If you’re looking for some suggestions about which book to read next, literary prize longlists are always a great starting place. The recent announcement of the 12 books in the running for Australia’s $50,000 Stella Prize is an excellent example. The Stella Prize is open to Australian women authors writing in…
Crime File: A murdering sister, a missing schoolgirl, and a new Superintendent Jury mystery.
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite: All her life Nigerian nurse Korede has been in the shadow of her beautiful, charismatic younger sister Ayoola. While Korede is a diligent and hard worker at a prestigious Lagos hospital, nurturing a secret love for one of the doctors, Ayoola gets…
Two debut novels get 2019 off to a crackling start
Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey: When acclaimed Brazilian author Beatriz Yagoda disappears (last seen sitting up a tree smoking a cigar) her American translator Emma Neufeld feels compelled to leave snowy Pittsburgh and dour live-in boyfriend to try and find her. And whilst Beatriz’s daughter Raquel, who has never…
Review: Flight Risk by Michael McGuire
I have a rule to never read a thriller that centres on airports, airplanes or terrorism whilst flying anywhere. Call it tempting fate. But luckily I was on terra firma, in this case sun-drenched Sydney, when I read Flight Risk the new novel by Australian journalist Michael McGuire. Not so long ago,…
2018, A Year of Books
What dictates the choice of book we choose to read each year? I regularly start out with a plan, even a detailed list, and in January 2018 it was to read as many works in translation as I could, mainly to enjoy authors I had never read before, as well…
Review: 2028 by Ken Saunders gives us a glimpse of the future of politics – and it’s ridiculously funny.
When Australian Prime Minister Adrian Fitzwilliams decides to throw a snap election he feels secure that another Liberal victory is a done deal. His Cabinet is functional if mediocre, the Greens are in receivership after losing a billion dollar defamation case, and the Labor opposition party has emerged from the…
Book Review: Inside The Devil’s Half Mile by Paddy Hirsch
When Paddy Hirsch started out researching America’s first financial crisis, the Panic of 1792, he intended to write a history book, but as he delved deeper into the colourful but brutal world of the fledgling New York Stock Exchange it quickly morphed into a high octane murder mystery that is his…
Walking the Nakasendo Way Part 2: the continuing tale of spectacular views, wonderful food, unique history and, so far, no bears
Morning, and it seems strange to wake in a bed and look out to a modern city streetscape. Breakfast is tasty but workmanlike. And although the hotel staff was helpful and friendly, I find I already miss being waved on our way, as if by old friends, by the owners of…
Crime File: The Woman in the Window by A.J.Finn and Sign by Colin Dray
The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn. Agoraphobia has imprisoned child psychologist Anna Fox in her home in the more gentrified part of Harlem. Sustained by bulk-bought alcohol and a cornucopia of heavy-duty drugs she spends her time watching a cache of classic movies (think Hitchcock) and her…
Walking Japan’s Nakasendo Way, Part 1.
The day we set off to walk Japan’s historic Nakasendo Way from Kyoto to Edo (now modern Tokyo) the weather seemed as full of optimism as we were. There were ten of us on the Walk Japan trek, four Americans, three Australians, two Singaporeans and our guide, an American who has lived…
