Books

(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) Science fiction as a genre is usually not short of big, epic, mind-blowing ideas. Those kinds of ideas, all space operatic, wildly imaginative and fearlessly brave, are the genre’s stock in trade; if you can dream it, sci-fi can make it even better than you dreamt Continue Reading

(courtesy Allen & Unwin Australia) Uncorrected proof of The Remarkable Truths of Alfie Bains provided by Allen & Unwin via Better Reading in return for an honest and objective review; the novel releases 29 April 2025. It goes without saying that if a novel is to truly capture your heart, Continue Reading

(courtesy Bloomsbury.com) One of the qualities most lauded among people under stress is the ability to go on face of incalculable and often heavily wearing odds. And while resilience in any form is to be admired, what is frequently missed when we are admiringly placing people under great duress on Continue Reading

(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) Falling in love is really quite delightful. Stating the obvious there I know, but sometimes when you dive into a rom-com that’s not exactly humming along on all rose-petal fueled cylinders, you could be forgiven for wondering if it’s worth all of the misassumptions, toing-and-froing and Continue Reading

(courtesy Harper Collins Australia) How far would you go to protect something you truly and deeply love? It’s an academic question for most of us, but for Ben, the protagonist of Bradley Somer’s Extinction, it’s a real and pressing question that could him relationships, friendships, any sense of wellbeing left Continue Reading

(courtesy Hachette Australia) If you are someone who grew up never quite fitting into the mainstream and feeling distinctly out of place in a world you couldn’t quite figure out, then Alice Franklin’s delightfully thoughtful, Life Hacks for a Little Alien, might be just the read for you. The story Continue Reading

(courtesy Simon & Schuster Australia) SNAPSHOTSummer is in full swing when Daisy drives back into Wynmouth in her almost-clapped-out car, having left both her most recent job and the man her parents thought she was going to marry. Coming home could be just what she needs to move her life Continue Reading

(courtesy Scribe Publications) Reaching a crossroads point in your life is both liberating and hugely disquieting at the same time. In a Hollywood movie, of course, this pivotal moment of existential decision-making would be rendered as an easily demarcated and simply resolved black-and-white inflection point, but real life rarely comes Continue Reading

(courtesy Bloomsbury Publishing) Let’s be honest – when it’s not being sensationalist or downright scary (and there’s a lot of that right now courtesy of one very large North American country’s new ruler), the real world can be more a little boring. We get on trains when commuting, we get Continue Reading