The Secrets of Strangers by Charity Norman Allen & Unwin Neil used to have a job, a family, friends, a home and a sofa to sit on at night to watch television. Now he sleeps on the London streets and keeps everything her owns on three plastic bags and a tatty backpack. When someone drops […]
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales Hatchette “I don’t want this to be over,” he said. “I’ll definitely never forget you,” he said. “Please don’t lose contact. I need to see you again one day,” he said. It had been seven weeks of bliss, the best summer holiday of seventeen year-old Ollie’s life. Will had […]
Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans Echo Publishing This is fantasy story of three gender queer teenagers who are drawn together at school. Melbourne writer Alison Evans says that she can’t get their 15 year-old self out of their head – “The one who was scared because they thought they were alone”. And they don’t want […]
Letter to My Younger Self Edited by Jane Graham Allen & Unwin What advice would you give to your sixteen year old self? What part of your life would you want to revisit? Journalist Jane Graham wanted to encourage the famous people she interviewed to talk about their lives in revealing and honest ways and […]
Darkness For Light by Emma Viskic Echo Publishing A bout of meningitis left Caleb Zelic deaf when he was 5 years of age so he became proficient at watching body language and picking up tell-tale signs that people try to hide. Lip reading can be full of hazards – beards, swollen lips and people looking […]
Further Fables: Queer and Familiar by Margaret Marrilees Wakefield Press Fables: Queer and Familiar started online and then the stories were broadcast as a radio serial before being published as a collection in 2014. These further fables take the characters from Australian writer Margaret Marrilees’ most recent novel Big Rough Stones and the reader is […]
How Fear Works: Culture of Fear in the 21st Century by Frank Furedi Bloomsbury The television news headlines were as depressing as usual. This time is was forecasts of “hellish catastrophic weather for Sydney”, “fears that the black plague might return” and surveys finding that “most people are anxious about the state of the economy”. […]
The Four Paws of Spiritual Success by David Michie Hay House For those of you who have met the Dalai Lama’s cat before in a previous book by Subiaco writer David Michie (The Dalai Lama’s Cat, The Art of Purring, The Power of Meow), she is back … just as vain and just as insightful […]
Sex Power Money by Sara Pascoe Allen & Unwin Highly acclaimed comedian, writer and actor Sara Pascoe has turned her attention to all things that matter to us human animals – sex, power and money – concentrating mainly on how evolution has molded human sexuality. Noticing that the male/female dichotomy is imposed from birth, she […]
I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott Murdoch Books Mary Laura Philpott has written for The New York Times, The Paris Review and O The Oprah Magazine, examining the overlap between the absurd and the profound in her life. In this memoir-in-essays, she shares the humour of her life’s more memorable moments […]
