Our books of the month, March 2024
Explore our books of the month for March; 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
Thanks for Having Me by Emma Darragh
Reviewed by Annie Condon from Readings Hawthorn
'This novel is for readers who enjoy writers who make the personal enjoyably political.'
Thanks for Having Me is a novel told in interlinked stories, and even though you might think, ‘I don’t like short stories,’ it’s worth considering that some of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novels – Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout; A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan – are created through a series of stories. Even our own Tim Winton favoured the form in The Turning.
Emma Darragh’s debut follows three women from the same working-class community in Wollongong. Maryanne, a mother in the 1970s, tries to be everything for her two daughters and husband. She works as a nurse, makes lunches for the kids, plus dinner when she gets home. She also tends to the needs of her own parents and suffers in the wake of a family tragedy. But when her two daughters are adolescents in the 1990s, she barely recognises her life, and leaves.
Vivian also finds herself in a situation where her family suddenly feels unrecognisable. As a result, she is furious and copes using alcohol and sex. She works at a string of casual jobs in between hangovers. At 23, Vivian is partnered and pregnant; she’s hoping motherhood will give her some direction. But the repetition of sleepless nights and painful breastfeeding disheartens her. Increasingly distant from her husband, she leaves when her daughter is primary school aged.
This novel is full of complex and interesting women. Despite themes of family trauma, Darragh’s writing and characters can be extremely funny, and the span of the book means that a broad range of readers will relate to the characters and timelines. The stories vary in length, and each reveals some part of the larger picture; part of the joy is piecing it all together. Central to that experience is the skill of the author in depicting the highs and lows of relationships. Memorably, in the present, Evie, a teenager, but possibly the most self-aware character, muses, ‘What if there was a Gumtree for families? Or a Buy Swap Sell?’
This novel is for readers who enjoy writers who make the personal enjoyably political. It’s a wonderful, thought-provoking read.
CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH
What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan
Reviewed by Lian Hingee, Digital Marketing Manager
'a nail-biting suspense thriller about whether money and privilege is enough to buy a guilty person an ‘innocent’ verdict.'
Australia is blessed with some of the very best crime writers in the world right now, and Dervla McTiernan is without a doubt one of the finest. Her debut, The Rúin, was a global bestseller that won a host of awards when it was released in 2018, and she’s gone on to make a name for herself as one of the most consistent and compelling writers in the contemporary crime genre. McTiernan’s most recent book is a standalone novel, and it’s one of her best. Not so much a whodunnit, or even a howdunnit, What Happened to Nina? is a nail-biting suspense thriller about whether money and privilege is enough to buy a guilty person an ‘innocent’ verdict.
Nina Fraser is a devoted sister, a conscientious daughter, a loyal friend, and a loving girlfriend; Nina Fraser is a bitch, an unreliable worker, a risk-taking addict, and an unfaithful lover. Whichever version you believe, one thing is certain: Nina Fraser is gone. When Nina’s boyfriend Simon is implicated in her disappearance, his influential parents go into overdrive, using expensive lawyers and an unscrupulous PR firm to initiate a vicious media campaign to discredit Nina’s family and cast doubt on Simon’s guilt. As the police attempt to wade through the quagmire of disinformation, Nina’s family realise that to find the answers they need, they might have to start breaking some rules of their own.
I tore through What Happened to Nina? at a rate of knots: alternately on the edge of my seat with anxiety, burning with injustice, and desperate to know how the story of Nina’s disappearance could possibly be resolved. For a crime novel with no red herrings, no twists, and no huge reveals, it’s an electrifying read about what happens when a case is tried in the court of public opinion.
NONFICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
Servo: Tales from the Graveyard Shift by David Goodwin
Reviewed by Joe Murray, Readings Kids
'the true secret to Servo’s brilliance is that beneath its irreverent, gonzo stylings it’s actually a heartfelt, coming-of-age memoir.'
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? Maybe a dead-end retail role, or a nightmare stint in hospitality? For David Goodwin, that answer is as clear as the glass on a pair of automatic doors. Fresh out of high school and looking for work, he thought he’d lucked out with an easy, brainless gig. Little did he know he was facing six years of service at the apotheosis of bad jobs: the graveyard shift at a Werribee Servo. What follows is an outlandish descent into madness and back to reality as Goodwin details his experiences on the frontlines of Melbourne’s derelict, drug-addled and deranged, writing with no shortage of humour and linguistic flair.
