Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Rethinking the world financial system is not something most of us are capable of. Even understanding the world financial system is no picnic. This is a story of two Australians who not only understood, but who set out to shake things up. Their extensive research and experience led them to conclude
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Fleur McDonald first introduced readers to Detective Dave Burrows in the early 2000s when he was the main character in her novel. Since then, he has appeared as a secondary character in sixteen contemporary novels. In this story, Shock Waves, he is the main character but at a time when he
Death of Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (3 February 1947 – 30 April 2024) was an American writer and film director. His notable works include The New York Trilogy (1987), Moon Palace (1989), The Music of Chance (1990), The Book of Illusions (2002), The Brooklyn Follies (2005), Invisible (2009), Sunset Park (2010), Winter Journal (2012), and 4 3 2 1 (2017). His most recent book was Baumgartner [2024]. His books have
Stella Prize 2024 Alexis Wright has won the $60,000 Stella Prize for her fourth novel, Praiseworthy (Giramondo). Wright becomes the first author to win the Stella Prize twice, having previously won the 2018 prize for Tracker (Giramondo). A proud member of the Waanyi Nation, Wright has won numerous awards, including the 2007 Miles Franklin Literary Award for Carpentaria. At the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards, Praiseworthy won
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Among the many books written by Karen Swan (20 books – two a year) is her Wild Isle series which tells of the dramatic evacuation of St Kilda in 1930. St Kilda, two and a half miles off the mainland of Scotland is a cliff-walled island in the North Atlantic that
Reviewed by Richard Tutin In a park in the City of Bendigo Victoria sits a small building that represents an enduring link within the annals of Australian history. I refer to the Joss House Temple that was opened in 1871 as a place of worship for the Chinese community who came to Bendigo in search
Reviewed by Rod McLary The Walker Brothers once sang ‘breaking up is so very hard to do’ and those of us who have broken up with a loved one will know exactly what the Brothers mean. In his debut fiction novel, Jonathan Seidler explores the break-up of a marriage. As with much else in life,
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Sister Viv is the latest novel written by Grantlee Kieza OAM. He held senior editorial positions at The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and The Courier-Mail for many years and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his writing. He once said that Australian children were not being
Reviewed by Ian Lipke The novel Iron Flame about Violet Sorrengail and her boyfriend Xaden continues on from Rebecca Karros’s story called Fourth Wing published in 2022. This novel was a raging success. It was anticipated that Iron Flame would be just as successful. However, with a different premise, and a different focus, a story
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Many of us are familiar with the ‘Opium Wars’ that were waged in China by western Powers such as Britain and France between 1839 and 1860. What may be unfamiliar is the background to these skirmishes that ended with China having to allow the continued importation of opium and other goods
Reviewed by Rod McLary An epigraph to this new novel by Stephen Orr is a quote from the esteemed Australian author Patrick White. He says: The mystery of life is not salved by success, which is an end in itself, but in failure, in perpetual struggle, in becoming. Epigraphs by definition point to the theme
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke In December 2012 Bruce Munday first published the book Those Dry Stone Walls. It sold out four times and was reprinted with revisions. Those Dry Stone Walls is now out of print again. Wakefield Press and the author decided that rather than go to a fourth reprint a second edition should
Reviewed by Gail McDonald This book is the first published book by Anton Clifford-Motopi although he wrote three other books while completing post-graduate studies in public health, working as a university lecturer and raising four children. The author’s stories explore themes of self-identity, family relationships and friendship drawing from his experiences growing up in a
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Some true stories deserve a novel. This is one of them. Even the title of Diane Armstrong’s latest novel is a clever and poignant take on a date palm that did not exist when the story took place, and an historian might overlook, but a novelist could see the romantic symbolism.
Reviewed by Gail McDonald Amal Abou-Eid is a passionate educator, mother and author of multiple self-published books. Amal started writing children’s books when she couldn’t find books that depicted characters and stories that related to their Muslim Lebanese Australian identity. This is the third book by Amal. Cara King is a Melbourne based illustrator and