Reviewed by Elizabeth Emanuel It was with enormous excitement that I went to claim my review copy of the Australian Fish & Seafood Cookbook described as “the ultimate kitchen companion” by its authors, a formidable quartet of knowledgeable sea foodies. Award-winning providore John Susman, director of seafood supplier Fishtales, recognised that most of us have
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Serious critics don’t usually bother romance writing. It leaves us alone too. A lavishly illustrated cover and an intriguing blurb introducing a story about a tin of chocolates were not enough to set my spirit soaring as I flipped through Fiona McIntosh’s book. But then I discovered I was reading longer
Reviewed by Terrie Ferman It’s 1994 and twenty-two year old Cathy McLennan, newly graduated from law, goes to Townsville to work with indigenous legal aid. Her memoir, ‘Saltwater’, relates her experiences at that time. The book won the 2014 Queensland Literary Awards for Best Emerging Author. McLennan’s clients are society’s marginalised, each burdened with disadvantage,
Reviewed by Mike Clarke This book has form! (But more of that later) Peter Fitzsimons has written over twenty best sellers, mainly biographical and sport based. A former Wallaby he has the doubtful distinction of being coached at Rugby by none other than Tony Abbott. He is a columnist for Fairfax Media and writes
Reviewed by Ian Lipke It was an appropriate choice that a gold pen should figure so prominently in this story by Michael Connelly. The book is a gold medal winner, its author a writer who keeps coming back to his readership with yet another nugget from that literary gold mine, his creative mind. One could
Reviewed by Terrie Ferman A page-turner that hooks the reader from the first page to the last – this is Jane Harper’s exceptional crime novel, The Dry. This finely plotted book interweaves two tragic events separated by twenty years. The first is the death of Ellie Deacon who drowned aged 16. Suicide seemed likely but
Reviewed by Ian Lipke John Grisham’s latest book The Whistler focuses on the investigation of a corrupt judge by the Board on Judicial Conduct. As expected, such a Board does not exist. However Florida has a Judicial Qualifications Commission that does a similar job. An officer of the Board Lacy Stolz and her partner Hugo
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Where else are you fifteen steps from work, you go home for lunch, and when the children are visiting you see them all the time and not just after a long day at work? There are no traffic snarls, you never have to worry about finding a park, there are no
Reviewed by Sue Bond An outstanding collection of short stories makes up this book of the Margaret River Short Story Competition for 2016. It is sponsored by Margaret River Press, who believe the ‘short story genre is greatly undervalued’, according to their website. The competition has been run since 2011, producing five published collections so
Reviewed by Jill Everything about The Multispecies Salon is unusual, arresting, and thought-provoking. It starts with the cover image – fairy skeletons on a fox’s muzzle. Next comes the frontispiece image of a Patricia Piccinini sculpture, followed by an introduction commencing with the words ‘A swarm of creative agents … ’(2). Then we scan the