Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
BOOK REVIEW – Readers of Rooney’s fourth novel, Intermezzo, are at risk of developing the false impression that it is, at its heart, a romance as it is touted with…
Book Reviews
The Wolf Tree by Laura McCluskey
BOOK REVIEW The Wolf Tree is a debut crime thriller, set on the isolated Scottish island of Eilean Eadar. Detective Inspectors Georgina Lennox and Richie Stewart are dispatched from Glasgow…
Books to look out for
It is set to be yet another huge year for new book releases; here is my list of titles to watch out for in coming months. From Autumn reads to…
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
This is book five of The Hunger Games series – is it a genius move or unnecessary? Never be put off by someone telling you not to read something as…
Voice for the Voiceless by the Dalai Lama
BOOK REVIEW Globetrotting Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who is turning 90 in July, will release his new book, Voice for the Voiceless: Over seven decades of struggle with…
The Branded by Jo Riccioni
BOOK REVIEW This is book one of a series called The Branded Season. Award-winning author and short story writer Jo Riccioni has managed to craft a speculative, high concept, epic…
The Home Girls by Olga Masters
BOOK REVIEW Olga Masters was born in 1919 and was a late bloomer to her literary career which began at the age of 63, although she began writing long before…
Fascinating look at Sydney Opera House history
Central Coast author Melissa-Jane Fogarty’s children’s book Tubowgule: A Sydney Opera House History will be published by Hatchett Australia on March 23. The book, illustrated by Dylan Finney, also of…
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabiel Garcia Marquez
BOOK REVIEW – I recently re-read the cult classic novel One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de), written in 1967 by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, after seeing that…
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
BOOK REVIEW This is an intriguing story about free will and destiny and the uniqueness of the human spirit. The long, fascinating saga is a mind-bending mystery with mystical choices,…
Five Aussie reads coming up
With Australia Day recently celebrated, I thought I would point you to some Australian fiction and non-fiction coming up in the first half of this year. I know – you’ve…
Three great children’s books
BOOK REVIEW With school set to resume soon, Julie Chessman reviews three children’s books. On the First Day of Kindergarten by Tish Rabe and illustrated by Laura Hughes is a…
The Orbital by Samantha Harvey
BOOK REVIEW Winner of the Booker prize in 2024, Orbital by Samantha Harvey is an ever-expansive, intricate emotionally engaging novel. The book is quite thin because the main plot revolves…
Top three Summer reads
BOOK REVIEW – Julie Chessman reviews her top three Summer reads Summer reading means different things to different people. The most popular definition, and one the book industry uses is…
All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
BOOK REVIEW Every so often you are recommended a book and the cynic in you thinks – really, is it that good? I did think that then berated myself after…
The Women by Kristin Hannah
BOOK REVIEW I highly recommend keeping some napkins, handkerchiefs or tissues close by, as you will need them while reading this book. Another word of caution; do not plan anything…
Pride and Justice by Timothy Bowden
BOOK REVIEW Timothy Bowden’s Pride and Justice reimagines Jane Austen’s beloved classic Pride and Prejudice in a world where there is no organised police force and nothing to stand in…
The Great Hippopotamus Hotel by Alexander McCall Smith
BOOK REVIEW – I was absolutely amazed to hear that Alexander McCall Smith is coming to the Central Coast for an event hosted by Words on the Waves at the…
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
BOOK REVIEW: How many times have you looked at your bookshelves and drifted past well-read books covered in dust without much hope of being reread? It was by chance that…
This Time Next Year, A Life of Positive Thinking by David Jason
BOOK REVIEW Anyone would be delighted to find this biography in their Christmas stocking and although it is a Brit classic, the comedy of David Jason transcends all cultures and…