Natalie Salvo is a foodie and writer from Sydney. You can find her digging around in second hand book shops or submerged in vinyl crates at good record stores. Her website is at: http://nataliesalvo.wordpress.com
BOOK REVIEW: Gloria’s Voice: The Story of Gloria Steinem—Feminist, Activist, Leader by Aura Lewis Sterling Publishing Co Inc March 2018 Hardcover, $24.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Picture Books / Early Learning 6/10 It is encouraging to see the recent increase in the number of non-fiction picture books dedicated to inspiring women and men from history. […]
BOOK REVIEW: Theft by Finding – Diaries: Volume One by David Sedaris Little, Brown Book Group May 2017 Paperback, $29.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Literature, Poetry & Plays / Non-Fiction Prose 9/10 Reading someone’s diary is an intimate, voyeuristic experience. This is even more apparent in the case of author, humourist, and professional […]
BOOK REVIEW: Side Hustle – Build a Side Business and Earn Extra Cash, Without Quitting Your Day Job by Chris Guillebeau Pan Macmillan September 2017 Paperback, $29.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Business & Management / Small Businesses & Self-Employment 7/10 If anyone was qualified to write books on the successful start-up or side […]
BOOK REVIEW: Taming Toxic People – The Science of Identifying and Dealing with Psychopaths at Work & at Home by David Gillespie Pan Macmillan Australia July 2017 Paperback, $32.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Self-Help & Personal Development / Popular Psychology 7/10 There is a high possibility that you either know or have encountered […]
BOOK REVIEW: Grace Kelly – Hollywood Dream Girl by Jay Jorgensen and Manoah Bowman HarperCollins Publishers Inc November 2017 Hardcover, $59.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Arts & Entertainment / Photography 9/10 Grace Kelly not only lived up to her name but she was also every bit the Hollywood dream girl that the title […]
BOOK REVIEW: Betoota’s Australia by The Betoota Advocate ABC Books October 2017 Paperback, $32.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Comedy & Humour 8/10 When you’re a kid from a small, country town, the prospect of leaving home and moving to the big smoke can be scary. The guys from The Betoota Advocate know all […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Four Tendencies – The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too) by Gretchen Rubin Hodder & Stoughton General Division September 2017 Paperback, $29.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Self-Help & Personal Development / Popular Psychology 5/10 Many of us will be […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Best Ever Baking Book by Jane Bull Dorling Kindersley Ltd October 2017 Hardcover, $22.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Cooking / Food & Drink / Baking 7/10 The Best Ever Baking Book could also be called, “My First Ever Baking Book.” This colourful volume is written by Jane Ball who has penned […]
BOOK REVIEW: Sons of God – Inside the Secret World of Our Special Operations Group by Heath O’Loughlin Pan Macmillan Australia June 2017 Paperback, $34.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Biographies & True Stories / True Crime 7/10 Consider the famous trope, “I would love to tell you, but then, of course I’d have […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Secret Life of the Mind – How Our Brain Thinks, Feels and Decides by Mariano Sigman HarperCollins Publishers June 2017 Paperback, $32.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / General Science / Popular Science 7.5/10 In many respects, the brain is a black box to us. It is a mysterious organ that is […]
BOOK REVIEW: With the End in Mind – Dying, Death and Wisdom in an Age of Denial by Kathryn Mannix HarperCollins Publishers December 2017 Paperback, $27.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Sociology & Anthropology / Death & Dying 9/10 Dying is something we will all experience some day. But for many of us the […]
BOOK REVIEW: Three Cheers for Women! by Marcia Williams Walker Books Ltd February 2018 Hardcover, $27.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Children & Teenagers / Children’s Non-Fiction 6/10 Hip hip hooray. In Marcia Williams’ latest picture book she offers up lots of joyful jubilation for over 70 famous women from history. This book is a fine […]
BOOK REVIEW: Whispering in French – A Novel by Sophia Nash HarperCollins Publishers August 2017 Paperback, $24.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Fiction / Modern & Contemporary Fiction 7/10 At university, a friend casually observed that those studying psychology tended to be people who seemed the most neurotic personalities themselves. The same rings true for the […]
BOOK REVIEW: A Bold Life by Kerri-Anne Kennerley Pan Macmillan Australia October 2017 Hardcover, $44.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Biographies & True Stories / Arts & Entertainment 6/10 Kerri-Anne Kennerley is a blonde bombshell and the Queen of Australian TV. She has lived a rich and charmed life as she describes in her […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Economists’ Diet – Two Formerly Obese Economists Find the Formula for Losing Weight and Keeping It Off by Christopher Payne PhD and Rob Barnett Pan Macmillan Australia December 2017 Paperback, $29.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Family & Health / Popular Medicine & Health 8/10 The Economists’ Diet was written by […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Last Great Australian Adventurer – Ben Carlin’s Epic Journey Around the World by Amphibious Jeep by Gordon Bass Random House Australia July 2017 Paperback, $34.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Biographies & True Stories 7.5/10 The name Ben Carlin may not mean much to some people, but American author, Gordon Bass […]
BOOK REVIEW: McSweeney’s Issue 50 Edited by Dave Eggers McSweeney’s Publishing August 2017 Hardcover, $44.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Literature, Poetry & Plays > Non-Fiction Prose / Literary Essays 7.5/10 The McSweeney’s literary journal should come with a disclaimer like: “Expect the unexpected.” This quirky, quarterly journal is celebrating a milestone with its […]
BOOK REVIEW: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt: Snowglobe Gift Book by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury Walker Books Ltd October 2017 Hardcover, $27.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Picture Books & Early Learning / Interactive & Novelty Books 10/10 In 2019 Michael Rosen’s version of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt will be 30 […]
BOOK REVIEW: Quotes for Nasty Women – Empowering Wisdom from Women Who Break the Rules edited by Linda Picone Sterling Publishing Co Inc December 2017 Paperback, $22.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Society & Culture / Social Issues & Processes / Feminism & Feminist Theory 7/10 When Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton “such a […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Mystery Gut by Prof Kerryn Phelps AM with Dr Claudia Lee & Jaime Rose Chambers Pan Macmillan Australia August 2017 Paperback, $27.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction/Health & Personal Development 8/10 For too long it was assumed that the gut was a mere food processor in the body. But recent research in […]
