Reviewed by Rod McLary Minette Walters is perhaps better known for her series of crime novels written between 1992 and 2007.  Her first three books won major prizes.  Different from other crime writers – think Agatha Christie, PD James, Ruth Rendell and Ian Rankin – Walters did not create a series character.  This allowed her

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Named among the top ten Australian fiction bestseller writers for September 2018 for her novel Brothers and Sisters, Fiona Palmer is also the author of the novel Secrets Between Friends which was published in 2017. Like many of her previous novels this book is also set in Western Australia, her home

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke In his coffee table book of photographs, the tree, acclaimed landscape photographer, Richard Woldendorp, highlights the individual statements made by trees. He believes that ‘every tree has its own personality – no two trees are the same. Like people, they emerge from the circumstances of their environment’ (9). In a way

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Margaret Arnold asserts the view that the Magdalene continued to figure prominently in the tradition of Passion devotion and in the construction of religious identity on all sides of the confessional divide into the eighteenth century (3). In her book she proposes to examine (a) what was the fate of Mary

Reviewed by Rod McLary Planting Australian native gardens was growing in popularity in the 1970s.  However, there was an opposing school of thought which argued that native gardens were lacking in variety and attractiveness, and, what’s more, the plants looked as harsh as the environment from which they came.  This perception – if it was

Reviewed by Ian Lipke The editors of this volume have selected five poets who were active in the period leading up to the Civil War and during its aftermath. The poets are Anne Broadstreet, Hester Pulter, Katherine Philips, Margaret Cavendish and Lucy Hutchinson. The book is intended to supplement texts that examine the poetry of

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Nevermoor author Jessica Townsend moves into JK Rowling territory was the title of an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, September 2017. This came just after the release of her first book Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow.  This was the first of a planned three books in a magical series

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Tracey Borman’s thesis makes very clear that she is interested in a book that gives her readers “the king’s character and tastes, the motives for his decisions and the impact of his actions, the creation and evolution of his image from Renaissance prince to tyrant, and the legacy that he bequeathed

Reviewed by Rod McLary Melodrome is the third title in the Giramondo’s Southern Latitude series.  The purpose of the series is to bring to the attention of Australian readers books authored by writers from elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere.  One such writer is Marcelo Cohen who is an award-winning Argentinian writer.  Melodrome is his 14th

Reviewed by Ian Lipke In this current volume David Baldacci introduces a new character in the form of Atlee Pine, an FBI agent responsible for a geographic area that includes the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Pine’s twin sister Mercy disappeared on the night that a monstrous human being snatched her from her bed. She was

Reviewed by Antonella Townsend This zany book is so much fun, I was smiling from the beginning and laughing out loud from the middle, as were my little companion reviewers.   The text is written by Andy and illustrated by Terry’s hilarious cartoon drawings.  On the bottom of every page is a joke.  This was a

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The ideas for this novel were born when the author, Chris Hammer, was doing research for the non-fiction book, The River, during the height of the millennium drought in Australia in 2008-09. The author’s working life was that of a journalist covering Australian federal politics and international affairs, reporting from more

With December looming an awkward question raises its expensive head – what appropriate gifts can be made to the children dotted throughout the family?  Given that commercial toys often end up in the bin by Easter it is hard to make good sustainable choices.  And so the hunt begins. Responsible gift givers can relax!  Thanks

Reviewed by Ian Lipke It is not often that the Louvre Museum in Paris publishes a collection of their holdings in book form. We need to go back to 1972 when Genevieve Monnier compiled a catalogue of pastel works to thus make it possible to assess the diversity and importance of the Collection. Her catalogue