Shelf talk: Crime pays
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
As readers wave goodbye to those long lazy days surrounded by books and blankets, there are a few killer books coming out over summer to spark a bit of danger...
Shelf talk: Fantastic fiction
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
The new year is the time I always tell myself I’m going to step back a bit and recover from the Christmas retail frenzy. I never do though, since there...
Shelf talk: Women’s stories
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Humour is back in a big way in women’s fiction, starting in February with The Rosie Result (Text). Could there be a more fitting title to the final book in...
Shelf talk: Page to screen
Thursday, 30 August 2018
Pour some hot chocolate and get a bowl of popcorn ready before digging into these film and television tie-in editions. Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot (A&U, September)...
Shelf talk: Get a clue
Thursday, 30 August 2018
A thrill awaits those readers on the lookout for whodunits, stories of transgression, and real-life cases to solve. On the fiction front, Jane Harper’s latest, The Lost Man (Macmillan, October),...
Shelf talk: Category round-ups of forthcoming titles by those in the know
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Fantastic fiction I find something exciting in science-fiction (SF) and fantasy every month, but there are a few forthcoming releases that are worth bringing to everyone’s attention. The biggest news...
Shelf talk: A round-up of forthcoming books
Monday, 23 October 2017
Category round-ups of forthcoming titles by those in the know … Crime pays The reliably brilliant author Garry Disher’s new standalone novel Under the Cold Bright Lights (Text, November) stars...
Shelf talk: Category round-ups of forthcoming titles by those in the know
Monday, 17 July 2017
Collected works Helen Garner fans have been spoilt in recent years with a new essay collection Everywhere I Look and Bernadette Brennan’s excellent study of Garner’s work A Writing Life...
Shelf talk: Poetry lines
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
It is an exciting time for Australian poetry, with many emerging and established voices being published in the coming months. Veteran poet Geoff Page has written over 20 collections. His...
Shelf talk: Talking points
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
In her column in this magazine, UQP nonfiction publisher Alexandra Payne writes about a resurgence in feminist trade publishing in Australia. Here are two titles to look out for in...
Shelf talk: Page-turners
Tuesday, 14 March 2017
It’s all about chick lit, historical fiction and Gone Girl-esque thrillers over the next few months as the publishing industry gears up for Mother’s Day. ‘If Bridget Jones and Nina Proudman...
Shelf talk: Fresh start
Tuesday, 14 March 2017
There are always lots of health and wellbeing titles out early in the year while New Year’s resolutions are still fresh. Two former stars of the Australian TV series the...
Shelf talk: Life stories
Tuesday, 14 March 2017
When journalist and news anchor Tracey Spicer was sacked by her network after having a baby, she took legal action and threw off the shackles of being a self-described ‘good...
Shelf talk: New romantics
Thursday, 6 October 2016
Summer is the season for beach reads, happy endings, and an abundance of new titles from some of romance fiction’s bestselling authors. In December, Nora Roberts concludes her ‘Guardians’ trilogy...
Shelf talk: Fantastic fiction
Thursday, 6 October 2016
Nostalgia is very much the watch-word for pop culture at the moment, and sci-fi and fantasy are as gripped by it as everything else is. Anyone reading fantasy in the...
Shelf talk: Talking points
Friday, 8 July 2016
Category round-ups of forthcoming titles by those in the know … A broad range of current and not-so-current affairs titles are coming in the latter half of the year. Starting...
Shelf talk: Good sports
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
Every Anzac Day commentators make a false equivalence between the efforts of Australia’s troops and the men paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to chase a ball around some grass....
Shelf talk: Memorable memoirs
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
Foreign Soil author Maxine Beneba Clarke’s forthcoming memoir The Hate Race (Hachette, August) is surely one of the most anticipated of the year. It tells the story of Clarke’s life...
Shelf talk: Crime pays
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
The winter months will be big for crime lovers with both the Davitt Awards and Ned Kelly Awards scheduled to be announced, and a swathe of new titles due to...
Shelf talk: The write stuff
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
Writers looking for tips or a way to procrastinate under the guise of productivity can look forward to writing guides from two of Australia’s funniest authors. Catherine Deveny’s Use Your...
Shelf talk: Classic comics
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
Graphic novels are heating up as more progressive genres are being tackled by ever more daring creators. Punpun is an average kid in an average town... whose life turns decidedly...
Shelf talk: Quirky tales
Monday, 21 March 2016
To talk about upcoming left-of-centre titles that I’m excited about and not start with Justin Cronin’s The City of Mirrors (Orion, June) would be ridiculous and punishable by … something...
Shelf talk: Women’s fiction
Monday, 21 March 2016
Booksellers looking to shore up their women’s fiction lists for Mother’s Day are spoilt for choice. Katie Rowney brings a fresh, contemporary voice to rural fiction with Front Page News...
Shelf talk: True to life
Monday, 21 March 2016
When investigative journalist Luke Williams started researching the world of crystal meth, he became addicted to the drug. Williams recounts the experience in The Ice Age (Scribe, May), combining reportage...
Shelf talk: Tasty titles
Monday, 21 March 2016
Pete Evans and Sally Obermeder both have new cookbooks out in April. Evan’s One Pot Favourites (Plum) features paleo recipes that can be made in one pot or wok, while...
Shelf talk: Fantastic fiction
Monday, 21 March 2016
The second quarter of the year is a big one in sci-fi/fantasy circles. There are expos, conventions and the 50th annual Nebula awards all clamouring for attention. It’s also a...
Shelf talk: Craft corner
Monday, 21 March 2016
The following titles have an arty, crafty or inspirational appeal. Penguin—an abandoned, injured magpie chick—came into Sam Bloom’s life after a near-fatal fall left her paralysed. When Sam’s husband Cameron...
