BOOK REVIEW: The Book of Knowing by Gwendoline Smith (AKA Doctor Know) Allen & Unwin February 2019 Paperback, $21.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Psychology / Self-Help / Teenage / Cognitive Behavioural Therapy 80% Learn to understand the way you think and you will be able to deal with many of life’s difficult moments. Written in […]
BOOK REVIEW: Teatimes: A World Tour by Helen Saberi Reaktion Books June 2018 Hardcover, $59.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Cooking, Food & Drink 75% Rocking Tea is one of the world’s most popular drinks. It also one of the most versatile as Helen Saberi’s Teatimes: A World Tour proves. The book is a […]
BOOK REVIEW: Little Whale by Jo Weaver Hodder Children’s Books March 2018 Paperback, $15.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Picture Book 60% Told through the eyes of a whale and her calf, this mesmerisingly beautiful book is a story of migration, family, the strength of parental love and the wonders of nature. Little Whale has never seen […]
BOOK REVIEW; ADDING THE BLUE by Chrissie Hynde Genesis Publications November 2018 Hard cover, $79.99 Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar Art 72% This intriguing collection of artworks by punk pioneer and pop rock mainstay Chrissie Hynde follows her recent attempts to find her artistic voice during some downtime in The Pretenders’ rock and roll schedule. Not […]
BOOK REVIEW: HARRY POTTER – DIAGON ALLEY. A MOVIE SCRAPBOOK Bloomsbury July 2018 Hard cover, $27.99 Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar Children/Fantasy/Movie tie-in 80% Harry Potter’s legions of ardent fans will already be familiar with the magical Diagon Alley – the secret magical location just off Charing Cross Road in London where the wizarding world go […]
BOOK REVIEW: THE BEASTIE BOYS BOOK by Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz Faber Social November 2018 Hard cover, $49.99 Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar Music/autobiography 100% No-one should have expected that the surviving Beastie Boys, Mike D and ADROCK, would have told their story in a sane, linear-like fashion. For the co-constructors of frat boy hard […]
BOOK REVIEW: White Rabbit, Red Wolf by Tom Pollock Walker Books July 2018 Paperback, $16.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Young Adult / Mystery 80% Peter Blankman is afraid of everything and must confront unimaginable terror when his mother is attacked. Seventeen-year-old Peter Blankman is a maths prodigy. He also suffers from severe panic attacks. […]
BOOK REVIEW: Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and Other Lies by Scarlett Curtis Penguin Books Ltd October 2018 Paperback, $29.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Society & Culture / Feminism & Feminist Theory 80% Rocking When writer and journalist Scarlett Curtis was told feminists don’t wear pink she was undeterred. In fact, she decided to […]
BOOK REVIEW: Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Riverrun October 2018 Hardcover, $26.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Short Stories / Science Fiction 70% In the stories of Adjei-Brenyah’s debut, an amusement park lets players enter augmented reality to hunt terrorists or shoot intruders played by minority actors, a school shooting results in both the […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker Scribner February 2019 Paperback, $29.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Fiction / Speculative Fiction 60% Whatever this is, it comes over them quietly: a sudden drowsiness, a closing of the eyes. Most of the victims are found in their beds. But there are some who will tell you […]
BOOK REVIEW: Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor Hodder & Stoughton October 2018 Paperback, $19.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Young Adult / Fantasy 80% If you have not read Strange the Dreamer, please stop reading and go check out the linked review/grab yourself a copy of the first book. — SPOILERS FOR BOOK 1 (Strange […]
BOOK REVIEW: Nobody Cares by Anne T. Donahue ECW Press September 2018 Paperback, $19.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Comedy & Humour / Humour Collections & Anthologies 55% Rocking Anne T. Donahue’s debut book, Nobody Cares is missing a suffix. It should clarify that people don’t care “About the small stuff.” We all know […]
BOOK REVIEW: Highway Bodies by Alison Evans Bonnier Echo February 2019 Paperback, $19.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Young Adult / LGBTQ+ / Horror 90% ‘Do you know anything – at all, about what happened?’ The toddler tugs at Hasib’s hand but doesn’t say anything. I don’t know what to say. It’s something bad, and I […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble Allen & Unwin February 2019 Paperback, $16.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Middle Grade / Climate Fiction 75% ‘We’re gonna starve if we stay here,’ Emery said. ‘If we’re gonna go, best go now.’ And he said it like going was something easy. Like all we have to […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Afterwards by A.F. Harrold, illustrated by Emily Gravett Bloomsbury Children’s Books November 2018 Hardcover, $24.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Middle Grade 50% Its voice was kind, firm, honest, sharp, but reserved. A short distance away from being warm. ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ it said. ‘I can hear you across the town,’ […]
BOOK REVIEW: Mr Ordinary Goes to Jail by Wil Patterson Finch Publishing June 2018 Paperback, $27.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Biographies & True Stories / Memoirs 60% Rocking For most people, their idea of prison is like a combination of Orange is the New Black and Prison Break. The book, Mr Ordinary Goes […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Disasters by M.K. England Harper Teen December 2018 Paperback, $19.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Young Adult / Science Fiction 80% Hotshot pilot Nax Hall has a history of making poor life choices. So it’s not exactly a surprise when he’s kicked out of the elite Ellis Station Academy in less than twenty-four […]
BOOK REVIEW: A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, a literary life, 2nd Edition by Jacqueline Kent NewSouth Publishing September 2018 Paperback, $34.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Biographies & True Stories 90% Rocking Beatrice Davis always knew that someone would write a book about her. This formidable woman was Australia’s most acclaimed book editor. An […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Year of the Farmer by Rosalie Ham Pan Macmillan Australia September 2018 Paperback, $32.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Fiction / Modern & contemporary fiction 50% Rocking Rosalie Ham is a country girl through and through. The author of the hit novel, The Dressmaker has written her fourth book, which is set in […]
BOOK REVIEW: IGUANA BOY SAVES THE WORLD WITH A TRIPLE CHEESE PIZZA by James Bishop and Rikin Parekh Hachette Australia May 2018 Paperback, rrp $14.99 Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar Children’s 76% It’s hard enough when your older brother and sister are superheroes and super obnoxious – but when you finally find your own superpower and […]
