Our books of the month, October 2024
Explore our books of the month for October.
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
Juice by Tim Winton
Reviewed by Joe Rubbo, Managing Director of Readings
‘ … the writing is just as superb as we have come to expect from Winton.’
Somewhere in Western Australia, a man and a young child in his care arrive at an old mine site. They have been travelling through a landscape devastated by climate change: searing temperatures make it impossible to travel by day. This mine is their best chance of seeking some respite from the weather, but someone has beaten them to it. The man sees he has one chance of survival: to tell his story.
This is the set up for Tim Winton’s blistering new novel, Juice. The narrator is born into a forsaken world, living on a small farm with his hard-bitten mother. Theirs is an existence of subsistence living, their survival dependent on resilience, ingenuity and a fair amount of luck. The climate is volatile, they must contend with lightning storms, flash flooding and heat domes. Although, in the face of this adversity, they are not downtrodden. They’ve come to terms with their fate.
That is until our narrator comes of age and he is shown how the world became this way. How it was transformed by an age of greed, lies and wilful destruction. He now must face the truth that his present world was made so by previous generations. There are some who are more to blame than others, and they must pay a price.
This is a Winton novel unlike any other. There are no rolling waves off lush coastline. The characters here move through apocalyptic plains and dust storms. But the writing is just as superb as we have come to expect from Winton. The pacing is propulsive, the story addictive. The characters are hard-shelled, but whole and real.
That is the brilliance of this novel. It is a highly engaging read, but there is a call to arms here too: look around and see what’s happening in the world, where we’re headed if we don’t change how we live today.
CRIME FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
The Ledge by Christian White
Reviewed by Aurelia Orr from Readings Kids
‘ … this novel certainly cements Christian White as an incredible, chilling voice in the Australian crime genre.’
Twenty-four years ago, four boys were best friends, inseparable, like brothers. That was until the night that changed everything, when their friend Aaron ran away from home. Now, years later, human remains are uncovered in the forest and their secret is about to be exposed. When the friends reunite in their hometown, they must confront their demons and think back to how their lives got to this point of no return.
My synopsis of Christian White’s new and highly anticipated thriller is short, vague, and leaves plenty of room for speculation. But trust me when I say that this is a book you immediately need to sink your teeth into before trying to figure out anything for yourself. With an unreliable narrator, jaw-dropping plot twists that make you reread the pages in case you misinterpreted, and a stomach-sinking ending, The Ledge is a hurricane that you surrender to, letting the sequence of events unfold and carry you to that inevitable feeling of shock, dismay, and an instant temptation to read it all over again knowing what you know now. Drawing on the author’s love for William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Stephen King’s It, we see the bond between these four boys. They treat each other like family without realising that family comes with accepting, and sometimes even following, the darkest parts of each other, and protecting one another, no matter the cost.
Set in regional Victoria with nostalgic flashbacks to the late ’90s, The Ledge brings home the classic feel of a small-town mystery, yet it is also something completely twisted and original. Finishing this book within 24 hours, it is not enough to say that it is unputdownable. If his other books hadn’t before, this novel certainly cements Christian White as an incredible, chilling voice in the Australian crime genre.
NONFICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
Working for the Brand by Josh Bornstein
Reviewed by Elke Power, editor of Readings Monthly
‘For anyone who works, or cares about our society’
In the latest eye-opening Australian nonfiction offering this year, high-profile Melbourne lawyer Josh Bornstein sounds the alarm regarding freedom of expression in the digital age. No, he’s not arguing for what he terms the ‘inanity of free speech absolutism’, rather, he puts forward a case for the necessity of a nuanced approach to free speech, one that carefully balances the competing freedoms assumed to be fundamental to liberal democracies. This is easier said than done, of course, but Bornstein’s concern is that current discussions about the difficulties of finding this balance are being skewed by corporate interests to such an extent that in many standard employment contracts of our era, workers have signed away a number of democratic rights. Equally concerning, in his view, is the fact that these changes to conditions (or reversions to labour relationships of times long past) are barely raising an eyebrow. He takes the position that if these concessions were demanded of citizens by government, there would, or should, be protests in the streets.
