(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) There is a prevalent idea out there that having money somehow solves all of a person’s problems. Driven no doubt by those without than those with who likely know all too well that while money might make you happy, or at least comfortable, it does not Continue Reading
Books
#ChristmasInJuly book review: You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky
(courtesy Sourcebooks Casablanca) From the gloriously mischievous play on the lyrics of an old Christmas favourite to the phrase adorning its back cover in Australia (or the front in this artwork) where Santa and “Joy to the World” get short shrift, You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky, Continue Reading
Book review: The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
(courtesy stevenrowley.com) Knowing we are loved is a powerful thing. If we are fortunate enough to have emotionally expressive people in our life, we will know that, deeply and often; but, and all too often this is the case, either through benign neglect or lack of care (usually the former Continue Reading
Book review: Orbital by Samantha Harvey
(courtesy Grove Atlantic) Preview copy provided by NetGalley; Orbital releases 2 November 2023. You imagine that orbiting the earth must be something akin to watching the world’s greatest, most expansive documentary unfolding before you (narrated, of course, by Sir David Attenborough because who else would work in this, or any, Continue Reading
Book review: Ithaca by Claire North
Mythologies, no matter the culture, are wondrous things to dive into. They give you a rich insight into a people’s culture, what matters to them and the values that underpin their belief system and which shape/have shaped them and their society. But fascinating though the storytelling can be, they often Continue Reading
Book review: Lights Out in Lincolnwood by Geoff Rodkey
When you read as much as this reviewer, you will be used to the florid expansiveness of most back cover book blurbs which promise the earth, the moon and the stars, a word-driven trailer of sorts for the story which lies tantalisingly within. Much of the time the blurbs mail Continue Reading
Shhhh … let the power of Bedtime Stories with Ryan send you to dreamland
(courtesy YouTube) SNAPSHOTBedtime Stories with Ryan is a “restful show” from an “anxious mind” and features music from Sleeping at Last. “We’re so happy to create a program with the express goal of putting people to sleep. This show has actually been a dream of mine for a while,” said Continue Reading
Book review: Without Further Ado by Jessica Dettmann
(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) The world can be divided in any number of interesting ways but for the purposes of this review, let’s just say that there are those who use pop culture as an amusing, sometimes comforting diversion and those, who for thoroughly understandable reasons (reality sucks), use Continue Reading
Book review: Ghost Girl, Banana by Wiz Wharton
(courtesy Hachette Australia) We are all products of our past and present. That might seem self-evident and startling obvious, but for all its lived veracity, the truth is that we often struggle to bridge the two or to fully understand and live out how the past impacts on the current Continue Reading
Book review: Infinity Gate (The Pandominion Book 1) by M. R. Carey
(courtesy Hachette Australia) Talk of the multiverse is everywhere these days. It’s partly based on reports of new and emerging science but it’s driven, you have to suspect, by the fact that our own world is diving headfirst, driven by inaction over climate change and extreme political machinations, into the Continue Reading