Here - Readings

Transcription

Here - Readings

J U LY 2 0 1 5
FREE
BOOKS
MUSIC
FILM
E V E N TS
NEW IN JULY
STEPHANIE
BISHOP
ANTONIA
HAYES
GIULIA
ENDERS
$29.99
$32.99
$29.99
$26.99
page 8
$27.99
page 8
page 14
THAT
SUGAR
FILM
$29.95
page 21
SUN KIL
MOON
$21.95
page 22
R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY J U LY 2 0 1 5
3
News
TRACE BALLA’S RIVERTIME WINS
THE READINGS CHILDREN’S
BOOK PRIZE
After fierce debate amongst the judging
panel – consisting of Readings’ children’s
book buyers and author Sally Rippin –
we’re proud to announce Trace Balla as
the winner of the Readings Children’s
Book Prize. Her book, Rivertime, is a
tender and beautifully illustrated tale of
a boy and his bird-watching uncle, on a
paddling trip on Australia’s Glenelg River.
Prize manager Angela Crocombe said,
‘Rivertime is a stunning debut that heralds
the arrival of an exciting new Australian
author–illustrator.’ More information
about the Prize and Rivertime can be
found on page 17. Congratulations to
Trace Balla who received $4,000 in prize
money. Launched in 2014, this new prize
at Readings recognises and celebrates
books that families love reading together,
or that children tell their friends about and
can’t put down. We’d like to extend our
congratulations to the other five shortlisted
books for offering such strong competition.
MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL 2015
Readings Monthly
Free independent monthly newspaper
published by Readings Books, Music & Film
Editor
Elke Power
elke.power@readings.com.au
Editorial Assistant
Alan Vaarwerk
alan.vaarwerk@readings.com.au
The Melbourne International Film
Festival has released the First Glance of
their 2015 program, which includes an
exciting string of titles – new Australian
films, international festival hits and
eye opening documentaries. This year’s
Centrepiece Gala feature is Holding
the Man, a film adaptation of Timothy
Conigrave’s funny, tragic and touching
memoir about his relationship with the
love of his life, John Caleo. The festival
will also feature the world premiere
of the powerful documentary Another
Country, screening as part of a David
Gulpilil retrospective, which explores
the fundamental clash between the
Indigenous way of life and government
policy. The full program will be launched
on Tuesday 7 July, with tickets going on
sale on Friday 10 July. To find out more,
buy passes or become a MIFF member,
please visit miff.com.au. Readings is a
proud sponsor of MIFF.
witty novel of grief, love, sexuality and
shape-shifting identity.’ The shortlist
included five other authors: Rachel Cusk
(Outline), Laline Paull (The Bees), Kamila
Shamsie (A God in Every Stone), Anne
Tyler (A Spool of Blue Thread), and Sarah
Waters (The Paying Guests). The Baileys
Women’s Prize for Fiction, formerly
known as the Orange Prize, was launched
in 1996 to celebrate the best novel written
by a woman in the English language. It is
widely recognised as having had a huge
impact on the promotion of women’s
writing worldwide, including being one
of the key inspirations for Australia’s very
own Stella Prize.
MADMAN DVD SALE
To celebrate this year’s Melbourne
International Film Festival, we are holding
our annual Madman DVD sale throughout
July, featuring a wide range of releases that
includes The Great Beauty, Only Lovers Left
Alive, The Trip to Italy, What We Do in the
Shadows, Gardening with Soul and more.
With prices from $12.95 each, this sale is
not to be missed. Get down to your local
Readings to check out the full range. The
sale will be available in all of our five shops
as well as online at readings.com.au.
WINNER OF THE 2015 BAILEYS
WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION
Ali Smith has been named this year’s
winner of the Baileys Women’s Prize for
Fiction, for her sixth novel How To Be
Both. Chair of Judges Shami Chakrabarti
said: ‘Ancient and modern meet and speak
to each other in this tender, brilliant and
BASTILLE DAY FRENCH FESTIVAL
Do you love all things French? Join
Melbourne’s Francophone and
Francophile community and be a part
of a unique celebration of the French
National Day. The French Revolution
will take the State Library of Victoria by
storm on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July.
Come and enjoy a traditional French
festive atmosphere with family and
friends. With free entry over two days and
something for everyone, immerse yourself
in French culture, cinema, food, wine
and don’t miss the chance to win a trip
to France in the Grand Raffle. For more
information and program details, visit
bastilledaymelbourne.com.au. Readings
is a proud supporter of the Bastille Day
French Festival.
OPENING OF THE LIDO CINEMA
Melbourne cinephiles rejoice! The new
Lido Cinemas in Hawthorn were unveiled
on 25 June. The eight-screen artiplex,
located near our Hawthorn shop, will show
both commercial and art-house films and
host Australian premieres and exclusive
releases. Lovingly restored by owners
Eddie and Lindy Tamir, the Lido is the
first venue in mainland Australia to offer a
rooftop cinema as well as indoor cinemas.
Opening with the 8K Radius film series, in
partnership with the City of Boroondara,
the Lido is also working on exciting
partnerships with Swinburne University’s
prestigious film & TV department.
Readings looks forward to working with
the Lido to bring exciting new events and
promotions to Hawthorn locals.
Advertising
Stella Charls
stella.charls@readings.com.au
(03) 9341 7739
Graphic Design
Cat Matteson
cat@theartdept.com.au
Front Cover
Readings Monthly cover colouring competition
featuring cover art from Rivertime by Trace
Balla, courtesy of Trace Balla and Allen &
Unwin.
Cartoon
Oslo Davis
oslodavis.com
Readings donates 10% of its profits each
year to The Readings Foundation:
readings.com.au/the-readings-foundation
Colour in our Rivertime cover for your chance to win a $50
Readings Gift Voucher!
$50
For your chance to win one of three $50 Readings gift cards, please complete the form below and
send, along with your coloured in cover of the Readings Monthly newsletter, to Readings Marketing
Department, PO Box 1238 Carlton 3053 or drop it in to any Readings shop.
Name
Age group:
GIFT CARD
Address
¨
5-7 years
¨
8-10 years
¨
11-12 years
This card is made from biodegradable materials
Entries close 10am Monday 3 August 2015.
Postcode
Tel (bh)
Email
You will automatically be signed up to Readings enews.
Terms and conditions: This colouring in competition is only open to 5-12 year olds. One $50 Readings gift card will be awarded in each of the following categories: 5-7 years, 8-10 years,
11-12 years. Entries close 10am Monday 3 August 2015. Only winners will be notified.
4
July Events
2
8
LOST BOY & OTHER
STORIES
Join us for the launch of the annual
Margaret River Short Story Competition
collection. This year’s anthology, edited
by Estelle Tang, includes ten writers from
Victoria and will be launched by Mark
Smith, winner of the 2015 Josephine
Ulrick Literature Prize. Margaret River
Short Story Competition first-prize winner
Melanie Napthine, second-prize winner
Eva Lomski and other contributors will
read their stories.
NICHOLAS J.
JOHNSON ON
FAST AND LOOSE
Nicholas Johnson’s new book, Fast and Loose,
will be launched at the Melbourne Magic
Festival. The novel follows the great anti-hero
Joel Fitch. Joel used to be a con artist, but then
his final scam paid off and his life went belly
up. Now Joel has a mattress full of cash and no
idea what comes next. Enter Danny Hemming,
journalist for television’s trashiest currentaffairs program and one of Joel’s former scam
victims, looking for someone to give him the
inside scoop on the latest scams.
Free, no booking required
Thursday 2 July, 6.30pm
Readings Carlton
Wednesday 8 July, 6pm
Northcote Town Hall, High Street,
Northcote
7
14
STEPHANIE
BISHOP IN
CONVERSATION
WITH EMILY HARMS
Extraordinary emerging writer Stephanie
Bishop’s second novel, The Other Side of the
World, has been heralded as a story of beauty
and heartbreak. We are delighted that
Stephanie Bishop will be in conversation
with our very own Emily Harms.
Free, but please book at readings.com.au/events
Tuesday 7 July, 6.30pm
Readings Carlton
5
DAVID LAWRENCE
AND CYRIL RIOLI
ON FOX SWIFT
AND THE GOLDEN
BOOT
9
Fox Swift and the Golden Boot is the third
title in the Fox Swift series by comedian
David Lawrence with Hawthorn football
player Cyril Rioli. While AFL football is the
backdrop to the Fox Swift series, important
topics such as bullying, teamwork and
racism are cleverly woven into the plot with
a healthy dose of humour, making the book
accessible to everyone. We are delighted to
be hosting the launch of this important
book for younger readers.
Sunday 5 July, 2pm
Readings Hawthorn
Join us and Melbourne literary journal Kill
Your Darlings for a lively discussion about
young adult fiction in Australia: Who’s
reading it, and why? Are there enough
diverse voices? How can we all do it better?
Panellists Marisa Pintado (commissioning
YA editor for Hardie Grant Egmont),
Melissa Keil (inaugural Ampersand Projectwinning author), Susan La Marca (Head
of Library and Information Services at
Genazzano FCJ College) and Danielle Binks
(reviewer and blogger at Alpha Reader) will
chat about how they view the current state
of OzYA in their respective fields, as well
as answer questions from teens. Readers,
bloggers, writers, teachers, publishers,
reviewers, enthusiasts all welcome.
Tuesday 14 July, 6:30pm
Readings Hawthorn
Gregory Day’s latest novel, Archipelago
of Souls, is a novel exploring the difficult
realities of nationhood, war, morality and love.
Compelling and beautifully realised, Day’s
novel delves into the meaning of identity.
Readings Carlton
8
TIM FISCHER ON
SIR JOHN MONASH
AND THE CALL
FOR RECOGNITION
Who was the most innovative general of
World War I? For Tim Fischer, who served
as Deputy Prime Minister in the Howard
Government from 1996 to 1999, the answer
has to be Australia’s ‘Maestro’ Sir John
Monash, a man who, for all the recognition
he received in his lifetime and after, has
arguably not been given his proper due.
Join us as Mr Fischer talks about his latest
work, Maestro John Monash.
Read all about
our 2015 winner
on page 17
GREGORY DAY IN
CONVERSATION
WITH ELLY
VARRENTI
WHERE’S
AUSTRALIAN
YOUNG ADULT
FICTION
HEADING?
Wednesday 8 July, 6.30pm
Readings Carlton
9
CAT THAO
NGUYEN’S WE ARE HERE
We Are Here is a memoir that begins in
1975. Cat Thao Nguyen’s family escaped
persecution through the horrific jungles of
Khmer Rouge Cambodia and the crowded
refugee camps of Thailand before, finally,
the Nguyens were allowed to board a
Qantas plane to a freedom they wanted
desperately. But the suburban landscapes of
western Sydney were not the unalloyed
blessing they’d imagined.
Thursday 9 Hawthorn, 6.30pm
Readings Hawthorn
15
ROD JONES IN
CONVERSATION
WITH MARK
RUBBO
Celebrated novelist Rod Jones will be
in conversation about his new work, the
semi-autobiographical novel The Mothers.
This is a gripping novel of times past and
stories that weave between generations.
We are delighted to have Readings’ own
Mark Rubbo leading the conversation.
Wednesday 15 July, 6.30pm
Readings Carlton
For more information and updates, please visit the events page at readings.com.au/events. Please note bookings do not necessarily guarantee a seat and some events may be standing room only.
July Events
16
ALEX HAMMOND
IN CONVERSATION
WITH ANGELA
SAVAGE
The Unbroken Line, Alex Hammond’s
second Will Harris novel, creates a
remarkable portrait of power, revenge and
corruption. If you like your novels dark and
blistering, join us for a discussion of how
power corrupts and destroys.
Readings Carlton
20
ANDREW
JOBLING’S
ACCIDENTAL
AUTHOR
Coming up
in August
NATIONAL
8
BOOKSHOP DAY
August
28
READINGS
CHILDREN’S BOOK
PRIZE
PRESENTATION
Please join us in celebrating the winner
of the Readings Children’s Book Prize
for 2015. This year’s winner, Trace Balla,
author and illustrator of Rivertime (A&U),
will be in conversation with special guest
judge Sally Rippin, author of over 50
children’s books.
Tony Wilson, author extraordinaire, will be
reading from his quirky new book, The Cow
Tripped Over the Moon, a book all about
nursery rhymes emergencies. Come and
join the party, you could even come dressed
as your favourite character from a nursery
rhyme! (And that means you too, carers and
parents!) Parade prizes will be given and
morning tea will be served.
Saturday 8 August, 10.30am
Readings St Kilda
“Rivertime
reminds us to slow
down and open
our eyes to all the
beauty around us.”
Monday 20 July, 6.30pm
Readings Hawthorn
Tuesday 21 July, 6pm
Readings Hawthorn
23
- Sally Rippin
Children’s author and Readings
Children’s Book Prize judge.
CARRIE
EDWARDS-BRITT &
SPONKY THE
PUPPY
Join us for the celebration of a brand new
series of books all starring Sponky, the
cutest puppy of all time. This interactive
lift-the-flap book will have your child
mesmerised and entertained!
TED TODD’S A
DOUBTFUL
INHERITANCE
A Doubtful Inheritance is a novel of
‘autobiofiction.’ The story is about obsession,
memory and the migrant experience. The
protagonists are children of the Holocaust
and what follows is a sweeping tale from
a Siberian POW camp through to Vienna,
Argentina and Australia.
Readings Hawthorn
by Trace Balla
Tuesday 28 July, 4.30–5.30pm
Readings Hawthorn
Accidental Author is a whirlwind tour of
novel-writing advice from former AFL
player Andrew Jobling. Join us for the
launch of this interesting insight into the
art of writing.
21
Rivertime
ANDY GRIFFITHS
12
AND TERRY
August
DENTON: THE
65-STOREY
TREEHOUSE
30
KILL YOUR
DARLINGS’ FIRST
BOOK CLUB:
OLIVER MOL
July’s Kill Your Darlings’ First Book Club
event features Oliver Mol discussing his
funny, energetic and original coming-ofage story, Lion Attack!. Oliver will be in
conversation with Kill Your Darlings’ online
editor, Veronica Sullivan. Drinks provided.
Free, but please RSVP to
events@killyourdarlingsjournal.com
Thursday 30 July, 6.30 for 7pm
Readings Carlton
Andy and Terry live in an incredible everexpanding treehouse and create very silly
books together. Andy writes the words and
Terry draws the pictures – well, when they’re
not too distracted by all the amazing things
going on in their incredible ever-expanding
treehouse! Join us, on the day of release, for
their next adventures with The 65-Storey
Treehouse. There will be balloons, there
will be jokes and there will be nonsense.
Tickets are $20 per person and include:
a signed first edition of The 65-Storey Treehouse,
an exclusive 65-Storey Treehouse gift and one
hour of complete madness.
(Parents – you’ll get a copy of the book too for
your very own collection!)
Please book at readings.com.au/events
Wednesday 12 August, 5.15pm
The Athenaeum, Collins Street, Melbourne
Colour in this issue’s front
cover for your chance
to win one of three $50
Readings gift cards!
See page 3 for details.
5
6
Mark’s
Say
News and views from Readings’ Managing Director,
Mark Rubbo
The Australian merger of two publishing giants Penguin and Random House will be all
but completed in early August as their distribution facilities merge into one combined
facility. The process of merging the two companies will have taken almost 3 years
since the original announcement. The merged companies will have a market share in
Australia of close to 30%; in addition, Penguin and Random House provide different
levels of sales and distribution services for a range of Australian and international
publishers including Hardie Grant, Scribe, Text, Black Inc., Melbourne University
Publishing, University of Queensland Press and Freemantle Arts Centre Press, among
others.
Other publishers view the merger with some trepidation, fearing that the new
entity will use its size to acquire books or concepts developed by comparatively smaller
publishers. In Australia, the two companies Penguin and Random House separately
have built up solid reputations as local publishers of quality fiction and non-fiction
and have both contributed positively to the Australian publishing ecosystem. It will be
interesting to see how this publishing giant develops, but whatever happens, many of
the books we buy and read will be touched by Penguin Random House in some way.
Eddie Tamir and his wife Lindy are mad about cinemas. They had two, the Classic
in Elsternwick, and the Cameo in Belgrave and now they’ve added a third, the Lido in
Glenferrie Road Hawthorn, which opened in late June. The Lido, when it opened 100
years ago, was a cinema but hasn’t been until its reincarnation as an 8 screen venue
with a rooftop cinema for summer.
Eddie and Lindy took me on a tour just before it opened; they have done a beautiful
job retaining features of the old building where appropriate. The main auditorium is a
beautiful space with the original pressed tin ceiling. Years ago, we used to hold literary
events in that room and seeing it restored brought back some fond memories. The Lido
will program an eclectic range of films ranging from art house to family and including
some short films they’ve especially commissioned.
Two writers I greatly admire have books coming out in the next few months and I
urge you to look out for them. The first is A Guide to Berlin by Gail Jones, which comes
out in August. It’s a novel set, of course, in Berlin and is about six travellers in Berlin
sharing stories. The next, due in October, is Drusilla Modjeska’s memoir, Second Half
First; a reflection on her later life. If you know Drusilla’s work you know it will all be
very good. Drusilla and I are going to be talking about the book in October, so keep
your eyes peeled.
For more than 20 years Martin Shaw has been my colleague at Readings. For much
of that time Martin has helped shape Readings’ offering, but most importantly he has
become a champion for good Australian writing. He and his partner are moving to
Germany this month and we will miss him, as will many authors and publishers.
July
highlights
Elke Power
Readings Monthly Editor
We will miss Martin Shaw when we wave him and his family on their way to their new
adventure in Germany, but as oceans are no barrier to flurries of emails about new
book discoveries, we will be saying bon voyage to Martin, not goodbye. We are excited
to welcome Alison Huber to the role of head book buyer – we’re already in the habit of
exchanging book recommendations with Alison as she is moving from part-time Readings
book expert to full-time in her new role. In next month’s issue you’ll hear from Alison in
her new column.
In this issue, you’ll find the inside story of the judging process for the Readings
Children’s Book Prize, directly from the prize manager, Angela Crocombe. You’ll see
adorable and creative reader responses to the announcement of the winner, the wonderful
Rivertime by Trace Balla. As you might have noticed on the cover of this Readings Monthly,
we are celebrating Rivertime’s win by running a colouring competition. You can find the
details under News on page 3.
