Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Inspired by amazing true stories, this hard-covered children’s book features Australian fauna and its climate, specifically its flooding rains. The central characters are kangaroos – mother Mango and joey, Hopscotch. They live in the tropical forest and join the mob grazing beside the river. Hopscotch loves to play with the other
Reviewed by Rod McLary In his Acknowledgments [p308] the author thanks everyone ‘who helped create the blend of pain and fractured humanity that I could draw on to make this novel more than just a lengthy fight scene’. And it is exactly this which turns what is essentially an adrenaline rush for those readers who
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Readers will have no difficulty in getting caught up in this novel by Tanya Scott. That it is her first novel is remarkable. The author impresses not only because of her first-novel status but for a host of other reasons. She makes the very serious stakes of Jack’s dilemmas palpable. She
Reviewed by Rod McLary Nemesis is the fourth book in a series featuring DS Lucas Walker from the Australian Federal Police. Although all the books in the series are stand-alone, this one has links back to the first one Outback and the events which took place ten years previously. DS Walker was then on compassionate
Reviewed by Antonella Townsend This is not the time to be reading dystopian novels, too close to reality. Best to choose a romantic romp, a roller coaster full of guilt, grief, loads of self-doubt, dream relationships found, lost, and found again. And Love Overdue, written by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus, fits the profile perfectly.
Miles Franklin Literary Award 2025 Siang Lu has won the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award, worth $60,000, for his novel Ghost Cities(UQP). Lu is an author based in both Brisbane, Australia, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, who previously wrote The Whitewash (UQP). He is co-creator of The Beige Index and creator of #sillybookstagram on Instagram. Ghost Cities was chosen from
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders The area occupied by Turkey (Türkiye since 2022) has a very long human history. Palaeolithic cave dwellers were succeeded by settlements that are some of the oldest in the world – around 12,000 years. As part of the ancient fertile crescent, the area gave rise to a succession of great civilisations
Reviewed by Antonella Townsend Isabel Thomas, with artist Daniel Egnéus, take young children on a journey back to the beginning of time and it all begins with a frog. Frog: A Story of Life on Earth is a lovely 250 x 250 mm hard cover colourful book for young audiences, and I think it makes
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Most Australians agree that national security is high priority. And most agree that politicians aren’t trustworthy. So why do we entrust our most expensive budget item to a governments who won’t tell us how or why they are spending it? Even the AUKUS deal, which seems to be endlessly discussed, is
Reviewed by Ian Hamilton I suspect that Broke Road will sell well. The primary reason for this view is that whodunits are enduringly popular with a wide range of readers and Broke Road is a very well-crafted example of the genre. Matthew Spencer employs his journalistic skills to devise a clear and engaging plot. The
Davitt Awards 2025 Sisters in Crime has announced the shortlists for the 2025 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Adult novels Highway 13 (Fiona McFarlane, A&U) * The Rewilding (Donna M Cameron, Transit Lounge) * Safe Haven (Shankari Chandran, Ultimo Press) To the River (Vikki Wakefield,
Reviewed by Rod McLary There is sometimes a moment in our lives when unexpectedly the world shifts; when the wind changes, and then suddenly nothing is the same again. Our Beautiful Boys chronicles one such moment in the lives of sixteen-year-olds Vikram, Diego and MJ – all celebrating their team’s victory in a high school
Reviewed by Ian Hamilton This novel has the feel of a current day tale, the style and vocabulary are twenty-first century in tone, as is the role of a psychiatric therapist (which proves to be crucial to the plot). It is only revealed at the end of the novel that the second narrative sections are,
Reviewed by Ian Lipke When a book is released bearing the name Kayte Nunn I anticipated an interesting read. I had absorbed several of this writer’s works and was prepared to be thoroughly entertained. What a disaster unfolds within the first fifty to sixty pages of this book. If a book, written for entertainment purposes,
Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award 2025 The Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS) has announced the longlist for the Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award, worth $50,000. The 10 longlisted titles, chosen from over 200 entries, are: The Death of Dora Black(Lainie Anderson, Hachette) Dusk(Robbie Arnott, Picador) * Six Summers of Tash and Leopold