Bronte Coates
Bronte Coates is the former digital content manager and Readings prize manager.
Review — 6 Sep 2020
Having and Being Had by Eula Biss
Having and Being Had is the new book from American essayist Eula Biss and, as with her two previous very good works, this is the kind of enthralling read that…
Review — 28 Jun 2020
What Zola Did on Monday by Melina Marchetta
What Zola Did on Monday is a beautiful, heartwarming story for beginner readers. Bright, determined Zola lives together with her mother and her nonna, and just over the fence from…
Blog post — 7 May 2020
Lessons I've learned from mums & grans in picture books
Our digital content manager Bronte Coates shares some of the best parenting advice she’s absorbed from reading picture books over the years.
Give your child space to figure out big…
Review — 28 Jul 2013
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
I was recommended Elena Ferrante by a friend, along with cautionary advice that Ferrante was ‘close to the bone’, a phrase somewhat akin to James Wood’s description of her writing…
Review — 23 Feb 2020
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo
When Kim Jiyoung starts exhibiting bizarre behaviours, her husband takes her to a psychiatrist. What follows is a succinct account of Jiyoung’s life, from birth to elementary school, from the…
Blog post — 31 Mar 2023
Which Curtis Sittenfeld book should you read first?
Perhaps you are a person who is thinking: ‘I am interested to read this extremely good author, but also I am time-poor and do not know where to begin’. This…
Blog post — 24 Sep 2019
Five books I loved reading to my new baby
Bronte Coates shares five of her favourite books that she read during the first six months of her new baby’s life.
Review — 21 Oct 2019
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
In Olive, Again, Elizabeth Strout returns to the familiar territory of Olive Kitteridge, the titular character of her 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and arguably the author’s most memorable creation…
Review — 13 Oct 2015
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
A Harry Potter-esque romantic adventure story set in a boarding school from Rainbow Rowell? Yes please, thank you very much.
Like other fans of Rowell’s earlier books I’ve been very…
Review — 22 Jul 2019
Inland by Téa Obreht
Many readers will remember Téa Obreht’s impressive debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife, which won the Orange Prize back in 2011. Inland is the author’s sophomore outing and Obreht once…
