a blog as a temporary site for book reviews until the website could be repaired. Unfortunately, it eventually became apparent that the website was not able to be restored, thus ending its long and illustrious presence as a place for the lively engagement with books and film through reviewing.

Once again, the editor and a small group of book reviewers decided they valued M/C Reviews enough to enable its rebirth as the Queensland Reviewers Collective. It no longer has an association with the Queensland University of Technology.

The website that M/C Reviews was initially a part of was M/C – Media and Culture, founded in 1998 as, according to the History section, ‘a place of public intellectualism, analysing and critiquing the meeting of media and culture’. It was meant as a place where the popular and the academic could meet, and ‘debates may have some resonance with wider political and cultural interests’.

The website was initiated and developed at the University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia; since 2004, it has been hosted by the Creative Industries Faculty at the Queensland University of Technology in Kelvin Grove. The first publication was the M/C Journal, still thriving today, followed by M/C Reviews, and then M/Cyclopedia of New Media.

Acknowledgement of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation Queensland Reviewers Collective acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

Other Reviews

Indie Book Awards 2025

Australian independent booksellers have nominated their favourite Australian books of 2024 and are thrilled to announce their SHORTLIST for the Indie Book Awards 2025!  Announced early in the award calendar year, The Indie Book Awards are now considered the forerunners of all major Australian book awards. The Awards cover the best Australian books in six

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General Fiction

Would You Rather by Maggie Alderson

Reviewed by Colleen McLennan Maggie Alderson is a British author with extensive editing experience in both England and Australia. She is author of ten novels and four collections of her columns from Good Weekend magazine. Her children’s book Evangeline, the Wish Keeper’s Helper was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. In her latest book,

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Crime/Mystery

Clever Little Thing by Helena Echlin

Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve The cosily indulgent title suggests an account of how family and others might deal with doing the best for an exceptionally intelligent child. This is not remotely like the plot of this surprising novel. A thriller, a psychological delving into the possible impact of motherhood and a scary supernatural experience all

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Memoir/Biography

Brainstorm by Richard Scolyer

Reviewed by E B Heath Dr. Richard Scolyer is a world-renowned melanoma pathologist and one of the world’s top melanoma researchers.  He is co-director with Georgina Long at the Melanoma Institute Australia.  In 2021 he was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia for his outstanding service to medicine in the field of melanoma and

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General Fiction

Wings Above the Mallee by Lėonie Kelsall

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Lėonie Kelsall’s latest book is part of her series set in South Australia in her fictitious town of Settlers Bridge, so when reading this story, it is no surprise when the reader comes across characters they may have encountered in her previous books. The Homestead in the Eucalypts was the origin

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Memoir/Biography

Mr & Mrs Gould by Grantlee Kieza

Reviewed by Norrie Sanders The endangered Gouldian finch is one of Australia’s prettiest birds and was named after Elizabeth Gould, by her husband John in 1841. He was already famed as “the Bird Man” (of England), yet in typical fashion, his claim on the finch conveniently overlooked the facts that it had been discovered already

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Health/Wellbeing

Lemons are a Girl’s Best Friend by Janet Hayward

Reviewed by Antonella Townsend There is something very appealing about the smaller pocket size hard cover book.  In the case of Lemons are a Girl’s Best Friend it feels instantly delicious.  This colourful little book would be the best present for anyone, not just girls, who value recipes for external and internal health.  This is

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Cooking/Diet

The Lost Recipes by Ross Dobson

Reviewed by Richard Tutin We have all seen them in our newspapers, magazines and now online at different websites. A steady stream is published each week with the invitation to try them out. What are they? The answer is recipes that can be made for any meal or snack depending on the situation. They reach

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Children

Dot! Scribble! Go! by Hervé Tullet

Reviewed by Antonella Townsend If I had to sum up Hervé Tullet’s  Dot! Scribble!  Go! in few words it would be ‘Confidence Builder’.  This large hard cover book is pitched at a target audience between three and six-years-old.  It steers the young brain to represent their environment with pride and imagination. I write from a

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If you would like to contact the coordinator of the Queensland Reviewers Collective, either to enquire about becoming a reviewer, to offer a book to review, or to make a comment on the blog generally, please use the form.

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