Must-read books for June: Play to prose, restaurant reflections
Late 19th-century illustration of a scene from the Greek tragedy, ‘Oresteia’. (Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis/Getty Images) This month in book reviews: The importance of a good team (and proper lighting!) in restaurants. Anything is possible, with a catch. The strange, melancholic, wondrous, wandering prose of Haruki Murakami. Read more below and check out the rest of our book […]
Guest Post: From a farmer to an author by Michael Trant, author of Ridgeview Station
I was kindly invited to review West Australian author Michael Trant’s first rural fiction novel for Allen & Unwin. Those who follow my reading tastes know I love Australian rural fiction novels, so I soon jumped at the chance to review a new book from a genre I am passionate about. An added drawcard for […]
City of Stairs
This is another one of those authors that I’ve been meaning to get to for a long time now. Long time. Yeesh. Ever since I read Steve’s review of The Company Man. I’ve even bought two of this guy’s books at a second-hand store without even looking at the blurb since reading that review, but […]
‘It takes as long as it takes’: And other writing advice given to, and by, the legendary John McPhee
By David Hayes Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process By John McPhee Farrar, Straus and Giroux 208 pp; $28 Draft No. 4 is an odd book to be getting the kind of attention it has attracted from the mainstream media. It is, after all, a writing manual – not the sort of book that […]
In Broad Daylight – A Jess Harding Novel by Seth Harwood
This is a fascinating story. Jessica Harding is a FBI agent hot on the trail of a serial killer. Five years ago, she was in Anchorage, Alaska, chasing this same nightmare. It was her first time leading an investigation that contained crime scene after crime scene, and too few clues. After months, the scent grew […]
The five books everyone is talking about this August
The stomach of a dead Black Footed albatross chick filled with plastic consumed accidentally at the Midway Atoll Wildlife Refugee in Midway Island. (USFWS/Alamy Stock Photo) This month in book reviews: A town of murderers, a family of psychics, sailing through an ocean choked by garbage, a massive wine con and a philosophical murder mystery. Read […]
New Release Book Review: The Red Coast by Di Morrissey
Title: The Red Coast Author: Di Morrissey Published: October 31st 2017 Publisher: Pan Macmillan Pages: 384 Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Australian RRP: $34.99 Rating: 4 stars A NEW STORY IN AN ANCIENT LANDSCAPE FROM AUSTRALIA’S FAVOURITE STORYTELLER. In The Red Coast , Di Morrissey returns to the red earth of the Kimberley with a passionate story of resistance and resilience under its soaring blue skies. After […]
City of Blades
I told you this one would be coming really soon didn’t I? Oh yeah. The third book in this series was published in May of this year, and when I realized that a handful of weeks ago, I bought them all and got busy, because I immediately knew how I wanted to do this. So, […]
The ‘sadistic science’ to surviving the average a–hole
By Terra Arnone The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt Robert I. Sutton Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 224 pp; $28.00 Stanford Professor Robert Sutton penned his 2007 Harvard Business Review essay, “The No Asshole Rule,” knowing it might hit a nerve. A frank, well-researched revelation addressing assholic behaviours in […]
Dead Haven: A Zombie Novel by Flint Maxwell
Dead Haven is another zombie story, but there’s a little more to it than just killing dead guys who won’t stay down. It starts with Jack Jupiter, who hates his home town and growing up there had been the worst time of his life. Unfortunately, his mother dies and he is the only one to […]