Our books of the month, September 2024
Explore our books of the month for September.
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
The Temperature by Katerina Gibson
Reviewed by Alison Huber, head book buyer for Readings
‘ … one of the strongest Australian novels from an emerging writer that I’ve read this year, or any year.’
Katerina Gibson was named one of 2023’s Sydney Morning Herald Young Australian Novelists of the Year, and it’s worth noting that her first full-length novel had yet to be released at the time: her lauded short-story collection Women I Know (2022) was an indicator of things to come. The award was indeed prescient, because I am delighted to report that Gibson’s debut longform work, The Temperature, is impressive, and is one of the strongest Australian novels from an emerging writer that I’ve read this year, or any year.
The Temperature introduces six seemingly unrelated characters, and slowly but surely and with expert precision Gibson reveals how their lives are intertwined. This is life: the things we do, the reverberations of those actions, the places we make – all connected to each other and the Earth, to the past and the future, not atomised, singular and ahistorical as we are led to believe in the neoliberal discourse of our age. While this narrative structure is not a new approach in storytelling, what is outstanding is Gibson’s careful attention to the voices of each of these characters, and the political, generational and gendered identities each of them embodies. Like a writerly chameleon, she changes her style in each section, so the reader empathises with these people, inhabiting each of them as they make their way in the world as we know it.
There was a point in my reading where I wondered if I was reading a book that could be a harbinger of what might be called ‘post-climate fiction’: Gibson is not interested in the ‘shock and awe’ style of cli-fi set in the near-future, rendering an apocalyptic landscape, exploring what individuals will do to stay alive, hoping to sound a clarion call and scare people into action. Instead, the apocalypse is here as a slowly unfolding reality in which all are complicit. This, for the future record, is how it happened. It happened while most of us were doing other things. The sheer scope of themes this book addresses is exactly the kind of ambition, vision and purpose I crave and that I love about the best books I read: here is another incredible talent from the publishing year, 2024.
CRIME FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
The Death of Dora Black: A Petticoat Police Mystery by Lainie Anderson
Reviewed by Kate McIntosh, manager Readings Emporium
‘Full of warmth and humour, this is a cracking crime novel that will intrigue and impress.’
In 1915, Australia’s first female police officers were appointed. In Adelaide, Kate Cocks became the first policewoman in the entire British empire to be paid the same as her male counterparts. Before this, women had worked for the police, but didn’t have the same rights or responsibilities as the men. And while it would be another 30 years before policewomen in South Australia were given proper training, and they patrolled their beat in long skirts and worked at least six days a week, having these indominable women on the force was a huge step towards providing genuine help to those in need. And I simply cannot believe I had never heard of this particular Kate until now. She should be on every school syllabus in the country!
Fortunately, historian Lainie Anderson has brought Kate to life in her new novel, The Death of Dora Black, so we can all read of her heroic exploits. And while the story may be fiction, you won’t forget that this woman really did exist, and that her devotion to others was lifelong and an inspiration.
In this first instalment of the ‘Petticoat Police’ mysteries, Dora Black, a young employee of a large department store in Adelaide, is found dead in the water at Glenelg. At first, Miss Cocks and her junior constable, Ethel Bromley, are not permitted to investigate the death. Instead, they use their connections within the local community, they ask the right questions, and when another woman goes missing, they are already on the case. As Kate and Ethel put their own lives in danger tracking down kidnappers and drug lords, they save many more simply by being there for the women and children let down by society and struggling to survive. Full of warmth and humour, this is a cracking crime novel that will intrigue and impress.
NONFICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
Kitchen Sentimental by Annie Smithers
Reviewed by Danielle Mirabella, from Readings Hawthorn
‘Why cook? Kitchen Sentimental reminds us all why.'
As a bookseller, one of the ‘perks’ of the job is the pre-publication author events hosted by publishers, exclusively for booksellers. We usually meet at an iconic Melbourne restaurant and chat to an author about their book and its upcoming release, while enjoying a meal and a glass of wine or two. One of the experiences that stands out for me was a dinner to celebrate the release of Annie’s Farmhouse Kitchen, where we were invited to dinner at Annie Smithers’ home. I’ll never forget the drive up the Hume with colleagues on a warm, late-summer Saturday evening, then arriving and being welcomed by Annie and her wife, Susan, at their then-home in Malmsbury. Annie, of course, was a consummate host.
Sitting on Annie’s porch with plates in our laps, we shared a delicious, casual dinner cooked by Annie, featuring vegetables from her garden (I remember a knockout tomato pasta) and afterwards were given a tour of the vegetable garden and heritage fruit orchard. It was the perfect evening; and reading Kitchen Sentimental encapsulates this experience of Annie’s humble and honest generosity.
