This is a terrific first novel by Kathryn Ledson that women everywhere are going to find hard not to love. ROUGH DIAMOND has all the ingredients for an irresistibly entertaining read...a likeable heroine who helps save Melbourne and Sydney from terror attacks whilst caring for her demanding cat, shopping for clothes and shoes as well as emotionally ridding herself of her troublesome ex-husband! All this takes place under the auspices of the … [Read more...]

This second collection of short stories by Susan Midalia is perspicacious, pertinent and irresistibly entertaining. There are seventeen stories capturing an everyday moment or event, each inspiring a greater consciousness and consideration of other people and their feelings. The charm of Midalia's short stories is that the glimpse they provide into ordinary people's lives make them universally applicable and so extraordinarily moving. As the … [Read more...]

In her first book, “The Lucy Family Alphabet”, comedian Judith Lucy deals with the outstanding issues that she had with her parents. In this one, she chronicles her descent into alcohol-fuelled despair where she loses control of her life. This is a period of hazy blackouts and wasted opportunities that comprise the lost years of her youth. Even in this day and age, it is still difficult enough to be a woman in many professions, let … [Read more...]

The Golden Land by Di Morrissey interweaves the beauty and troubled political turmoil of Burma, its culture and people, with the life of Natalie living on the Gold Coast in Queensland. This is a beautiful story of resolution and putting right the past to heal the present, of the role of women in rebuilding a devastated country and the richness of Australia's diverse society. The novel spans from the Burma of 1885, beginning with Natalie's … [Read more...]

People react in various ways to the diagnosis of a terminal illness. In this novel, Celeste and Nathalie are two very different half-sisters whose mother develops Motor Neurone Disease. Their mother is convinced that a miracle will cure her of this progressively incapacitating illness and plans a pilgrimage in the belief that she will be healed through doing so. Celeste, a doctor, is sceptical about the wisdom of allowing anyone as sick as … [Read more...]

This is undoubtedly a very fine novel, bearing witness to one of the most appallingly cruel periods of history in living memory. Authentic and crafted with language as delicate as woven gossamer, it is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and a mother's love for her daughter. In the Shadow of the Banyan is a breathtaking novel of exquisite lyrical beauty, based on the author's own life and experience, as seen through the eyes of … [Read more...]

You Don't Want To Know by Lisa Jackson is a gripping mystery thriller that holds the reader's attention from the first page to the very last. The story centres around Ava Garrison, wealthy, supposedly mentally unstable, living on a private island surrounded by family and staff. Two years ago, her baby son disappeared and her mental disintegration began soon after. Hazy recollections plague Ava's present and she is desperate to find out … [Read more...]

The Unfinished Journals of Elizabeth D is a haunting story of bereavement, friendship and the pain of its loss, beautifully and skilfully told by Nichole Bernier. Sometimes women share an affinity, a support network with each other that men often find mystifying and difficult to understand. Kate and Elizabeth were such friends, enjoying a closeness that left a huge void in Kate's life when Elizabeth was killed in an air crash. Elizabeth's … [Read more...]

Bertie is the “Beloved” of the title. Set in the 1950's to early sixties, beginning in Melbourne, with interludes in Sydney and then moving on to Port Moresby, the novel follows Bertie's development from child to teenager. Aged six, she falls victim to polio which changes her future forever, the handicap and disfigurement affecting her young life profoundly. Her strong-willed mother is determined to ensure that Bertie will live a … [Read more...]

Tom Keneally has drawn an epic tribute to the enormous and often less-acknowledged contributions of women during World War I. In this, his latest novel, seen from the point of view of the nurses who coped with the resulting horrors of battle; no graphic detail is spared in the suffering endured, as well as witnessed, by them. We are swept from rural Victoria to Melbourne, Cairo, Sydney, London, Paris and Lemnos to the Dardanelles and the … [Read more...]

[rating: 4.5] Many is the time I look at my digital babies (aged 11 and 9) and marvel at the completely different planet they live on. I marvel at the complete divergence between their childhood and my own, despite, like many parents, spending considerable time ensuring they have as much of a 'real life' existence as possible (as opposed to the virtual one they are living via laptops, iPads, and various game platforms). Yes, digital babies … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] Having watched the irrepressible Anita Heiss navigate the social media arena with pomp, opinion and savvy this past 18 months, I grew increasingly intrigued over her (at the time) upcoming memoir release, with its though-provoking title - Am I Black Enough for You? Absolutely admire a woman of her convictions, me, and also admire a woman who is gutsy enough to tell it like it is, especially when that woman is informed, educated and … [Read more...]

