BOOK REVIEW: Like A Bat Out Of Hell: The Larger Than Life Story Of Meat Loaf by Mick Wall Hachette Australia November 2017 Paperback, $32.99 Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar Biography, Rock & roll 8.5/10 Mick Wall’s biography of Meat Loaf, the fat, bullied kid who wanted to be loved, is much more than just another […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Ultimate Guide To The 1977 Classic Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Sterling/New South Books December 2017 $29.99 Hardback/film tie-in Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar 10/10 The inside story on the greatest fairy tale ever told, this Celebration Special is a slight book at only 98 pages, but absolutely crammed full of […]
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: Perfect Imperfection – Dog Portraits Of Resilience And Love by Alex Cearns ABC Books March 2018 Hardcover, $24.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Non-Fiction / Animals / Photography 9/10 These perfectly imperfect dogs have gentle lessons for us all… Meet special little Vegemite with the permanent wink; Bali Pip, the playful pup who lost […]
BOOK REVIEW: Bird to Bird by Claire Saxby and Wayne Harris Black Dog March 2018 Hardcover, $24.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Picture Books 6/10 Award-winning picture book creators Claire Saxby and Wayne Harris team up to bring us a gentle story of nature, history, recycling and art. A bird drops a seed to the floor […]
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: Not-So-Lucky Lefty by Megan McDonald and Erwin Madrid Candlewick Press March 2018 Hardcover, $19.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Beginner Readers / Fiction 7/10 Judy was feeling left out. Judy wanted to be creative. Judy wanted to be a genius. Judy wanted to be a president. But most of all, Judy wanted to go […]
BOOK REVIEW: Contagion by Teri Terry Orchard May 2017 Paperback, $16.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Young Adult / Speculative Fiction 6.5/10 Callie is missing. Her brother Kai is losing hope of ever seeing her again. Then he meets Shay, a girl who saw Callie the day she disappeared, and his hope is reignited. Their search […]
BOOK REVIEW: Shadow Warrior by Tanya Lloyd Kyi Annick Press/New South Books Softcover, picture book Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar 9/10 Chiyome is a determined woman whose dream of becoming a ninja is initially thwarted when she is forced to marry a warlord’s nephew in 16th century Japan. As events unfold Chiyome realises her dream, eventually […]
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: As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti Sourcebooks Fire December 2017 Hardcover, $24.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Young Adult 5/10 What if you could ask for anything – and get it? In the sandy Mojave Desert, Madison is a small town on the road between nothing and nowhere. But Eldon wouldn’t want to live […]
BOOK REVIEW: Endurance by Scott Kelly Doubleday UK October 2017 Paperback, $35.00 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Non-Fiction / Science & Space / Biography 9/10 A stunning memoir from the astronaut who spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station–a candid account of his remarkable voyage, of the journeys off the planet that preceded it, […]
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: Just the Tip – Sex Tips for Chicks by Gay Dudes Lost the Plot November 2017 Hardcover, $16.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Non-Fiction / Guides / Humour 7.5/10 Sex tips for women written by an international panel of gay men. Ever wondered: – How to give the perfect blow job? – Where a […]
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: P is for Pearl by Eliza Henry Jones HarperCollins Australia February 2018 Paperback, $19.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Young Adult / Fiction / Mental Health 8/10 From the talented author of the celebrated novels In the Quiet and Ache comes a poignant and moving book that explores the stories we tell ourselves about […]
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: The Feed by Nick Clark Windo Headline January 2018 Paperback, $29.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Speculative Fiction 3/10 THE FEED by Nick Clark Windo is a startling and timely debut which presents a world as unique and vividly imagined as STATION ELEVEN and THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS and explores what it […]
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: Space Is Cool As Fuck by Kate Howells & Friends Lost The Plot December 2017 Hardcover, $75.00 Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar Science & Space 10/10 Space has never been more interesting, nor more beautifully rendered than in the heavy as fuck coffee table-sized Space Is Cool As Fuck. Space fanatic Kate Howells […]
