Reviewed by Ian Lipke Helen Trinca’s powerful novel binds the reader’s attention to the page with arms of steel. While novels of this sort often hold attention readily enough, Trinca’s text never lets go. She holds until readers realize that s/he has no wish to see the book abandoned. Rather she has become fully involved
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke On reading this latest novel by Léonie Kelsall, I was once again drawn back to the small country town called Settlers Bridge located in South Australia where I found characters I have met before. For those readers who are unfamiliar with this author’s work, all the information needed for this particular
Reviewed by Ian Lipke I’m sure that a reviewer somewhere has applied the phrase “a Greek tragedy” to this beautifully written book. It is not so much the story which sweeps us away as it is the writing itself. The feeling of great competence as the writer manipulates her words and images to best tell
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke As the name of the book and author might suggest the illustrations in this hard covered children’s picture book have an Asian focus. The story it contains is a reimagining of an ancient Chinese folk tale about integrity, courage and patience. To choose his heir the ageing emperor, who has no
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Richard Wellington is a doctor well loved by a wide selection of television and radio listeners. If he happens to cause the female heart to beat a little faster and should he step across boundaries and spend a little too much time in a bedroom that is not his own, well
The Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL) has announced Fiona McFarlane as the winner of the 2025 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal for Highway 13 (A&U). In the announcement, the organisation said, ‘Highway 13 is an inventive and dazzling short story cycle that yields the cohesiveness of a novel even while preserving the integrity of its individual
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This hard covered children’s picture book is presented by two celebrated picture book creators. Margaret Wild is a recipient of the Nan Chauncy Award and Lady Cutler Award for her contribution to Australian literature. For this book she is ably assisted by internationally renowned award-winning author and illustrator, Stephen Michael King.
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This early children’s book by author and illustrator, Heidi McKinnon, is a hardcovered ten-and-a-half-inch book with a large orange dog face on the cover. The reader is first introduced to SHMOOF and all his antics. Then they meet FLOOF who is a grey cat. As most people know some cats and
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This hard covered children’s book is a tale in Tangrams. For those who are unaware of the term, an explanation is provided at the beginning of the book where it says, ‘the pictures in this book are all made from the same seven shapes, which form a puzzle called a tangram.’
Reviewed by Rod McLary It is not often that I review books from the YA genre; but this one – We Saw What You Started – caught my attention. It was well worth the read and here we are with my review. Teenage detectives are not uncommon in YA novels – think Nancy Drew or
Reviewed by Ian Lipke This novel opens in 1898 with a quick sketch of a father who is about to be sentenced for a long term in prison. The story then switches to the lives of two boys, Billy and Tommy Smith, forced to grow up amid the harsh environment of the streets of Sydney’s
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Wanting to expose myself to a piece of modern literature I soon found that much has changed in the many years I have been away. I expected to find different writing styles and degrees of acceptance that differed from my own, but I did not anticipate the raw emotion and the
Reviewed by Rod McLary Lisa Jewell has published twenty-three novels and, according to her publisher, the most recent ones have been ‘dark psychological thrillers’; and, according to this reviewer, Don’t Let Him In falls readily into that category. Even the title suggests danger and tension and neither is in short supply as the narrative unfolds.
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Maya Linnell is among a small group of Australian women writers who make the reader feel, when reading their books, as if they are visiting relatives in a small country town. These communities contain amazing and inspiring everyday people within them. Yet at the same time there are jealousies and the
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Stephen J. Campbell’s reading of Leonardo da Vinci requires the widest possible circulation, not because his argument is utterly convincing but because he comes so close to doing just that. He leaves the reader gasping at the audacity of his proposals but also wondering if he might in fact be right,