(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) One of the reasons that franchises like Star Wars have done so well is that they tap into an inherent need we all have for life to feel epic and adventurous. To be fair, it very rarely is with commuting, bill paying and other day-to-day detritus Continue Reading
Books
Book review: Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Life is supposed to be something wonderful, alive, free, giddily good and delightfully joyous right? Add it to anything and it immediately adds buoyancy and zest to proceedings, a sunshiney vibrancy that stands as a direct counterpoint to death, pain, loss and fossilisation of personality and Continue Reading
Book review: Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie
(courtesy Penguins Books Australia) If you’ve left for anything beyond a sliver of a slice of time, you will be well acquainted, often painfully so, with the fact that life is messy, chaotic, unruly beast. It doesn’t meekly slot into the round holes we assign it nor does it compliantly Continue Reading
Can you tell if you wander into a fairytale? The Changeling challenges you to tell if you can …
(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTWhen Apollo’s father disappeared, he left his son a box of books & strange recurring dreams. Now Apollo is a father himself–and as he and his wife, Emma, settle into their new lives as parents, exhaustion and anxiety start to take their toll. Apollo’s old dreams return Continue Reading
Book review: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (A Monk and Robot Book) by Becky Chambers
(courtesy IMP Awards) In our grim present day, it’s near-to-impossible to find anyone who thinks the future might be sunny and bright and that humanity, with its collective back against the wall, might find a way out of certain doom to somewhere sustainable and good for, not just us, but Continue Reading
Book review: Duck à l’Orange for Breakfast by Karina May
(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) Can something that starts out as flirtatious and diversionary become something far more meaningful? If you believe romantic comedies, whatever the medium, and we want to, we really want to otherwise why watch or read them as obsessively as we do, the answer is most definitively Continue Reading
Book review: A Psalm for the Wild Built (A Monk and Robot Book) by Becky Chambers
(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) The age we live is in many ways not a happy one. Beset by war, climate change, microbial resistance, the rise of fascistic government and a host of other ailments, people feel beleaguered and exhausted and pessimistic about whether there are any ready solutions to any Continue Reading
#ChristmasInJuly book review: There’s Something About Merry (Mistletoe Romance #2) by Codi Hall
(courtesy Sourcebooks Casablanca) When it comes to Christmas novels, and really many forms of festive storytelling, the much observed truism that there is nothing new under the sun is well and truly borne out. That’s not necessarily a criticism since those of us who love the season love the tropes Continue Reading
Book review: Chasm (The Glacian Trilogy, book 2) by Stacey McEwan
(courtesy Penguin Random House) If you’re going to make a fantastical world feel somewhat believable and authentic, and yes, fantasy needs to feel lived-in and humanly possible in some respects for the conceit to really stick its landing with readers, then you need three key things – taut, compelling and Continue Reading
Book review: All Wrapped Up by Ally Bunbury
(courtesy Hachette Australia) Christmas tales are, by and large, all about transformation and redemption. At what is styled at the most wonderful time of the year, everything is supposed to be possible and that includes giving a festive glow-up to lives that have languished and sorrowed in the other 11 Continue Reading