Explore our books of the month for May; 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
Naked Ambition by Robert Gott
Reviewed by Bernard Caleo, Readings events
'This is a novel about folly: political and personal.'
A youngish up-and-coming minister gets his portrait painted, a bit bigger than life size. He takes delivery of the canvas, hangs it on his living room wall, stands back admiringly, and when his wife gets home, he presents it to her. Proudly. Contrary to his expectatons, she’s less than enthusiastic. Well. It is a nude. He reckons that he’ll enter it into the Archibald Prize. She reckons that her husband is a narcissistic moron.
Robert Gott’s French farce of a novel is full of doorbells ringing, dramatic entrances, extreme characters, savage putdowns and snappy comebacks. Gregory Buchanan, the minister in question, is surrounded by a scrum of women (wife, mother, premier, mother-in-law, sister, cop) all of whom are more-or-less desperately trying to save him from himself. He remains doggedly, hilariously wedded to his disastrous plans for the portrait. Gott gave us years of laughs with the supply-a-caption hijinx of the Adventures of Naked Man cartoons in The Age Entertainment Guide, and more recently turned his dab hand to historical crime fiction (the Murders series, also published by Scribe). In Naked Ambition he has constructed a situational comedy that reads like a play, as all the action takes place in the Buchanans’ home. By restricting his setting, he has more space to focus on characterisation. When a crime is committed, the story goes all Cluedo: as if they were in a police line-up, we scan the sharply etched cast that Gott has assembled, and we wonder, well, who the hell did dun it?
CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH
Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater
Reviewed by Lian Hingee, digital marketing manager
'Alice Slater’s debut is disquieting ... with a carefully paced story that ratchets up to a propulsive climax..'
If you’ve picked up Death of a Bookseller hoping for a cosy crime read featuring a bespectacled protagonist with a penchant for cardigans, you will be sadly disappointed. If, however, you’ve picked up Death of a Bookseller expecting a slow-burning thriller that presents an uncomfortable insight into the mind of a psychopath, then you have the correct book in your hand.
Laura Bunting is a part of a crack team of booksellers who’ve been brought in by head office to try and save the ailing Walthamstow branch of Spines bookstores. With her winged eyeliner, vintage dresses and hand-rolled cigarettes, she’s the archetypal Bookstore Girl, but her sunny disposition starts to crack when she encounters her new co-worker Brogan Roach (‘like the bug’). Roach is everything Laura is not – sullen and solitary, with a pet snail and a macabre obsession with true crime podcasts and serial killers. But Laura and Roach have more in common than expected. They’re yin and yang, dark and light, two sides of the same coin, and what draws them together is murder.
NONFICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
Personal Score by Ellen van Neerven
Reviewed by Jackie Tang, Readings Carlton
'An extraordinary blend of cultural studies, memoir and poetry.'
This extraordinary blend of cultural studies, memoir and poetry explores a broad spectrum of subjects centred around sport and identity. With their first book of nonfiction, award-winning writer Ellen van Neerven casts a wide net over subjects as varied as the history of First Nations sports, health outcomes, desire, gender, equal pay, sovereignty, climate catastrophe and more. Threaded throughout is van Neerven’s own personal history and relationship with the sport of soccer: how the game served as a conduit for their personal expression when they were a young player on Turrbal and Jagera land, and how that love was complicated by their experiences growing up as a queer, First Nations person.
I’ve always treasured great writing about sport; there’s something so hard about using words to capture wordless action. When it’s done well, it feels like magic. It would be easy to laud Personal Score for being a triumphant example of this form, with writing that lives up to the beauty of the Beautiful Game’. Van Neerven’s prose is intimate and alive, their sentences arc like a fluid pass, linking complex insights with biographical reflections. Except, as van Neerven also reminds us, ‘This is not a beautifully written book about decolonising Australian sport. This is an ugly book that was born of the ugly language I grew up hearing in this country.’
PICTURE BOOK OF THE MONTH
The Tiny Tailors by Kat Macleod
Reviewed by Alexa Dretzke, Readings Hawthorn
'A tantalising and utterly lovely picture book for ages 2+.'
