Crime/Mystery

Best Left Buried by Neil A White

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

Read More »

Author Event

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

Read More »

Miles Franklin Award 2025 Shortlist

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

Read More »
Crime/Mystery

Never Flinch by Stephen King

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

Read More »
General Fiction

Storybook Ending by Moira Macdonald

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

Read More »

BookPeople Awards 2025

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

Read More »
Crime/Mystery

The Chemist by A. A. Dhand

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

Read More »

Penquin Literary Prize 2025

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

Read More »
Children

It’s OK to Say No by Molly Potter

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

Read More »
Children

We’re Going on a Treasure Hunt by Martha Mumford

  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

Read More »
Historical Fiction

Nightingale by Laura Elvery

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

Read More »
Memoir/Biography

Talk Your Way Out of Trouble by Jahan Kalantar

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

Read More »
General Fiction

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

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

Read More »
General Fiction

An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister

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

Read More »
Non-Fiction

Wonderdog by Jules Howard

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

Read More »
Scroll to Top