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| NOTE: Previously published books material is available for viewing in our archives. See 2008 BOOKS ARCHIVE |
UPDATED: 23 NOVEMBER 2009
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UPDATED: 23 NOV 09 IN BRIEF ... |
REVIEW: Mark Abernethy's Double Back ... little distraction here from the main game — mighty deeds and reckless exploits. MORE |
POSTED: 13 NOV 09|
REVIEW: Justin Cartwright's To Heaven by Water ... As each character is explored, a bigger picture — with some surprising twists — emerges. MORE |
POSTED: 18 OCT 09|
REVIEW: Robyn Mundy's The Nature of Ice ... poignant, lyrical and at times gripping. MORE |
NEWS: Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall wins Man Booker Prize. MORE |
POSTED: 04 OCT 09
POSTED: 12 OCT 09|
REVIEW: Nathan Mullins' How to amputate a leg: and other ways to stay out of trouble ... hard to resist, easy to read, and with a message or two. MORE |
REVIEW: Andrew Lambert's Franklin ... a rather dry tale of the tragic hero of polar navigation. MORE |
POSTED: 20 SEP 09
POSTED: 04 OCT 09|
REVIEW: Michael Duffy's The Tower ... What was this? Life imitating fiction or did Duffy know more? MORE |
REVIEW: Sarah Hall's How to Paint a Dead Man ... four tales, tenuously linked, combine into a beautiful and unusual work. MORE |
POSTED: 05 SEP 09
POSTED: 02 SEP 09|
REVIEW: Alaa Al Aswany's Friendly Fire ... Wonderful works of imagination, well written, and permeated with a sense of wry humour. MORE |
NEWS: Diane Armstrong, author of Nocturne, is to be honoured by the Polish Embassy with two functions in Canberra. MORE |
POSTED: 23 AUG 09
POSTED: 02 SEP 09|
REVIEW: Tommy Dades & Mike Vecchione's Friends of the Family ... horrifying to find such a detailed account of real life cops selling out to the criminal underbelly. MORE |
REVIEW: Gary Crew's The Children's Writer ... Is this staying a bit too close to home? Who cares. The Children’s Writer is a good read. MORE |
POSTED: 10 AUG 09
POSTED: 23 AUG 09|
REVIEW: Robert Wilson's The Ignorance of Blood ... believable characters, credible plots, satisfying resolution ... what more can you want? MORE |
REVIEW: Joseph Cummins' The War Chronicles: From Flintlocks to Machine Guns ... set apart by a structure that allows a multi-level approach to military history. MORE |
POSTED: 25 JUL 09
POSTED: 10 AUG 09|
REVIEW: Stuart MacBride's Blind Eye ... a gripping tale in need of some tighter editing of sub-plots. MORE |
REVIEW: Salley Vickers' Dancing Backwards ... a bright and easy read ... her insight, although not exactly revelatory, is wise and comforting. MORE |
POSTED: 25 JUL 09
POSTED: 25 JUL 09|
REVIEW: Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall ... an excellent attempt at fleshing our life's realities in Tudor England. MORE |
REVIEW: Joyce Hinnefeld's In Hovering Flight ... a deceptively powerful tale, gently and lovingly told. MORE |
POSTED: 25 JUL 09|
REVIEW: Patrick Gale's The Whole Day Through ... a simple love tale emerges as a fine book about the niceties of human behaviour. MORE |
REVIEW: Mark Mills' The Information Officer ... well written, with tension heightened by the desperate days of the siege. MORE |
POSTED: 06 JUL 09
POSTED: 29 JUN 09|
REVIEW: Elizabeth Knox's The Angel's Cut ... an entrancing and stimulating read from an unconventional imagination. MORE |
REVIEW: Paulo Coelho's The Winner Stands Alone ... a vaguely dissatisfying addition to a catalog of wonderful tales. MORE |
POSTED: 23 JUN 09
POSTED: 05 JUN 09|
REVIEW: Andrew Gross's Don't Look Twice ... A likeable and believable character provides bases for an intriguing and satisfying read. MORE |
REVIEW: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's The Thing Around Your Neck ... each story tells us something of the human condition and leaves us wanting more. MORE |
POSTED: 07 JUN 09
POSTED: 31 MAY 09|