[rating: 5] When I first took Bitter Greens in hand, I immediately assigned this brick-like tome to the ‘too long to read’ review pile. Before doing so, however, I briefly flipped open the first pages for a peek, as I am almost always tempted to do. Fast forward two weeks later, I was agonisingly eking out each and every word in the final pages of this beautiful book, wishing it was thrice the size. I’m not kidding. I want more. … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] It's all out there. The fads and opinion, the facts and myth relating to food. We've all been party and privy to it. And many of us have been both intrigued and confused by it. Conflicting media reports, misconceptions, scares and other hoo-ha have no doubt prompted author and nutritionist Nicole Senior to set the record straight. And indeed she does in Food Myths. Do you need to be a vegetarian for optimum health? Is thin … [Read more...]

[rating: 3.5] I may have left the 'young' version of the fashionista world a few years ago now, but that sure as Prada doesn't stop me from appreciating the young chicky babes doing the fashion scene so well. The recent movie and television awards season was a sheer bonanza in stylish eye candy for me. I may not be able to carry off an Hervé Léger bandage dress any more (not that I ever could) but I can absolutely stand in rapt appreciation at … [Read more...]

[rating: 5] Lush in setting, restrained but ultimately satisfying in emotion, this book takes readers from the hunger and poverty of 1930s Madrid to the whitewashed streets of Morocco, then on to the opulence of fashionable life during World War Two Spain and Portugal. First published in Spain as El Tiempo entre Costuras (The Time Between Seams) in 2009, and now translated into English, this book has been widely praised, sold bucket-loads, … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] That crafty minx is back, this time with a fashionista theme, following hot on the coat tails of her memoir A Life in Frocks. A self-confessed flea market and charity shop-scourer, it's no surprise Kelly's latest book has a belts, baubles and a chic ensemble feel - her adoration for fashion is palpable, and coupled with her enormously successful crafting expertise, customising fabulous vintage finds is a more than logical step in the … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] Great title. But also a fraught title. Goodness knows, weight loss is one of the hottest and most controversial topics in the Western world and will do doubt remain that way for many generations to come. Alas - it's often the 'lose weight quickly' promises that continue to fail those in search of the fat-loss grail. Fat-shedding fads have come and they have gone. Then they've come back again - pretty much like those unwanted … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] If home is where the heart is, this beautiful book is a home-lover's dream destination. Subtitled Evolution of the Australian Dream, an illustrated review of housing in Australia, anyone with a love of housing, town planning, architecture or even history, will warmly appreciate its content. Penned by Philip Cox, one of Australia's best known architects, Philip Graus, who has been involved in housing for over 25 years, and Bob … [Read more...]

This is the follow-up book to “The Art of Happiness”, written by the same author. Meditation is, according to this book, the “inner transformation through training the mind.” It is a challenging and daunting prospect. Meditation is a difficult discipline to master and practise effectively. The structured way in which Matthieu Ricard leads his readers, provides people wishing to embark on the art of meditation with a strong framework … [Read more...]

Most of us might see being happy as a matter of luck, chance, or situation, perhaps something that can be “found”. Happiness is often confused with pleasure, joy or being in love. The English language is so full of subtleties, there is a particular word for every nuance of any emotion. The unusual aspect of this book is that it advocates that happiness is something that everyone could learn to feel all the time. It provides the ways of … [Read more...]

Those with a strong arm and capacious handbag capable of carrying this weighty book will reap the rewards of an interesting read about the people who made Australia the wonderful country it is. This work is the follow-up to the first volume of “Australians” and introduces the reader to the faces of colonial society in the 1860's to the last decade of the colonial era, through Federation to the Great War. It is richly illustrated with … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] There's two things new mums don't need. One - twelve (or more) months stuck in their maternity jeans. Two - a complicated, time-consuming regime for getting rid of said jeans. New mums are too busy being new mums, looking after their health and the health of their new babe, and attempting to catch up on sleep to be pondering the wherewithals of wearing a bikini again, but honestly? that's not what getting in shape post-birth is … [Read more...]

