(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) There is something thrillingly intense about every book that Adrian Tchaikovsky writes. While his stories aren’t necessarily told in an adrenalised pedal-to-the-metal fashion, they are always packed full of intriguing and utterly fascinating ideas that percolate with ferocity and passion out of every word and page, Continue Reading
Books
Book review: Birds of a Feather by Rhianna King
(courtesy Affirm Press) As life races by at breakneck speed, it’s all too easy to assume that if we have fully realised who we are and what we could become by a certain age that it’s simply too damn late. But in Rhianna King’s utterly delightful debut novel, Birds of Continue Reading
Book review: How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
Is there anything new under the murder mystery sun? You may think not; after all, how many ways can you have a crime happen, have it investigated by a quirky though frighteningly competent sleuth and have the killer/s unmasked in suitably dramatic fashion? As it turns out, quite a lot, Continue Reading
You are not your thoughts … trailer lands for Turtles All the Way Down
(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTHannah Marks’ new film Turtles All the Way Down tackles anxiety through its 17-year-old protagonist, Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced). It’s not easy being Aza, but she’s trying… trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of Continue Reading
Book review: The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr
(courtesy Hachette Australia) Living up to hype, any hype, can be a crippling burden for any novel. It might well be every bit as good as the buzz feverishly declares it to be, full of characters you will love, themes you will embrace and a story that will draw you Continue Reading
Book review: The Opposite of Success by Eleanor Elliott Thomas
(courtesy Text Publishing) Pretty much everyone on the planet sets out on this somewhat strange journey called life aiming for and expecting the best. After all, who wants to aim lower than that? It’s a one-shot deal and you’re hardly going to launch yourself into the fray hoping and planning Continue Reading
Easter kids’ book fun: Easter Eggstravaganza, Bugs Bunny at the Easter Party and Dear Easter Bunny
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Easter Eggstravaganza by Roald Dahl (illustrated by Quentin Blake) Can you have Easter eggs all year through? Supermarkets and chocolate retailers seem to think you can; for no sooner has Christmas tinseled off into the distance than Easter eggs (and hot cross buns for that matter) Continue Reading
Book review: Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life by Helen Fisher
(courtesy Simon & Schuster Australia) Stepping out of comfort zones is easier for some people more than others. But the truth is that no matter our willingness to push those envelopes and test those boundaries, all of us have well-mapped and comfortably known places that we prefer to inhabit over Continue Reading
Book review: Cool Water by Myfanwy Jones
(courtesy Hachette Australia) Is it possible to forge a meaningful and fulfilling present from a past laced with great sadness, fear, abuse, pain and loss? That’s a metric ton of existential hellishness to craft something currently good from and as Cool Water by Myfanway Jones opens, Frank Herbert has more Continue Reading
Movie review: Dune – Part Two
(courtesy IMP Awards) There is something about science fiction that lends itself to big epic storytelling. Maybe it’s the sprawling, limitless imagination that fuels its endlessly expansive narratives, the big ideas that find a ready home in a genre ready made for high-impact messaging, or simply the fact that you Continue Reading