Books

Mix wit and whimsy with hard emotional truth is not the easiest of literary alchemies but Barry Divola manages it near-flawlessly with his debut novel, Driving Stevie Fracasso. Promising one of those revelatory road trip adventures where fun is had but epiphanies, both existential and familial are thick on the Continue Reading

Life, we have all sagely observed at one point or another, does not come with a great many, if any, guarantees. One of the few things we can all agree is relatively set in stone is how we were raised and how that upbringing shaped who we are as adults Continue Reading

Books that subvert expectations completely are always great and gloriously good reads. Case in point is Gallow Glass by S. J. Mordern, a novel which gives every impression from the whimsically comical cover and tagline to being a humourous romp through the galaxy; but flip the book over and you Continue Reading

As a species, we love our all-conquering heroes. Perhaps because we feel insufficiently equipped to deal with life in its mundanity but most especially in its more extraordinary moments, we cling as tightly as we can to people who know all, can do all and rather happily for a world Continue Reading

Figuring out exactly where you belong is a challenge for everyone when they’re growing up. Caught in up an equally terrifying and exciting swirl of hope, uncertainty, hormones, emotional ups-and-downs and endless possibilities, figuring out the next step to that magical place where you’ll feel right at home, can feel Continue Reading

If anyone understands the complicated nuance involved in realising your dreams, it is author Kate Mascarenhas. In The Thief on the Winged Horse, Mascarenhas explores peoples’ manipulation of destiny and fate from the point of view of three divergent characters, all of whom are challenging the status quo in their Continue Reading

If there is one thing you need when you are devotedly reading a long-running series, it’s a likeable and eminently capable protagonist who has got more going on than simply existing as a prop for the narrative. Someone like Tommi Grayson, the Scottish/New Zealander rogue werewolf who has proved many Continue Reading

Billie is one of those gleefully seditious and mischievous that subverts all your expectations by packing an emotional wallop the size of the Cévennes mountains in France. That geographic reference is quite apropos to proceedings because it is where lifelong friends Billie and Franck are trapped after falling off a Continue Reading

Watch a Disney film or traipse into a bookstore or even just watch an ad or two and you’ll work out pretty quickly that we are supposed to be able to do anything. All it takes is grit and gumption, a tenacious vision and some vibrant creativity and the world, Continue Reading

One of the great tropes of any kind of love story is that of opposites attracting, the idea that two people can come from completely different backgrounds, sensibilities, and outlooks and still find common ground in the fertile surrounds of true love. It’s an intrinsically appealing idea but rarely has Continue Reading