(courtesy Allen & Unwin Book Publishers) The way the world is going at the moment, you would have to be the hardiest and perkiest of optimists to think that the way forward is strewn with anything but death, disaster and destruction. Fascists are making their cruelly odious presence felt around Continue Reading
Books
Book review: How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) The past, we many of us know all too well, very rarely stays snugs and safely in the past. Whether we carry past scars with us or the law or estranged family members or a host of other things catch up with us, the past has Continue Reading
#ChristmasInJuly book review: Mistletoe at Moonstone Lake by Holly Martin
Ah, the magic of Christmas. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, which is where, of course, all the traditional Christmas visuals and vibe comes from, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, the season when reality takes a much welcome hike and all the travails and sadness of the Continue Reading
During #ChristmasInJuly 2024 I decorated my tree with 10 pop culture ornaments incl. Popeye, Grover, 101 Dalmatians, Winnie the Pooh, Garfield, The Partridge Family + more
(courtesy IMP Awards) Yes, my friends, I put up a Christmas in July tree. Well, to be fair, it’s a plain white tree that sits on a table in our loungeroom all year round and which is bedecked in Christmas ornaments in July and December (and yes, just into February Continue Reading
Book review: Juno Loves Legs by Karl Geary
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Not a lot goes right in life for the two titular characters at the heart of Karl Geary’s arrestingly moving novel, Juno Loves Legs. Born into poverty in 1970s Dublin, they are both well and truly up against from the get-go in their economically deprived estate; Continue Reading
UPCOMING READ: The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine by Laura Pearson
(courtesy official Laura Pearson Twitter/X account) YOU’VE HEARD OF THE AFTERLIFE. WELCOME TO THE BEFORELIFE. There are four of us: Samuel, Lucy, Thomas, and me – Eliza. We came into being the day Becca Valentine was born. We’ve been by her side ever since. What she doesn’t know yet, is Continue Reading
Book review: The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) You have to hand it to romantic comedies (which, by the way, this reviewer adores) – they often have the most outrageously out-there premises that, somehow, in the hands of an accomplished writer, end up feeling grounded and human. It takes some talent for that to Continue Reading
Book review: The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
(courtesy Hachette Australia) If you stop to think about, every time you open a book and starting reading the opening words on the first page, you are embarking on a journey of sorts, one without a defined ending and only the most beguiling of beginnings. You think nothing of setting Continue Reading
Christmas preview: Dive into the festive comedy chaos of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTThe story revolves around the annual Christmas pageant in a small town, which is turned upside down by the arrival of the Herdman siblings. Known as “the worst kids in the history of the world,” the Herdmans bring unexpected mayhem to the rehearsals and the performance itself. Continue Reading
Book review: The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Positioning a novel right at the heart of supernatural whimsicality can either work an absolute treat or come across as a little twee and a tad syrupy and corny. Thankfully, The Little French Village of Book Lovers by Nina George (The Little Paris Bookshop) hits just Continue Reading