The First Stone – Helen Garner
I am a long-time fan of Helen Garner so it is perhaps surprising that it has taken me so long to read The First Stone, published in 1995. But the truth …
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The Grass Sister – Gillian Mears
Gillian Mears is one of my favourite authors. She has written just a handful of novels. Her first, The Mint Lawn, won the Vogel award in 1990 and is one of …
Forever Young – Steven Carroll
One of the best books I read last year was ‘A World of Other People‘ by Stephen Carroll. Forever Young is the fifth of his Glenroy series, a collection …
Flesh Wounds – Richard Glover
Flesh Wounds is Richard Glover’s memoir of his childhood. I’ve been a fan of Glover’s Sydney Morning Herald weekend column for a while now. I love his self-deprecating humour and …
On Brunswick Ground – Catherine de Saint Phalle
On Brunswick Ground is a contemporary novel set in Melbourne. It draws on the violent death of journalist Jill Meagher in 2012 to explore the fear that her death evoked in local …
A short history of Richard Kline – Amanda Lohrey
I read A Short History of Richard Kline ahead of hearing Amanda Lohrey speak at the Sydney Writers Festival this year. It seems a long time ago now, and reminds …
Amnesia – Peter Carey
In a Sydney courtroom, jaded journalist and warrior of the left Felix Moore has just had defamation damages of $120,000 awarded against him when old friend Woody Townes offers him …
That Deadman Dance – Kim Scott
That Deadman Dance was the 2011 winner of the Miles Franklin Award and the third book by Kim Scott. It concerns the first contact between white men and the local Aboriginal …
The Eye of the Storm – Patrick White
I had to build myself up to reading this Patrick White novel. I’ve read only one of his other books, ‘The Solid Mandala’ and he’s a famously daunting writer. The Eye …
Portraits of Celina – Sue Whiting
Portraits of Celina is young adult fiction, something I’ve not read since I was that age myself. I read it because I had the privilege of meeting the author at …