As for fiction and non-fiction, I have never seen so many rave reviews – our reviewers
all loved their books. This is a great month to be stuck inside in front of the fire – take your
pick, you can’t go wrong, especially if you choose from among the fantastic Australian
writers featured in these pages. As you can see on the opposite page, I was delighted to
speak with the talented Antonia Hayes about her debut novel, Relativity, a book with a
divisive issue at its heart that is sure to become a book club favourite. Further highlights
within Australian fiction include In the Quiet by Eliza Henry Jones and Six Bedrooms by
Tegan Bennett Daylight. Our book of the month, Stephanie Bishop’s outstanding second
novel The Other Side of the World, has already been touted as one of the books of the year.
From
the
Books
Desk
Martin Shaw,
Readings’ Books Division Manager
This is my last ever column for Readings Monthly – sob! I’ve always likened my job to
working in a lolly shop because, as you can imagine, getting to look at new books each and
every day is a pretty wonderful thing, and something that I will miss enormously. So as a
way to go out, it seemed a nice idea to reflect on some of my favourite books published over
the course of my career at Readings. How on earth was I going to be able to recall 21-years’
worth of books? It didn’t help that my personal library was already packed up in boxes,
ready to be shipped off to my new life in Germany!
I started thinking about OzLit and the debuts that I seem to gravitate to – the particular
thrill of reading a first book by an unknown author and knowing that I’m holding
something really special in my hands. Being in the wonderful position to evangelise about
a book’s quality has been one of the most satisfying aspects of my role. This is certainly not
a definitive list of the best books written in the period – if space permitted, I’d mention
Romy Ash, John A Scott, Ellen van Neerven, Robert Gott, and many, many more. Rather,
here are some of the books that meant a lot to me at the time of reading, and that I still urge
upon people today, if given half the opportunity.
A Child’s Book of True Crime by Chloe Hooper: This book is from way back in 2002,
and I have some memory of opinion being divided over this debut from Hooper, particularly
about the sections that included animal narrators. My strongest memory though is simply
being heartily impressed by the risks that were taken. Ambition in fiction always gets a big
tick from me, and this book delivers in spades. Years later, of course, Hooper wrote the nonfiction classic, The Tall Man. I intend to read every word Hooper ever writes.
Blueprints for a Barbed-wire Canoe by Wayne Macauley (2004, republished 2012):
I’ve been thinking lately of Macauley’s second novel, Caravan Story, a must-read which
is remarkably prescient of our current Brandisean arts regime. What got me started on
Macauley was a very slender black-spined little novel that appeared in 2004 called Blueprints
for a Barbed-wire Canoe. I don’t remember how the book came to my attention back then but
I do remember being stunned by its hypnotic prose and exquisite satirical conceit.
The Boat by Nam Le (2008): I think the publication of The Boat must have marked
some sort of watershed for local publishing. Its considerable commercial success made that
previously-neglected species in OzLit – the short-story collection – something publishers
were prepared to consider more positively. I must admit, it was partly my anguish about what
I presumed would be the fate of this book that made me so determined to try and make it
a success. I ordered 500 copies up-front (a cooler head would have suggested 30, or at the
most, 50) and, well, the rest is history. Of course I eagerly await Le’s promised debut novel.
Things We Didn’t See Coming by Steven Amsterdam (2009): Amsterdam is the author
of two books now but this, his first, rocked my world in 2009. I actually wrote in my
review: ‘Who would have seen coming – so soon after the supernova that was Nam Le in
the Australian literary firmament in 2008 – that already in early 2009 we would be blessed
with another debut of the most sublime conception and tender execution?’ I said at the
time that Things We Didn’t See Coming was ‘bound’ to become a contemporary classic, and
after many years on the VCE list, it’s really pleasing to see that we still regularly sell a copy
or two every month.
The Mary Smokes Boys by Patrick Holland (2010): Another year, another star. In my
review, I called The Mary Smokes Boys ‘a beautiful beautiful novel … that has a language as
pure and magical as I have read in a long time’. This was actually Holland’s second novel
but the first I came across, and he’s gone on to write a further four books. His is a career to
watch – I’m convinced that one day, Holland will write a book that breaks him out on an
international scale.
The Last Thread by Michael Sala (2012): In 2013, I had the wonderful privilege of
being a judge on the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize. Of all the longlisted books for the
Oceania region, I immediately knew I’d be pushing Sala’s terribly moving debut. My fellow
judges agreed with me, and we awarded Sala the Regional Prize. In my review from 2012 I
wrote: ‘A gutsy, moving, beautifully wrought and utterly compelling work … a hymn to love
that I don’t think will be forgotten by any reader’.
Only the Animals by Ceridwen Dovey (2014): There’s nothing I like more than a
book that at first makes me scratch my head (‘What on earth is this?’) before I start to
understand (and marvel at) the tremendous fictional accomplishment in my hands. The
2014 winner of our New Australian Writing Prize, I think Michelle de Kretser put it best
when she described Only the Animals: ‘wholly extraordinary’.
Foreign Soil by Maxine Beneba Clarke (2014): When I first reviewed Clarke’s muchlauded debut pre-publication, I said, ‘these are tales of sheer storytelling prowess’, and it’s
enormously gratifying to see the huge response to the collection. I also said at the time that
Foreign Soil’s publication marked ‘the arrival of a major new voice in the Australian literary
landscape’, and already, barely a year after publication, Clarke feels like she’s been around
for years. She’s such a boon for Australian literary culture.
Black Rock White City by A.S. Patric (2015): I came to A.S. Patric’s book with a
dreadfully guilty conscience – despite Alec being a Readings staffer of many years
standing, I was yet to read a word of his work. To say I devoured Black Rock White City
is no understatement, and when you see all the laudatory reviews it’s been receiving, it’s
clear that I was not alone. I’ve gone on the record to say: if this is not on the Miles Franklin
shortlist next year, there must be a riot!
Finally, I’m really thrilled that in the last month of my career at Readings there are two
exceptional works of Australian fiction appearing. One is Antonia Hayes’ Relativity –
please don’t miss it! The other is Stephanie Bishop’s The Other Side of the World, which
impressed me as much as any of the other novels I’ve talked about here. This book, along
with Hayes’, is bound to be going head-to-head in all the major prizes over the next year.
My advice is to read both of them as soon as you can.
7
New Australian Writing
Antonia Hayes’ debut novel Relativity
is set in Sydney where Ethan, an
extraordinary, sweet boy obsessed by
physics and astronomy, has begun asking
his mother, Claire, about the father he
can’t remember. For Claire, the best way
of continuing to protect her adored son
is becoming increasingly difficult to
calculate. Mark has been on the other side
of the country, far away from his family
and the tragic event that blew their shared
world apart. When a letter arrives and
Ethan falls dangerously ill in an echo from
the past, their lives are fractured anew.
Here, Hayes talks with Elke Power about
relative truth and the ties that bind.
Relativity by Antonia Hayes
Viking. PB. Was $32.99
$27.99
Relativity
Antonia Hayes talks about her debut
novel with Elke Power
Y
our debut novel, Relativity,
has been likened to A Beautiful
Mind and The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the
Night-time. However, it seems likely that
another comparison will be hard to avoid,
and that is between Relativity and Christos
Tsiolkas’ award-winning, bestselling novel
The Slap. Without wanting to reveal one
of the compelling central questions at the
heart of Relativity, can you tell us a little
about how you came up with the idea for this
original story?
A: To be honest, the characters arrived
before the story. Ethan came first, and then
his love of physics came second. I’ll need
to make an embarrassing confession now:
when I was at school, I went to Maths
Camp. I was one of those weird kids with an
aptitude for patterns and numbers. Later,
I discovered that the language of physics
was also the language of storytelling. That
the laws of science – tension, friction,
momentum, resonance – applied to
fiction too. So before I knew exactly what
Relativity was about, I knew that physics
would be the novel’s backbone.
I was also a really accident-prone kid
and I’ve spent a lot of time in children’s
hospitals – as a patient and later as a parent –
so some ideas for Relativity came from
hospital wards and waiting rooms. Lots
of books inspired small pieces of the story
as well: The Man Who Mistook His Wife
for a Hat by Oliver Sacks; Arcadia by Tom
Stoppard; Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park,
and Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
E: Relativity is primarily told from three
perspectives, those of your main characters:
Claire, professional ballet dancer and
mother; Mark, physicist and father; and their
young son, Ethan, a charming, quixotic boy
who is incredibly gifted but also mysteriously
affected by a childhood incident. How did
you create such a distinctly different mindset
and voice for each of these characters?
A: My first attempt at Relativity was
written entirely from Ethan’s point of
view. After getting 20,000 words into that
draft, I hit a wall. Telling the story from
a single voice was really limiting and the
more I learned about physics, the more I
realised I needed to approach writing the
novel from several angles.
Einstein’s theory of special relativity
is about how time changes according
to the speed of a moving object relative
to the observer. So in other words, your
experience of time can differ from someone
else’s experience of the same moment.
Ethan, Claire and Mark see the same event
through their own individual lens, but they
clash over their varying impressions of it.
For the three main characters to clash,
their attitudes and personalities had
to be at odds with one another. Mark’s
understanding of physics meant his
character was systematic and cerebral
but Claire needed to be the opposite;
she’s more kinetic and intuitive. Writing
Ethan’s voice was probably the easiest.
He’s a little like me at twelve years old:
curious, fearless, impulsive and, maybe
problematically, imaginative.
At the same time, I wanted to create
similarities between Ethan and both his
parents, and for there to be magnetism
between Claire and Mark. So I juggled the
disconnection between all three characters
with how they’re connected as well.
E: In a book that entwines a growing
understanding of the physics of the world
around us with the central characters’
changing concepts of self, it is particularly
interesting that the moment we first
encounter the family members is almost
twelve years after the original life-changing
event. What made you choose to look at the
longer-term ramifications of the event when
Ethan was a baby, rather than just the fallout
in the years immediately afterwards?
A: I suppose I’m curious about the
way that time shifts and bends memories,
and also shapes and reshapes people.
Neuroscience says that when we recall a
memory, we rewrite the original memory
Antonia Hayes, photo courtesy of Alison Fairley, 2015.
with the recollection. As we look back,
the past becomes an ever-changing echo
of an echo in our minds. So I didn’t want
to only explore how Claire and Mark lost
themselves in the immediate aftermath
but how, over twelve years, they were
both forced to remake their lives and find
themselves again. And Ethan is in the same
position as the reader: he doesn’t remember
the original event so needs to untangle his
parents’ versions of the past and figure out
what happened himself.
E: Finding ways to establish and
accommodate reality is a major issue in your
book. Were you interested in how people try,
or refuse, to accommodate, terrible truths
about themselves or their actions – or about
those they love?
A: As I was developing the characters,
I become really interested in how our own
perceptions of reality can vary so widely.
Different people often have completely
different memories of the same event. So
the major point of conflict within Relativity
revolves around how each character has
their own reality – and how impossible it
can be to budge from what we believe is the
truth. Everyone is at the centre of their own
universe but it takes empathy to change our
impression of what’s true or real and make
the universe realign.
E: The friendship between Ethan and
Alison is compelling. There are many kinds
of love in Relativity, and several types of
heartbreak. Which were the most rewarding
relationships for you to write about?
A: My favourite relationship in the
novel is between Ethan and Claire. When
Amy Poehler writes about her kids in
Yes Please, she says, ‘The bond between
mothers and sons is powerful stuff,
man.’ I couldn’t agree more; that love is
overwhelming. Relativity is dedicated to
my son. He’s completely different to Ethan,
and I’m not like Claire, but the strength and
intensity of their dynamic is based on our
mother–son relationship in real life.
E: One of the strengths of your book
is that despite there being multiple ideas
and themes at work, the story moves
at a cracking pace and keeps the reader
guessing. Did you always know where the
story was going?
Not at all! Pacing was one of the final
things that fell into place while I was
redrafting and editing. Earlier versions had
lots of flashbacks that didn’t really advance
the plot. After writing the first draft, I
needed to zoom out and try to think about
Relativity as a complete picture rather than
a messy cluster of scenes. It took a lot of
deleting, rewriting and reshuffling to find
the story’s momentum and figure out its
ultimate destination.
E: With so many elements to discuss,
Relativity will become a highlight for book
clubs everywhere for years to come. If you
were to begin the discussion, what question
would you most like to see people explore?
Or, what question would you most like to
hear discussed if you were a fly on the wall?
A: Honestly, I have no idea! I’d just
like people to read Relativity and take
something away from it – whether readers
find the story and characters confronting,
comforting, challenging, problematic or
enjoyable is totally up to them.
Antonia Hayes is an Australian author who grew up
in Sydney, spent her twenties in Paris and currently
lives in San Francisco. Her work has been published
in Best Australian Essays, Meanjin, The Sydney
Morning Herald, The Age, Daily Life and others.
Antonia has worked in publishing as a publicist and
a bookseller, and co-directed Australia’s National
Young Writers’ Festival.
Elke Power is the editor of Readings Monthly.
To read our review of Relativity, see page 8.
8
New Fiction
Book of the Month
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD
Stephanie Bishop
Hachette. PB. $29.99
$26.99
Stephanie Bishop’s The Other Side of the World is a brilliant
work of art. Bishop’s intensely visceral writing has a haunting
beauty reminiscent of the writings of Emily Brontë and Virginia
Woolf. Set in the 1960s, The Other Side of the World hones in on the
fractured relationship between British-born Charlotte and Indianborn and British-raised Henry. Trying to balance parenting with
limited time for herself to paint, Charlotte is struggling. Henry wants
life to return to how it used to be before they had children, and believes everything will be
alright again – if they can just avoid another English winter by moving to Australia. Too
exhausted to fight, she ends up ‘lost’ on the other side of the world.
Stephanie Bishop provides rare and intimate insights into the magnitude and the
minutiae of motherhood, the power of passion and the constant search for love and
happiness and a sense of ‘home’. Returning to India to see his elderly and sick mother for the
first time since he was there as a young boy, Henry wonders, ‘what it would be like to belong
somewhere and never doubt it. To not be constantly pestered by the knowledge of your own
‘Bishop’s intensely visceral writing has a haunting beauty reminiscent
of the writings of Emily Brontë and Virginia Woolf.’
foreignness ... How much can we be expected to give in the name of love and how can we
ever be reconciled to what is lost? ... Is it easier to love a child than it is to love a wife?’ I found
myself reading and rereading the questions posed throughout.
Bishop’s writing guides you through the full spectrum of emotions one feels in love and
with loss in a dream-like state with a calm self-assuredness. Bishop bravely dissects what
it means to be human, questioning everything taken for granted. So real are her characters
and their complex emotions that they go straight to your core and stay with you long
after finishing. So evocative is her writing that I could feel the biting winds and damp of
an English winter, the scorching hot sun of a Perth summer and the pungent scents and
mayhem of an Indian village.
In 2006, Stephanie Bishop was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young
Australian Novelists for her debut novel, The Singing. This, her second novel, was shortlisted
for the 2014 Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award. There is no doubt that The Other Side of the
World will launch Stephanie Bishop’s career as a major new international literary talent.
This is definitely my pick of 2015 and I would even go as far as saying that it’s now made it
into my top 10 books of all time. I urge you all to read this truly great work.
Emily Harms is the head of marketing and communications for Readings
Australian Fiction
RELATIVITY
Antonia Hayes
Viking. PB. Was $32.99
$27.99
Panic, like pain, is
hard to remember
after it passes. Hayes
pulls you into the
moment like you’ve
unexpectedly pindropped through
Antarctic ice. Having
seized your attention,
she then introduces the
three main characters of Relativity, a little
more than twelve years after the tragic
incident that first changed all their lives.
Claire was a professional ballet dancer;
now she works for the Sydney Ballet
Company in corporate relations. Mark was
a theoretical physicist, but for the last few
years he’s been avoiding the past in WA.
Their son, Ethan – gifted, impish, lonely
and twelve – has begun asking questions
about the father he can’t remember. All
three are still grappling with the fallout
from the tragedy, even if Ethan, like the
reader, does not yet know what happened.
When a letter arrives, it sets off a chain of
events that will change everything again.
To say more would be to spoil things,
but the fabric of this story flexes and bends
around a contentious central issue as we
hear from each of these protagonists. Ethan,
who loves to interpret the world through
physics and astronomy, shifts his focus back
and forth between the immediate and the
theoretical. As he precociously tests his
theories, so too are the reader’s assumptions
and perceptions tested. The exhilaration
of pushing the boundaries of knowledge is
juxtaposed against the potential futility of
trying to quantify the ephemeral. Rather
than running alongside the story, these
preoccupations shape the characters’
attempts to make sense of their lives, and
inform the reader’s eager guesswork.
Relativity upends expectations and holds
you in its thrall as Hayes asks unsettling
questions about the frailties of memory
and love.
Relativity has been likened to A
Beautiful Mind and The Curious Incident
of the Dog in the Night-time, both of which
are apt comparisons. However, with its
suspenseful plot and frequent lens changes,
Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap also comes to
mind. An Australian debut not to be missed.
Elke Power is the editor of Readings Monthly
IN THE QUIET
Eliza Henry Jones
HarperCollins. PB. $29.99
I approached this
debut Australian
novel with some
caution, because it
centres on a literary
device that I can find
off-putting: main
character Cate is dead
and narrating the story
from her afterlife. But In the Quiet isn’t at
all concerned about where Cate is, or what
is happening to her in death. It’s firmly
focused on the living, and letting us see
their lives unfold through Cate’s eyes.
The novel follows Cate’s three teenage
children, along with her husband, her
sister, her best friend and her best friend’s
nephew, as they deal with their grief over
Cate’s unexpected death and the general
ups and downs of everyday life. Set on a
farm in rural Victoria, the book is filled
with dirt, dust and plenty of horses. Time
is slippery in In The Quiet, and Cate herself
often doesn’t know how much time is
passing, and must piece it together as she
watches her loved ones.
Eliza Henry Jones is a young author
(only twenty-five) and she writes with
remarkable maturity. She clearly loves her
characters and knows them intimately, and
that shines through in the writing, which
is filled with a deep empathy. In The Quiet
is a gentle story, but it doesn’t shy away
from the gritty, difficult parts of grief and
growing up. It isn’t sickly sweet or overly
sentimental, and Henry Jones is especially
skilled at writing teenage characters and
capturing all of the mess, uncertainty and
heartbreak of that age.
In the Quiet is an accomplished first
book from an exciting new talent. I fell in
love with it slowly, over the course of many
chapters. It’s a quiet book (appropriately
named) and an utterly lovely one.
