Anita Heiss and I decided to publish an anthology gathering together some of Australia’s best writers and thinkers to analyse and illuminate one of the most invasive, puzzling and unprecedented actions by a government in Australian history – the 2007 Intervention by the Howard Government. We think that these writers and Indigenous leaders will bring anew perspective and urgency to an issue that... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Nicole Trope author of Hush, Little Bird Ten Terrifying Questions ____________ 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born and raised in South Africa. I came to Australia at eighteen and went through university here. I have a Master’s Degree in children’s literature and I was a high sch... Read more

When we meet Michael in the first pages of the novel, there are many hints about his past and his future, but the novel keeps us in suspense about what exactly those events are. How much did you know about Michael and his life before you began the novel? This book had several beginnings. Four, to be exact, in that I wrote the first 10,000 words three times over, before finally starting again on... Read more

Since the first IED strikes on US soldiers in mid-2003, the insur­gents had been learning from their successes and failures, targeting both Coalition troops and Iraqi security forces. We said, even back then, that there were only clever IED makers left, as the stupid ones had blown themselves up long ago. The IEDs were getting more and more sophisticated. Radio-controlled switches, using remote... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Rochelle Siemienowicz author of Fallen Ten Terrifying Questions ____________ 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born in Geelong, Victoria, but my family moved so quickly and so often that I have no memory of it. My parents were Seventh-day Adventist missionaries and we lived in vari... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Fiona McArthur author of The Homestead Girls Six Sharp Questions ——————————- 1.    Congratulations, you have a new book. What is it about and what does this book mean to you? Five women, a sheep station in drought and the 22-year-old granddaughter’s last ditch measure to keep the farm after her grandad is s... Read more

Shikha Shah, Booktopia’s biggest Fifty Shades fan, has been up all night reading E.L. James’ latest offering. The review we’ve all been waiting for is finally here! Miss Shah will see you now… To all Fifty Shades Fans – the book that we have been waiting for is finally here! In Grey we delve into the mind of Christian, what he thinks, how he thinks, how he feels (e... Read more

Australian novelist Cathryn Hein, author of The Falls, The French Prize, Heartland and much more gives her verdict on the books she’s been reading. Lyrebird Hill by Anna Romer I thoroughly enjoyed Romer’s debut novel Thornwood House and her follow up, Lyrebird Hill, didn’t disappoint. The story unfolded beautifully, slipping between the present and colonial times, and held me captivated t... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Annie Barrows author of The Truth According to Us Ten Terrifying Questions ____________ 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born, raised, schooled, and pretty much everything else in California. I grew up in a town just to the north of the San Francisco Bay called San Anselmo, which ... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Deb Hunt author of Australian Farming Families Ten Terrifying Questions ____________ 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? Born in England, raised in a small village in Gloucestershire, went to Chipping Sodbury Grammar School (polite student in class, wayward out of it) then University of We... Read more