Books

(courtesy Arsenal Pulp Press) For some people, working out where they fit in life in easy – one look and they know where it is and who they fit in with and they glide seamlessly into place with balletic ease. But others, and I suspect it’s the majority of people, Continue Reading

(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers) The power of books to shape and mend peoples’ lives for the better is well and often remarked upon. Reading is seen, and quite rightly too, as a way of engendering wonder, curiosity and empathy, of opening the minds of those who lose themselves in books Continue Reading

(courtesy Hachette Australia) When you think of hopes and dreams, those alluring baubles of possibility and fulfillment that dangle prettily far above the grungily depressing landscape of life, you never really think in terms of how much it takes to make them happen (assuming they happen at all but who Continue Reading

(courtesy Allen & Unwin Book Publishers) Love is way more weighty and muscular and substantial than many people give it credit for. There is a prevailing idea that romantic love is wispy and wafty, all red roses and swoons and sighs and dreamy looks at your beloved, and while yes, Continue Reading

(courtesy Allen & Unwin Book Publishers) Ladies and gentlemen and ill-advised members of the ocean liner-going public – this novel is not your grandmother’s Agatha Christie. The Empress Murders by Toby Schmitz, which first moves at a liner-appropriate pace before hitting the narrative pedal-to-the-metal and gloriously defying all expectations, may Continue Reading

(courtesy Hachette Australia) Imagination is a powerful thing. In a world held fast by the often tight and deadening hand of grim, dark and soulless reality, the ability to imagine places, people and times that operate above and beyond the everyday is a salvation, a gift that allows us to Continue Reading

(courtesy Hardie Grant Publishing) There’s something utterly beguiling about protagonists who don’t march to the beat of a conventional drum. In a world addicted to the idea that conventionality and a certain level of self-censoring propriety are the only way to go, lead characters who break the mould, even to Continue Reading

(courtesy Allen & Unwin Book Publishers) Depending on your perspective, old age is a time where you either throw in the towel and admit life is what it is and there’s no changing it, and by extension, you, or you give things a long, hard look and carpe diem the Continue Reading

(courtesy Angry Robot Books) SNAPSHOTReturn to the Thai-inspired world of Suyoram in this sharp follow up to 2024’s The Last Phi Hunter, exploring mythology, colonialism, and feminine rage. Ree is born with her eyes open to the Everpresent — a heightened awareness where Phi Hunters pull their magic and can Continue Reading