Are the stakes really so high? If the examples outlined in this book of what happens when employees fall foul of their often contradictory (and therefore impossible to achieve) conduct obligations are anything to go by, then yes, the stakes are indeed high. Bornstein draws from numerous disciplines – professional sport, academia, journalism and more – to demonstrate the consequences for individuals when things go wrong on social media or in realms of private life which are perceived to be, if not explicitly work-adjacent, certainly employer-brand affecting. Readers who already take an interest in the issues at the heart of this book will be familiar with many of these cautionary tales, some of which elicit more sympathy than others, but in collecting and examining them, Bornstein delivers cutting insider analysis, sharing not only his professional insights but also, horrifyingly, his personal experience of how devastating it can be, and how few effective avenues of recourse there are, when the internet is mobilised against you, even when it’s based on a lie.
Working for the Brand is a fast-paced, scorching assessment of the excesses of neoliberal agendas, political ruthlessness across the spectrum, and the return of the mob mentality. It’s for readers of Jon Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed and Naomi Klein’s No Logo, along with anyone else who works, or cares about our society. In the words of Joe Aston, who will be making his contribution to this year’s nonfiction feast in November, ‘There is something in this book to offend almost everyone.’
YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE MONTH
My Family and Other Suspects by Kate Emery
Reviewed by Angela Crocombe, senior buyer
‘ … a highly entertaining murder mystery that will be enjoyed by readers aged 12+.’
This debut novel set in an old farmhouse in a remote locale in Western Australia is the perfect combination of murder mystery and funny-awkward romance. Ruth and her extended family have been staying at her step-grandma’s house for the weekend to celebrate her birthday. Also among the family is Dylan, who Ruth definitely has a crush on, although for the last six months she has known he is her half cousin (it’s complicated). Then there is her dad, and her two aunties and their boyfriends: Nick, who spends the entire novel in hospital, and Shippy, who suspiciously spends a lot of time absent. And of course, there is the actual murder (or was it?) of her step-grandmother GG, who died in her bedroom from a head wound. The reason murder is suspected is because her bedroom window was found smashed open with a ladder up against it. The murder weapon? A typewriter.
Ruth and Dylan, of course, bypass the cops and attempt to solve the mystery of GG’s murder themselves. Everyone who has been in the house is a suspect, including them. With a wacky cast of characters, including extended family, neighbours and a hitchhiker, the plot is engaging and fast paced. Ruth has a delightful, self-deprecating voice that is constantly breaking the fourth wall to address the reader with little asides.
For fans of Karen M. McManus and Enola Holmes, this is a highly entertaining murder mystery that will be enjoyed by readers aged 12+.
KIDS BOOK OF THE MONTH
Cheese! by Felice Arena & Beatrice Cerocchi (illus.)
Reviewed by Kim Gruschow, co-manager of Readings St Kilda
‘A joyful book to share with readers of all ages.’
‘Did someone say Cheese?’
‘Yes, please!’
Everyone will enthusiastically shout this refrain while reading Felice Arena’s latest picture book. Last year, Pasta was one of our favourite picture books and now Arena and Italian illustrator Beatrice Cerocchi have turned their attentions to another beloved food group: cheese. There are so many types of cheese! Stinky, colourful, fancy and the names are all such fun words to say! Plenty of rhymes make this book an excellent read aloud and it’s certainly relatable with lines such as, ‘I’m never gloomy with a plate of fried haloumi’.
This book is a brief, cute introduction to cultures (people and places) through cultures (bacteria) and a great way to encourage developing palates and expand vocabulary. Cheese really does make everyone smile! A joyful book to share with readers of all ages.
KIDS CLASSIC OF THE MONTH
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
Reviewed by Mark Rubbo, chairman of Readings
‘I was sucked back into this world, relishing the adventures and travails that challenged Marcus and Esca on their quest.'
I can’t remember when I first read this wonderful historical adventure set in Roman Britain, but it must have been six or seven years after it was published in 1954; I would have been 10 or 11. You all know the thrill you get when you find a book you love, and I remember experiencing that thrill with this book all those years ago. It was the first of a series of seven books and I devoured them all. Would it still stand up now?
Eagle is the story of a young Roman officer, Marcus Flavius Aquila, wounded in battle and discharged by the army. Many years earlier, his father, the commander of the Ninth Legion, disappeared with his men on an expedition into Northern Britain, beyond Hadrian’s Wall. Marcus is determined to find out what happened to his father, the legion and the Eagle, the standard that led them into battle. Disguised as a healer, he ventures north with Esca, a freed former enslaved person posing as his assistant.
It’s an epic journey and they are confronted with many challenges. And yes, the writing is still as fresh as I remembered it, and I was sucked back into this world, relishing the adventures and travails that challenged Marcus and Esca on their quest. Give it to a young person in your life, or, perhaps, read it yourself. For ages 10+.
