In my last review - that for Ali Cobby Eckermann's Ruby Moonlight - I shared the following lines: Jack knows the remainder of the conversation before it was spoke ya see any blacks roaming best ya kill 'em disease spreading pests ("Visitor", from Ruby Moonlight) Quite coincidentally, this point I was making, that it was not … Continue reading Larissa Behrendt, Under skin, in blood (Review)
Australian writers
Ali Cobby Eckermann, Ruby Moonlight (Review)
Ali Cobby Eckermann has been on my radar for a while, so when Lisa announced her 2016 Indigenous Literature Week, I decided Eckermann's verse novel Ruby Moonlight would be my first choice. This novel won the poetry prize and the book of the year in the 2013 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. I enjoy verse novels but … Continue reading Ali Cobby Eckermann, Ruby Moonlight (Review)
Julie Proudfoot, The neighbour (Review)
When Julie Proudfoot offered me her debut novel, The neighbour, for review I was more than happy to accept. After all, it had won Seizure magazine's Viva La Novella Prize in 2014, and you all know how much I love a novella. I must say it's a gorgeous looking book. I'm not one to judge books … Continue reading Julie Proudfoot, The neighbour (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Spotlight on Larissa Behrendt
This is the fourth in my occasional series of Spotlight posts inspired by Annette Marfording's Celebrating Australian Writing: Conversations with Australian Authors, and this time I'm featuring an indigenous author to coincide with Lisa's (ANZLitLovers) Indigenous Literature Week. Larissa Behrendt is the perfect subject for what is also NAIDOC Week, not only because she has a few books under her belt, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Spotlight on Larissa Behrendt
Dorothy Johnston, Through a camel’s eye (Review)
When should I give up saying that I don't read crime? In the last seven years, I've posted nine reviews tagged crime fiction (of which one was a guest post). Perhaps just over one a year still qualifies as not reading crime? Then again, what's the point of saying it, if every now and then I do … Continue reading Dorothy Johnston, Through a camel’s eye (Review)
Anna Rosner Blay, Sister, sister (Review)
Some of the most vivid memories of my Sydney-based late teens and early twenties relate to spending time with Jewish people, business friends of my father. We went to parties in their homes, to weddings and bar mitzvahs. These were always happy, family-oriented occasions. I had crushes on the sons. I knew that most of these people had come … Continue reading Anna Rosner Blay, Sister, sister (Review)
Charlotte Wood, The natural way of things (Review)
Well, I wrote this week's Monday musings on Australian dystopian fiction as a lead in to my review of Charlotte Wood's award-winning The natural way of things, but I wasn't expecting to get the perfect intro for my review! In the post's comments, author and publisher Anna Blay pointed us to an article by Maria Popova in … Continue reading Charlotte Wood, The natural way of things (Review)
Sonya Hartnett, Golden boys (Review)
Although Sonya Hartnett has written a large number of books, for children, young adults and adults, I've never read her, which is something I've been wanting to rectify. My opportunity came in May when my reading group scheduled her latest novel, Golden boys, for discussion. It was shortlisted for several awards last year, including the Miles Franklin Award - … Continue reading Sonya Hartnett, Golden boys (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Spotlight on Charlotte Wood
This is the third in my occasional series of Spotlight posts inspired by Annette Marfording's Celebrating Australian Writing: Conversations with Australian Authors. (See the end of this post for links to the first two.) Since Charlotte Wood won this year's Stella Prize, the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction (NSW Premier's Literary Awards), and has just been shortlisted for … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Spotlight on Charlotte Wood
Bidda Jones and Julian Davies, Backlash: Australia’s conflict of values over live exports
When co-author and publisher Julian Davies sent me Backlash to review, he described it as "our latest and perhaps most ambitious book so far - non-fiction". Hmm, I thought, that's quite something from the publisher of some very interesting and, it seems to me, ambitious books. But now, having read Backlash, I understand what he … Continue reading Bidda Jones and Julian Davies, Backlash: Australia’s conflict of values over live exports
Whispering Gums 