March 2019

Reviewed by Gerard Healy In an article in the New York Times on Gerald Murname, the journalist poses the question, is (he) the greatest Australian writer you’ve never heard of? Although Murname has written 11 books of fiction as well as poetry and is mentioned as a possible Nobel winner, many readers are seemingly unaware

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Raoul Schrott’s book, translated from the German, is a deeply philosophical story of the yearning of one for another. I refrained from saying ‘person’ because there is no clue relating the narrator to any life form. The book would make a great conversation piece but given that no reviews can be

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Every person interested in writing, every reader searching for a primer in analysis, every lawyer wanting to find a way through a morass of conflicting ideas, opinions and judgments would do well to read Cardinal several times, not because of the subject matter, but for the absolute pleasure of watching a

Reviewed by E.B. Heath Yoga is the journey of the self through the self to the self. The Bhagavad Gita The Yogic Kitchen is a colourful, 25.5 x 21 cm, 255-page book holding a lot of information. I adopted the tactic of learning about the ancient Indian practice of Ayurvedic that informs The Yogic Kitchen,

Reviewed by EB Heath The second novel in the Alex Clayton art mystery series is advertised as ‘A captivating story of murder, intrigue and a mysterious painting’. And it is. But what is not said about Painting in the Shadows is that it is funny. A most amusing book to enjoy after a week’s work.

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Stranger Country documents a 30,000-kilometre, solo road trip around Australia in 2016. The author, Monica Tan, born in Australia to Chinese Malaysian parents, was working in Sydney as a reporter and cultural editor for the Guardian. Although well-educated and well-travelled she was faced with the dilemma of whether it was worse

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This novel, set in the early twentieth century, turns a light on the big property owners in South Australia and the Northern Territory. These were the families with money who had come from countries overseas and strove to set up dynasties in Australia. But things don’t always work out as people