Not That I’d Kiss a Girl by Lil O’Brien Allen & Unwin This Kiwi girl’s tale begins with a ‘bang’ – of her parents’ front door. Nineteen year-old Lil is on her semester break from the University of Otago in Dunedin. She stays at her parents’ place even though she knows that being gay is […]
The Booksellers | Dir: WD Young | ★ ★ ★ ★ The internet has certainly impacted on the popularity of books, but the book is not dead. Many people still like the feel and smell of a book, and are proud of their book collections whether the books are mundane or valuable. This documentary starts off at […]
H is for Happiness | Dir: John Sheedy | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Walking out if the screening of this film, my companion asked why Australians always seem to make quirky films and my response was that it is because we do them so well. We are able to laugh at ourselves and celebrate […]
Love Sarah | Dir: Eliza Schroeder | ★ ★ ★ ½ Sarah (Candice Brown) is cycling to Notting Hill to meet her best friend Isabelle (Shelly Conn) to discuss what has to be done to open a bakery/café in a run-down piece of real estate in West London. In a tragic turn of events, she doesn’t […]
Better Luck Next Time by Kate Hilton Allen & Unwin We meet the Goldstein-Hennessey family at a Christmas gathering of the clan and fortunately there is a list of characters at the beginning of the book to help keep track of them as the reader follows the many unfolding dramas. Trying to play happy families […]
The Codes of Love by Hannah Persaud Muswell Press It is 2015 and it looks as if London couple Emily and Ryan has it all – successful jobs, stunning house and the secret to a successful marriage. The kids have grown up and, while all the marriages within their circle of friends are crumbling, their […]
The Inheritance of Secrets by Sonya Bates HarperCollins Publishers Juliet Dunne had never seen a dead body before she was taken by a detective to identify the bodies of her grandparents who had been murdered in a home invasion. To make things worse, her Oma and Opa (Karl and Margarete Weiss), who had raised her, […]
Mammoth by Chris Flynn University of Queensland Press The inspiration for Chris Flynn’s wacky novel was an auction that was held in New York in 2007. Included in the 345 lots that were bought by the rich and famous was a 67 million year old skull of a Tyrannosaurus bataar, the severed hand of an […]
Taking Down Evelyn Tait by Poppy Nwosu Wakefield Press Sixteen year-old Charlotte (Lottie) Murphy is a frequent visitor to her principal’s office – so frequent that they seem to be on a first name basis. In the first chapter of this Young Adult book is titled How to Lose Your Best Friend and Your Breakfast. […]
Snow by Gina Inverarity Wakefield Press ABC online news had a recent headline From the Burbs to the Bush, Animals are Reclaiming and Exploring the World During Coronavirus. Of course, Gina Inverarity wouldn’t have known about that when she wrote her recently published book that predicts that a global catastrophe releases animals that were previously […]