Nina Kenwood is the digital marketing
manager for Readings
SIX BEDROOMS
Tegan Bennett Daylight
Vintage. PB. $29.99
The stories in
Tegan Bennett
Daylight’s Six
Bedrooms, her fourth
book, are mostly
focused on the highs
and lows of teendom,
and the awkwardness
from this that never
really leaves us. The
setups are on a small scale – a young
woman moves to London with her more
glamorous sister, a teenage girl lures a boy
away from a boring party and gets him
drunk – but there’s a tension in each story,
it always feels like there’s so much at
stake. Throughout this remarkable
collection we also get the same narrator,
Tasha, in a handful of the stories, and this,
as well, helps bind the book together.
It also helps that Tegan Bennett
Daylight is an incredibly gifted writer,
especially on a line level. ‘Fern’s mother
died on a cruise. A ferry cruise, a movable
party, the sort that patrols the harbour
on weekends,’ begins one story. ‘I hated
Judy’s first boyfriend, as expected. He
was shaped like a sweet potato,’ starts
another. The prose here is honed down
and sharp. Bennett Daylight hasn’t
wasted a word.
Another skill is her tracking of the
shifts between characters, the sudden
realisations which never feel forced or
convenient for the sake of narrative.
Each of the stories turns in a way that
feels both inevitable and completely
unpredictable. For a book that focuses on
stark realism, it’s a tiny bit exhilarating
that sometimes these shifts are sparked
by characters having dreams, or jumping
ahead into the future.
It all comes together as one of the best
books of the year. This is an incredibly
well written and thoughtful, sad and funny
work, and the kind of book you want to
press onto people and encourage them to
read. Highly recommended.
Chris Somerville is from Readings Carlton
PERIPHERAL VISION
Paddy O’Reilly
UQP. PB. $19.95
A book of short
stories is usually
named after one of the
stories, one that seems
to sum up the overall
feeling of the
collection. This story
then becomes the ‘title
story’. When I realised
that Paddy O’Reilly
hadn’t done this, I was curious to know
what ‘Peripheral Vision’ meant to her as a
title. In an interview with the industry
magazine Bookseller+ Publisher, she
said, ‘… most of the stories in the collection
contain a moment where a character
glimpses another world, another life,
another possibility that may not have
occurred to them before.’ Many of the
characters in these stories would be
relieved to glimpse a different life. O’Reilly
is a master of writing about those on the
fringes of society.
In ‘The Salesman’, Marly is waiting,
in the northern suburbs of Melbourne
on a scorching day, for her boyfriend and
his mate to return. She has no credit on
her phone, no transport, and needs a beer
desperately. When an Indian salesperson
comes to her door, she is captivated by
his politeness. Marly thinks she has been
lucky in attracting her boyfriend, Shaun,
because he has not hit her in the eleven
months they’ve been together. But she is
surprised by her attraction to Pran, and
feels protective of him when the men
return and the situation begins to look
dangerous for him.
In ‘One Good Thing’, Natalie and
Klara are primary school best friends,
inseparable and happy. But as they age,
Natalie realises Klara’s family is not as
perfect as she once thought, and her trust
is betrayed in a terrible way. When Natalie
encounters Klara again as an adult, she
witnesses firsthand Klara’s denial and
coping mechanisms.
These eighteen stories are high
quality – from those of striking social
realism to others with elements of magic
realism. They demonstrate O’Reilly’s
immense abilities, and why her work
should not fall into the periphery, but be
kept in a very clear line of sight.
Annie Condon is from Readings Hawthorn
ARCHIPELAGO OF
SOULS
Gregory Day
Picador. PB. Was $32.99
$27.99
Step onto the
chariot that is
Gregory Day’s
Archipelago of Souls and
canter through the dark
emotions and turgid
ruminations of a man’s
troubled soul.
Like other soldiers
returned from World
War II, Wesley Cress carries a burden
of unspeakable trauma. Serving as an
Australian soldier in the underground
resistance of German-occupied Crete,
he’s confronted with the brutality of war
and the heinous acts man is capable of
committing – including his own.
In the aftermath of this experience,
he seeks distance in the wild and remote
landscape of King Island, Tasmania. There
he stakes his claim on a plot of land called
Wait-a-While, a fitting name for a place
to seek refuge. But far from offering him
an escape, it becomes a purgatory where
an undercurrent of tumultuous emotions
churn and fester, rearing their ugly heads
in the form of an infected tooth that must
be lanced.
On a bender at the local pub – intent
on anaesthetising his pain – he finds the
unwelcome and surprising counsel he
needs. He must confront his demons and
purge his story through the cathartic act of
writing. The confession that emerges holds
his most pained and private revelations.
He shares them with Leonie Fermoy, an
islander with her own anguish to bear.
Underpinning this real human drama is
an allegory steeped in myth and intuition.
Wesley’s relationship with the feminine
also requires healing and, like the hero
Theseus, he must traverse the labyrinth
to rescue the maiden in order to find the
redemption he needs.
This is an eloquent, emotionally
complex and layered work firmly grounded
in human experience and yet reaching
towards the divine.
Natalie Platten is from Readings Hawthorn
THE LAST WILL AND
TESTAMENT OF HENRY
HOFF
John Tesarsch
Affirm Press. PB. Was $24.99
When Henry
Hoffman dies
unexpectedly his
children are forced to
execute a will they
didn’t know existed.
There’s some prime
Yarra Valley real estate
at stake and unexpected
beneficiaries. Few
families are immune to the grubby battle
that invariably accompanies a contested will
and the Hoffmans are no exception.
Henry’s untimely death leads to a
forensic excavation of his past, casting
doubt on his testamentary capacity and
unlocking a secret history that stuns and
fractures his family, unearthing a legacy of
betrayal, suspicion and self-doubt between
the siblings. When a cryptic second will
appears, socially awkward academic
Eleanor, anxious pianist Sarah, and Robbie,
the black sheep with a talent for big dreams
and bad investments, begin to wonder if
they knew their father at all.
Tesarsch’s own obsessions, music and
law, are deeply resonant in this engrossing
family saga that explores our struggle
to balance both reason and passion in
our lives. Like in his first novel, The
Philanthropist, death becomes a starting
point to reexamine life.
Told from multiple points of view, the
plot roves across three continents, from
Melbourne during the Rudd era, to San
Francisco, and back in time to Vienna
during the German occupation, where a
tragic and compelling love story unfolds.
Henry emerges as a hard but decent
man who devoted his life to solving a
mathematical puzzle, echoing the novel’s
preoccupation with ideas of value:
personal, moral and material. Tesarsch
stealthily dissects his character’s scruples
with the expertise of a barrister crossexamining his witnesses. Melbourne itself
is portrayed as a city busily ignoring its
moral compass.
Although never prescriptive, Tesarsch
explores the notion that we are only truly
alive when taking risks and living according
to our deepest moral values. Readers are
left to contemplate the brutal realities of
ageing in an economy increasingly driven
by selfishness over goodness.
Sally Keighery is a freelance reviewer
LAST DAY IN THE
DYNAMITE FACTORY
Annah Faulkner
Picador. PB. $32.99
Christopher Bright is a
well-respected
conservation architect,
father, good neighbour
and friend. His life is
orderly, yet he’s
haunted by an
unresolved question:
Who was his birth
father? When his
adoptive mother dies, information emerges
that becomes the catalyst for changes he
has never imagined. As his quest for
information reveals not only the truth about
his mother’s life but exposes the fault lines
in his own, Chris finds the price of
knowledge increasingly heavy. Nevertheless,
the truth must be told – or must it?
THE GIRL WITH THE
DOGS
Anna Funder
Penguin Special. PB. $9.99
Amid the debris of their
friends’ marriages, Tess
and Dan have hit the
middle years relatively
unscathed. But Tess
senses she’s at a hinge
moment, poised
between the life she
thought she wanted and
the one she long ago
decided against. Sent to London for a
conference, she’s unable to resist the pull of
that relinquished life. The Girl with the
Dogs is a poignant and beautiful novella
from the Miles Franklin Award winner.
Every day, specialist emergency physicians do
extraordinary things. They deal with high emotions,
and make life-or-death decisions under immense
pressure. A collection of incredible stories from
the front line in emergency departments across
Australia and New Zealand.
Roberto Saviano maps the international cocaine trade,
investigating the evolution of trafficking right through
to money laundering on Wall Street. From South
America to the US, on to Africa, Europe and Asia,
Saviano follows the human trail of users, victims and
traffickers to paint a global picture of the drug trade.
Defence lawyer Will Harris is attacked by masked
men with a clear message: back off. Instead, he goes
looking for answers. An unexpected source points
him towards Melbourne’s corridors of power. But it’s
only when those close to him are threatened too that
Will realises how near he is to the deadly truth.
A compelling, chilling, true story of murder, miscarried
justice and a lifetime of secrets. On a warm evening
in December 1949, two young people met by chance
at Flinders Street Railway Station. The next morning,
one of them, twenty-year-old typist Beth Williams,
was found dead on Middle Park Beach.
penguin.com.au
Available
July 14
PRINCE’S GAMBIT:
CAPTIVE PRINCE
TRILOGY BOOK 2
C.S. Pacat
Penguin. PB. $19.99
Damen, rightful heir to
the throne of Akielos,
serves the prince of an
enemy nation as a
pleasure slave. With
their countries on the
brink of war, Damen and
his master, Prince
Laurent, exchange the
palace for the battlefield
as they travel to the border to avert a lethal
plot. Despite himself, Damen is increasingly
drawn to the dangerous, charismatic Laurent.
But with the future of both their nations at
stake, a single misstep could be fatal.
Discover the next chapter of the world’s
favourite novel. When Scout Finch returns
to Maycomb to visit her father Atticus, she must
grapple with personal and political issues as she tries
to understand the place she spent her childhood.
Set against the backdrop of the Great War,
The Dust that Falls From Dreams follows the lives
of an unforgettable cast of characters searching
for happiness among the ruins of the old world.
A magnificent and moving novel from the author of
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Birds Without Wings.
Can a man face down the devil without losing
his soul? From the internationally bestselling author
of the acclaimed novel The Power Of The Dog comes
The Cartel, a gripping true-to-life epic of power,
corruption, revenge and justice spanning the past
decade of the Mexican-American drug wars.
As the American Civil War rages on, two ships,
captained by sworn enemies, are embroiled in a duel
that could determine the outcome of the war.
Hold tight for an explosive cat-and-mouse chase and
high-stakes adventure from the multimillion-selling
phenomenon John Flanagan.
ON BRUNSWICK
GROUND
Catherine de Saint Phalle
Transit Lounge. PB. $27.99
In the Melbourne
suburb of Brunswick, an
unnamed female
narrator meets Bernice,
a radio personality, in
her late thirties and
flirting with IVF. Later
on, she befriends a bar
owner, Sarah, and her
randomhouse.com.au
9
10
daughter, Mary, who has suddenly
converted to Islam and donned a burqa.
The lives of these women are characterised
by love and loss, and are woven together by
a shared grief.
Australian Poetry
INSIDE MY MOTHER
Ali Cobby Eckermann
Giramondo. PB. $24
Indigenous poet Ali
Cobby Eckermann was
tricked away from her
mother as a baby,
repeating the trauma
her mother suffered
when she was taken
many years before.
Eckermann in turn had
to give her own child up for adoption. In
Inside My Mother, she explores the distance
between the generations created by such
experiences, marked by sadness,
withdrawal, yearning and mistrust – but lit
by dreams and scenes of ritual and
commemoration, chief amongst them the
separation and reunion of mother and child.
International Fiction
THE FESTIVAL OF
INSIGNIFICANCE
Milan Kundera
Faber. PB. $24.99
Milan Kundera’s
last novel,
Ignorance, was
published in 2000. Over
a decade later, it’s no
stretch to call The
Festival of Insignificance
one of the world’s most
anticipated novels from
one of the greatest living
novelists. Many will delight at Kundera’s
playful title, its dash recalling the tragicomic titles of his classic middle-period such
as The Book of Laughter and Forgetting and
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, breaking
from the solemn single-word titles that
characterise his later work (Immortality,
Slowness, Identity). Already topping sales
lists in Italy, Spain and France, this novel has
commentators again speculating on the
author’s chances for the Nobel Prize.
What a pleasure it is to return to
Kundera-world, where, enthralled by the
bravura of minimal gestures, I can think
of no other writer who can do so much
with so little. At 115 pages the work is no
hostage to its brevity: Kundera is a master
of references, where a few lines of prose
immediately conjure expansive histories,
philosophies, narratives and moods. The
structure of this short novel relies on the
allegorical, but for all the condensation
and compression, the work is always vital,
animated by Kundera’s facility for the comic.
‘My dear friend, I lack only one thing: a good
mood,’ Ramon informs his friend, Caliban.
Invoking Hegel, Ramon continues that, ‘only
from the heights of a good mood can you
observe below you the eternal stupidity of
men, and laugh about it.’
Accordingly, Festival navigates multiple
terrains of absurdity, drawing Stalin
eavesdropping by a urinal alongside a
philosophical reflection on the tenderness
of friendship, with some audaciously literal
navel-gazing to boot. Funny, intelligent,
engaging on every level, Kundera’s elegant
little meta-fiction brings his oeuvre into the
post-millennial age. Nobel or no, The Festival
of Insignificance reminds us that Kundera’s
work is extraordinary, delivering an
inimitable understanding of modern times
that will be read well into the future.
Lucy Van is a freelance reviewer
CHINA RICH GIRLFRIEND
Kevin Kwan
A&U. PB. $29.99
‘Her entire
existence
revolved around the
acquisition and
preservation of fortune,’
writes Kevin Kwan in
his latest novel China
Rich Girlfriend. Such a
statement sums up most
characters in this book,
which documents the fictional lives of
Singaporean family dynasties. China Rich
Girlfriend picks up a couple of years after
Crazy Rich Asians left off, and we find
ourselves in London, following a terrible car
accident involving the mysterious young
millionaire Carlton. Meanwhile, Rachel and
Nick are happily planning for their
upcoming Californian wedding. Nick’s
estranged mother Eleanor will do anything
to attend the wedding (to which she is not
invited), and Rachel still hopes she might
find out the identity of her father before the
big day.
Everybody drives around in big cars,
stays in swanky hotels, lives in unimaginably
opulent mansions, flits around the world
in private jets, and dresses in head-to-toe
designer gear. No extravagance is too great,
but any show of overt ostentatiousness is
severely frowned upon by the social elite.
As your average Melbourne student, all this
seems more utopian fantasy than standard
fiction to me, but if Kwan says this is how
the filthy rich live, I’ll willingly suspend my
disbelief and go along for the ride.
China Rich Girlfriend, for all its glitz,
will surely provide readers with a colourful
escape from the humdrum of their,
comparatively, dull lives. That said, while
it’s fun to read about lavish parties and
who ranks higher on China’s rich-list, it’s
clear that money can’t buy happiness, or
– if you’re happy to go along with Kwan’s
generalisations – good taste and social
aptitude. Unexpected highlights of the book
are Kwan’s frequent and detailed descriptions
of food, and often-hilarious English
translations of Mandarin expressions. China
Rich Girlfriend is a light but addictive read,
sure to brighten a wintry day.
Alexandra Mathew is from Readings Carlton
THE LONG UTOPIA
Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter
Doubleday. PB. Was $32.99
$27.99
When I was a kid
visiting Adventure
Playgrounds, I always
entered thinking, ‘This
place is built for me and
in it I can be anything,
and anything can
happen.’ Reading Terry
Pratchett and Stephen
Baxter’s The Long Earth
series brings back those feelings. The premise
of the series is that someone has leaked the
schematics to build a small box that allows you
to simply step into a parallel Earth, one that is
almost exactly the same as our Earth but
without any signs of humanity ever having
existed. From this Earth you can either step
back to our Earth or take another step forward
into another Earth. This goes on forever, each
Earth gradually differing with each step taken.
So the question becomes – what would
happen if the human race were suddenly
given access to infinite natural resources and
land, with the only limitation being we can’t
take metals from one Earth to another? With
the exception of a few extremist religious
groups, the majority generally deal with this
new paradigm quite happily, and the day
of the online discovery becomes known as
Step Day. Human history has been changed
forever. Though, predictably, governments
immediately attempt to impose restrictions
and, later, high taxes to the pioneers who
move out to other Earths.
In The Long Utopia, 30 odd years have
passed since Step Day. The core cast returns:
Lobsang has retired, married Sister Agnes
and adopted a child; Josh is looking deep
into his past; the Next are more organised
(whether this is a good thing remains to
be seen) and a small boy’s discovery that
you can step forwards, backwards and now
sideways leads to the discovery that the
Long Earth is in danger and this time the
danger isn’t from us. As with all the Long
Earth books, The Long Utopia slowly builds
up to a spectacular ending and reading it
will put you right back at the Adventure
Playground again, wanting to be everything
and everywhere at once.
Dani Solomon is from Readings Carlton
GO SET A WATCHMAN
Harper Lee
William Heinemann. HB. Was $45
$31.99
The greatly-anticipated
second novel from
Harper Lee is set during
the mid-1950s and
features many of the
characters from To Kill
A Mockingbird some 20
years later. Scout (Jean
Louise Finch) has
returned to Maycomb
from New York to visit her father Atticus,
and is forced to grapple with issues both
personal and political as she tries to
understand both her father’s attitude
toward society, and her own feelings about
the place where she spent her childhood.
THE DUST THAT FALLS
FROM DREAMS
Louis de Bernieres
Harvill. PB. Was $32.99
$27.99
In the brief golden years
of the early 1900s, Rosie
McCosh and her sisters
are growing up in an
eccentric household in
Kent. But their days of
childhood adventure are
shadowed by the
approach of war that
will engulf them on the
cusp of adulthood. Confused by her love for
two young men she has to navigate her way
through extraordinary times to build a new
life out of the opportunities and devastations
of the Great War.
Boy to serve and protect him. Mark has been
lucky in his Master: Dain has treated him
well. But as his time as a Day Boy draws to a
close, there are choices to be made. Trent
Jamieson reimagines the elements of the
vampire myth in a wholly original way.
THE SONG COLLECTOR
Natasha Solomons
Hodder & Stoughton. PB. $29.99
Celebrated composer
Harry Fox-Talbot
wants to be left in
peace – his beloved
wife has died, and he’s
unable to write a note
of music. When he
discovers his
troublesome four-yearold grandson is a piano
prodigy, the music returns and Fox is
compelled to re-engage with life and
confront an old family rift involving
beautiful wartime singer Edie Rose. This is
a tale of passion and music, ancient songs
and nostalgia, of the ties that bind and
those we are prepared to sever.