REVIEW: Robert M Kaplan's Medical Murder ... a worthy but somewhat flawed look at doctors who kill and the psychology driving them. MORE |
REVIEW: Anne Berry's The Hungry Ghosts ... lyrical, luscious, and evocative ... an engrossing debut novel for both auther and Blue Door. MORE |
POSTED: 31 MAY 09
POSTED: 31 MAY 09|
REVIEW: Captain Bullen's War ... A highly recommended alternative perspective to the usual writing about the Vietnam War. MORE |
REVIEW: Michael Connelly's The Scarecrow ... intriguing, fast-paced, touching on real fears and the real world. MORE |
POSTED: 13 MAY 09
POSTED: 09 MAY 09|
REVIEW: Janet Hutchinson's Grandma Magic ... sharing the wonderment of motherhood once-removed. MORE |
REVIEW: Tash Aw's Map of the Invisible World ... dramatic and exciting events, plus real insight and authenticity in the lives of his characters. MORE |
POSTED: 25 APR 09
POSTED: 02 MAY 09|
REVIEW: T.C. Boyle's The Women ... It is the story we read so often about “great men”. They may be bastards, but they are so in such an intoxicating way ... MORE |
REVIEW: Bill Tancer's Click ... an intriguing look at what we do online and why it matters. MORE |
POSTED: 24 APR 09
POSTED: 14 APR 09|
REVIEW: Barbara O'Neal's The Lost Recipe for Happiness ... a sensuous, sensual and voluptuous feast of experiences. MORE |
REVIEW: Cathy Kelly's Once in a Lifetime ... a light and fluffy read about strong, smart women. MORE |
POSTED: 08 MAR 09
POSTED: 06 APR 09|
REVIEW: Kylie Ladd's After the Fall ... an interesting insight into how little we might really know about our nearest and dearest. MORE |
REVIEW: Ernest Brough's Dangerous Days ... a story of love and redemption as much as a memoir of a great wartime escape. MORE |
POSTED: 08 MAR 09
POSTED: 25 FEB 09|
REVIEW: Peter Grose's A Awkward Truth ... a revealing account of a pivotal Australian moment: the bombing of Darwin in 1942. MORE |
REVIEW: Austin Clarke's More ... to be savoured slowly, in small bites, so as to fully appreciate its complexity and avoid being overwhelmed by its richness. MORE |
POSTED: 11 FEB 09
POSTED: 22 FEB 09|
REVIEW: Gaynor Arnold's Girl in a Blue Dress ... Charles Dickens' life provides the backdrop for a charming read. MORE |
REVIEW: Lawrence Hill's Someone Knows My Name ... skilfully combines historical fact and some actual people with fictional characters. MORE |
POSTED: 08 FEB 09
POSTED: 17 JAN 09|
NEWS: Tasmania Book Prizes shortlists. MORE |
REVIEW: Janice Y.K. Lee's The Piano Teacher ... well researched and well written, with sustained suspense and interest to the end. MORE |
POSTED: 17 JAN 2009
POSTED: 17 JAN 09|
REVIEW: Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book ... convincing, enlightening and fascinating. MORE |
REVIEW: Margaret Atwood's Payback ... certainly no dry economic tome. MORE |
POSTED: 16 JAN 09
POSTED: 09 JAN 09|
REVIEW: Andrew Nicoll's The Good Mayor ... gentle whimsicality and subtle humour. MORE |
REVIEW: Dean Koontz's You Heart Belongs to Me ... teasing with lots of possible explanations. MORE |
POSTED: 30 DEC 08
POSTED: 07 DEC 08|
NEWS: Baz Luhrmann's epic inspires rerelease of Herbert classic. MORE |
REVIEW: Louis Nowra's Ice ... an intriguing story of realities and unrealities. MORE |
POSTED: 26 NOV 08
POSTED: 30 NOV 08|
REVIEW: Paul Ham’s Vietnam: The Australian War ... a massive undertaking and essential reading for historian and layperson alike. MORE |
REVIEW: Amanda Lohrey's Vertigo ... a sea-change tale becomes a word-perfect pastoral novella. MORE |
POSTED: 26 NOV 08
POSTED: 14 NOV 08 POSTED: 02 NOV 08
REVIEW: Nadeem Aslam's The Wasted Vigil ... humanity stands tall amid the terrors of modern Afghanistan. MORE |
REVIEW: Science Is Golden ... a fertile repository of fascinating information on a vast range of topics. MORE |
POSTED: 01 NOV 08| NOTE: Previously published books material is available for viewing in our archives. See 2008 BOOKS ARCHIVE |
