Jason Austin
Jason Austin is a buyer at Readings Carlton
Review — 26 Mar 2024
Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
‘Whale fall’ is the term used when the carcass of a deceased whale settles on the ocean floor at a depth greater than a kilometre. It’s there that the body…
Review — 26 Feb 2024
Mona of the Manor by Armistead Maupin
Hallelujah! Tales of the City fans rejoice! This month sees the release of Armistead Maupin’s 10th book in the groundbreaking series that follows the lives of the residents of 28…
Blog post — 28 Sep 2023
My year of horror (reading)
Readings Carlton bookseller Jason Austin decided to return to a genre he’d enjoyed as a young reader and exclusively read horror books in 2023. Here he shares the results of…
Review — 3 Jul 2023
Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella
I had to read this book on title alone. I mean, who wouldn’t want to read a book called Bored Gay Werewolf? Seriously! I wasn’t disappointed.
Brian is a…
Review — 10 Jan 2022
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
This highly anticipated follow-up to 2015’s A Little Life is an epic tour de force. In fact, it’s impossible for me to praise To Paradise enough. Set in an alternative…
Review — 1 Oct 2020
The Cold Millions by Jess Walter
The free speech fight of 1909 in Spokane, Washington, was a civil disobedience action staged by the Industrial Workers of the World, also known as Wobblies, under the charge of…
Review — 6 Sep 2020
The Abstainer by Ian McGuire
In my reading life, there are a handful of writers whose next novel I anxiously await. In 2016, I read the rollicking, adventure-filled historical thriller The North Water. With…
Review — 23 Sep 2019
Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
Twenty years ago Stephen Chbosky wrote a YA novel called The Perks of Being A Wallflower, which he made into a successful film in 2012. Be fairly warned, Imaginary…
Review — 19 Aug 2019
The Devil's Grip by Neal Drinnan
It was said that Darcy Wettenhall was the world’s foremost expert on the subject of Corriedale sheep. Stanbury, the stud that he owned and ran with his elderly cousin Janet…
Review — 25 Mar 2019
Halibut on the Moon by David Vann
In Halibut on the Moon, David Vann revisits a theme that plays out in his staggeringly good debut short-story collection, Legend of A Suicide. Indeed it’s a subject…
