Our books of the month, July 2024
Explore our books of the month for July; each of the below titles has been read and recommended by our booksellers before being selected as our book of the month for its category.
FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
Big Time by Jordan Prosser
Reviewed by Teddy Peak from Readings Carlton
'Interweaving the themes of music, anti-fascism, addiction and time, this book left me absolutely reeling, and absolutely enamoured.'
In the dystopian, autocratic country of East Australia, the government controls all internet and media, borders have been closed, and a drug called ‘F’ proliferates – a drug that allegedly allows users to see into the future. Outside East Australia, time seems to be misbehaving – a football game is played out exactly the same as one twenty years beforehand, kick by kick, and extreme coincidences are happening more and more frequently.
Amid all of this, our main character, Julian, just wants to make music with his band and get high. Following the breakout success of the band’s debut album, the pressure is on for a second platinum disc. However, the lead singer, Ash, keeps creating the kind of political music that the East Australia government is determined to censor.
Jordan Prosser examines the workings of censorship and propaganda within pop music, as the band tours East Australia. The music scene is eerily familiar, built into Australia’s real cultural geography. We follow along from North Fitzroy to Adelaide’s Thebby Theatre, from the state of ‘New Victoria’ to the state of ‘Wakefield’: Prosser’s text weaves the familiar with the unfamiliar, leaving me unsure as to where our Australia ends and his dystopia begins.
If the fabric of the book is un/familiarity, then the fabric of the world Prosser builds is time. When people can see the future on a whim, what happens to the thin line between future and present? Does the prophesied future happen because it is destined, or because characters are following a script that they have foreseen? Interweaving the themes of music, anti-fascism, addiction and time, this book left me absolutely reeling, and absolutely enamoured. Books like this are not only the reason I read Australian fiction, but also the reason I read at all.
CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH
Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
Reviewed by Aurelia Orr from Readings Kids
'In this bone-chilling and harrowing mystery, our deepest fears come true.'
Set in the affluent neighbourhood of Hemlock Circle, New Jersey, a group of families surround each other in a cul-de-sac, closely bound together like a ribcage. Every Friday for the summer, best friends Ethan and Billy camp out in Ethan’s backyard. There should have been nothing different this time. But in the morning, Ethan awakes to find Billy gone, taken in the middle of the night, no trace of foul play, except for a tear in the tent. For 30 years, Ethan has been haunted by the single, screeching sound of a knife cutting through the tent, and the guilt he’s carried his whole life of not seeing who took Billy. How had they taken him so quietly? Why hadn’t Ethan woken up?
But when the remains of a 10-year-old boy are found in the woods by Hemlock Circle, Ethan and all the children of the neighbourhood, now grown adults, must finally confront what happened that dreadful night 30 years ago, and unleash all the secrets kept long buried. What they all got up to in the woods the day Billy went missing; the strange man seen scouring the neighbourhood just one day before Billy’s abduction; the mysterious Hawthorne Institute secluded in the woods, and the experiments they performed there; and Billy’s interest in all things supernatural and occult, particularly communicating with ghosts.
In this bone-chilling and harrowing mystery, our deepest fears come true. There are the questions that inevitably come afterwards, and the answers and closure we sometimes never get at all. The Last House on Needless Street meets Stranger Things, Middle of the Night will keep you long awake, have you double-checking you locked your doors, and looking out the window for fear that something, or someone, may be watching you back.
NONFICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
Madame Brussels by Bargara Minchinton with Philip Bentley
Reviewed by Chris Gordon, Readings community engagement and events manager
'... a tale of one woman’s pure tenacity.'
This is the story of Marvellous Melbourne and an age-old profession. It is also a tale of one woman’s pure tenacity. Many of us know about Melbourne’s legendary brothel keeper and businesswoman Madame Brussels, but little is known about Caroline Hodgson, the woman behind the name. The authors of this fascinating biography do not know why Hodgson chose the name of Brussels for her enterprise, but believe it is likely she did so for the effect.
To avoid confusion between references to Caroline Hodgson and her husband, the authors refer to her throughout the book by her given name, and so I will too. Caroline arrived in Melbourne in 1871. Left alone when her police-officer husband was sent to work in remote Victoria, she turned her hand to running brothels and entertainment businesses. Her principal establishment was in Lonsdale Street and catered to Melbourne’s upper classes. She offered not only services associated with brothels, but also options for dancing and drinking. It was perfectly timed. Melbourne was at that time a British type of city in its boom period and places of entertainment were welcomed.
