Books+Publishing magazine Issue 2 2016

Books+Publishing magazine’s second issue for 2016 is out now, featuring 26 reviews of adult and children’s books publishing in June to August.

Ashleigh Wilson’s Brett Whiteley: Art Life and the Other Thing (Text, August) received five stars from reviewer Clive Tilsley. Whiteley was a ‘ball of art, intellect, sex and life’, writes Tilsley, and Wilson’s book is an ‘excellent biography’ that ‘gently [teases] his subject to life in a fast-paced, thrilling way’.

Not far behind is Rajith Savanadasa’s Ruins (Hachette, July), which scored 4.5 stars from reviewer Gerard Elson, who writes that Savanadasa’s debut, set during the Sri Lankan civil war, ‘heralds the arrival of a gifted new talent in Australian fiction’.

In this issue we turn our focus to New Zealand. Melbourne Writers Festival program manager Jo Case investigates opportunities for stronger ties between our neighbouring publishing industries, while Unity Books Wellington co-owner and manager Tilly Lloyd pens this issue’s bookseller’s diary.

This issue also has a retailing focus, with a feature on the transformation of the business books category by Andrea Hanke. She also interviews former American Booksellers Association staffer and new bookshop owner Len Vlahos about, among other things, the challenges and opportunities of indie bookselling.

Elsewhere in this issue, regular columnist and UWA Publishing director Terri-ann White tackles the subject of book pricing and more efficient distribution; Nielsen Book Australia general manager Shaun Symonds looks at the difference in sales trends for indies, chains and discount department stores; and we ask three publishers if Australia has too many writers’ festivals.

 Junior Term 2

Four books scored five stars in this issue of Junior. Bec Kavanagh reviews Claire Zorn’s third YA novel One Would Think the Deep (UQP, June), observing that Zorn is a ‘writer who feels deeply the complex emotional lives and teenagers, and is not afraid to lay them bare’.

Dianne Touchell’s YA novel about a family dealing with Alzheimer’s disease, written from the perspective of a seven-year-old, is ‘masterful’, writes reviewer Meg Whelan. ‘Touchell has a habit of writing books that don’t go easy on the reader but are worth the pain, and Forgetting Foster (A&U, July) is no exception.’

Reviewer Thuy On praises the picture book Pandamonia (Fremantle Press, August) for its ‘finely tuned’ sense of the absurd and the ‘retro graphic feel’ of the illustrations; and Margaret Hamilton says she ‘would not change a thing’ about My Brother (Working Title Press, July), a ‘profoundly moving picture book’ that deals with the death of a loved one.

Also in this issue, Carody Culver finds out how five recipients of the James Patterson Grants for bookshops are faring with their proposals; Danielle Binks explores the confusion around middle-grade fiction in Australia; and Australian Children’s Literature Alliance campaign manager Mike Shuttleworth reflects on his career journey.

Don’t miss all our regular features: retailing, editor’s picks, shelf talk, book bites and Gladys’ gossip column.

Category: In the magazine