JUNE
Gerbrand Bakker
Scribe. PB. $27.99
On a hot summer’s day
in June 1969, everyone
gathers to welcome
Queen Juliana. Little
Hanne Kaan and her
mother Anna arrive late
– the Queen strokes the
little girl’s cheek and
offers Anna her hand
– but the day turns to
tragedy when Hanne is knocked down by a
van. Years later, Jan Kaan arrives to tidy his
sister’s grave, and is overcome again with
grief and silent fury as the ripples from one
tragic incident spread through a community,
a family and down the generations.
THE LAST FOUR DAYS OF
PADDY BUCKLEY
Jeremy Massey
Riverhead. PB. $32.99
Paddy Buckley has
worked for years at
Gallagher’s, a longestablished Dublin
funeral home. Driving
home one night, Paddy
hits a pedestrian – it’s
Donal Cullen, brother
of one of Dublin’s most
notorious mobsters.
And he’s dead. Shocked and scared, Paddy
drives away. The next morning, the
Cullen family calls Gallagher’s to arrange
the funeral – and Paddy is given the task
of meeting with crime boss Vincent
Cullen. When events go awry, Paddy is
plunged into unexpected intrigue, deceit
and treachery.
UNCLAIMED TERRAIN
Ajay Navaria
Giramondo. PB. $19.95
DAY BOY
Trent Jamieson
Text. PB. $29.99
In a post-traumatic
future, the Masters –
formerly human, now
practically immortal –
rule the human
population upon which
they feed. Invincible by
night but helpless by day,
each relies on his Day
Ajay Navaria’s stories
examine the prejudices
of India’s caste system,
but they speak of
inequality wherever it
occurs. As complex as
they are political, his
characters are neither
black nor white, neither clearly good nor
evil. The stories in Unclaimed Terrain
suggest as many solutions as there are
crises, and that some of those solutions are
themselves crises. History pounces
without warning, people wield the
smallest details against each other, and the
reader emerges from the pages of this
fierce book wiser.
New Crime
with Fiona Hardy
Crime Book of the Month
MRS ENGELS
THE UNBROKEN LINE
Gavin McCrea
Alex Hammond
Scribe. PB. $29.99
In September 1870,
Lizzie Burns, a poor
worker from the Irish
slums, leaves for
London with her lover,
the wealthy mill-owner
Frederick Engels, the
vision of a life of peace
and comfort taking
shape before her eyes.
But while Frederick and his friend Karl
Marx try to spur revolution among the
working classes, Lizzie, haunted by her first
love and burdened by a sense of duty to
right past mistakes, is compelled to
undertake a revolution of another kind: of
the heart and the soul.
A FORTUNATE AGE
Joanna Smith Rakoff
Bloomsbury. PB. $27.99
Living in crumbling
Brooklyn apartments,
holding down jobs as
actors and writers and
eschewing the middleclass sensibilities of their
parents, Lil, Beth, Sadie,
Emily, Dave and Tal
believe anything is
possible in late-1990s New York – but the
reality of rent, marriage, children and family
will test them all. From the decadence of the
dot-com boom through to September 11 and
the years that followed, this ambitious debut
novel captures the hopes, anxieties and
dreams of a generation.
A CURE FOR SUICIDE
Jesse Ball
Dead Write
Michael Joseph. PB. $32.99
Defence lawyer Will Harris has barely recovered from being
hospitalised after going rogue in his first book, Blood Witness,
when he and his lover Eva are attacked and threatened by strangers
who tell him to back off. Will, who doesn’t enjoy danger as much as
it enjoys him, would oblige if only he knew what he was supposed
to back off from. He’s already busy fighting a complaint accusing
him of some suspicious activity (of which he’s not entirely
innocent) and grappling with his newly minted law firm, a business
partner who is never around, and defence cases he’d prefer to avoid. Now, of course, he’s
got something else on his plate – finding out who assaulted them and caused Eva to flee
from Will and the violence that surrounds him.
‘If you’ve ever wondered how it feels to be a defence lawyer, read this and
wonder no longer: if it’s half as complicated and tense as this book, we should
all just stick to being armchair lawyers, even if the pay isn’t as good.’
If you’ve ever wondered how it feels to be a defence lawyer, read this and wonder no
longer: if it’s half as complicated and tense as this book, we should all just stick to being
armchair lawyers, even if the pay isn’t as good. Will’s exhausting day-to-day life of
interviews and solving murky problems into crystal-clear defences and juggling any kind of
private life is something else – and obviously fictionalised enough to be interesting (Will is
a media darling following his adventures in the Ned Kelly Prize-shortlisted Blood Witness,
after all), while retaining memory of enough paperwork out of the ears to be realistic, if not
slightly depressing for trees.
This is one for Readings locals – as Will gallivants around town from east to west and
north to south, getting into crashes in the Burnley Tunnel and going for drinks in bars as
familiar as the one you were in just last weekend, it’s a heady tale of local intrigue that
spans contemporary Melbourne and a grim part of Australia’s history.
I often take notes on my phone when I’m reading, to help me remember good lines
(or make up my own! Like this one just now.) I wrote ‘moral quandary’ on its own,
because the idea infuses every page of the book. Will is a serious man who tries to do
good in a career and a world that seems desperate to stop him. And he’s not some shining
white knight, here to save everyone from his ethically stabled high horse – he twists
himself in knots that can’t be untangled without assistance. The legal world is one soaked
in privilege, with all the good and evil that come with it, and Will, with his family ties to
the industry, is part of the problem. Can he overcome this to prove himself, and which
lines will he refuse to cross?
Text. PB. $29.99
A man and a woman
move into a small house
in a small village. The
woman is an ‘examiner’,
charged with teaching
the man, her ‘claimant’,
a series of simple
functions: this is a chair,
this is a fork, this is how
you meet people. One
day, the examiner brings him to a party,
where he meets Hilda, who throws
everything into question. What is this
village? Why is he here? And who is Hilda?
LET ME DIE IN HIS
FOOTSTEPS
Lori Roy
Text. PB. $29.99
Everyone knows
Hollerans don’t go near
Baines. It’s been that
way since Joseph Carl
Baine was hanged in
1936. But on a dark
Kentucky night in 1952,
Annie Holleran crosses
over into forbidden
territory. Local
superstition says she’ll see her future in the
Baines’ well. What she sees instead is a dead
woman – and suddenly the events of 1936,
that twisted and shaped the lives of Annie and
her kin, are brought back into the present.
THE HAND THAT FEEDS
YOU
AJ Rich
S&S. PB. $29.99
I’m never sure about
the idea of two authors
collaborating to
write – surely, there
would just be constant
fighting about where
to put commas? – but
from the first few
pages of this book I
was immediately
compelled: together Amy Hempel and Jill
Ciment create a personal, immersive
writing style that feels akin to travelling
alongside a character as they work out
what is happening, instead of watching
them, popcorn-in-hand, while they blast
through the world hurling wisecracks
(which, don’t get me wrong, is also an
excellent literary choice).
Even as protagonist Morgan Prager –
student of victimology, soft touch when
it comes to sad-looking dogs, and newly
minted fiancée – comes home to find
Bennett, the man she loves, mauled to
death by her three beloved pets, it’s a
gruesome scene that breaks your heart
rather than makes you cover your eyes.
And when she recovers from that discovery
enough to leave the hospital she’s been
put in to try and find his parents and
break the news to them, Morgan cannot
find them. They do not exist, and neither
does Bennett, apparently: no one by that
name had his job or lived his life where
he told her. Now feeling dejected as well
as guilty, Morgan’s investigation into
Bennett’s deception leads her to others he
has targeted – and the realisation that not
everyone survived his ruse.
Following Morgan as she pulls at the
threads of their life together is an unsettling
experience, raising questions about the
notion of responsibility, and how you expect
those around you to respond when your pets
savage another person. It’s also unnerving
that as a reader you find yourself with a
surprising desire to see some big ol’ gentle
puppies saved from certain execution by
a savvy lawyer even after you find out – in
detail – what they did to Bennett.
It’s a chilling skill these authors have:
using the most attractive of writing to hide
the most unpleasant of scenes.
ZERO ZERO ZERO
Roberto Saviano
Allen Lane. PB. $32.99
After the publication
of his first book,
Gomorrah – which led
to him being granted
a permanent police
escort after being
threatened by more
than one godfathertype – in Zero Zero
Zero, Saviano sniffs
11
around in the cocaine trade and outlines
his view that the drug is so prevalent that
its distribution drives the modern
economy. Saviano speaks to informers,
addicts, kingpins, travelling and writing
expansively, researching further than the
countries traditionally accused of keeping
a powdered finger in the pie.
THE ENGLISH SPY
Daniel Silva
Silva’s art restorerslash-spy-slashassassin (aren’t we all
such multi-taskers?)
Gabriel Allon is one of
the most beloved spies
in modern crime
fiction – a man who
many love to follow as
he travels the world to
bring justice and vengeance to those who
need it. In The English Spy, Allon is on the
hunt for elusive bomb-maker Eamon
Quinn, a man whose grim skills Allon
suspects have just despatched one the
most famous women in the world – the
ex-daughter-in-law of the Queen of
England. And, as happens when you’re a
successful assassin, when you’re on the
hunt for someone, there are others on the
hunt for you.
LONDON RAIN
Nicola Upson
Faber. PB. $29.99
During the coronation
of King George – no,
not the adorable
toddler – in 1936,
crime author
Josephine Tey is in
glittering London for
the production of one
of her radio plays. All
is going delightfully
until BBC broadcasting favourite Albert
Beresford is killed, and then so is his
mistress, who is also the lead in Tey’s
play. All seems horribly but swiftly
cut-and-dried with an obvious suspect,
but Tey has her own suspicions that the
deaths have more of a thread in the
murky past than anyone wants to believe.
Perfectly set in its time, Upson’s seventh
Josephine Tey novel is a cleverly crafted
psychological tale.
THE CARTEL
Don Winslow
Heinemann. PB. $32.99
This glorious, hefty
tome, sequel to
Winslow’s legendary
organised crime epic
The Power of the Dog,
has been years in the
making and it shows.
It is well-researched,
gritty, violent and,
presumably, printed
with adrenaline in the ink because this
story follows one hell of a pursuit. Art
Keller is a DEA agent who destroyed his
own life, and that of many others, to get
cartel boss Adan Barrera behind bars.
But Barrera’s connections and wealth
mean that prison is not quite like it is for
the rest of us (locked up for stealing time
to read more books) – and when he
inevitably escapes and puts a twomillion-dollar bounty on Keller’s head, a
bloodthirsty, decade-long hunt ensues.
12
New Non-Fiction
Biography
AFTER THE BLAST
Garth Callender
Black Inc. PB. $29.99
As I read this
memoir of an
Australian soldier’s
experience in Iraq and
Afghanistan, I have the
slow and steady
impression that this is a
different, and
specifically modern,
kind of war story.
While Callender’s account makes it clear
that being at war is made up of extremes,
intensity, and adrenaline in the moment,
the focus is on the aftermath of an attack,
the post-traumatic condition, and the
often lethargic bureaucratic processes
surrounding the day-to-day of the
occupying forces in the Middle East. In this
way, After the Blast is about the moments
and spaces in between, leading up to,
and after the action. Upon deployment,
Callender writes, ‘We went to war like
so many soldiers of my generation – by
commercial air travel.’ Towards the end
of his account, Callender describes cases
of post-traumatic stress disorders: from
those in charge who bear the weight of
their decisions so heavily, and those not
physically injured at the time of a blast, but
whose wounds endure far beyond the end
of their military service.
Callender’s prose is colloquial
yet articulate and nuanced, and his
observations acute and canny. His
account is divided into three parts,
describing his three deployments, to Iraq
in 2004 and 2006, and to Afghanistan
in 2009. He is badly injured in an IED
(Improvised Explosive Device) blast
during his first deployment, but he
volunteers again and again.
In The Missing of the Somme,
Geoff Dyer writes about war as a great
fracturing event in cultures, history, and
lives. Everything that happened before
is so thoroughly and irrevocably cleaved
from that which comes afterwards; our
relationship to the time before is rendered
untouchable and pure, like a memory of
youth. The fracturing event of the long,
protracted war in the Middle East is, for
those living through it in the present era, a
blast in ultra-slow motion. For most of us
in Australia, this time immediately ‘after
the blast’ will be characterised by the
marked absence of effect, probably for a
very long time. And that, I believe, is where
Callender’s account comes in – it tells the
story of Australian soldiers in Iraq and
Afghanistan in a way that is real, relatable
and, importantly, present.
Amy Vuleta is the manager of Readings St Kilda
BLACKOUT
Sarah Hepola
John Murray. PB. $29.99
Sarah Hepola’s
debut book is a
coming-of-age memoir
that explores her
relationship with booze
as if the liquid were a
troubled and confusing,
on-again off-again
partner. Through her
rendering of drunken afternoons, forgotten
evenings and sick, ruined mornings, Hepola
has occasion to discuss many hot-button
literary and journalistic issues of the
moment, including the nature of truth in
highly confessional narratives and ethical
problems surrounding intoxication and
sexual consent. It’s a wry, self-deprecating
story told with the bloggy rhythms you’d
expect of a writer who has been covering
pop culture for magazines such as Salon
over the course of her career.
Hepola’s story is a more light-hearted
take on what is becoming the classic
addiction narrative: one that moves from
a personal, inarticulable sadness into wild
intoxication, staggers towards visceral
guilt, and falls finally on that mainstay of
the form – recovery. Her story contains
moments of darkness and poetry, of
course, such as when she recalls first
getting blackout drunk at age eleven, how
she formed the little rituals addicts use to
keep from being discovered, and where
she describes drinking as allowing for
an otherwise impossible ‘Ecstasy when
everyone is gone but still you are held.’
But Hepola’s vignettes aren’t the
tales you’d usually hear at an Alcoholics
Anonymous meeting, full of rage and
sadness. Hepola instead finds humour and
insight in her misadventures. Her core
motif for doing so is in the titular blackout,
that drunken state where long-term
memories cannot be formed, the one that
tends to separate those people you know
who enjoy drinking from those people
you worry about. Hepola, for many years
a dedicated member of the latter group,
is open about the irony and difficulty of
constructing a memoir around a void, but
it is this focus on anti-memories where the
book succeeds in telling a different story
about addiction. It’s a story where drinking
can be an empowering activity – the
natural psycho-chemical accoutrement to
radical personal change – while it is also
simultaneously the unwanted ghost that
stalks and fogs her memories, her consent
and eventually her identity.
Dave Little is from Readings St Kilda
THE SEVEN GOOD
YEARS
Etgar Keret
Scribe. PB. $27.99
Israeli writer
Etgar Keret is
widely regarded as one
of the leading figures in
contemporary flash
fiction. In The Seven
Good Years, the author
of The Bus Driver Who
Wanted To Be God and
Suddenly, A Knock on the Door moves for
the first time into non-fiction, bringing his
signature wit to a collection of personal
essays covering the seven years from the
birth of his son – Keret and his wife
rushing to hospital in the middle of a
bombing – and the death of his father from
cancer of the tongue. The years in
between, both as a father and a son, are
full of wonder, frustration and worry.
Aside from being organised more or
less chronologically, the pieces are largely
unconnected and stand as individual
vignettes – when taken together, they give
a patchwork effect of a life made up of
episodes. Keret reflects on travel, family,
religion and the writing life, moving
between anecdotes and sketches, cringe
comedy (particularly in an excruciating
battle of wits with a telemarketer), and
absurdist satire of the politics of the
turbulent Middle East.
There are some occasions where the
sparseness of Keret’s prose almost feels
frustrating – Keret writes, for example,
about his Holocaust-survivor parents’
relationship, and about how the everpresent threat of bombs and warfare
pervades day-to-day Israeli life with
a sort of fatalistic abandon – these are
themes that warrant more exploration
and contemplation, and presenting
them as pithy anecdotes felt somewhat
unsatisfying. The best pieces, however,
are tightly-packed and feel variously like
conversations with an old friend, tender
moments frozen in time or astonishing
pieces of blistering satire. Brevity and
craftsmanship blend with insight and
observational humour like that of David
Sedaris, making The Seven Good Years a
vibrant and highly enjoyable read.
Alan Vaarwerk is the editorial assistant for
Readings Monthly
VERA
uncovering the past.
LETTERS TO MY
GRANDCHILDREN
David Suzuki
NewSouth. PB. $29.99
In this inspiring series
of letters to his
grandchildren, David
Suzuki offers
grandfatherly advice
mixed with stories
from his own
remarkable life and
explores what makes
life meaningful. He challenges his
grandchildren – and us – to do
everything at full tilt. He explains why
sports, fishing, feminism and failure are
important; why it is dangerous to deny
our biological nature; and why First
Nations must lead a revolution. Offering
up a lifetime of wisdom, Suzuki inspires
us all to live with courage, conviction
and passion.
Vera Wasowski & Robert Hillman
MY STORY
Black Inc. PB. $29.99
Julia Gillard
Vera Wasowski was just
seven years old when
German soldiers
marched her and her
family into the Lvov
Jewish ghetto in
Poland. After the war,
Vera migrated to
Australia with her
husband and young son to escape rising
anti-Semitism. Here she would carve out
a bold career as a TV researcher and
producer at the ABC on pioneering
programs such as This Day Tonight.
Celebrated biographer Robert Hillman
captures the fierce and passionate life of
an amazing Australian.
HERE COMES THE SUN
Jeremy Oxley & Mary Oxley
Griffiths
Random. PB. $34.99
With new material and
fresh insights, this is
Julia Gillard’s chronicle
of her turbulent time as
Australia’s prime
minister, a candid
self-portrait of a
political leader seeking
to realise her ideals. My
Story is peppered with wry humour and
personal insights, and Gillard does not shy
away from her mistakes, admitting freely
to misjudgements and policy failures, as
well as detailing her political successes.
Here is an account of what was hidden
behind the resilience Gillard showed as
prime minister, and a reflection on what it
means to be a woman leader in
contemporary politics.
A&U. PB. $29.99
Jeremy Oxley was
diagnosed with
schizophrenia aged 22,
at the height of his fame
as lead singer of the
Sunnyboys. Terrified
and in denial, he
alienated friends and
family alike, shutting
himself off from any kind of life or
support. Mary Griffiths was a nurse who
was able to see through Jeremy’s illness
and recognise the sensitive, beautiful and
frightened man within. Their story is told
here for the first time, tracing Jeremy’s
remarkable journey from the depths of
despair to hope and love.