In this work, personalities are highlighted among Caroline’s clients, including various police officers, politicians, and society figures, and articles that appeared in the papers during her years of operation provide additional insight. There are also details of Hodgson’s daily life and her afternoon glass of champagne. The book notes with delicious detail Melbourne’s shifting moral compass and how it swayed in different directions depending on who was holding the arrow. This extraordinary, defiant, working class but educated woman rode Melbourne’s boom of the 1880s and survived the Depression years, including the ridiculous moral panic of the early 1900s. To put it simply, in Hodgson’s lifetime, Melbourne went from tolerance of sex work to complete prohibition.
Included in this gorgeous book are maps, sketches and photos which history buffs will enjoy. Feminists will be pleased that a businesswoman is finally acknowledged for her work. And readers that enjoy a titillating gossip session, like me, will read this book quickly and with utter delight.
KIDS BOOK OF THE MONTH
Race of Wonders (Magicalia, Book 1) by Jennifer Bell
Reviewed by Ellie Dean from Readings Kids
'This is a fast-paced and imaginative novel that hits the perfect intersection between fantasy, adventure, and STEM.'
When aspiring reporter Bitsy’s dad is kidnapped by a woman wielding a giant hamster-rhinoceros hybrid, she and her sports-obsessed best friend Kosh discover an underground secret society of magical conjurers. To rescue Bitsy’s dad, they must adapt quickly, learning how to use meteorite wands to summon ‘magicores’ – creatures born out of emotions – and follow a trail of clues across the world before it’s too late.
This is a fast-paced and imaginative novel that hits the perfect intersection between fantasy, adventure, and STEM. Jennifer Bell touches on many of the accepted tropes of middle fiction (missing parents, magical schools and resourceful kids) with an impressively fresh edge, crafting an exciting and subtly sensitive narrative that is sure to delight. My favourite part of the story was the varying species of magicore: totally original from the high-jumping Ozoz to the stretchy Bundler, helpfully illustrated by David Wyatt at the start of each chapter, and, as products of emotions, powerful devices for the novel to communicate feelings and themes.
I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone 8+ looking for a new read, especially fans of Artemis Fowl, Nevermoor, and Impossible Creatures.
KIDS CLASSIC OF THE MONTH
Something Special (40th anniversary edition) by Emily Rodda
Reviewed by Lucie Dess, Readings marketing and events coordinator
'I hope everyone can discover how Special this book is.'
Sam’s mother has been busy organising second-hand clothes for a stall at the school fete. The spare room is filled to the brim with clothing. Some are carefully hung on racks. These, Sam’s mother tells her, are Special. As Sam sits in a comfy chair, watching as the sunlight shines upon the racks of velvet and lace, something strange happens and soon Sam is discovering just how Special some of the clothing really is.
It was an absolute pleasure to return to this beautiful story. Something Special was my first book by Emily Rodda and I’m lucky enough to own a signed and personalised copy. Rodda has captured the magic and imagination of a young girl discovering how every item of clothing tells a story. How every dress, every pair of shoes, every well-worn dressing gown can hold such meaning and can be someone’s something special.
This is an absolute classic that will have the reader dreaming of dancing in a red dress and silver shoes, just like I did as a little girl, and still do. I hope everyone can discover how Special this book is. For ages 10+.
YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE MONTH
Lover Birds by Leanne Egan
Reviewed by Lucie Dess, Readings marketing and events coordinator
'It’s enemies to lovers with the perfect level of slow-burn romance.'
Lou Byrne has always been told she’s insufferable, a little too much. She’s worn it as a badge of honour, but then Isabel Williams moves to Liverpool from London and criticises everything about Lou: her city, her accent, the fact she can’t stop talking. Usually this wouldn’t affect Lou, but Isabel is different. Lou needs to get her ADHD under control before A-Levels (without medication) while dealing with friendship drama; a rivalry with Isabel is the perfect distraction.
I know we are only halfway through the year, but I can honestly say this is my favourite read of 2024. It’s enemies to lovers with the perfect level of slow-burn romance; the kind that gives you butterflies every time one of the characters gives a shy little smile or lightly brushes against the other. I was squealing on multiple occasions. But this is so much more than a romance. Through Lou, Leanne Egan shows the difficulty of dealing with an ADHD diagnosis and the fear and stigma around medication.
Egan managed to capture exactly how I felt throughout high school: always feeling a little too much while somehow not being enough. Lou is such a loveable, yet frustrating character. Sometimes I just wanted to reach into the book and shake her for being so oblivious.
This coming-of-age sapphic romance explores ADHD, homophobia, classism, revenge porn and so much more, all packaged into a funny and loveable book. Perfect for fans of Alice Oseman. For ages 14+.
