Will to Live by Matthew Ames I have always been intrigued by how things work. It’s a trait I’ve inherited or learned from Dad. I was his assistant growing up, and I’ve had a lot of practice thinking about how to put things together. I have memories from when we lived in Sydney of holding tools and pieces of gyprock, and of Kate, Rachel and myself dressed in garbage bags with h... Read more

The Silver Moon: Reflections on Life, Death and Writing by Bryce Courtenay Each of us has a place to return to in our minds, a place of clarity and peace, a place to think, to create, to dream. For Bryce Courtenay it was a waterhole in Africa he used to escape to as a boy for solitude. One evening, while hiding there, he witnessed the tallest of the great beasts drinking from the waterhole in t... Read more

Way back in 1987, while flicking through New Scientist, an article on birds caught my eye. It was about research that indicated the ancestors of Lyrebirds were among the world’s earliest songbirds. Back then, Australia was thought to be a refuge for species left over after it spit from the supercontinent, Gondwana. Songbirds were generally associated with Europe. The idea they had first evolved... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Georgia Clark author of Parched and She’s with the Band 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 Manly, which is ironic because I certainly am not. Raised in Hornsby Heights where I shunned the bush to keep my nose in a book. I went to s... Read more

Anna Campbell has been one of Australia’s favourite romance writers for a long time now, charming readers everywhere with her unforgettable characters and turn of phrase. In this exclusive blog, Anna talks about the F word. Fun. Recently there has been a spate of very earnest articles about how reading romance can improve your mind, your health, your fine motor skills, and your love life,... Read more

Popular Australian novelist Cathryn Hein, author of Rocking Horse Hill, Heartland and more gives her verdict on the books she’s been reading. Regency-set intrigue and determined rakes, a classic adventure, some sexy magic and mystery, wallbanging and a hot Scot in a kilt. My July reads were as romantic as they come. Son of the Morning by Linda Howard When Australian historical romance aut... Read more

The energy of this debut novel just leaps off the page. Musa, a charismatic rapper, has successfully translated the idiom and pulse of performance to the page with its syncopated rhythms and hard-edged beats. Inevitably, he is being compared with his mate Christos Tsiolkas for his full-frontal engagement with contemporary Australian society: in this case, multicultural masculinity with its surg... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Nikki Parkinson author of Unlock Your Style 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 and schooled in regional Queensland – Maryborough – a town once famous for having the most pubs per capita in Queensland and now famous for being the bir... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Owen Beddall author of Confessions of a Qantas Flight Attendant 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 Darwin to Aboriginal/European parents and then raised in Grafton on the North Coast of NSW. I went to school in Grafton and university in ... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Karen Miller author of The Falcon Throne, The Prodigal Mage and more… Ten Terrifying Questions ____________ 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? Well, I was born in Vancouver, Canada, but at the age of 2 moved to my mother’s homeland of England. We stayed there for a while, then... Read more