Reviewed by Rod McLary Robert Macklin is the author of 29 books – a number of which address the history of Australia.  In his most recent book – Castaway – he has written a critical examination of the ‘Frontier Wars’ which took place in the 19th century between the advancing European settlers and the Aboriginal

Reviewed by Gerald Healy A great collection of letters from a diverse group of Australians to their dads. In the vast majority of cases these are positive tributes to the man who inspired and nurtured them while growing up. In some cases, these dads have provided the role model for their own parenting attempts. The

Reviewed by E.B.Heath Pamela M Lombard, banking executive, For charging fees upon the dead, Shall be exhumed before her time And her head garlanded with worms. Adjudged Philip Dean Griffith Review 65: Crimes and Punishments features multi-faceted issues of crime and changing ideas of justice. The diverse contributions of essay, memoir, reportage, poetry and fiction,

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Speaking of politicians in the pubs of Australia is not really a very good idea. Australians in general don’t venture approving opinions about our elected representatives. But speak of Don Dunstan and some will praise and others cringe. Australians are uncomfortable with the existence of gays and lesbians (the pub crowd

Reviewed by Rod McLary Most of us – at some time in our lives – would have received what was known as a ‘chain letter’.  They were letters which, if you did not follow the instructions in the letter, threatened to cause some harm – often just described as ‘bad luck’ or ‘misfortune’.  Some chain

Reviewed by Ian Lipke I had not heard of Margaret Oliphant before I delved into The Library Window and the thoughts or imaginings of a young woman who sits each day at her window gazing across the street to what some say is a window and some say is not. I’m told that Oliphant was

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke When one reads the words ‘out of time’ the mind switches immediately to finishing a test or project, rushing to be at a certain place at a certain time, the parking meter or maybe something even more sinister. In Steve Hawke’s novel, ‘out of time’ refers to Joe, an older man

Reviewed by Antonella Townsend and Willow James O’Loghlin’s latest book The New Kid: Very Popular Me is an easy and most amusing read for 8-11 year olds.   Should older readers leaf through, they will probably get hooked and feel as though, sentence by sentence, they are walking through a weird time warp tunnel back to

Reviewed by Antonella Townsend It is heard on the news that a policeman has been shot and is in a critical condition.  But that’s it!   No follow up; the story behind the story.  There should be a special edition of the news once a month letting us know what has happened.   Thankfully Luke Warburton has

Reviewed by Ian Lipke The name of Peter Corris ranks high in the annals of Australia crime writing. Of his ninety odd books published between 1973 and 2017, forty-two feature his private eye, somewhat damaged, hero Cliff Hardy.  Other fiction include the ‘Creepy’ Crawley and Browning series and a number of non-fiction books that include

Reviewed by E.B. Heath Professor Dixon is clearly a mild mannered man, but everyone has a breaking point, and his can be faintly detected in the first chapter of his latest book.  In Australia’s Original Languages: An Introduction Dixon is at pains to refute, for all time, any ideas that Australian Indigenous languages are impoverished

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Crossings, by Alex Landragin, has a very unusual storyline including love, which ‘thrives on ephemera: hunches, gut feelings, obscure clues, and all the fuel it needs’ (118); murder, leaving its victims with empty eye sockets; treachery, ‘knowing Chanel’s henchman would be listening… I took off my shoes…took my blue suitcase… (and)

Reviewed by Norrie Sanders The cover says it all. Two strapping young men striding forward, wearing suits and confident expressions. The image, viewed through a matrix of dots, suggests technology and a multitude of stars – or are they coins? Despite the blurring, both men are so similar that they could be clones. Clearly, these

Reviewed by Rod McLary Social isolation, loneliness and dying alone [and not being found for days or weeks or even months] are the themes which run through this debut novel by Richard Roper.  The idea for the book was sparked by a law in England that, where people have died without family or friends to

Reviewed by E. B. Heath Lenny Bartulin bestows a reading experience of a very different kind!  Fortune begins as a light breeze.  Vast crowds gather as Napoleon parades through Berlin in 1806.  Within a few pages, gale force winds of war propel hapless characters, along with readers, through one hundred and ten years of history,