[rating: 4.5] We're a funny species. We know what we need to do. We know what we should be eating and should not be eating. We know all about exercise. We are totally au fait with comfort eating. We're cohesive of the fact that too much booze and fat, and too many sweets will undo our health and turn our outer shell to pudge. So why do we continue to do it? Eat crap, I mean. Enter What's Eating You? - a book that looks into the psychology … [Read more...]

[rating: 4.5] It's Christmas time - a time that's meant to be the happiest of the year but for many, the festive season is fraught with stress, relationship strain, financial burden and that Scrooge-like feeling that can seriously test the boundaries of inner contentment. Balancing the 'perfect' get together with family and friends can become an intensified balancing act that mimics the everydayness of modern life . . . that seemingly endless … [Read more...]

[rating: 5] Could there be a more perfect time for a book on everyday kindness? Author and holistic wellbeing expert Stephanie Dowrick has long been tapped into Australia's emotional zeitgeist, plucking needful gems from society's ills and polishing them into beautiful books that lay open the requirements at hand. Whether it be learning about intimacy in a world gone high tech social, opening our hearts to forgiveness in a generation focused … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] “Treasury” is an apt description of this wonderful collection of over 40 short stories. Each of the stories is a real gem, unique and beautiful. Some are as subtle as aquamarines, or dazzling with the bright fire of diamonds; a few perhaps glowing with the depth of rubies and others, gentle like pearls. All are told by a wonderfully gifted observer of lives, other people's lives, and told with humour, compassion and a sense of … [Read more...]

[rating: 2.5] Susan Duncan is no stranger to sea-side living: her best-selling memoirs A Life on Pittwater and Salvation Creek both touch on her experiences as a new resident in the coastal town of Pittwater. In The Briny Cafe, Duncan's first novel, Pittwater is given a fictionalised treatment. Given the moniker of Cook's Basin, it's joyfully populated with a variety of quirky characters who, despite their undeniable differences and … [Read more...]

[rating: 3] How far would you go for love and when does it cross the line into obsession? The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty tells the tale of a hypnotherapist named Ellen O’Farrell, her lover Patrick and Saskia, who is Patrick’s ex-girlfriend and stalker. Ellen O’Farrell leads a normal life helping people overcome some of life’s toughest issues through hypnotherapy but when she falls in love with Patrick, things don’t … [Read more...]

[rating: 4.5] This is an extremely well-crafted novel, one that will enthral and convert even the most reluctant of crime fiction readers. The arrival of an elderly American tourist in London mysteriously sets off a seemingly unconnected chain of events. What might have been mere self-indulgence in nostalgia, draws out past misdeeds to seriously threaten the present. Once the Pandora's box is opened, that Past unravels at breath-taking … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] Inspector Malcolm Fox is a man challenged by the past, on more than one level. Firstly, within the confines of this novel, he stumbles across a hushed-up 25-year-old mystery that his superiors are determined to let lie. Secondly, as a fictional character, he’ll always be compared to his predecessor, Rebus. Scottish author Ian Rankin rose to fame on the shoulders of his much-loved literary creation Detective Inspector John Rebus, … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] Wood doesn’t hammer her themes but there is plenty to think about in this novel. As a sucker for books where the characters learn something, I recommend Animal People as a very satisfying read. As someone who has always lived with animals, whether cats, fish, rabbits, chickens, dogs or farm animals, I tend to think people who don’t like them are less than human. This means that I am exactly the sort of person that Stephen, the … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] Di Morrisey immerses the reader in the world of the Australian Outback: raw, powerful, harsh and supremely beautiful. Highly recommended. In the land of the Opal hunters, there is so much more than the eye can see and not just underground. Many who take refuge in the remote and lonely outposts of the desert seeking this elusive treasure, metaphorically seek other things in their lives as well: answers, escape and … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] An extraordinary family secret links a seemingly ordinary Australian family to an exotic plantation in Malaysia. This story spans three generations of political upheaval and change in what was then known as Malaya. It is a beautifully told story of one family's quest to find the truth about its past, how the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, deliberately suppressed, finally find their rightful place in the present. When a catalyst gives … [Read more...]