If you’ve ever had a sneaking suspicion that more goes in this crazy, mixed-up world than meets the naked mortal eye, then has Australian author Maria Lewis got a tale (or five) to tell you. A whole universe of them in fact with the fantasy author on the rise responsible Continue Reading
Books
On 2nd day of Christmas … I read The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Lisa Dickenson
Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. Or so the 1963 evergreen classic by Edward Pola and George Wyle would have us believe, what with “kids jingle belling”, “everyone telling you to be of good cheer” and “caroling out in the snow” (unless you’re in Continue Reading
Book review: After the Flood by Kassandra Montag
As a species, humanity is deeply attached to the idea that adversity builds some kind of nobility of purpose, that by going through metaphorical fire we are somehow purged of our lesser selves and emerge with a flawless, unimpeachable self. It’s a heartwarming idea and so it’s no surprise we Continue Reading
Book review: The Best Kind of Beautiful by Frances Whiting
There is something almost indescribably wonderful about watching someone come to life again. Perhaps that’s because of the simple of beauty of watching something rich and vibrant spring forth from seemingly nothing – that’s never strictly speaking completely true; there’s always something there, it’s usually just deeply repressed and dormant Continue Reading
Book review: Star Wars – Resistance Born by Rebecca Roanhorse
One of the more curious aspects of human nature is the lengths that people will go to, and the pernicious accommodations they will make, for the sake of a perceived peaceful existence. Politicians, particularly those of a more authoritarina bent, of which the world has a surfeit right now, take Continue Reading
Book review: Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Diving into an already well advanced series of books, where the character has already done a fair amount of living and a great deal of narrative has already flowed under the literary bridge, is akin to walking into a conversation that is well underway. Weirdly uncomfortable and more than a Continue Reading
Christmas with the Berenstain Bears – Night Before Christmas, Merry Christmas and Old-Fashioned Christmas
The Berenstain Bears are the epitome of a snug and cosy, loved and valued life. Created by Stan and Jan Berenstain (their son Mike later assumed full authorship following Jan’s death in 2012), with the first book The Big Honey Hunt hitting bookshelves in 1962, reading one of the more Continue Reading
Book review: Invisible Boys by Holden Sheppard
Growing up gay, especially in a country town, comes with a multitude of odious compromises. And by compromises, we really mean outright theft of mind, body and soul, as you struggle mightily to disguise the obvious in a town where even the most subtle of things seems to eventually exist Continue Reading
Book review: Early Riser by Jasper Fforde
The very best books, the kind that make reading a extraordinary and incomparable delight, are those that offer up a sumptuous journey to places and with people you would never otherwise have the pleasure of coming into contact with. By doing so, they offer up a glorious sense of escape Continue Reading
Book review: Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
When first you pick up the definitively titled Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson, you may tempted to wonder just how many quirky books about characters encountering some great challenge and thus sweet victory or transformation in the twilight of their lives, one book market can take. Take a Continue Reading