Ghost Cities
Siang Lu
University of Queensland Press
Reviewed by Wendy Tucker
Lu’s Ghost Cities just won the Miles Franklin award, certainly the most lucrative and probably the most prestigious literary prize in Australia. This was a bold, risky and brave choice because there is nothing safe about this novel. It is savage in its satire, hilarious in its observance of absurdity and, yet, surprisingly moving. It is also impossible to slot it into any … Read more »
Highway 13
by Fiona McFarlane
reviewed by Wendy Tucker
This is the fourth book of fiction from the amazing Fiona McFarlane and her second book of short stories. Her first novel, The Night Guest, was short-listed for the Miles Franklin award in 2013 and now Highway 13 is shortlisted for this award in 2025. By the time this review is published, the winner will have been announced but, at time of writing, I’m still … Read more »
Signs of Damage
by Diana Reid
reviewed by Wendy Tucker
Diana Reid is one of Australia’s youngest and most admired authors. Her first novel, Love and Virtue, was published when she was just 24. This prize-winning novel of love and heartbreak was compared to Sally Rodney’s Normal People. Reid quickly followed with a second success, Seeing Other People, a forensic examination of family and power. Each of Reid’s novels takes an issue or trope that she re-examines … Read more »
Funga Obscura:
Photo journeys among fungi
by Alison Pouliot
Reviewed by Annette Kennewell
Alison Pouliot, a world-famous expert on fungi, is coming back to the Triangle area to launch her new book during the Fungi Feastival on 20 June at the Bermagui Community Hall at 6.00 pm.
Alison spends a lot of time on forest … Read more »
by Raynor Winn
reviewed by Wendy Tucker
First published in 2018, this memoir/travelogue has had a new burst in popularity. It has been made into a much-hyped film and chosen by many libraries for their book clubs and for their Words and Music programs. It received glowing reviews and was shortlisted for the Costa Awards. It mainly attracted adjectives such as: inspirational, liberating, regenerative, courageous and, of course, life changing. And these adjectives usually mean that I won’t … Read more »
by Alice Slater
reviewed by Wendy Tucker
There are fashions in books and lately many new novels seem to have the words Bookshop or Bookseller in the title. There are novels set in bookshops in cities, in towns, in villages, in developed and developing countries, during wars … Read more »