Reviewed by Ian Hamilton Best Left Buried is more complex than thrillers which have a single plot line and restrict themselves to the essentials of the thriller genre: a dangerous situation, some elements of intrigue and brave cunning to bring the danger and intrigue to a resolution. Neil A. White adds another dimension to his
TUESDAY 15 JULY | INSTORE EVENT – AVID READER WEST END 6pm for a 6.30pm start | 60 mins Join us for the launch of We Saw What You Started by Carla Salmon. Carla will be in conversation with Tanya Neilsen. ABOUT THE BOOK Fires, lies, rivalry, a new boy, first love and small-town suspicions
The shortlist for the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced. Chosen from a longlist of ten, the shortlisted titles are: Chinese Postman (Brian Castro, Giramondo) Theory & Practice (Michelle de Kretser, Text) Dirt Poor Islanders (Winnie Dunn, Hachette) Compassion (Julie Janson, Magabala) Ghost Cities (Siang Lu, UQP) * Highway 13 (Fiona McFarlane, A&U). * The 2025 winner will receive $60,000, and
Reviewed by Ian Lipke In this mystery, Stephen King tells the story of a social misfit who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke When longtime arts critic for the Seattle Times, Moira Macdonald, decided to write her own novel, a popular bookstore, Read the Room, became its own small universe. At the centre of this story are three characters who would love to change their circumstances by expanding their social circle and hopefully find
BookPeople Book of the Year Awards 2025 BookPeople has announced the winners of the 2025 Book of the Year Awards, and the Bookseller of the Year awards. Adult fiction Dusk (Robbie Arnott, Picador) * Adult nonfiction The Season (Helen Garner, Text) Children’s The Midwatch (Judith Rossell, HGCP) Bookseller of the year Sally Tabner, Bookoccino, Avalon Beach, NSW Young
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve The image of the chemist as a meticulous, hard-working valued member of a community is drastically altered by the chemist, Idris Khan, in this exceptional thriller. Initially, he is the respected and caring professional but he is forced to shed this stereotype and ultimately becomes a murderer. His pharmacy is located
Penquin Literary Prize 2025 Penguin Random House Australia is thrilled to announce Touch Grass by Mary Colussi as the winner of the Penguin Literary Prize 2025. In 2017, the Penguin Literary Prize was established to discover, nurture and develop literary fiction writers, providing a platform for new and diverse voices to emerge. Offering aspiring authors
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This book by Molly Potter and illustrator Sarah Jennings belongs to the Let’s Talk series of books helping adults start big conversations with little people. The author believes that talking to kids for 5-minutes-a-day about feelings is as important for their wellbeing as eating vegetables or cleaning their teeth. Molly Potter
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke We’re Going on a Treasure Hunt is a hard-paged square children’s book by Martha Mumford and illustrated by Laura Hughes. There is much about this book that would engage young readers. The illustrations are colourful and humorous as they depict the adventures of four bunnies in their search to find
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Laura Elvery has been the recipient of awards for her short stories and was given a Varuna Residential Fellowship to write this novel. Throughout the work there is evidence of thorough research but because so much is already known about the famous “Lady of the Lamp”, Florence Nightingale, a new angle
Reviewed by E B Heath Something that hurts one of us, hurts all of us. Jahan Kalantar Talk Your Way Out of Trouble – a memoir of Jahan Kalantar’s professional life as a barrister and lawyer. In the Prologue readers will learn about the inner workings of ‘the eye’ – it’s a lawyer-y thing. Apart
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve The much loved Swedish author, Fredrik Backman’s latest novel, My Friends, has all the characteristics of his style which combines warmth, charm, and humour mingled with sadness and wisdom. It presents a powerful illustration of the value of friendship and art which takes the form of the tale of four childhood
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke As the name suggests this story is set in the world of higher education and universities. Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher had both embarked on careers in the field of literature. They had gone on to higher degrees and eventually taken temporary teaching jobs at universities in this field. Both had
Reviewed by E. B. Heath The history of human relationships with dogs, has been less than ideal. There are sections of this book that are hard to read. But it ends well. Most societies are beginning to adopt an empathetic approach to all of nature, including our most valuable of companions, the dog. Although, this