MY LIFE IN RUINS
Adam Ford
ABC Books. PB. $29.99
Adam Ford is an
archaeologist. From
Cold War bunkers in
England to remote caves
in the Jordan Valley and
burials in Barbados,
Adam has dug, dived,
abseiled and trekked his
way into history. He has
lived in some of the most remote locations
in the world and suffered the back-breaking
and soul-destroying monotony of shifting
tonnes of dirt with a shovel. Part memoir,
part potted history of civilisation, My Life
in Ruins is the account of a life lived in
Australian Studies
OLD MAN’S STORY
Bill Neidjie & Bill Lang
Aboriginal Studies Press. PB. $34.95
Old Man’s Story
contains the last
thoughts of the late
Kakadu elder and
activist, Bill Neidjie.
His two previous
books, Kakadu Man and
Story About Feeling, are
often read as poetry, but are also important
articulations of an environmental
philosophy grounded in feeling. The trope
of the elder telling ancient stories might
be seductive and sentimental, but what
Neidjie is doing, committing secret
knowledge to print, is a response to a very
modern problem – our increasingly
exploitative and unequal consumption of
our planet. Neidjie reflects on how his
community has changed in his living
memory, recalling stories of his childhood
and family. This sometimes melancholic
narration is interwoven with Mark Lang’s
memoir and photographs of his time in
Kakadu with Neidjie over a cycle of
seasons.
It is impossible to leave this beguiling,
poetic book without reconsidering the
way settler society privileges ‘objective‘
knowledge. Describing ‘country’ as
something which can be felt in a bodily
way, Neidjie maps out a vulnerable
connection between humans and the rest
of our environment. ‘Do something, with
your feeling,’ advises Niedjie, ‘it not too
late.’ The conversations in this book open
up complex ideas about places in our
recent history which are easy to overlook.
The act of telling these (hi)stories is a way
of confirming our extraordinary ecological
present, but also of understanding each
other. Having a story is the equivalent of
being alive, and as readers, and writers –
and booksellers – it’s a philosophy for
which we should crusade.
Cinema
LIFE MOVES PRETTY
FAST
Hadley Freeman
If you’re looking
for something fun
and frothy to read as you
snuggle under the doona
this winter, Life Moves
Pretty Fast would be an
Georgia Delaney is from Readings Carlton
ideal pick. Hadley
Freeman’s personalised
BLOCKBUSTER!
handbook to North
Lucy Sussex
American movies from
Text. PB. $32.99
the 1980s is a friendly blend of cinephilia
Before there was
and autobiography. As a guide, Freeman is
Arthur Conan Doyle’s
charming with limitless enthusiasm for her
Sherlock Holmes,
topic. She’s more fangirl than critic and, in
there was Fergus
truth, Life Moves Pretty Fast is really a love
Part
memoir, part potted
history of civilisation, My Life in
Hume’s The Mystery
letter disguised as a book – an ode to Baby’s
Ruins
is
the
account
of
a
livedininDirty
uncovering
past.
of a Hansom Cab – the
dancelife
montage
Dancing, to the
Andie
biggest-selling
Walsh’s ugly prom dress in Pretty in Pink,
detective novel of the
and to ‘uber-nerd’ Rick Moranis.
1800s, and Australia’s
In many ways, Life Moves Pretty Fast
first literary
is a product of the digital age (Freeman
blockbuster. Blockbuster! is the
is already known as a fashion journalist
engrossing story of a book that would
and columnist, and runs a blog about
help define the genre of crime fiction,
eighties films) and has that snappy, gossipy
and a portrait of a great city in full bloom.
quality I associate with the internet. The
Rigorously researched and full of
chapters close with lists of things like
arresting detail, this captivating book is a
‘Best Love Songs’ or ‘Steve Guttenberg
must-read for all fans of true crime,
Moments’, while footnotes often lead to
history and crime fiction alike.
funny remarks, or forays into scandals. I
was particularly fascinated by Freeman’s
analysis of Hollywood, and how it has
Cultural Studies
changed over the last thirty years – her
chapters on Steel Magnolias and Eddie
Murphy were stand-outs.
THE ROAD TO
Given Freeman’s zeal, it helps to
CHARACTER
already be a fan of eighties movies which,
David Brooks
happily, I am. I was all too willing to be
Allen Lane. HB. $45
swept up by Freeman’s gusto – at least, for
We live in a culture
the most part. I was not so easily swayed
that encourages us to
by her chapter on Tim Burton’s Batman, in
think about how to be
which she criticises Christopher Nolan’s
wealthy and
adaptation, but I suspect this has much
successful, but which
to do with my own personal obsession
leaves many of us
with the superhero story. And Freeman,
inarticulate about how
for her part, is endearingly candid
to cultivate the
about her own obsessions and makes no
deepest inner life.
apology for simply selecting the films
Subsumed by the
that matter to her. She writes, ‘This is
day-to-day, the deepest parts of who we
not an encyclopaedia of eighties moves.
are go unexplored and unstructured. The
If you want that, buy an encyclopaedia
Road to Character connects us once again
(although probably the last time you saw
to an ancient moral tradition, asking us to
an encyclopaedia was in the eighties).’
confront our own weaknesses and grow
Bronte Coates is the digital content
in response, rather than shallowly focus
coordinator for Readings
on our good points.
THE PLEASURE OF
READING
Environmental Studies
Antonia Fraser (ed.)
THE END OF PLENTY
First published in 1992,
this new edition
includes essays from
ten new writers as well
as original contributors
including Margaret
Atwood, Germaine
Greer, Ruth Rendell,
Tom Stoppard and
Jeanette Winterson. In
this delightful collection, much-admired
writers explain what first made them
interested in literature, what inspired
them to read and what makes them
continue to do so. Royalties generated go
to Give a Book, a charity that seeks to get
books to places where they will be of
particular benefit.
Joel Bourne
Scribe. PB. $35
Modern agriculture has
driven the greatest global
population boom in
history – but left behind
ecological devastation and
an unsustainable status
quo. Now, with more
mouths to feed than ever
before, tightening global food supplies have
spurred riots and reform around the world.
Part history, part reportage, part advocacy,
The End of Plenty takes readers across the
globe, searching for new solutions that can
sustainably feed us all. It is a wake-up call
for anyone concerned with what the
coming decades will hold.
13
14
Health
Music
Politics
GUT
THE BAKEHOUSE
PROJECT
MISBEHAVING
Giulia Enders
Scribe. PB. $29.99
Helen Marcou & Quincy McLean
Allen Lane. HB. $45
Anyone who
enjoyed Norman
Doidge’s bestselling The
Brain That Changes
Itself will find much to
appreciate in Gut: The
Inside Story of Our
Body’s Most UnderRated Organ. While
these two organs may
not appear to have much in common, and to
have vastly different interest ratings, the
gut has more effect on the way we think
and feel than most of us realise.
Enders is currently studying for her
medical doctorate in Germany and was
partly drawn to the field by a frustrating
and protracted misdiagnosis in her late
teens. She is a lucid and friendly guide to
the latest research and an advocate for the
judicious sharing of knowledge, where
the risks are few, in a more timely fashion
than most peer-reviewed publications
generally enable.
In the same way that, prior to the
publication of The Brain That Changes
Itself, neuroplasticity was not something
about which most people were aware, Gut
looks set to change popular conceptions
about health and our understanding of
the relationships between the various
enigmatic systems in our bodies. Two
key areas addressed in Gut are likely to
be on the public mind in years to come:
the brain–gut link and its ramifications
for mental as well as physical health;
and the urgency of us all updating our
understanding of the purpose and value of
‘good bacteria’ and bacteria balance.
Gut is rich but not dense with
fascinating facts, perspective-altering
research anecdotes, and practical advice.
While those who have read Slow Death
by Rubber Duck might be dismayed to see
that plastic chopping boards are the most
hygienic (but not too hygienic), others
will feel smug about their regular yoghurt
and sushi-eating ways. Enders demystifies
allergy and intolerance issues, clarifies
the connections between our external and
internal environments and puts forward a
great case for making a concerted effort to
support the good bacteria we’ve apparently
been working with since we first crawled
out of the sea. You are unlikely to think
about food choices the same way again!
Black Inc. HB. $49.99
Economist Richard
Thaler has spent his
career studying the
notion that humans are
central to the
economy – and that
we’re error-prone
individuals, not
predictable
automatons. Now
behavioural economics is changing the
way we think not just about money, but
about ourselves and our world. Coupling
recent discoveries in human psychology
with a practical understanding of
incentives and market behaviour, Thaler
enlightens readers about how to make
smarter decisions in an increasingly
mystifying world.
Elke Power is the editor of Readings Monthly
History
HOW THE FRENCH
THINK
Bakehouse Studios in
Richmond is a
Melbourne music
landmark, with around
400 musicians passing
through their rehearsal
rooms every week. In
October 2013, as a tribute to the passing of
Lou Reed, Bakehouse pasted up two giant
rock posters on the front of their iconic
studios. Following an overwhelming and
emotional response to the work, visual
artists were invited to re-imagine the
interiors with immersive installations in
the old rehearsal rooms. From the lyrical to
the audacious, this book documents and
celebrates a year of art at Bakehouse.
COBAIN: MONTAGE OF
HECK
Brett Morgen & Richard Bienstock
Hachette. HB. $39.99
More than twenty
years have passed
since Kurt Cobain took
his own life in April
1994. Today, his legacy
continues to fascinate,
inspire, and haunt us.
Featuring exclusive
interviews with the family and friends who
knew him best and never-before-seen
photographs and artwork, this riveting
companion to Brett Morgen’s highly
anticipated documentary paints an
illuminating and honest portrait of the
Nirvana frontman, capturing the
contradictions that made up his character.
It is the ultimate book for fans of Nirvana
and of Kurt Cobain.
CAPTAIN MATCHBOX &
BEYOND
Visual Arts
Psychology
BLACK SHEEP
Richard Stephens
John Murray. PB. $29.99
From the man who won
the Wellcome Trust
Science Writing Prize
2014 comes a book of
weird and wonderful
psychological
experiments and
fascinating research from
the far-flung corners of
human experience. Expect ingenious
methodology and dazzling findings across
sex, addiction, bad language and fast
driving. Expect drunkenness, hangovers,
love, split-second emergencies and close
brushes with death. And on top of it all,
expect conclusions about the benefits of
being bad that you really won’t have seen
coming.
Catherine Fleming & John Tait
Melbourne Books. HB. $39.95
This book uncovers
the zany world of
Captain Matchbox,
and goes far beyond by
following the
extraordinary careers
of Mic and Jim
Conway. After
Matchbox finally
struck out, the brothers were intimately
involved with the Pram Factory and Circus
Oz. Jim Conway eventually broke free of
‘novelty’ to become one of Australia’s
premier blues musicians, while the name
Mic Conway has become synonymous with
‘new vaudeville’ in Australia.
Sudhir Hazareesingh
HOW MUSIC GOT FREE
Allen Lane. HB. $49.99
Stephen Witt
In France, intellectual
activity is regarded not
just as the preserve of the
thinking elite but for
almost everyone. French
thought can sometimes be
austere and often opaque,
yet it is undeniably bold
and innovative, and driven by a relentless
quest for the regeneration of humanity.
Sudhir Hazareesingh traces its tumultuous
history in an enjoyable and original
manner, showing how the French ways of
thought and life connect.
Richard Thaler
Vintage. PB. $29.99
How Music Got Free is a
blistering story of
obsession, music and
obscene money. This is
the story of how one
man’s crime snowballed
into an explosive moment
in history, how suddenly
all the tracks ever
recorded could be accessed by anyone, for
free. It is also the story of the music
industry – the rise of rap, the death of the
album, and how an industry ate itself.
differences, and Armitage himself is
consistent in his opinion that whilst the
walk is beautiful, it’s no Pennine Way, but
that really isn’t the point.
The heart of this book is the gentle
humour of the character observations
along the way. Armitage is affectionate
in his descriptions, but forthright, and
his father’s repeated phone calls are a
highlight. Armitage seems amused by
his father’s own amusement at the walk,
and the result is sweetly entertaining.
His frank storytelling is at its best when
tackling his own awkwardness and
embarrassment, including his irrational
fears whilst spending the night in a
witchcraft museum. It’s beautifully
written, poetic, but in a manner far
more akin to Armitage’s own blunt style
than the flowery images that the word
‘poetry’ projects. Walking Away rolls
along at a pace far more relaxing than
the walk it describes.
Isobel Moore is from Readings St Kilda
Travel Writing
WALKING AWAY
Simon Armitage
Faber. PB. $32.99
The first time I
heard a poem by
Simon Armitage, I was
in our shared homeland,
Yorkshire. I was in a
year ten English class
and I very clearly
remember the moment,
because prior to that
moment, I had never
heard or read any poem that sounded like
me, or related to my life in any way. It was
somewhat of a revelation, and I have to
confess to having an emotional
predilection to Armitage since that
moment. Needless to say, I very much
enjoyed his previous book Walking Home,
in which he walked the Pennine Way
backwards ending up in his Yorkshire
hometown in the North of the country.
Walking Away follows a similar
tread. Armitage walks along the southwest coast of England, taking no money
but supporting himself through poetry
readings and the kindness of strangers,
only this time, how will he fare away
from home turf? Pretty much the same,
to be entirely honest. There are certainly
LIVES OF THE ARTISTS,
LIVES OF THE
ARCHITECTS
Hans-Ulrich Obrist
Allen Lane. PB. $45
Hans-Ulrich Obrist
has been having
ongoing conversations
with the world’s
greatest living artists
since the age of
seventeen. Here he
chooses nineteen of
the most influential
contemporary artists
and architects and presents the
conversations they’ve had over the years,
in cafes and studios, on aeroplanes and
trains, walking or sitting at home. Lives of
the Artists, Lives of the Architects offers
the reader a rare insight into the creative
process as well as a unique exploration of
the meaning of art today.
Cookery
A MODERN WAY TO EAT
Anna Jones
Fourth Estate. HB. $49.99
A Modern Way to
Eat is my new
favourite cookbook
and conversation topic.
I have already made its
vegetarian versions of
burgers and pies
(sausages to come).
Both received thumbs up from my
housemates and truth be told, I’m yet to
come across a recipe that I don’t like.
The cookbook opens with a foreword
by Jamie Oliver and the recipes do have
something of his relaxed and generous
attitude to cooking, but Anna Jones’ so
called ‘modern’ attitude to cooking is all
her own. It’s an attitude that expects our
food to be sustainable and affordable,
healthy and tasty, easy to prepare and
impressive to look at. Somehow, Jones
manages this. BC
Art & Design
Winter Cookbooks
with Chris Gordon
with Margaret Snowdon
GREEN, HIDDEN AND
ABOVE
MAGGIE BEER’S WINTER
HARVEST RECIPES
Sybylle Kramer
Maggie Beer
Braun. HB. $70
Lantern. HB. $29.99
Different methods of
tree house construction
differ substantially from
other types of building,
requiring a profound
knowledge of the
materials to be used. In
terms of use and design,
this special architectural discipline is full of
surprises. The projects assembled for this
volume show the extraordinary variety of
possibility for tree house design.
I associate Maggie Beer
with quinces, with
pheasant pâtés,
mushrooms, and with
delicious slow-cooked
country cooking. This
delightful collection of
recipes has everything
you could expect for cold nights. The
recipes are from the winter section of
Maggie’s bible, Maggie’s Harvest. Included
in this collection are detailed descriptions
of meals (think perfectly planned menus
for you to copy, step-by-step) with family
and friends. I love this glimpse into
Maggie’s life, her warmth and generosity
shows with her meal plans and with those
she keeps around her. Maggie Beer makes
cooking obtainable for everyone. Also, I
love her pâtés!
DIGITAL HANDMADE
Lucy Johnston
T&H. HB. $60
Subtitled Craftsmanship
and the New Industrial
Revolution, this is a
dazzling survey of
designers who fuse
digital fabrication
techniques with
traditional
craftsmanship and handwork. Today’s
digital technologies have given rise to
entirely new working methods, skill sets,
and consumer products that don’t eliminate,
but enrich traditional hand techniques.
FIONA HALL: WRONG
WAY TIME
Linda Michael (ed.)
Piper Press. HB. $39.95
In Wrong Way Time, Fiona
Hall brings together
hundreds of elements,
each embedded with
layers of meaning. The
works focus on global
conflict, world finances
and the environment, which come together
in what Hall says is a ‘minefield of madness,
badness and sadness in equal measure’. This
is the catalogue for Venice Biennale and
Australian tour 2016.
CHINA: THROUGH THE
LOOKING GLASS
Andrew Bolton et al.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. PB. $69
This stunning publication
explores the influence of
Chinese aesthetics on
designers, including
Giorgio Armani, Christian
Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier,
Karl Lagerfeld, Ralph
Lauren, Alexander McQueen, and Yves Saint
Laurent. Drawing upon Chinese decorative
arts, cinema, and costume, their designs are
fantastical pastiches of anachronistic motifs.
PIERO FORNASETTI:
PRACTICAL MADNESS
Patrick Mauries et al.
T&H. HB. S100
Fornasetti’s endless invention
is celebrated here in a book
published to coincide with a
major retrospective
exhibition in Paris. His visual
puns and decorative devices
are set out in the context of
his paintings, little considered
until now. His designs endure in an
astonishing variety of forms.
I
n this inspiring series of letters to
his grandchildren, David Suzuki
offers grandfatherly advice mixed
with stories from his own remarkable
life and explores what makes life
meaningful. Drawing on his own
experiences and the wisdom he has
gained over his long life, he decries
SLOW COOKER
CENTRAL
the lack of elders and grandparents
Paulene Christie
importance of heroes. As he ponders
in the lives of many people, especially
immigrants, and champions the
ABC Books. PB. $24.99
life’s deepest questions and offers up
Paulene started a
phenomenon. She
popped a few recipes
about slow cooking in a
slow cooker onto a
website and then before
she knew it she had
trillions of followers
and people sharing
recipes left, right, and centre. This book
is a collection of more than 250 recipes
from her Slow Cooker Central website and
her insanely popular Slow Cooker Recipes
4 Families Facebook page. This is what
I’ve learnt flicking through this marvel:
you can make cakes, jams, and soups in
slow cookers. I knew all about the magic
power of slow cooking lamb for hours,
but this book allows you to create menus
of little fuss and great taste. Ironically,
this book is a winner for all those in a
rush most of the time.
a lifetime of wisdom, Suzuki inspires
THE CHEF GETS
HEALTHY
Tobie & Georgia Puttock
Lantern. PB. $39.99
Honestly, I am full of
admiration for any
married couple that can
work together so
already my hat is off to
the Puttocks. My
admiration grew when
I realised that their
work of love is all about living longer
together by creating and eating healthy
food. Georgia said to Tobie, ‘Tobie, your
diet is going to have to change if you are
going to live as long as me.’ And he said, in
return, ‘Okay, I’m going to change my bad,
fatty habits.’
