Reviewed by Richard Tutin I had a couple of questions as I approached this offering from Glen Humphries. The first was when does a good rock song become a rock anthem? The second question was how do the forty top songs that he has chosen from the Australian songbook became acknowledged as rock anthems when
Reviewed by Rod McLary Dead Happy is the sequel to HappyHead which told the tale of Sebastian Seaton [Seb] who, along with ninety-nine other teenagers, was sent to a new and radical program to solve ‘the national crisis of teenage unhappiness’. Through a course of gruelling challenges, Seb discovers that he has qualities which up
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve This impressive and very readable version of the life of Henry V, one of England’s most celebrated monarchs, portrays a young man far from the rollicking, pleasure seeking Prince of Shakespeare’s plays. Dan Jones’s king is a fine leader, cool in his victories, and deeply religious. Upon his triumphant parade through
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This hard-covered novel with dust jacket, River Song, is Di Morrissey’s thirtieth book to be published. Over the years she has been providing interesting human stories for her readers taking them to different parts of Australia. She is well regarded in the literary world for her Australian-based stories and has been
Reviewed by Rod McLary It has been thirty-four years since Patricia Cornwell’s first novel Postmortem was published and Dr Kay Scarpetta emerged as new protagonist in the crime genre. The novel won four major awards [the Edgar, Creasey, Macavity and Anthony] – it was the first book to ever win all four awards in the
Reviewed by Rod McLary Midnight and Blue is the twenty-fifth book in the series featuring John Rebus – the detective from Police Scotland. Aficionados of the series will know the history of John Rebus from his early days as a detective through to his becoming Inspector Rebus; and his fall from grace when he was
The longlist for the 2024 Australian Political Book of the Year Award has been announced. The longlisted titles are: The Odd Couple: The Australia-America Relationship (Allan Behm, Upswell) Quarterly Essay #93: Bad Cop: Peter Dutton’s Strongman Politics (Lech Blaine, Black Inc.) Donald Horne: A Life in the Lucky Country (Ryan Cropp, La Trobe) Mine Is the Kingdom (David Hardaker,
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve This impassioned book by Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, now the ACT’s Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, alerts us to what needs to be done to correct/replace the failed system, the out-of-home care for Aboriginal children, that now results in additional trauma and heartache for those at its
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Not a day goes by when the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes up in either the media or conversation. Yet, as Marcus Smith explains in this book it is only one form of what can be called “Techno” – a shortening of the word technology. Technology has become a very
Reviewed by Rod McLary John Banville is one of the world’s finest living writers. He has won numerous awards including the Booker Prize and is believed to be a contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 2006, he began writing crime novels under the non-de-plume of Benjamin Black and has written seven novels featuring
Reviewed by Rod McLary A common theme of Robbie Arnott’s two earlier novels – The Rain Heron and Limberlost – is the interrelation between humans and nature, their connectedness. This theme continues in Dusk where nature or the natural environment dominates the foreground of the novel to the extent that the humans seem to be
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Many of the names given to Australian places and topography after colonisation were those of English people. Today many of these are being replaced by their Aboriginal name. So, what is the story behind the non-English name Kosciuszko given to Australia’s highest peak? Anthony Sharwood, a Walkley award-winning journalist, has now
Reviewed by Rod McLary Alex Miller is one of Australia’s finest writers. Among the many awards he has won, he is twice winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award for The Ancestor Game and Journey to the Stone Country. And it is in The Ancestor Game where we first meet the protagonist of The Deal
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve It is a major joy in reading when a novelist creates a world that grips a reader and transports them to a different time and place. With Rapture, Emily Maguire’s 8th book, we are deposited in the ninth century in Mainz, in Germany. The opening scenes are of a small girl
Reviewed by Rod McLary The Valley is Chris Hammer’s seventh book and, like his previous six, it is firmly placed in the Australian landscape with an intricate plot and engaging characters. And also like the previous books, it is an immensely satisfying read. Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic and Detective Senior Constable Nell Buchanan are assigned