November 2017

Margaret & David by Amanda Duthie (ed.)

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Was there ever a time when Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton were not on our screens? It doesn’t really matter because this pair of bickering intellectuals have been entertainers for years unnumbered, and solved the secret of success without really knowing they were seeking it. Wakefield Press has produced a booklet

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Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Stephen King and his son Owen dissolve their talents in a mish-mash of uninteresting characters and long-winded descriptions that address the issue of a world without women. What if all around the world women become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze and turned feral if awakened? When the Kings wrote this clanger,

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Mallee Boys by Charlie Archbold

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Sandy is a fifteen year old boy who has grown to adolescence in one of the driest parts of Australia, the mallee country. Eighteen year old Red is Sandy’s brother. Both boys have been part of a nuclear family until the day the boys’ mother was killed in a vehicular accident.

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Hero or Deserter? by Roger Maynard

Reviewed by Ian Lipke A review by Neville Taylor in http://www.rusivic.org.au/hero-or-deserter (Aug 2017) sets the scene of General Gordon Bennett’s world in the turmoil of 1942 Malaysia. In circumstances that no divisional commander would wish upon himself, Bennett was faced with having one of his three infantry brigades being split and moved to West Timor

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Eureka Run by Bruce Venables

Reviewed by Rod McLary The Eureka Rebellion – more commonly known as the Eureka Stockade – was a key event in Australian history and is considered to be highly significant in the development of Australian democracy and identity. The rebellion in 1854 came about partly because of the licences which gold diggers were obliged to

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The Little Book of Black Holes by Steven S. Gubser and Frans Pretorious

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Steven S. Gubser and Frans Pretorious are professors of physics at Princeton University and the authors of The Little Book of String Theory (Princeton). In the initial chapters of their ‘black holes’ volume they introduce their readers to a crash course in special and general relativity at a level that is sufficient for most readers

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The Mindfulness Bible by Patrizia Collard

Reviewed by E.B. Heath Long ago, BI (Before Internet), meditation in the Western World was the domain of the bare-footed, kaftan brigade.  The counter culture, amid much eye rolling, proclaimed the potency of a meditative life.  Now, armed with hard evidence, medical science can verify that they indeed were right.  Dr. Patrizia Collard’s The Mindfulness

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Our Cosmic Habitat by Martin Rees

Reviewed by Ian Lipke It is understandable that Princeton University Press would want to re-publish Our Cosmic Habitat by Martin Rees, a book that first hit the shelves in 2001. This edition, labelled the Princeton Science Library, boasts a new preface by the author. This quickly arouses interest and sets the reviewer up in anticipation

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Bad to Worse by Robert Edeson

Reviewed by Rod McLary The Foreword to Bad to Worse recommends that this book is read five times – ‘forward quickly, forward slowly, once aloud, once backwards and once upside down’.  Following this recommendation is supposed to assist in understanding the book and in allowing the reader to enter the author’s ‘dissenting universe where every

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Kilted Yoga by Finlay Wilson

Reviewed by Antonella Townsend What could be better than a bearded, handsome man in a kilt?  Well, try a bearded, bare chested, handsome man in a kilt … up side down! After the wild success of his U-Tube video, Finlay Wilson has released the book version of the same that is his fun take on

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Another Woman’s Husband by Gill Paul

Reviewed by Clare Brook Virginia, North America, July 1911, two fifteen year old girls are coming of age.  They are best friends, Mary Kirk and Wallis Warfield and their exciting young adult lives are just beginning. Paris, 31st August 1997, in a tunnel, a young woman’s life is ending.  She is Princess Diana. Gill Paul

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Nineteen Letters by Jodi Perry

Reviewed by Angela Marie In Nineteen Letters by Jodi Perry the reader is quickly immersed into the perfect lives of a perfect twenty-something couple, Jemma and Braxton Spencer. Jemma is an interior designer rapidly accruing an impressive clientele, whilst Braxton is an up-and-coming architect on the verge of landing a major client. They are beautiful, their home

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Don’t Let Go by Harlan Coben

Reviewed by Rod McLary Harlan Coben is a very popular writer of crime novels – he has sold over 75 million books.  Clearly, he has a significant following and this book will surely satisfy his followers.  It is fast-paced with twists in the plot and sudden unexpected disclosures which will challenge any reader to foresee.

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he by John Connolly

Reviewed by Rod McLary There is a strong tradition of double acts in comedy – Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, Hale and Pace, even Kennedy and Newton.  But one stands above the others – Laurel and Hardy.  Oliver Hardy died 60 years ago and Stan Laurel died over 50 years ago, but they are

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Nature’s Fabric by David Lee

Reviewed by Ian Lipke The broader my knowledge of books the more excited I become at the quality of work that is out there to be read. Books cover virtually any topic including those as yet undreamed of. When the present volume arrived, I could not wait to get inside its cover, to find out

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