(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) By and large this reviewer, an habitual buyer of books even though his TBR is threatening to collapse on him at some point in the not-too-distant future, doesn’t usually have books bought for him. But when that does happen, when someone does take the chance Continue Reading
Books
Book review: When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) At first glance, the premise for When the Moon Hits Your Eye, seems nonsensically silly and hardly the kind of plot to support a hard-hitting and substantially thoughtful exploration of humanity and the many it expresses itself under pressure. But then, then if anyone can weave Continue Reading
Book review: The Bookshop Detectives #2: Tea and Cake and Death by Gareth Ward and Louise Ward
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Cosy crime has become quite the thing in recent years, and while those unacquainted with the genre might wonder how something so awful could be considered in the same vein as warm fires, knitting and supportive found families, there’s something about combining cosiness and crime that Continue Reading
Book review: Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley
(courtesy Hachette Australia) If you were a cinemagoer in the ’80s and ’90s, when big budget action blockbusters were at their inarguable height, you would well acquainted with what it’s like for innocent people to get caught up in a situation far bigger than themselves. These are usually not the Continue Reading
Book review: Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods
(courtesy Harper Collins Australia) It has oft been noted that there is nothing new under the sun, and while the Bible got the ball rolling on that one, plenty of others have taken up the cry that try as we might to be creatively original or to dream up a Continue Reading
Book review: My Hot Housemate by Susannah Hardy
(courtesy Hawkeye Publishing) Let’s get one thing clear right from the start – we love literary romantic comedies because, and yes, there will be a lot of this particular word, we love LOVE. Who doesn’t want to read about someone battling insurmountable, wretched circumstances, crash ‘n’ burn existential hell and Continue Reading
Book review: The Lamplighter’s Bookshop by Sophie Austin
(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) Challenging the status quo is never an easy task. Especially when it’s 19th century England, where Victorian propriety of the most suffocating kind rules, at least for those in the upper classes, and where one small step, however intentional or unintentional, can mean social death Continue Reading
Book review: Space Brooms! by A. G. Rodriguez
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) A digital preview copy of Space Brooms! provided by Angry Robot Books in return for an honest and objective review; the novel releases 29 April 2025. When I switched on the phone to read the graciously suppled preview pdf of Space Brooms! by A. G. Rodriguez, Continue Reading
Book review: Time Was by Ian McDonald
(courtesy Macmillan Publishers) When you’re in love, big all-consuming, the world begins and ends with the person before you, the whole experience feels big and epic and expansive as the vast sweep of space. Love is one of those things which defies expectations, stares down limitations and busts all the Continue Reading
Book review: Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Thanks to the many loud and shouty tentacles of the digital age, it’s usually the case that when something happens to someone, we know about it. Or, at the very least, we have the potential to know about it. Hence, we hear celebrities celebrating their good Continue Reading