Goodwin is a natural-born storyteller, effortlessly compelling whether he’s talking about the draconian policies of his bosses, the mad ramblings of his regulars or his own forays into chemical-induced debauchery. On their own, each anecdote feels impossibly strange, but taken together, they build a convincingly absurd world where ravers and tradies cross paths under the watchful gaze of the most jaded cashier known to man. It helps that Goodwin is clearly an unabashed language lover, generously seasoning his prose with casual eloquence and vivid metaphors – after a while you just start to hear Goodwin’s lively voice taking you along for the ride, like an old friend at the pub.
However, the true secret to Servo’s brilliance is that beneath its irreverent, gonzo stylings it’s actually a heartfelt, coming-of-age memoir. Goodwin’s journey from wide-eyed rookie to seasoned ‘console operator’ is full of euphoric highs and bone-tired lows; a journey which takes him to dingy clubs and to magnificent forests, but always returns him to one place. An outer-suburbs servo might not be the likeliest place to discover your place in the world, but that’s exactly what Goodwin does as he fights to survive each sleepless shift while keeping his sanity (mostly) unscathed.
KIDS BOOK OF THE MONTH
Saturday is Pancake Day by Bernadette Green & Daniel Gray-Barnett (illus.)
Reviewed by Kim Gruschow, co-manager of Readings St Kilda
'Parents who grew up reading Richard Scarry’s books will enjoy Daniel Gray-Barnett’s bold, colourful anthropomorphic illustrations.'
When Dada Henry doesn’t get out of bed for Saturday morning pancakes with their family, Papa Milo is worried. Perhaps Henry doesn’t want pancakes today? Milo and the kids – Lily, Lena, and Gwendolyn – get creative in the kitchen and chaos ensues as they try to develop a dish that Dada Henry will love. They come up with all kinds of exciting flavour combinations and artistic plating designs. Recipes like ‘Good Morning Green Ice Cream’, which is made with pickles, spinach, and mayonnaise, sound like something that would feature on MasterChef, but perhaps the reason for Dada Henry’s absence at the breakfast table isn’t culinary at all.
This is a sweet and silly picture book about a creative and caring family. There’s lots of onomatopoeia and the kitchen drama makes it a fun read aloud for kids aged 2+. Parents who grew up reading Richard Scarry’s books will enjoy Daniel Gray-Barnett’s bold, colourful anthropomorphic illustrations too!
YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE MONTH
I Hope This Doesn't Find You by Ann Liang
Reviewed by Aurelia Orr, Readings Kids
This book will leave you swooning, laughing, maybe a bit in tears, but never wanting the story to end. For ages 12+
The winner of the The Readings Young Adult Prize 2023 for her debut novel If You Could See the Sun, Ann Liang returns with her third novel I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, an enemies-to-lovers rom-com about what happens when you reveal your true self: who leaves you behind, and who stays by your side, no matter what.
Sadie Wen is the perfect student. She’s school captain, valedictorian, and gets the best grades for all her assignments. But with all the stress and frustrations that come with being an A-grade student, Sadie’s method of venting is to draft emails to all the people she hates, listing the reasons they have wronged her – whether it be a teacher who refused to round up her percentage score on an essay; a classmate who copied Sadie’s idea and took the credit; or to Julius, her arch-nemesis and co-school captain, who has been competitive towards Sadie since they were kids.
She would never send them, of course. Until one day these draft emails are mysteriously sent to every student and staff member and Sadie becomes the most hated person at school. Except to Julius, who seems interested in knowing who the real Sadie Wen is.
Liang continues to amaze me with her addictive stories full of ingenuity, drama, and humour; they make me incapable of putting her books down until they are finished! As Sadie and Julius become closer, we learn what’s hiding beneath their plastered smiles, and if the feelings of hate they have for each other are actually covering up another suppressed emotion inside, one that’s almost too terrifying to think about. This book will leave you swooning, laughing, maybe a bit in tears, but never wanting the story to end. Ann Liang, I am looking forward to reading more of your books in the future!