BOOK REVIEW: Rules for Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell & Katie Cotugno Pan Macmillan April 2020 Paperback, $16.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Kids & Children’s books / Personal & Social Issues / Sexuality & Relationships for Children & Teenagers 60% Rocking Rules for Being a Girl is a timely novel, written for young adult […]
BOOK REVIEW: Melbourne Remember When by Bob Byrne NewSouth Books December 2019 Paperback, $34.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-fiction / Local Interest Topics 75% Rocking Bob Byrne is no stranger to commemorating the past. The radio DJ has written five books where he has looked back at Australian life in the good old days. This […]
BOOK REVIEW: HRT: Husband Replacement Therapy by Kathy Lette Vintage Australia April 2020 Paperback, $32.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Fiction / Modern & Contemporary Fiction 65% Rocking Kathy Lette may be in her sixties but she knows a lot about girl talk. The Australian author first came to fame as the co-author of the book, […]
BOOK REVIEW: A Weekend With Oscar by Robyn Bavati Walker Books July 2021 Paperback $19.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Young Adult / Fiction 75% Rocking A moving #LoveOzYA novel about loss, first love and being there for your family, no matter what. “It’s only a weekend. Don’t you want quality time with Selena?” We both […]
BOOK REVIEW: Billie Eilish by Billie Eilish Wren & Rook May 2021 Hardcover $45.00 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Non-Fiction / Photography / Celebrities / Music & Entertainment 25% Rocking Legendary recording artist Billie Eilish shares an intimate inside look at her life and career—both on and off the stage—in this stunning, photo-filled book. Billie Eilish […]
BOOK REVIEW: Fat: the Secret Organ: The surprising science behind the most misunderstood part of the body written by Mariette Boon and Liesbeth van Rossum and translated by Colleen Higgins Quercus March 2020 Paperback, $32.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Family & Health 80% Rocking Fat is an organ that is essential for […]
BOOK REVIEW: Annie Stanley, All At Sea by Sue Teddern Mantle | Pan Macmillan July 2021 Paperback $32.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Fiction / General Fiction 70% Rocking Before we leave, I go to the loo. Before I go to the loo, I go to the dresser, take the urn of Dad’s ashes and cram […]
BOOK REVIEW: HBR’s 10 Must Reads on AI, Analytics, and the New Machine Age by Harvard Business Review Harvard Business Review February 2019 Paperback, $37.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Computing & I.T. / Computer Science 90% Rocking The Harvard Business Review is a trusted authority that publishes insightful articles online and in books. […]
BOOK REVIEW: Don’t Hide the Madness – William S. Burroughs in Conversation with Allen Ginsberg edited by Steven Taylor Three Rooms Press January 2019 Hardcover, $39.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Biographies & True Stories 60% Rocking Don’t Hide the Madness is a book that seems promising. Two founders of the Beat movement, Allen […]
BOOK REVIEW: Beauty by Bri Lee Allen & Unwin November 2019 Paperback, $19.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction Books / Literature, Poetry & Plays / Literary Essays 70% Rocking Where Bri Lee’s debut book, Eggshell Skull, was a behemoth, her follow-up tackles a large topic. In Beauty, she grapples with society’s unrealistic pressures placed on […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Clergyman’s Wife by Molly Greeley Allen & Unwin December 2019 Paperback, $29.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Fiction Books / Modern & Contemporary Fiction 75% Rocking The world doesn’t really need another novel inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. But Molly Greeley does such a good job of staying true to […]
BOOK REVIEW: Just Kids Illustrated Edition by Patti Smith Bloomsbury Publishing October 2019 Hardcover, $59.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction Books / Biographies & True Stories 100% Rocking Young love is precious. It is thirty years since photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe’s passing, and a decade since Patti Smith wrote their love story, but these heightened emotions […]
BOOK REVIEW: Ghost Species by James Bradley Penguin | Hamish Hamilton April 2020 Paperback $29.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Fiction / Speculative Fiction / Climate Fiction 80% Rocking An exquisitely beautiful and deeply affecting exploration of connection and loss in an age of planetary trauma. In the night, she wakes. Something has woken her but […]
BOOK REVIEW: Ho! Ho! Ho! There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Christmas Cake by Hazel Edwards, illustrated by Deborah Niland Penguin Books Australia October 2018 Hardcover, $19.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Fiction / Kids & Childrens Books / Picture Books 85% Rocking In 1980 we learned that hippopotamuses enjoy eating cake. And hanging out […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Need by Helen Phillips Penguin | Viking July 2019 Paperback, $29.99 AUD Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Fiction / Thriller / Speculative 80% Rocking Molly is exhausted, anxious, losing her grip on reality. Her husband is away and she is running between her children and her job, where things are unravelling. She’s a […]
BOOK REVIEW: Exhalation by Ted Chiang Picador May 2019 Paperback, $29.99 Reviewed by Steph O’Connell Science Fiction / Short Stories / Novellas 84% Rocking From the award-winning science fiction writer (whose short story “The Story of Your Life” was the basis for the Academy Award-nominated movie Arrival), the long-awaited new collection of stunningly original, […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Herbalist’s Kitchen: Cooking and Healing with Herbs by Pat Crocker Sterling Publishing Co Inc July 2018 Hardcover, $37.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Cooking, Food & Drink / Cookery by Ingredient 85% Rocking The Herbalist’s Kitchen: Cooking and Healing with Herbs is a book for anyone who has ever encountered an […]
BOOK REVIEW: Stories for Boys Who Dare to be Different- True Tales of Amazing Boys who Changed the World Without Killing Dragons written by Ben Brooks and illustrated by Quinton Winter Quercus Publishing April 2018 Hardcover, $35.00 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Children’s Non-Fiction / True Stories for Children & Teenagers 65% Rocking Stories for Boys […]
BOOK REVIEW: Just Eat it – How intuitive eating can help you get your shit together around food by Laura Thomas Bluebird January 2019 Paperback, $29.99 Reviewed by Natalie Salvo Non-Fiction / Self-Help & Personal Development / Popular Psychology 75% Rocking If you want to have your cake and eat it too then Laura Thomas’s […]
My 2018 in books was the year I discovered how much I love and appreciate a well-constructed and gripping thriller. This was the first year I read more from this particular genre and it’s certainly reflected in my top fiction picks for this year. It was nice to discover a new love and something I […]