Anyway, long story short, here is the
perfect cookbook for couples supporting
one another in making choices that
involve kale as opposed to cheesecake. The
recipes, in a similar vein to Tobie’s good
friend Jamie Oliver’s, are filled with quick
and easy steps for truly delicious food
from morning to night-time snacks. This
is the perfect book for those who strive for
perfection.
us all to live with courage, conviction,
and passion.
w w w. n e w s o u t h p u b l i s h i n g . c o m
READINGS MADMAN
DVD
SALE
Over a hundred terrific titles
from $12.95 each
Sale on now until 31 July at all shops and online.
Proud sponsor of MIFF
15
16
New Young Adult Fiction
See books for kids, junior and middle readers on pages 18–19
Young Adult Book of the Month
FREEDOM RIDE
Sue Lawson
Black Dog. PB. $17.95
Student activists have long been the agents of social change.
Following the ‘Freedom Rides’ held in the USA in 1961 to
protest against discriminatory segregation of Black Americans, a
group of Sydney students embarked on a protest of their own. The
students launched the Australian Freedom Ride in 1965 and
sought to challenge entrenched bigotry and prejudice levelled at
Aboriginal Australians, taking their protest to rural towns in
Australia where racist attitudes were most evident.
History has many examples of social justice activism of this kind. The 1967 Referendum
to remove two references in the Australian Constitution that discriminated against
Aboriginal Australians was in part brought about by the efforts of students like these
who, through their campaigning, cast a spotlight onto injustice. But when individuals
stand up on their own and fight for what’s right, even as it sets them apart from their
family, friends and community, now that is inspiring!
Robbie, the protagonist of Sue Lawson’s Freedom Ride, has just such a story. Unsettled
by the discriminatory treatment of Aboriginal people and the parochial attitudes of his
hometown, Robbie finds the courage, with the support of a new friend, to speak out against
this behaviour and then becomes a target of the very bigotry he seeks to confront. However,
by the time the Freedom Ride rolls into town, Robbie has found the freedom to set his own
course, on his own terms.
This is an inspiring and historically significant work that forces us to confront the
racism of our past. For readers 13 and up.
Natalie Platten is from Readings Hawthorn
FRANKIE AND JOELY
Nova Weetman
UQP. PB. $19.95
This is a novel that, in the current
market, might be called ‘quiet’. For
me it was as much of a
page-turner as anything
you’ll find on the YA
shelves because it’s a
generous, intense study of
that most important
subject: friendship.
Frankie and Joely, two
city girls, go on holiday to
an outback farm owned by Joely’s warm and
welcoming aunt and uncle. Once in Joely’s
territory their friendship is put to the test.
Frankie is a mischief-maker, who hides her
vulnerability like a pro, while Joely scowls
resentfully in her shadow.
The author deftly hops between several
different teenage heads. Although slightly
dizzying at first, this turns out to be a
brilliant device. As much as we sympathise
with one girl because the other is physical
perfection and turns every boy’s head, in the
next breath we see how worthless that is for
the beautiful girl who longs for family but
only knows how to be desired. Two brothers,
one tough and dominant, the other more
sensitive, also get a useful point-of-view.
I found my teenage self in these pages,
and wish that I had actually read a book like
this at the time. Subtle and perceptive, for
ages 13 and up.
Emily Gale is Readings’ online children’s specialist
THE MEANING OF MAGGIE
Megan J Sovern
Hardie Grant. PB. $11.95
Maggie is overachieving, precocious
and very funny. She has been given a
beautiful leather-bound
journal for her 12th
birthday. Naturally, she
decides to start
documenting her life for
when she becomes
President of the United
States of America.
Maggie begins by documenting the year
before she turned 12, taking us back to the
moment when her 11th birthday doesn't
kick off as planned. An announcement from
her parents makes her feel a little anxious:
Maggie’s dad has quit his job and instead
her mum is going to take up employment.
Maggie isn’t completely sure what’s going
on, but she is pretty sure it has to do with
her dad’s arms and legs, which are now
‘sleeping’, and keeping him wheelchairbound. Not willing to let things lie, Maggie
takes it upon herself to find out what is
wrong with her dad and how to cure him.
The Meaning of Maggie is a beautiful
book about a warm, caring and loving
family living with a loved one who has
multiple sclerosis. Maggie is a hilarious
character whose voice resonates perfectly
with the confusion and anxiety that an
11-year-old might feel living with a parent
with an unexplained illness. Highly
recommended for ages 11 and up.
Katherine Dretzke is from Readings Hawthorn
THE IMPROBABLE THEORY
OF ANA AND ZAK
Brian Katcher
Straight-A student Ana is always busy
with extracurricular activities that
she hopes will help her get a scholarship to
a college of her choice, although, that’s if
her overprotective parents even let her
choose her own college.
On the other hand, Zak
doesn’t think much about
his future since his dad
died and mum remarried,
preferring to slack off.
That is, until he is forced
to join the quiz-bowl team
to make up for a failed
Health assignment that could otherwise see
him flunk his final year.
While Ana can’t stand Zak’s laid-back
approach to life, she finds herself in need
of his help when her brother sneaks out of
the hotel the quiz-bowl team is staying in
and heads to Washingcon, an annual comic
convention that Zak usually attends. What
ensues is a hectic first date of sorts, as they
search for Ana’s brother, encountering
some creepy and far-out characters that
make their night a living hell.
The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak
is a fun romance full of witty banter and
crazy antics that, while at times a little farfetched, will entertain readers who loved
novels like Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist.
For ages 13 and up. KD
See how these readers
celebrated Rivertime’s win!
BECAUSE YOU’LL NEVER
MEET ME
Leah Thomas
Written entirely in letters, from the
point of view of two teenage boys,
one in the States and one in Germany,
Because You’ll Never Meet Me tells the
story of two people who
can never meet. Moritz
has a pacemaker, and
Ollie is allergic to
electricity, so meeting
Moritz would kill him.
While the story plays
with their emotional
connection and has a
great twist along the way, the real appeal
of this book is the relationship between
the two boys as they go through their very
heightened and stressful adolescence.
Their growing friendship is realistic and
vital, and it’s really great to see such an
interesting friendship as the focus of the
novel.
Isobel Moore is from Readings St Kilda
RISK
Fleur Ferris
Random House. PB. $19.99
Taylor and Sierra have been best friends
their whole lives. But Taylor’s fed up.
From kissing Taylor’s crush to stealing
the guy they both met online for herself,
Sierra doesn’t seem to
notice when she hurts her
friends. So when Sierra
says Jacob Jones is the
one and asks her friends
to cover for her while she
goes to meet him for the
first time, Taylor rolls her
eyes. But Sierra doesn’t
come back when she said she would. One
day. Two days. Three. When Taylor finally
tells Sierra’s mum that her daughter is
missing, Taylor and her friends are thrown
into a dark world they never knew existed.
LOTTERY BOY
Michael Byrne
Walker Books. PB. $16.95
Since his mother’s death, Bully has lost his
old life. Living rough with his dog, Jack,
he can’t imagine his future. But one day, in
the last birthday card she ever gave him,
he finds a winning lottery ticket, a last
gift from his mum that
suddenly offers hope. If
only he can get to his prize
on time. Life is not that
simple. Bully’s struggle
to survive has just got a
whole lot harder. They’re
after him on the streets,
and, even if he does claim
all that money, will he really be winning
what he needs the most?
Join the fun for your
chance to win a voucher!
Colour in the picture of Rivertime on
the cover of this Readings Monthly and
follow the instructions on the entry form
on page 3 to enter the competition to win
a $50 Readings voucher!
2015
Readings
Children’s
Book Prize
winner!
17
‘Rivertime reminds us to slow down and open
our eyes to all the beauty around us. We may
not be lucky enough to travel up a river for days
on end, but most of us can still take our children
for a stroll through a park, meander along a
creek or even just peer underneath a leaf to
uncover the world hidden there. In a time where
we are bombarded by so much choice in how to
fill our child’s day, Rivertime reminds us that
it’s often the quietest moments that will be the
most dearly remembered.’
– Sally Rippin,
Readings Children’s Book Prize special guest judge
‘I have so much respect for Readings bookshops that I
am really honoured to win this prize – thank you.’
– Trace Balla, author of Rivertime
Rivertime by Trace Balla (A&U. HB. $24.99)
The inside story on the winning story
I
t’s always so hard to choose a
favourite from among books you
love. It’s even harder for five
booksellers and a famous author
to choose one book from a shortlist of six
to be the winner of this year’s Readings
Children’s Book Prize. It’s like choosing a
favourite child!
The judges engaged in a heated and
passionate discussion, but finally after
many tears and sighs we plucked that
favourite child from the line-up and said,
we adore you so much we want to make
you Ruler of the Universe – well, actually,
winner of the Readings Children’s Book
Prize for 2015, which pretty much rules our
universe.
We chose Rivertime as the 2015 winner
for many reasons: it is unique, we love
its artistry and it is a stunning debut that
heralds the arrival of an exciting new
Australian author–illustrator. The attention
to detail in Rivertime is extraordinary,
engrossing you in the exquisite flora and
fauna on each page as you follow the action.
And then there are the stunning doublepage spreads that allow the eye to relax and
the brain to go ‘aaahh’.
It is exciting that this year’s winner is
a graphic novel, a form of writing that can
encourage reluctant readers as well as invite
eager readers to slow down and take in what
the images, as well as the words, are saying.
It is also a thrill to choose a book
that is so clearly about engaging with
our natural world and taking an active
role in its conservation. In an age when
environmental concerns have never been
so worrying, children are spending less and
less time outside interacting with nature.
Rivertime encourages us to remedy that
with its wonderful evocation of the simple
joys of paddling up a river.
Rivertime is suitable for readers aged
6–10, but we also know it is a fabulous book
for families to share. Families can peruse
its pages together, perhaps outdoors while
engaging in some bird-watching and animal
spotting. This is a book to be cherished
and enjoyed over many years and we look
forward to sharing our love of Rivertime
with the wider world. We thank the author,
Trace Balla, for creating it and we are
delighted that there is a sequel coming in
2016.
– Angela Crocombe
Readings Children’s Book Prize manager
18
Baby Board Books
A LINE CAN BE …
Laura Ljungkvist
Powerhouse. BB. $14.99
From much-lauded artist Laura
Ljungkvist comes a playful board book
perfect for toddlers and sure to please
parents who are fans of modern design.
Starting on the front cover, and winding
its way across each page to the end, a
single line forms different shapes that
demonstrate opposites (‘clean’ or ‘messy’) in Ljungkvist’s
signature modern style.
PEEK-A-BOO ZOO
Joyce Wan
Scholastic. BB. $9.99
Lift the flaps and play peek-a-boo with
the animals at the zoo! From the
adorable world of Joyce Wan comes a
sweet animal board book filled with
large lift-the-flaps illustrations. Join in
on the classic game of peek-a-boo with
a lion, a bear, and more zoo animals by
lifting the flaps to reveal each cute creature’s joyful face. A
perfect board book to read aloud, with a simple interactive
component babies and toddlers will love.
Picture Books
GRANDAD’S ISLAND
Benji Davies
S&S. PB. $14.99
There is a mystery within
Grandad’s Island and it is up to
each reader to decide for themselves
what lies at the heart of this lovely,
gentle book by Benji Davies, who gave
us the wonderful Storm Whale.
One day, Syd visits his grandad in his neighbouring house,
but things are different. He has to climb up to the attic
where he hasn’t been before. He finds grandad up there,
revealing a door through to a boat!
The next thing Syd knows, they are sailing to their
destination of a stunning tropical island. Here they find
a perfect place where grandad reveals he’d like to stay.
Syd returns home alone knowing he will miss his grandad
very much. The question is, has grandad died, or has
he gone into care? Either way, Syd prefers to fantasise
about him in his new and better place. Whatever you
decide, this colourful and touching story is a salute to the
tender relationship that a grandchild shares with their
grandparent. Highly recommended for readers 3 and up.
Alexa Dretzke is from Readings Hawthorn
LITTLE HOUSES
Helen Musselwhite
Laurence King. HB. $21.99
Little Houses is a counting book that
is a delicious smorgasbord of
different houses from around the world all
created by gifted paper artist, Helen
Musselwhite. From a simple crofter’s
cottage in Scotland to intricately crafted
Swiss chalets, this is a stunning portrayal
of architecture, nature and numbers. You may be thinking
that this sounds way too sophisticated for small children, but
they will be busy finding, counting and looking amongst the
houses for cute creatures and colourful objects and the
adults will be admiring the genius of the artist. Bold and
delicate at the same time, this is art at its playful best. For
kids 2 and up. AD
WHERE THE BUGABOO LIVES
Sean Taylor & Neil Layton (illus.)
Walker. HB. $27.95
Ruby has warned Floyd about the
Bugaboo that lurks in the shadowy
valley behind the houses. But when
Floyd’s best ball rolls away into the
darkness they must go down there to try
and retrieve it. You decide which paths
they will take in this choose-your-own-adventure-style
picture book illustrated by the wonderful, irrepressible
Neal Layton. Readers will find themselves in all kinds of
crazy places with all kinds of dangerous critters. Maybe
they will even encounter the dreaded bugaboo! There’s a
ghost disco, a sour-faced troll, a flailing witch and countless
other hilarious scares within the pages of this absolutely
thrilling picture book. It’s interactive and will lend itself to
countless reads and provoke tons of laughter.
Kim Gruschow is from Readings Hawthorn
MR HUFF
Anna Walker
Viking. HB. $24.99
Award-winning and much-loved author
and illustrator Anna Walker gives us a
poignant and wise picture book sure to
delight all ages. Mr. Huff is a story about
the clouds and the sunshine in each of
our lives. Bill is having a bad day. Mr Huff
is following him around and making
everything seem difficult. Bill tries to get rid of him, but Mr
Huff just gets bigger and bigger! Then they both stop, and a
surprising thing happens.
SIXTEEN STRING JACK AND THE
GARDEN OF ADVENTURE
Tom Pow & Ian Andrew (illus.)
Birlinn. HB. $22.99
Daisy’s grandmother takes her to an
overgrown garden where, many years
before, Sixteen String Jack and Dare
Devil Dick had played, fighting pirates
till the sun went down. But it was only
Sixteen String Jack whose fame would
never die – he grew up to become J.M. Barrie, creator of
Peter Pan. In this poignant and beautifully illustrated story,
Tom Pow and Ian Andrew seek the magic that would
produce the most famous character in children’s literature.
Activity Books
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS
KONEKO CAT?
Asuka Satow
Andrews McMeel. PB. $18.99
Join Koneko Cat on a fantastic
journey around the world to the
Pyramids, Taj Mahal, Easter Island,
the Coliseum, and beyond! Color the
whimsically detailed fine-point pen
pictures of scenes from every
inhabited continent on earth, and
seek and find Koneko and her friends. Bon Voyage!
Junior Fiction
THE BAD GUYS: EPISODE 1
Aaron Blabey
Scholastic. PB. $9.99
Aaron Blabey has made a name
for himself with his highly
original picture books. His bold
humour and eye-popping, mischievous
artwork are a perfect foil for
unexpectedly tender moments and
off-the-wall characters. This translates
perfectly into a new series for young
readers, which presents traditionally ‘bad guys’ (a
fairy-tale wolf, a thuggish shark, a droll snake and a
wise-cracking, gassy piranha) in a quest to turn their lives
around. Their first mission is to rescue puppies from the
city pound. Poor wolf, the mastermind of this scheme, has
a huge challenge ahead of him because the other three
just want to eat everything. But he is determined to twist
his own fairytale and change his reputation. The story
works like a very long picture book or a very short graphic
novel in the sense that the illustrations are of equal
importance, and the text is very spare. This new series
will be devoured, whole, by 6-9 year olds with a cheeky
sense of humour.
Emily Gale is the online children’s specialist for Readings
PIP BARTLETT’S GUIDE TO
MAGICAL CREATURES
Jackson Pearce & Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic. PB. $14.99
Pip lives in a world filled with
magical creatures and she has a
special skill that no-one else has – she
can speak to them. Her talent can also
get her into big trouble, such as the
unfortunate (but hilarious) incident of
the unicorn stampede.
Pip’s aunt is a vet for magical creatures
and when Pip gets to help her for the
summer it’s a dream come true. But then the Fuzzles
take over the town, bursting into flames at the worst
possible moments. Pip and her new friend, Tomas, who
is allergic to practically everything, must figure out how
to control them before the town burns to the ground.
This is a fun magical adventure for animal lovers,
brought to life by Jackson Pearce’s talent with words and
Maggie Stiefvater’s trademark witty and fun illustrations.
An enjoyable read for ages 8 and up.
Angela Crocombe is from Readings Carlton
TRIPLE MAGIC: TRICKSTARS 1
Karen Wood
A&U. PB. $9.99
A Trickstars Adventure with Ruby,
Lexie and Kit, the fantastic trickriding triplets. Ruby and her sisters
dream of a life far from Windara Farm,
performing spectacular tricks on their
beautiful gypsy cob horses. Then Ruby
discovers an old trunk in the stable
loft, full of family secrets and a touch
of magic. Why has Grampy kept the
past hidden for so long? Will he allow
the triplets to follow in the stirrups of their ancestors?
Middle Fiction
CIRCUS MIRANDUS
Cassie Beasley
Chicken House. PB. $17.99
There’s so much to love about the
mystery of Circus Mirandus, a
wonderfully imagined adventure with
a fresh magical spin. This book has it
all: the importance of love and
friendship; the wonders of the world
– both real and imagined – and the
power of illusion under the big top of
the Circus Mirandus. But most
importantly, it’s a heart-warming celebration of the
magic of childhood.
Micah and his friend Jenny are the most endearing
characters – a wonderful confluence of magic and science.
Micah is imaginative and sensitive with a strong belief in
the reality of magic, but tenacious in his quest to save his
most beloved grandfather. Jenny is clever and questioning
with a strong belief in scientific reasoning, but prepared to
suspend disbelief in order to help her friend. Together this
duo is unstoppable, anything is possible.
