OUR FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

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This highly anticipated follow-up to 2015’s A Little Life is an epic tour de force. In fact, it’s impossible for me to praise To Paradise enough. Set in an alternative America, this is a novel of three parts, its narratives traversing a slew of human experience and emotion.

Locational echoes and characters’ names recur from one story to the next, as if they are reincarnated or reimagined from the first to the last tale. Hanya Yanagihara’s employment of geographical and naming touchstones is clever; it forces the reader to reset and adopt a new mindset about these protagonists, while still anchoring them in the same space, albeit at different times.

To Paradise is unlike any novel I have read; dare I say it’s a masterpiece?

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OUR CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH

The Cane by Maryrose Cuskelly

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The northern Queensland town of Quala is reeling: one of its own is missing. Young Janet McClymont walked through the cane fields early one evening to go babysit her neighbours’ kids, but never arrived. Her bag was found, and nothing else. Now her parents trawl through the vast expanse of cane, begging their neighbours not to light the fields for the burn that must happen to harvest the sugar. But the farmers need the sugar, and the fire has to burn. Life has to move on, but nobody in the town wants to let it until they find Janet.

This is a searing, unsettling thriller: the story of a whole town holding tight to their children, and realising nothing will ever be the same … Cuskelly’s gripping rural historical tale will leave you listening in the night for the sound of the cane rustling – and what it might be hiding.

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OUR NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH

Making Australian History by Anna Clark

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It is generally proposed that history is written by the victors. Anna Clark, however, may argue that it is written by historians – which makes it no less biased. Australian history is famously contested, from the ‘history wars’ to the backlash and debate around Dark Emu to arguments in Parliament about high school curricula. This begs the question: how is Australian history constructed and why do these debates exist?

Dr Clark, granddaughter of Manning Clark and internationally recognised scholar of Australian history in her own right, argues that history- making, despite its best efforts, is not a value-free accounting of what has come before. Each piece of Australian history-making has a context and contributes towards a specific idea of Australian identity. This is an important look at the work historians do and the changing and conflicting readings of the past.

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OUR KIDS BOOK OF THE MONTH

Your School Is the Best! by Maggie Hutchings & Felicita Sala (illus.)

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Stowing away in a backpack with Uncle Barry, Aunt Mabel and all the cousins, our cockroach hero is en route to school for a wonderful day of playing hide-and-seek in lunch boxes and dancing on the teacher’s head during show-and-tell.

This hilarious, exuberant story will certainly help to ease any butterflies for young readers returning to the classroom or those who are just starting out at school. The beauty of this book is that while our cockroach friend narrates what it assumes to be positive, joyful day at school, the pictures tell an altogether different story – one that is pure chaos.

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OUR KIDS CLASSIC OF THE MONTH

The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell

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The first of Elyne Mitchell’s many books about brumbies, The Silver Brumby is a classic of Australian nature writing with beautiful depictions of the trees and animals of the Kosciuszko area. The story is written from the perspective of Thowra, the creamy foal, and occasionally from his mother, Bel Bel, whose wisdom saves his life many times. Reading it as a child I did not truly appreciate Mitchell’s extensive knowledge of this landscape. Today, the brumbies are a controversial part of the high country, but this story will leave any reader feeling they truly belong there.

Thowra’s story begins when he is just a few days old and ends when he is king of the mountains. In between there are battles with other stallions for mares, the capture of a beautiful grey mare owned by the humans, and many chases through the mountains finding hidden valleys, jumping off rock faces and other escapades. This is an Australian classic that readers of animal or nature stories aged 10 and up will absolutely love.

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OUR YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE MONTH

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys

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Ruta Sepetys latest book, I Must Betray You, is set in Romania during the communist rule of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu and brings an informed socio-political scrutiny to this brutal and oppressive regime that lasted close to 30 years. As a reader, I was fascinated by the subject matter and valued learning about life under the regime for the Romanian people.

The 17-year-old protagonist, Cristian, aspires to become a writer and trades in contraband to source news of the outside world. When Cristian is betrayed by an unknown informer, he is in turn forced by the secret police to inform on those around him, under the threat that life-saving medicines would be withheld from his grandfather should Cristian not comply.

This is an inspiring story about the struggle for truth in a world obscured by lies, and where trust between people is compromised by a vast network of civilian informers.

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OUR CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE MONTH

Schumann Cello by Zoe Knighton & Amir Farid

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Clara Schumann was a giant in the world of music in the 1800s. Strong in personality, technically proficient and musically brilliant as both a pianist and composer, in her 76 years she changed the face of concerts throughout Europe. Sadly, in our modern world she is mostly known for being the child of Friedrich Wieck – a very good pianist in his own right who forced her to become a musical prodigy – and for marrying Robert Schumann, Wieck’s student and widely considered to be one of the greatest composers of the Romantic Era. However, in recent years, people have started to acknowledge not only the scale of her influence but also the brilliance of her compositions. Through her performances, which were largely played from memory, and her teaching style, which emphasised expression and a singing tone, she directly influenced many of the pianists we love today.

Fellow Australians and long-time collaborators Zoe Knighton and Amir Farid have put the two Schumanns back together with a celebration of the couple’s short works for cello.

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