(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) Ever since I discovered my mother’s much-loved 1940s paperbacks of Winnie-the-Pooh and The House on Pooh Corner when I was a kid, I have been enchanted by the wonder and whimsical naïveté od A. A. Milne’s marvellous creations. Winnie, along with Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit Continue Reading
Books
Festive book review: A Merry Little Christmas by Cathy Bramley
(courtesy Hachette Australia) There is an idea that if you’re writing an escapist story, then it must be purely froth and confection, its fairytale heart untroubled by the real issues of the world. And while, yes, a healthy amount of reality-defying escapism is just what the mental health-enhancing doctor ordered, Continue Reading
Book review: A Recipe for Christmas by Jo Thomas
(courtesy Penguins Books Australia) Life is full of “It seemed like a good idea at the time” moments. We can, we believe anyway, have all the wisdom of Solomon and the insight of a god, in one crystal moment of absolute clarity and act accordingly, only to find not that Continue Reading
Book review: The Secret Christmas Bookshop by Cressida McLaughlin
(courtesy Harper Collins Collins Australia) If there is one universal theme in the rich and varied storytelling of humanity, it is the need to belong. Sure, we all want to fall in love, to know connection and find our village, but at the heart of all these story types, is Continue Reading
Festive book review: The Christmas Cottage by Sarah Morgan
(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) If you have always felt like you belong, like you have an undeniable, fixed and unquestionably certain place in this world, then you are a very lucky and blessed individual. We all want and need that, with an animal need for community running hard, deep Continue Reading
Book review: Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Upending your life and chasing your dreams is almost always seen as a good thing. And that’s because there is something delightfully energising and impelling about kicking off the shackles of the status quo, particularly a toxic one, and see what lies out there in the Continue Reading
Festive preview: The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland
(courtesy IMDb) SNAPSHOTIn the film, St Nick (voiced by Gerard Butler) receives a delayed letter on Christmas Eve from the Princess of Hearts. He and his dedicated team of reindeer set off to Wonderland, where they’re greeted by the mean and miserable Queen of Hearts, who hates all things Christmas… Continue Reading
Preview book review: The Way Up is Death by Dan Hanks
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Preview copy provided by Angry Robot Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Way Up is Death publishes 14 January 2025 in UK and 4 March 2025 in Australia. Reading a book is a rarely a surface-level experience. Continue Reading
Book review: A Clock Stopped Dead by J. M. Hall
(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) As juxtapositions go, “cosy crime” is right up there on the list of sub-genres that might make you a double take. After all, what could possibly be cosy about murder, injustice and weirdly depraved attacks on people? Quite a lot as it turns out; not Continue Reading
Post Halloween book review: Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning
If you have ever watched a slasher flick – think the Scream series or the Halloween franchise starring Jamie Lee Curtis to name just two of many – you will be well acquainted with the prevailing tropes and cliches of the genre. Eminently disposable characters suddenly find themselves stalked and Continue Reading