Our latest reviews
Grandma Murphy’s Pussycat by Maura Finn & Lucinda Gifford (illus.)
‘At midnight’s strike as all lie sleeping, comes a figure crawling, creeping …’ And so begins the night-time adventures of Grandma’s cat, a sly black feline on the hunt (when they should be tucked up in bed) only to become…
Ten-Word Tiny Tales by Joseph Coehlo and Friends
Every now and then a children’s book is so distinctively creative that it invites the reader to participate in its magic and fire up their imagination. Ten-Word Tiny Tales is one such book.
Joseph Coelho has created 20 tiny tales…
Cheese! by Felice Arena & Beatrice Cerocchi (illus.)
‘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…
The Glass Girl by Kathleen Glasgow
In The Glass Girl, Kathleen Glasgow delivers a deeply moving exploration of addiction through the eyes of 15-year-old Bella. Overwhelmed by the demands from her divorced parents and broken by being called ‘too much’ by her ex, Bella seeks…
The Dagger and the Flame (The City of Fantome, Book 1) by Catherine Doyle
Seraphine Marchant has always lived a life of secrecy alongside her mother, an alchemist and smuggler of Shade, a magic powder. Shade gives anyone the power to bend shadows to one’s will, which is perfect for spying, stealing and killing.
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My Family and Other Suspects by Kate Emery
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…
Twenty-Two Impressions: Notes from the Major Arcana by Jessica Friedmann
In Twenty-Two Impressions: Notes from the Major Arcana, Jessica Friedmann takes readers on an enlightening exploration of the Tarot, reflecting many of our own serendipitous encounters with these intriguing cards. Like Friedmann, I once believed the Tarot wasn’t for…
Uses for Obsession: A (Chef’s) Memoir by Ben Shewry
Ben Shewry’s book is an argument in favour of creative control. The Attica head chef and owner highlights the best parts of hospitality while wrestling with the worst. He goes all in: this is manifesto territory. Rants in all directions…
Race Mathews: A Life in Politics by Iola Mathews
As an adolescent at Melbourne Grammar, Race Mathews discovered The New Statesman in the school library and, through that, Hewlett Johnson’s The Socialist Sixth of the World. Together, they opened his eyes to the possibility of people cooperatively living…
We Are the Stars by Gina Chick
Gina Chick will be known to many as the woman who spent 67 days alone in the wilds of Tasmania in the first series of SBS’s Alone Australia. Initially Gina came across as a wild, muddy, crazy hippie who…
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