This is a wonderful adventure with a satisfyingly
surprising ending, perfect for independent readers 8 years
and up. A tale to share with the whole family – highly
recommended.
Athina Clarke is from Readings Malvern
NOOKS AND CRANNIES
Jessica Lawson
S&S. HB. $22.99
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets
Clue when six children navigate a
mansion full of secrets in this humorous
mystery with heart. Sweet, shy Tabitha
Crum, the neglected only child of two
parents straight out of a Roald Dahl
book, doesn’t have a friend in the world
– except for her dear pet mouse,
Pemberley. But on the day she receives
one of six invitations to the country estate of wealthy
Countess Camilla DeMoss, her life changes forever. Upon
the children’s arrival at the sprawling, possibly haunted
19
Book of the Month
GRANDMA’S HOUSE
Alice Melvin
Tate Gallery. HB. $29.99
Alice Melvin’s previous book, the highly acclaimed and bestselling The High Street, was a
charming evocation of a more genteel, less hurried time when shopkeepers displayed their
wares with pride and careful presentation. With her new book, Melvin revisits her own
grandmother’s house with some creative licence and obviously great affection. We follow
a young girl as she pops into her grandmother’s home for a visit and, as she comfortably
follows her routine, also keeps an eye out for grandma: where is she? Flaps and windows
reveal snippets of other rooms and the possibility of grandma’s presence.
Every room is a pleasurable and welcoming depiction of a much loved home. As the young
visitor goes in search of her grandparent you feel this is a sanctuary that has nurtured
a family over many years. Melvin’s style is precise and measured; the colours are rich
and tasteful. Here is a world that cocoons the reader in the sure knowledge that
everything is as it should be, even if grandma is proving a little elusive. Grandma’s
House pays homage to the precious bond that families share. Go ahead and
share it with your family, you won’t be disappointed. For ages 3 and up.
Alexa Dretzke is from Readings Hawthorn
Non-Fiction
ANIMAL ARCHITECTS: AMAZING
ANIMALS WHO BUILD THEIR
HOMES
Julio Antonio Blasco & Daniel Nassar
Laurence King. HB $22.99
mansion, it turns out the countess has a big secret that will
change their lives forever. Then the children beginning
disappearing, one by one. So, Tabitha takes a cue from her
favourite detective novels and, with Pemberley by her side,
attempts to solve the case and rescue the other children,
who just might be her first real friends.
WESLEY BOOTH, SUPER SLEUTH
Adam Cece
Omnibus Books. PB. $15.99
New
Kids’
Books
MOLLY AND PIM AND THE
MILLIONS OF STARS
Martine Murray
Text. PB. $14.99
Hub Hill Primary School is in the grip
of a crime wave. Wesley Booth is a
Super Sleuth, which is like a detective,
only ‘awesomer’, and this is his biggest
(and first) real case. It’s not easy when
he has to deal with an archenemy,
traitorous friends, incompetent
assistants and over 81 million suspects.
But he has to work out who the Heister
is before his detective equipment gets
confiscated and he is grounded forever.
Molly’s mother is not like other
mothers: she rides a yellow bike and
collects herbs and makes potions.
Molly wants to be normal, and watch
television and eat food that comes in
packets. But when Molly’s mother
accidentally turns herself into a tree,
Molly turns to the strange and
wonderful Pim for help. Martine
Murray’s novel is a whimsical story
about friendship and individuality and learning to see the
freshness and wonder in the world.
THE GRIMSTONES COLLECTION
SOON
Asphyxia
A&U. PB. $24.99
Meet Martha Grimstone. Martha has a
great secret – one day she’s going to be
Lady Martha the Magnificent. She
doesn’t know what her special talent
is yet, but she hopes to find it any day
now. The Grimstones Collection
contains four gothic fairytales told in a
collage of words, photos and drawings,
about a giant egg, a magical doll's
house, a stubborn whirlwind, and a
school of very great tradition.
Morris Gleitzman
Penguin. PB. Was $19.99
$15.99
Felix hoped the Nazis would be
defeated – and they were. He hoped
the war would be over – and it was.
He hoped they would be safe – but
they aren’t. Soon continues the
incredibly moving story of Felix, a
Jewish boy still struggling to survive
in the wake of the liberation of
Poland after the end of World War II.
This is a fantastic, original
exploration of how animals build
their homes and the fascinating
structures they create. Each spread
contains a beautiful, colourful
illustration of each animal and its
home, plus a unique fold-out
information panel, with statistics and a simple
architectural diagram showcasing the creation of the
‘architect’. Look inside chimpanzee nests, beaver dams,
termite mounds, stork nests and many more – and get to
know the clever animals who build them!
Classics of the Month
SEACROW ISLAND
&
MIO, MY SON
Astrid Lindgren
New York Review of Books. HB. $33.95 & $35.95
This year will see the 70th
anniversary of the first publication
of Astrid Lindgren’s beloved story, Pippi
Longstocking. After the success of Pippi,
Lindgren went on to head a Swedish
children’s publisher for many years and
write over 40 books, plays and
screenplays. The richest children’s book
prize in the world is named in her honour. To celebrate
Lindgren’s achievements, two titles long out of print have
just been republished in stunning bound editions by the
New York Review of Books.
Seacrow Island is a realistic story of a father and his
three children who rent a cottage on an isolated island for
the summer, meet the locals and have many adventures.
It is suitable for readers aged 10 and up, and is a beautiful
evocation of the carefree joy of summer holidays.
Mio, My Son is a gorgeous fairytale with similarities
to Lindgren’s Brothers Lionheart. Mio is an orphan
who feels unloved, but one day he disappears and finds
himself in Farawayland, where he is the son of the king,
long prophesised to save the land from the evil Sir Kato.
With his new best friend Pompoo and flying horse,
Miramis, he must travel to Outer Land to defeat evil. This
is a wonderful fantasy that many children will become
engrossed in and is suitable for readers 7
and up.
Both stories are fantastic classics
and these new editions are wonderful
additions to the Astrid Lindgren canon
currently available in English.
Angela Crocombe
20
THE GRAND
LITERARY
CAFES OF
EUROPE
Noel Riley
Fitch & Andrew
Midgley
HB. Was $59.95
Now $19.95
This beautifully illustrated book takes
the reader on a tour of the grand literary
cafes of Britain and Europe, looking
at the famous writers and artists who
frequented these historic places, the
book celebrates their architecture,
history, tradition, and food and drink,
and provides an insight to their enduring
charm and popularity.
VOSS
Patrick White
HB. Was $45
Now $13.95
Set in nineteenthcentury Australia,
Voss is the story of
the overwhelming,
obsessive passion
between an explorer and a naïve young
woman. From the careful delineation
of Victorian society to the sensitive
rendering of hidden love to the stark
narrative of adventure in the Australian
desert, Patrick White’s novel is a work of
extraordinary power and virtuosity.
THE
VIVISECTOR
Patrick White
HB. Was $45
Now $13.95
Hurtle Duffield, a
painter, is incapable of
loving anything except
what he paints. The men and women
who court him during his long life are,
above all, the victims of his art. It is
only when Hurtle meets an egocentric
adolescent that he experiences a deeper,
more treacherous emotion, in this tour
de force of sexual and psychological
menace.
GURRUMUL:
HIS LIFE AND
MUSIC
Robert Hillman
HB. Was $65
Now $19.95
Part road trip, part biography, Robert
Hillman’s account of Geoffrey Gurrumul
Yunupingu’s life and music offers rare
insights into the sources of his inspiration.
Featuring interviews with family and
friends, song lyrics and exclusive
photographs, Gurrumul’s story is one of a
great talent revealed and of an astonishing
musical gift that has left audiences all over
the world spellbound.
GARDEN
Jennifer Stackhouse
HB. Was $35
Now $14.95
Australian gardening
expert Jennifer
Stackhouse provides
detailed advice on and insights into
maintaining a garden – from the plants
to the paving – all year round. Featuring
plenty of photographs, helpful tables and
tips, as well as a seasonal maintenance
calendar, this is the ideal book for anyone
who wants a healthy, flourishing garden to
enjoy throughout the year.
LAKE EYRE
BETJEMAN
Paul Lockyer
A.N. Wilson
PB. Was $35
Now $14.95
HB. Was $54
Now $14.95
At the heart of
Australia, Lake Eyre is most of the time a
vast salt pan, eerily empty, devoid of all life.
But when the rains come, an astonishing
transformation takes place: the landscape
fills with colour and life. Accompanied by
stunning photographs, Paul Lockyer tells the
remarkable story of the lake, its landscape,
characters and amazing history.
THE KITE
RUNNER
John Betjeman was by
far the most popular poet
of the twentieth century;
his collected poems
sold more than two million copies. As poet
laureate of England, he became a national
icon, but behind the public man were
doubts and demons. Drawing on hundreds
of letters, this is a celebration of a muchloved poet and public performer.
BRING UP THE
BODIES
Khaled Hosseini
Hilary Mantel
HB. Was $29.95
Now $14.95
The unforgettable,
heartbreaking story
of the unlikely friendship between a
wealthy boy and the son of his father’s
servant, set in a country that is in the
process of being destroyed. The Kite
Runner explores betrayal, redemption
and the power of reading; and the power
of fathers over sons – their love, their
sacrifices, their lies.
OBJECTS OF
VIRTUE
HB. Was $39.95
Now $14.95
The sequel to Hilary
Mantel’s best-selling
Wolf Hall delves into the heart of Tudor
history. Henry is disenchanted with Anne
Boleyn – she has failed to give him a son,
and Thomas Cromwell stands ready to
bring her down. Over three terrifying
weeks, Anne is ensnared in a web of
conspiracy, but she and her family will
not yield without a fight.
JOURNALISM
Joe Sacco
Luke Syson & Dora
Thornton
HB. Was $39.95
Now $13.95
PB. Was $59.95
Now $16.95
You are what you own –
so believed many of the elite men and
women of Renaissance Italy.
Objects of Virtue explores
the multiple meanings
and values of the objects
with which influential
families surrounded
themselves. This
lavishly illustrated
volume examines
the complicated
relationships between
the so-called ‘fine arts’
– painting and sculpture –
and furniture, jewellery, and
storage vessels.
Over the past decade,
Joe Sacco has
increasingly turned
to short-form comics
journalism to report from
the sidelines of wars
around the world.
From Saharan
refugees, Chechen
war widows, and
Egyptian smugglers
to Abu Ghraib
and the Iraq War,
Sacco’s darkly funny,
revealing reportage
confirms his standing
as one of the foremost war
correspondents working today.
Bargain
Table
THE FSG
BOOK OF
TWENTIETHCENTURY
ITALIAN
POETRY
THE WORLD
UNTIL
YESTERDAY
Jared Diamond
HB. Was $59.95
Now $19.95
Drawing extensively from
decades of field work in
the Pacific islands, as well as evidence
from Inuit, Amazonian Indians, Kalahari
San people, and others, The World
Until Yesterday provides a mesmerising
firsthand picture of traditional societies,
and considers what the differences
between that past and our present mean
for our lives today.
ANDREW’S
BRAIN
E. L. Doctorow
PB. Was $29.99
Now $13.95
In this suspenseful and
groundbreaking novel,
Andrew is thinking,
Andrew is talking, Andrew is telling the
story of his life, loves, and tragedies. And
as he peels back the layers of his strange
story, we are led to question what we know
about truth and memory, brain and mind,
personality and fate.
Geoffrey Brock
HB. Was $70
Now $19.95
A surprising and illuminating collection,
The FSG Book of Twentieth-Century Italian
Poetry invites the reader to examine
the works of 75 poets in context and
conversation with one another. Edited
by the poet and translator Geoffrey
Brock, these poems have been beautifully
rendered into English by some of our finest
English-language poets.
THE WORLD
AND ITS
DOUBLE
Chris Fujiwara
PB. Was $35
Now $10
Otto Preminger was one
of Hollywood’s first truly independent
producer-directors, who sought to address
the major social, political, and historical
questions of his time in films designed to
appeal to a wide public. Chris Fujiwara’s
biography follows Preminger throughout
his varied career, penetrating his carefully
constructed public persona and revealing
the many layers of his work.
THE BIG
SCREEN
David Thomson
HB. Was $59.95
Now $16.95
The Big Screen tells the
enthralling story of the
movies: their rise and
spread, their remarkable influence over us,
and the technology that made the screen
as important as the images it carries. David
Thomson takes us around the globe and
through time to tell the complex, gripping,
paradoxical story of the movies and their
signal role in modern life.
MADDADDAM
Margaret Atwood
HB. Was $35
Now $16.95
A man-made plague has
swept the earth, but a
small group survives,
along with the green-eyed
Crakers, a gentle species bio-engineered
to replace humans – but the Crakers’
reluctant prophet, Snowman-the-Jimmy, is
hallucinating. Meanwhile, giant Pigoons and
malevolent Painballers threaten to attack.
Told with wit, dizzying imagination, and
dark humour, MaddAddam takes us further
into a challenging dystopian world.
THE SIMPSONS
AND THEIR
MATHEMATICAL
SECRETS
Simon Singh
PB. Was $19.99
Now $10
You may have
watched hundreds of episodes of The
Simpsons without ever realising that
they contain enough maths to form
an entire university course. With wit,
clarity and a true fan’s zeal, Simon Singh
explains how the brilliant writers, some
of them mathematicians, have smuggled
in mathematical jokes throughout the
cartoon’s twenty-five year history.
WHITE BEECH
Germaine Greer
HB. Was $39.99
Now $15.95
One bright day in 2001,
Germaine Greer found
herself confronted by an
irresistible challenge in 60 hectares of
dairy farm, abandoned after a century
of logging and devastation. By restoring
the land, she was in search of heart’s
ease. White Beech is a memoir, a slice
of Australian history and an exuberant
exploration of our botanical heritage.
DRUNK TANK
PINK
Adam Alter
PB. Was $29.95
Now $13.95
Most of us go through life
believing that we are in
control of the choices we make. But in
fact our environment shapes our thoughts
and actions without our permission or
knowledge. Armed with surprising data
and endlessly fascinating examples, Adam
Alter illustrates that the truth behind our
feelings and actions goes much deeper than
the choices we take for granted every day.
New Film & TV
with Lou Fulco
DVD of the Month
THAT SUGAR FILM
Available 1 July. $29.95
Australian actor Damon Gameau’s documentary opens with the
sweetest montage I’ve ever seen. Colourful lollies, bright bottles of
soft-drink, the rainbow displays that line our supermarket shelves. This
movie is all about sugar, and with Depeche Mode’s ‘Just Can’t Get
Enough’ blaring through the speakers the message is clear from the
start. We’re addicted.
This opening sequence sets the tone for Gameau’s accessible approach
to the science behind what sugar is doing to our health. In the vein of Morgan Spurlock’s
habit-changing stunt-turned-doco Supersize Me, Gameau’s tactic is a personal one. He
puts himself through a targeted experiment in order to observe the effects of a high sugar
diet on his own body. After three years sugar-free, Gameau documents two months eating
40 teaspoons of sugar a day (the Australian average for 19-30 year olds, according to the
ABS), with his pregnant partner behind the camera and a team of medical experts closely
monitoring the impact on his health and state of mind. What makes this experiment
revelatory is that Gameau only looks at sugars in foods commonly perceived as ‘healthy’.
That Sugar Film shines a light on the vast quantities of sugar that have infiltrated our food
supply, demonstrating how much of a marketing construct the concept of ‘wholesome’, low-fat
processed food is. As soon as Gameau’s first breakfast of muesli with yoghurt and a glass of
apple juice blows half of his day’s sugar allowance, it’s clear that the challenge might expose
just how badly ‘healthy’ packaging is deceiving consumers. The effect of the experiment on
Gameau’s mood, as well as his weight and liver condition is striking, suggesting that sugar,
rather than fat, may be the main culprit behind rising levels of obesity and related ills.
Gameau and his team present their scientific findings in a humourous, easily digestible way,
with guest appearances from Stephen Fry and Hugh Jackman, among others. Special effects work
brilliantly to soften the talking heads interview footage with industry professionals, ensuring the
documentary will entertain high school audiences, as well as inform. Yet there’s a serious message
beneath That Sugar Film’s bright packaging – definitely one worthy of our attention.
Stella Charls is the marketing and events coordinator for Readings
Film
ROALD DAHL’S ESIO
TROT
$24.95
‘Starring Dustin Hoffman and
Judi Dench, this is a warm,
witty and whimsical
adaptation of Roald Dahl’s
1990 novel … with its
idealised London setting, cutesy comedy
and irresistible romance.’
– The Telegraph (UK)
SELMA
WOLF HALL
$39.95
$29.95
‘Ava DuVernay’s look at Martin
Luther King’s 1965 votingrights march against racial
injustice stings with relevance
to the here and now. David
Oyelowo’s stirring, soulful performance
deserves superlatives.’ – Rolling Stone
‘Anchored by Mark Rylance’s
towering central performance,
Wolf Hall is a very quiet
masterpiece, visiting the court
of King Henry VIII minus the
perfume and airbrushing.’ – Variety
PAPER PLANES
Documentary
$39.95
‘A flight of creative imagination
… with plenty of humour, rapid
editing, colours and unabashed
use of computer animation to
follow the paper planes as they
zoom through the air.’ – Sydney
Morning Herald
TV
$39.95
‘Reese Witherspoon was
excellent and quite deserving of
her Oscar nomination … The
film captured the loneliness of
the trail really well, and also the
fear Strayed felt at times.’ – Nina Kenwood
STRANGERLAND
‘Strangerland flirts with the
mystic and the primal ...
subverting the usual missing
child-genre trappings where it
finds them.’ – SBS Movies
THE SALT OF THE EARTH
‘Serving as a retrospective of
photographer Sebastiao Salgado
… it’s nothing short of
fascinating, intimate and moving;
[exposing] both the strength and
weakness of mankind.’ – Filmink
CITIZENFOUR
THE SECRET RIVER
$29.95
‘Things start out ugly – as they
do in Kate Grenville’s novel  –
[but] the television adaptation
manages to transcend what was
already fabulous source
material.’ – Sydney Morning Herald
THE NEWSROOM:
SEASON 3
$29.95
‘Laura Poitras’s Oscarnominated documentary is
proof that you can make an
espionage thriller without car
chases, bikini babes or martinis.
Not only is Citizenfour thrilling, it is
chilling because it is real.’ – The Australian
GEORGE MEGALOGENIS’
MAKING AUSTRALIA GREAT
$29.95
$39.95
WILD
21
‘Set in the days during and
following the 2013 Boston
Marathon bombings, ACN is
scrambling to just get by, the
characters simultaneously
bursting with potential and destined to
waste it.’ – The AV Club
THE HEAVY WATER WAR
‘Megalogenis is a natural TV
storyteller, fluent and articulate.
