Dear Reader, with Alison Huber
I already know (thank you, dear Editor) that I simply don’t have enough space this month to explain how great September’s releases are, so my apologies in advance for any and all omissions. Our fiction book of the month is the glorious Wildflowers, Peggy Frew’s fourth novel which showcases her sharp eye for character and the complexity of familial relationships. Our Melbourne City Reads alliance has chosen Sophie Cunningham’s This Devastating Fever for September’s pick, a genre-defying novel many years in the writing and an absolute thrill to read. Jock Serong’s The Settlement is the third novel in his loosely themed historical fiction trilogy (which started with Preservation and The Burning Island). Victoria Hannan’s debut novel, Kokomo, was a knockout success during the difficult first lockdown of 2020; Marshmallow is her excellent second novel. Anne Casey-Hardy has many eyes on her debut collection of stories, Cautionary Tales for Excitable Girls, as does Tracey Lien for her first novel, All That’s Left Unsaid. I love that Katharine Pollock has finally written women into the space of the record shop in Her Fidelity: we’ve been there the whole time, dudes! Also out this month is a new collection of stories from Chris Flynn, and Shaun Prescott’s anticipated novel Bon and Lesley, which follows his 2018 Readings Prize-shortlisted novel The Town.
International fiction is bursting at the seams this month, so a few key September mid-month releases are going to be reviewed in the October Readings Monthly (e.g. the new novel from Ian McEwan, Lessons, which is looking like one of the books of the year). In the meantime, our reviewers warmly recommend books by Maggie O’Farrell, Kate Atkinson, Namwali Serpell, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Elisa Shua Dusapin, Heidi Sopinka, Tess Gunty,Emma Donoghue, Natalie Haynes, Vasily Grossman, R.F. Kuang, Janaka Malwatta … as well as Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s third book in the beloved, smash-hit Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, Before Your Memory Fades.
Our reviewer makes a big call in her assessment of Joëlle Gergis’ Humanity’s Moment: that if you only read one nonfiction book this year, it should be this one. It’s about nothing less than the future of humankind and the planet. It’s important and urgent, inspiring and empowering. Whether you make it your only nonfiction book in 2022, or one of many, it’s clearly an essential read. We also recommend Emperors in Lilliput by Jim Davidson, about two crucial figures in Australia’s literary landscape and the journals they began; Jacinta Parsons’ memoir, A Question of Age; Sally Olds’ essay collection, People Who Lunch; and Philippe Sands’ The Last Colony. And while I am fast running out of space, I will always make room for mention of Yotam Ottolenghi, whose second communiqué from the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, again co-authored with Noor Murad, is ExtraGood Things, in which the chefs show you how to ‘Ottolenghify every meal’. Seriously, who doesn’t want that? Set your calendar reminder for 20 September, a.k.a. Ottolenghi Day at Readings! You won’t be able to miss it.
And finally, dear Reader, congratulations to everyone involved in the judging ofthis year’s Readings Prizes. A very fine group of books has been assembled by our committed staff in the three prize categories, and we hope you will enjoy discovering the best of Australia’s emerging talent with us.