First, there was the utterly charming The Tiny Explorers: the tale of the tiny ones who collect natural treasures from deep in the flower garden as props for their party, offering a cornucopia of colourful delights. Now, we join the Tiny Tailors as they prepare for the Spring Parade. They are creating enchanting floral fashions with the bounty of the garden and their own flourishes of artistic ingenuity. When the tailors realise that each garment is missing something, they begin to see what the watchful little beetles have been directing them to on their forays: fine accoutrements that give each couture creation the finishing touch.
Everything about The Tiny Tailors expresses creative charm. You are invited into a natural world of magnificent colour and joyful artistic endeavour – and an astute eye might just see what extra accessory each garment needs. A tantalising and utterly lovely picture book for ages 2+.
KIDS CLASSIC OF THE MONTH
Possum Magic (40th anniversary edition) by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas (illus.)
Reviewed by Emma Janes, Readings Doncaster
'This well-loved and comforting book should be read by everyone, and especially to children aged 3+.'
In the heart of the Australian bush, Grandma Poss does magic spells. One day, she turns her granddaughter, Hush, invisible. Hush has a lot of fun playing while none of the other animals can see her. That is, until she decides that she does not want to be invisible anymore. But Grandma Poss does not know how to turn her visible again. The two possums set out on a journey across the country to find the solution. They travel through all the major cities, eating different types of food, until Hush is completely visible once more.
It is easy to see why Mem Fox’s classic tale is still a favourite, of children and adults alike, 40 years after first being published. Cleverly using rhyme and rhythm, this warm-hearted adventure demonstrates not only the unconditional love between Grandma Poss and Hush, but also the importance of determination and not giving up.
Julie Vivas’s watercolour illustrations give a beautiful softness to the bush animals, familiar foods, and references to our major cities, clearly placing this story in Australia. This well-loved and comforting book should be read by everyone, and especially to children aged 3+.
YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE MONTH
The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman
Reviewed by Aurelia Orr, Readings Kids
'A thrilling adventure perfect for long-time fans of Kaufman and new readers. For ages 14+.'
Attention all Amie Kaufman fans! Known for co-authoring some of the most unforgettable YA series, such as The Illuminae Files and The Aurora Cycle, Kaufman is back with her first solo YA novel! It includes everything a fantasy lover could want: a swoon-worthy enemies-to-lovers romance, rich mythology and lore full of magic, and a jaw-dropping cliffhanger that’ll leave you begging for more.
Many years ago, a war between the gods almost destroyed the world, but they were put into a deep slumber with a sacrifice. But now, 501 years later, the gods are stirring.
Selly is determined: just because her father abandoned her to adventure at sea doesn’t mean she’s going to let him get away with it. But before she can follow and find him again, her ship is suddenly commandeered by a handsome stranger who needs to escape. He is Prince Leander of Alinor, who must brave unknown seas to get to the Isles of the Gods, where he must perform a sacrifice to keep the gods from waking up. But with assassins, traitors, and wicked magicians on their heels, will Selly and Leander make it in time to stop a war, or has fate already written their doomed destinies?
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE MONTH
Australian Horn Trios by Quercus Trio
Reviewed by Kate Rockstrom, friend of Readings
'Each distinctive voice [in the horn trio] can say something musically interesting.'
As in many art forms, things can fall through the cracks of popularity in classical music. When this happens we can miss out on something interesting and different but entirely worthy of attention. Listening to this album, I felt the art of the horn trio was one of those things. Comprising violin, piano, and French horn, these works are written for their disparate sound world. On the surface it seems like there is not much in the way of complementary voices between the three instruments, but instead this is what makes the trio work. Each distinctive voice can say something musically interesting and then there are shining moments when all three join together and the music becomes quite delicious.
Quercus Trio is a Melbourne-based group whose members are esteemed musicians in the community. Carla Blackwood is the French hornist and her sound was described as ‘like an oak’ and with this they ‘were inspired by the connection between the horn’s sound and the physicality of the wood in the violin and piano’. All three musicians are involved in the education of tertiary students, from the Australian National Academy of Music to the University of Melbourne. Which shows the high calibre of teachers and their dedication to the music produced by our own composers.