He teases out some fascinating
patterns … to demonstrate how
we made economic history as
the last rich nation standing in the global
financial crisis.’ – The Australian
Also coming soon
A six part Norwegian series
dramatising one of the most
exciting stories from World
War II – the Nazis’ efforts to
develop an atom bomb and the
Allies’ desperate struggle to stop them.
THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD
HOTEL (22 July)
BIG EYES (22 July)
INHERENT VICE (22 July)
A LITTLE CHAOS (27 July)
HOUSE OF CARDS: SEASON 3 (9 August)
AMY: The Girl Behind the Name
I AM BIG BIRD: The Caroll Spinney Story
MADAME BOVARY
From the award winning team behind Senna, AMY tells the
incredible story of six-time Grammy-winner Amy Winehouse in her own words. Featuring extensive unseen archival footage
and previously unheard tracks, AMY is a moving and vital film.
The heart-warming story of Caroll Spinney, Sesame Street's Big
Bird and Oscar the Grouch, traces Caroll's journey from bullied child
to celebrated icon. At 81 years old, the tenacious performer has
been named a living legend and does not intend on slowing down.
Mia Wasikowska (Tracks) stars in this adaptation of
Gustave Flaubert’s classic novel. Bringing to life one of
literature’s greatest anti-heroines, MADAME BOVARY chronicles
a woman trapped by convention and tempted by passion.
“Sensitive and extraordinary. A surprisingly seamless biographical
documentary. Gracefully whole.” The Village Voice
“A joy to watch" The Globe and Mail
“Your heart will melt." Twitch Film
“Stunningly moving and powerful: intimate, passionate,
often shocking, and almost mesmerically absorbing” The Guardian
Opens July 2 (CTC)
Opens July 9, exclusive (CTC)
Opens July 9 (M)
Melbourne’s home of quality arthouse and contemporary cinema
380 Lygon Street Carlton
cinemanova.com.au
22
DRONES
New Mus ic
Muse
CD $19.95
CD & DVD $21.95
Album of the Month
UNIVERSAL THEMES
Sun Kil Moon
$21.95
2014 was quite the year for former Red House Painter Mark
Kozelek. After quietly releasing the subdued masterpiece
Benji in March, he later became involved in a very public spat and
somewhat spiteful war of words with The War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel. Kozelek
went as far as to pen a song about the tiff, the title of which I shall refrain from
mentioning here in the interests of good taste. Incidentally, his apparent nemesis’s
2014 release, Lost in the Dream, was for many reviewers in a dead heat with the
aforementioned Benji for record of the year. Funny that.
Given the sluggish pace at which the majority of artists release records these days, it’s
fair to say that the release of a new Sun Kil Moon record just over a year later will have
many a fan and critic beside themselves, giddy with anticipation.
Universal Themes is a slight change in direction for Kozelek (let’s face it, he is Sun Kil
Moon) in that there is more instrumentation here than the mostly solitary, finger-picked
guitar that made Benji so effective. This can perhaps be attributed to the influence of Sonic
Youth’s Steve Shelly, who provides percussion on the new record. What has remained on
Universal Themes, however, are the obscure pop culture references and the deeply personal
nature of the observational, languid, stream-of-consciousness style of songwriting for
which he is acclaimed.
Such is the uniqueness of Kozelek’s approach to songwriting that it’s hard to say if
the themes on the record are indeed universal. What can be said, however, is that he is an
unflinchingly brave and honest – at times to a fault – artist, whose droll ruminations on
topics from a boxing match in New Orleans to a possum losing a fight to a cat will be music
to many ears.
Declan Murphy is from Readings St Kilda
Pop & Rock
SORRY I LET IT COME
BETWEEN US
Saskwatch
$21.95
Sorry I Let It Come
Between Us is an
evolutionary album for the
Melbourne band. Shifting
and sliding between guitar heavy pop, bluesy
melancholy and soulful ballads, the new
album offers an emotionally assertive voice
matched equally in musical intricacies, a
raw, solemn and sparse collection of genrejumping songs.
THE OTHER SIDE OF
DESIRE
Rickie Lee Jones
$21.95
Written and produced
in her home town of
New Orleans, Rickie
Lee Jones’ first album of all new material
in almost a decade could not have been
written without the backdrop of The Big
Easy; its river, trains, barroom ghosts and
sudden bands all playing the same song.
STICKY FINGERS
Rolling Stones
2CD Reissue. $24.95
One of the most revered
albums in the Rolling
Stones’ catalogue, the 1971
classic Sticky Fingers showcased the ever
more inventive songwriting of Mick Jagger
and Keith Richards, and formidable guitar
licks from Mick Taylor. This reissue arrives
as the Rolling Stones continue to captivate
audiences around the world with their
stunning live performances.
THE MONSANTO YEARS
Neil Young &
Promise of the Real
CD & DVD. $24.95
Neil Young’s 36th studio
album is ecologically
Stadium rockers Muse
release their seventh album
Drones, undoubtedly one of
the most anticipated albums of the year. The
album explores the journey of a human, from
their abandonment and loss of hope, to their
indoctrination by the system to be a human
drone, to their eventual defection from their
oppressors.
BEFORE THIS WORLD
James Taylor
BLACK & WHITE
Colleen Hewett
$19.95
15 years after her last
album, Black & White
sees Colleen Hewett set
her stirring vocal ability
free. Covering genres ranging from
emotional ballads, to country and soulful
blues tracks, she takes the listener on a
journey that traces her family history,
her ancestry and experience with
domestic violence.
FFS
FFS
$21.95
FFS – the unique
collaboration between
Franz Ferdinand and
Sparks – release their
self-titled album. Formed out of mutual
appreciation and recorded during an
intense 15-day period in late 2014, FFS
is very much a ‘new’ project – it doesn’t
truly sound like either band, but a
striking and fascinating mutation.
I DON’T WANT TO LET
YOU DOWN
Sharon Van Etten
EP. $14.95
One of music’s most
astute cartographers
of the heart, Sharon
Van Etten is able to
squeeze enormous sentiments into
especially small spaces. Van Etten
offers up documents of surrender and
disappointment, admission and longing
with her new 5 song EP, I Don’t Want to
Let You Down.
AKÖ
Blick Bassy
$32.95
Cameroonian artist Blick
Bassy’s third album, sung in
his native Basaa language,
diverges from the ornamentation of his
earlier work to deliver an elegant minimalism.
Accompanied by guitar, cello, trombone,
harmonica and samples, Akö signals a unique
new direction in African world music.
STILL
CD $21.95
CD & DVD $29.95
On Before This World, the
iconic singer–songwriter’s
first album since 2002, Taylor continues
to explore many of the themes that have
absorbed him throughout his recording
career. Produced by Taylor and Dave
O’Donnell, Before This World features ten
songs, nine of which are brand new James
Taylor compositions.
TEN SONGS FROM LIVE
AT CARNEGIE HALL
Richard Thompson
Available 3 July. CD $26.95
2CD Deluxe $29.95
Richard Thompson’s
dedication to the craft of
songwriting has resulted in an unparalleled
career now spanning five decades, from his
years with folk-rock alchemists Fairport
Convention to his acclaimed solo work. On
Still, Thompson enlists Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy
as producer, introducing new energy.
Coming Soon
Ryan Adams
$19.95
and environmentally-focused. For this
guitar-centric, full steam-ahead and
highly-charged rock album, Young is
joined by LA-based rock band Promise
of the Real, fronted by Lukas and Micah
Nelson, who have performed with their
father, Willie Nelson, and Young on
previous occasions.
Folk & World
Ryan Adam’s Ten Songs
Live From Carnegie Hall
features 10 careerspanning live tracks from
two special performances at New York’s
legendary Carnegie Hall in November 2014.
Including fan favourites as well as cuts from
his most recent Grammy-nominated
eponymous album and live performances of
two new previously unreleased songs.
LOW FIDELITY (SONGS
BY REQUEST VOLUME 1)
Rob Snarski
$19.95
These recordings were
made by Rob Snarski in
his home, singing songs
requested by fans. From Nina Simone
to Lou Reed, Pulp, Willie Nelson and
Spiritualized, the 18 tracks are warm, rich,
stripped-back and honest.
AGE AGAINST THE
MACHINE
Jim Keays
$21.95
The highly anticipated
follow-up to 2012’s
acclaimed Dirty, Dirty –
and, sadly, Jim’s final album. But what a
way to go out! 10 more obscure garage-rock
classics from the unmistakable voice of The
Master’s Apprentices.
Jazz & Blues
PASSION WORLD
Kurt Elling
$24.95
Kurt Elling’s eleventh
album is his most
worldly album to date;
the renowned vocalist has cast his net far
and wide, from Brazil to Ireland, Germany
to France, Scotland to Cuba to Iceland.
Passion World is also Elling’s most starstudded album, featuring a small battalion
of guest collaborators working with the
singer’s much-travelled quintet.
CURRENTS
Tame Impala
On Tame Impala’s hotly
anticpated third album
Currents, frontman
Kevin Parker addresses a
blindingly colourful panorama of transition
in the most audacious, adventurous fashion
he’s yet captured on record. Musically
the most playful, bold and varied Tame
Impala record to date, Currents sees Parker
embracing change as the only constant.
SING INTO MY MOUTH
Iron & Wine
& Ben Bridwell
Longtime friends Ben
Bridwell (Band of Horses)
and Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam release their
first ever collaborative album, Sing Into My
Mouth. A loving homage to 12 songs that
have had indelible influence on both of its
creators, the album includes interpretations
of familiar classics and deep cuts from
Talking Heads, Sade and El Perro del Mar.
THE GOSPEL ALBUM
Gurrumul
As a small boy Geoffrey
Gurrumul Yunupingu was
not only influenced by the
traditional music of his clan but by the gospel
music he heard every Sunday. Gurrumul’s
third studio album is a re-imagining of the
spiritual songs of north-east Arnhem Land,
bringing an expanded sound and a uniquely
Indigenous approach to the hymns.
LOYALTY
The Weather Station
$21.95
Loyalty is the third
album from the Canadian
folk band The Weather
Station. The eleven emotionally-charged
vignettes bring a self-examining gaze,
and emotional and musical control to
The Weather Station’s songs, and show a
natural progression in frontwoman Tamara
Lindeman’s songwriting practice.
its thrilling climaxes, that make the
greatness of the music unmistakable.’
– The Guardian
BLISS
New C la ss i c a l M u s i c
Brett Dean & Opera
Australia
Classical Album of the Month
TERRY RILEY: SUNRISE OF THE
PLANETARY DREAM COLLECTOR
Kronos Quartet
Nonesuch. 7559795036. $24.95
No matter what music the Kronos Quartet decide to record, they
always take my breath away with the strength of their technical
prowess and their decisive musicality. When they choose to record the music of
American composer Terry Riley though, we are in for an even bigger treat.
The Kronos Quartet has been working with Riley for more than 35 years. That is a
staggering amount of time for a composer to dedicate so many works to one group and also
for a chamber music ensemble to last. What is immediately apparent from the very first
sustained notes is that these musicians understand Riley’s music in a way no other person
could and that Riley understands the strengths of each musician in the ensemble. Unlike a
lot of string quartet music, with a single melodic line in the first violin and accompanying
in the other parts, Riley has created a many-headed beast with each part forming an
element of the foundation of work. It put me in mind of Baroque polyphony, where each
part is completely independent but nonetheless will fail without the support of the other
three. When the tracks progress and more instrumentalists and vocalists join, the Kronos
Quartet sit solid in the centre of each work directing the performance effortlessly.
As the founder of the American Minimalist movement, Riley’s music is often
considered an acquired taste. However, I find when I listen to the Kronos Quartet that
they milk every emotion from every note and encourage you to dive deep into this world
of repetition, mysticism and beauty. If you’ve always been curious about contemporary
classical music but have been a little too shy to try, this recording is a perfect place to start.
Kate Rockstrom is a friend of Readings
Note: Also available is a 5CD collection – One Earth, One People, One Love: Kronos Quartet
Plays Terry Riley (7559795131. $79.95) which includes the recording reviewed above.
ABC Classics. 4811820. 3CDs.
$34.95
‘Bliss can only add joy to
the operatic firmament. Long may it live.’
– The Age
Sally Whitwell
IF THE OWL CALLS
AGAIN
ABC Classics. 4811704. $21.95
Christianne Stotijn
Sally Whitwell’s
debut recording
Mad Rush, featuring solo
piano music by Philip
Glass, was a rare treat. In
a market full of Romantic
piano recital discs – invariably performed
by musicians of the European school –
Whitwell’s all-Glass program was
refreshing, and earned her the 2011 Aria
Award for Best Classical Album. A couple
of albums and another Aria Award later, her
latest offering, I Was Flying, is the first to
feature all original songs and instrumental
music. Now, Whitwell has proved herself to
be as talented a composer as she is brilliant
a recitalist.
Anybody lucky enough to have seen
Whitwell perform live will be familiar with
her warmth and intelligence, her musicality,
and a certain indefinable kookiness. I
Was Flying is all that. From the charming
cutout birds on the cover, to the heartfelt
dedication to her partner Glennda on the
sleeve notes within, and to such dream-like
compositions as ‘She Walks in Beauty’, the
album is consistently enchanting. Soprano
Alexandra Oomens, featured throughout the
CD, is a beautiful interpreter of Whitwell’s
music. While pure and agile, her voice has a
distinctive richness. Simply put, behind the
breezy exterior of this album is music with
real heart.
Warner Classics. 5419639375. $21.95
Alexandra Mathew is from Readings Carlton
Christianne Stotijn’s
voice is hauntingly
beautiful. Her intimate
singing may not
immediately capture your
attention, but if you stop to
listen – really listen – you’ll surely be struck
by her warm tone and nuanced delivery of
poetry. The Dutch mezzo-soprano, whose
profile is relatively low in Australia, has
released numerous recital, opera, and concert
recordings, and her most recent, If the Owl
Calls Again, is a meditation on the wisdom of
the owl. ‘The call of the owl is like a cry of
pain, of life and of death. It’s a call for
humanity to return to its mission, to the
reason we exist,’ Stotjin explains.
Accordingly, the CD features interesting,
diverse, and often little-known art-song
repertoire. A personal favourite is the
‘Kaddish’ from Ravel’s Deux Mélodies
Hébraïques. Here, Stotijn’s singing is
truly magnificent and moving, and her
delivery of the Hebrew is both griefstricken and otherworldly. It’s a treat to
hear Stotijn sing in her native Dutch in the
three Fant de Kanter songs, particularly
the unaccompanied ‘Abboen’. Various
instruments perform throughout, including
flute, double bass, viola, and duduk, working
to evoke the image of the splendid owl, as
Stotijn set out to achieve. A superb album.
AM
J.S. BACH: CELLO
SUITES 1-6
GILBERT & SULLIVAN:
OPERETTAS
David Watkin
Resonus. RES10147. $42.95
‘Watkin’s profound
musicianship is more than
enough to accelerate this
recording of Bach’s Cello Suites to the
top of the tiny league of “definitive”
recordings...’ – Gramophone
Sir Malcolm Sargent &
Glyndebourne Festival
Chorus
Warner Classics. 2564612877.
16CDs. $69.95
From Trial by Jury to The Gondoliers, this set
featuring Sir Malcolm Sargent’s celebrated
recordings brings together the best of Gilbert
& Sullivan’s comic operas.
BRAHMS, SCHUMANN
& MAHLER: PIANO
QUARTETS
Daniel Hope, Wu Han,
David Finckel & Paul
Neubauer
POULENC: COMPLETE
MUSIC FOR SOLO PIANO
Antony Gray
ABC Classics. 4811835.
5CDs. $39.95
Australian pianist Antony
Gray, internationally
acclaimed for his unique blend of musical
insight and technical mastery, places
his remarkable talents at the service
of Poulenc’s genius in this landmark
collection.
YSAYE: SIX SONATAS FOR
SOLO VIOLIN OP. 27
Alina Ibragimova
Hyperion. CDA 67993. $29.95
‘Alina Ibragimova is a superb
advocate; nothing here
sounds like a mere showpiece, and her
performances brim with lyricism and wit.’
– The Guardian
REICH: MUSIC FOR 18
MUSICIANS
Ensemble Signal
I WAS FLYING
Harmonia Mundi.
HMU907608. $29.95
DG. 4794609. $26.95
‘The four participants
move instinctively with the music and
with one another, the piano (Schumann’s
own instrument) blending in rather
than dominating. The fugal flurries of
the finale are articulated with terrific
panache and togetherness ... The affinity
with style that shines through the
Schumann is equally evident in Brahms’
G minor Piano Quintet.’
– Daily Telegraph
CLASSICAL SPECIAL OF
THE MONTH
For the month of July Readings will
be offering 22 new and recent releases
from the Warner Classics and Erato
catalogue at special prices for a limited
time. Featuring recordings from pianist
Martha Argerich, singers Natalie Dessay,
Joyce Didonato, Diana Damrau, cellist
Nina Kotova and conductors Sir Simon
Rattle and Antonio Pappano. Available
at Readings Carlton, Hawthorn, Malvern
and online at readings.com.au.
‘There’s tremendous,
unstoppable energy in
this performance, an urgent edge to
its textures and a surging power to
100 Ways to
Relax toMusic
–
23
8
CD –
THE CLASSIC 100 SWOON
We all like to slow down in the winter
months. What’s better than a weekend
curled up on the couch being soothed by
the classics? Nothing to make you bump
your glass of wine or scare the cat.
The Classic 100 – Swoon: completely
voted for by the Australian public.
GIDON KREMER NEW SEASONS
Philip Glass’s Second Violin Concerto is a
sensory, mesmerising experience and is now
recorded by Kremer (who also recorded the
First) for DG. Also included are works of
Arvo Pärt and Giya Kancheli.
2
SIMON TEDESCHI
THE GERSHWIN COLLECTION
–
CD –
Australian virtuoso pianist Simon Tedeschi
will make you swing, sway and romp to
the music of Gershwin. Features special
guest James Morrison. And look out for a
new album from Simon coming
out in September.
TRUE BLUE
–
4
CD –
.
True Blue runs the whole compass of Blue Note
artistry – from Thelonius Monk to Gregory Porter,
with Norah Jones, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane
and Horace Silver putting in an appearance
amongst the 44 tracks on this 4-CD set.

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Readings Monthly, August 2013