Reviewed by Gail McDonald Ian Hayward Robinson is a former teacher who worked for many years in curriculum development and teacher development for the Victorian Education Department. He has run courses on Story Structure and workshops at many writing conferences across Australia. The Most Amazing Thing is his first picture book. Matt Shanks is an
Reviewed by Gail McDonald Phil Cummings the author of this book is an Australian author who has written over 70 children’s books including picture books and novels. His work is published in the USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea, China, and throughout Europe. Phil has received many awards including 2016 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA)
Carol Shields Prize for Fiction 2024 Eleanor Catton has been shortlisted for the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, worth US$150,000 (A$226,245). The full list of shortlisted titles includes: Birnam Wood (Eleanor Catton, Granta) * Daughter (Claudia Dey, Doubleday Canada) Coleman Hill (Kim Coleman Foote, Zando) Brotherless Night (V V Ganeshananthan, Viking) A History of Burning (Janika Oza, Vintage). First presented
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Rarely does a book cover juxtapose an image of the Kremlin and a map of the Kimberley. If this book was a work of fiction, most readers would consider it far-fetched. But calling this a “remarkable true story” is actually an understatement. The main storyteller is Nick Stride, a likeable Englishman,
Reviewed by Rod McLary Kelli Hawkins’ novels are without a doubt very good psychological thrillers and her latest novel is no exception. The title refers to three generations of Miller women – Joyce [grandmother], her daughter Nicola and grandaughter Abby. As well as their blood connection, they have something else in common which is not
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve By today’s standards, Thunderhead is unusually brief in length. This belies the fact that here is a book that must not be overlooked or dismissed. It encompasses writing that is poetic, lively and very clever in its portrayal of a woman trying desperately to master ‘how to be’ in her ordinary
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve Blending elements of mystery, science, psychology and a world threatened by approaching doom, Stuart Turton has produced a near masterpiece of thriller writing. The planet has been overcome by a lethal fog harbouring clouds of voracious insects and the only remaining life is a settlement of 122 people and three scientists
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Australia is fortunate in the 2020s to have so many talented writers who celebrate the Australian landscape while at the same time presenting heartwarming human stories. Jennifer Scoullar is one such author. Her latest Australian rural fiction, The Rivertown Vet, which is her thirteenth offering, is set in rural South Australia.
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke When reading the latest book by Fiona McCallum called Looking Out it took me some time to see the significance of the title. The story focusses on one family and a couple of close friends set in the post pandemic years. Natasha and Mitchell have two bright daughters. Natasha is striving
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Lisa Medved is an Australian author who spends much of her time in The Hague. She has worked in public relations and event management submitting work to various corporate publications and magazines in the UK and the Netherlands. In this, her first novel, she takes the reader into the seventeenth-century Flemish
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Claire Saxby, the author of this children’s book worked in Community Health while simultaneously writing for children. She has won several awards for her work. Jess Racklyeft is an illustrator who creates a variety of works either on paper or digitally. Her work with Claire Saxby on Iceberg, resulted in the
Reviewed by Antonella Townsend The author who presented the world with the first indestructible cardboard baby book should be awarded a Noble Prize for Literature. Saving parents from the inevitable task of rescuing baby’s first set of books from a torn and soggy death, while simultaneously, placing tiny feet on the path of literacy, is
Reviewed by Rod McLary The sub-title for this meticulously researched book tells it all – The Anglican Paedophile Network of Newcastle, Its Protectors and the Man Who Fought for Justice. The man at the heart of the book who fought for justice is Steve Smith – a survivor of years of childhood sexual abuse at
Reviewed by Ian Lipke What an odd fellow George Kennan must have been! Costigliola’s book, Kennan: a Life Between Worlds is one of the few books to treat him with limited sympathy. At the centre of much discussion about this statesman is what Costigliola calls Keenan’s ‘tragedy’, a reference to Keenan’s treatment by arms of
2024 Dublin Literary Award Alexis Wright has been shortlisted for the €100,000 (A$166,000) International Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction written in or translated into English. The books shortlisted for the prize are: Old God’s Time (Sebastian Barry, Faber) * Solenoid (Mircea Cărtărescu, Deep Vellum Publishing) Haven (Emma Donoghue, Picador)