For those who enjoyed Annie’s 2021 Recipes for a Kinder Life, Kitchen Sentimental continues with Annie’s engaging, meditative prose. It is a deeply personal memoir taking us on a journey through the kitchens that have influenced her life, starting in her childhood kitchen with her mother’s famously elaborate dinner parties, which Annie was fascinated by and desperately wanted to be a part of, through to today, at her applauded Du Fermier kitchen in Trentham, where Annie cooks garden-to-table seasonal, French-farmhouse-inspired menus with her small, like-minded and dedicated team.
Each chapter in the book features a different kitchen in which she has worked or lived, and it is no surprise that the kitchens of Stephanie Alexander's and Alla Wolf-Tasker's restaurants were seminal in Annie’s development into one of Australia’s finest chefs and supporters of food provenance today. Annie also revisits other iconic Australian restaurant kitchens of the ’80s and ’90s, giving us a unique and personal perspective of the often harsh and brutal realities of such kitchens. In doing so, she shares how her life and relationship with food and loved ones has been shaped outside these environments and in her own home kitchen.
Why cook? Kitchen Sentimental reminds us all why.
YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE MONTH
I'm Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough
Reviewed by Alicia Guiney, from Readings Kids
‘Both heartwarming and funny, Gary Lonesborough’s new YA romance is a really fun read. For ages 14+.’
Both heartwarming and funny, Gary Lonesborough’s new YA romance is a really fun read during which you will become absolutely enamoured with the two leads.
The story follows Jonah, a 15-year-old boy who has recently moved to the town of Patience with his father and two younger brothers. In Patience, Jonah meets Harley, and quickly begins to develop feelings for him. Harley is on the Patience rugby team and, by all accounts, straight. But as the two become closer Jonah begins to wonder if Harley could also be interested in him.
Their budding romance is adorable and heartfelt. Through Jonah, the reader feels the ecstatic highs of first love, as well as the crushing anxiety that it can cause.
The story also tackles a number of heavier topics throughout. Five years prior to the beginning of the novel, Jonah’s mother died, and he continues to struggle with this loss and grieves her throughout the novel. He also struggles with his body image, social anxiety and homophobia.
While the crux of the story is Jonah’s relationship with Harley, I also loved the exploration of his relationships with Teagan, a new friend at his school, and his dad. Neither relationship is easy, but I found them to be incredibly moving, and loved watching them navigate different challenges together throughout the book.
I would highly encourage readers aged 14+ who are looking for an absorbing new romance to pick this one up. I promise you won’t be able to put it down!
KIDS BOOK OF THE MONTH
We Live in a Bus by Dave Petzold
Reviewed by Lili Reus-Smit, from Readings Kids
'With fun, colour-filled pages, this book reminds us to stop and marvel at the beauty around us and take joy in the simple act of being outdoors. For ages 2+'
Dave Petzold’s latest picture book, We Live in a Bus, reminds me of my treasured copies of Alison Lester’s Are We There Yet?, an Australian modern classic. Sharing the story of a family on a roadtrip in Australia, Petzold draws our attention to the small and large wonders of nature and the world around us.
This particular family travels in their bus, which is named ‘Gracie Joy Rufus Bean’, a delightful and well-loved vehicle. Together, the family and the bus share the adventures of camping under the stars and the freedom of the open air. With fun, colour-filled pages, this book reminds us to stop and marvel at the beauty around us and take joy in the simple act of being outdoors. Petzold brings together a light but detailed style of illustrations, making rereading an experience full of new finds – a necessary aspect when your little one inevitably asks to hear it again. For ages 2+.
KIDS CLASSIC OF THE MONTH
Cars and Trucks and Things That Go (50th anniversary edition) by Richard Scarry
Reviewed by Elke Power, editor of Readings Monthly
‘The wonderful Busytown books will delight and inspire children aged 3+ for years to come.’
It’s the 50th anniversary of Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go this year and, like all the books in the Busytown series, it has lost none of its charm and appeal. It’s impossible to resist Scarry’s appropriately busy and whimsical illustrations, or the improbably complicated adventures of his anthropomorphic animal characters.
In Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, the Pig family are going on a picnic. Who would have expected them to encounter such heavy and unusual traffic along the way? To say nothing of the astonishingly variable weather, which puts Melbourne’s to shame. Between that and Dingo Dog’s terrible driving, Mistress Mouse is kept extremely busy with repairs, while Goldbug hides on every page. The wonderful Busytown books will delight and inspire children aged 3+ for years to come.
