Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Sophie Green’s books are like joining a social group over a cup of tea or coffee. They are not dramatic, chilling or fanciful. They are about ordinary people just like the rest of us who have ups and downs in life. In her latest book, Lessons in Love at the Seaside
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve In today’s world, the sight of a child, who is an independent reader, immersed in a book and forsaking other activities, is unusual. Devices have usurped this position and it is no exaggeration to state that most prefer them to the ‘much too slow’ books! Sosuke Natsukawa has written a sequel
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke After fifteen years of marriage to Noah, August is not happy. Their life together has lost its connection. She was getting up each morning at 3am to go to the bakery which she had bought without any consultation with Noah. The same with their house purchase. This had been her dream
Reviewed by Antonella Townsend This is not the time to be reading dystopian novels, too close to reality. Best to choose a romantic romp, a roller coaster full of guilt, grief, loads of self-doubt, dream relationships found, lost, and found again. And Love Overdue, written by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus, fits the profile perfectly.
Reviewed by Rod McLary There is sometimes a moment in our lives when unexpectedly the world shifts; when the wind changes, and then suddenly nothing is the same again. Our Beautiful Boys chronicles one such moment in the lives of sixteen-year-olds Vikram, Diego and MJ – all celebrating their team’s victory in a high school
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke On reading this latest novel by Léonie Kelsall, I was once again drawn back to the small country town called Settlers Bridge located in South Australia where I found characters I have met before. For those readers who are unfamiliar with this author’s work, all the information needed for this particular
Reviewed by Ian Lipke I’m sure that a reviewer somewhere has applied the phrase “a Greek tragedy” to this beautifully written book. It is not so much the story which sweeps us away as it is the writing itself. The feeling of great competence as the writer manipulates her words and images to best tell
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Wanting to expose myself to a piece of modern literature I soon found that much has changed in the many years I have been away. I expected to find different writing styles and degrees of acceptance that differed from my own, but I did not anticipate the raw emotion and the
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Maya Linnell is among a small group of Australian women writers who make the reader feel, when reading their books, as if they are visiting relatives in a small country town. These communities contain amazing and inspiring everyday people within them. Yet at the same time there are jealousies and the
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
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 Wendy Lipke Set in the north island of New Zealand, Jennifer Trevelyan’s novel, A Beautiful Family, with the accompanying words ‘The summer that changed everything’, is all about relationships within the family unit and the outside ones that impact on it. What made this book unusual for me was that the story is
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Sea Change is an excellent example of an imagination at its most vivid. Here the author envisages the devastation likely to be inflicted on an island community called the Kapiti Coast. A dramatic rupture in an Alpine region triggers a tsunami that, in a series of waves of varying strength, is
Reviewed by Ian Lipke It was Gillian Wills who first made the comment that “Musicians are artists that paint in sound.” She went on to make the point that despite the wide acceptance of this judgment, music is played across the country in acoustically inept buildings and rooms. Ms Wills would know what she is