Book Recommendations Archives

From the intriguing title (which, incidentally, pretty much sums up this wonderful novel) to the tantalizing epilogue, this book totally captivates. The writing flows at a wonderful pace – it is hard to put down. Although it has numerous characters both current and historical and flicks back and forth between his “escape” and his early life it does not puzzle or confuse the reader. Allan Karlss... Read more

I was supposed to be born in England some time in the late nineteenth century. I firmly believe that. Sadly, by virtue of a cosmic accident, I was born in Australia about a hundred years behind schedule. In hopes of rectifying this obvious mistake, I have written several strongly worded letters addressed to Fate and The Powers That Be. I am still anxiously awaiting a response. Another thing I’m... Read more

I arrived back from a week’s leave on Monday to find an advance copy of Bruce by Peter Ames Carlin sitting on my desk, absolutely begging to be read. This is where I should admit to being just a little bit of a Springsteen fan, so having the chance to read a new biography before the publication date was like having Christmas arrive early. Here was my dilemma though; I was already just ove... Read more

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FyEmR9wT2U&rel=0] GOLD by Chris Cleave The extraordinary new novel from the author of international bestseller THE OTHER HAND. Usually, this is where we’d tell you what this book is about. But with Chris Cleave, it’s a bit different. Because if you’ve read THE OTHER HAND or INCENDIARY , you’ll know that what his books are abou... Read more

The Iron Wyrm Affair is a brilliant alternate history, told in such a way that it reads like one of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies dropped into the middle of a steampunk fantasy with a side of science fiction. Saintcrow opens with the uneasy introduction of Archibald Clare and Emma Bannon (they are the Bannon & Clare of the series name) and then proceeds to throw the reader head first... Read more

I first became acquainted with Benjamin Law’s writing in the pages of frankie magazine several years ago and he has since become one of my favourite Australian writers. So when a copy of Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East turned up at the Booktopia office I acted like a deranged fangirl and declared that I must – MUST! – review this book. And, unsurprisingly, my instincts we... Read more

Growing up in a small country town in Australia, my only experience of the wider world came through grainy black and white TV images and the magic of the books that I borrowed from the local library. I remember being eight-years-old, in July 1969, when teachers assembled the entire school – barely a hundred students – into one classroom. They wheeled in a television and we watched Neil Armstron... Read more

Like a lot of men, Jesse Fink never thought it would happen to him. But it did. His wife of 10 years and mother of his child walked out on him and into the arms of another man. In that moment he lost his best friend, his soul mate, his family, his identity. LAID BARE is his brutally honest account of one man’s emotional and mental oblivion after separation and divorce. Jesse’s searc... Read more

What’s your take on coincidence? Sometimes it’s hard not to ask yourself how themes and ideas come to share  the same moment in the ether… so when I read Courtney Collins’ The Burial this month, a remarkable début novel based on the true story of a female bushranger, swiftly followed by Amanda Coplin’s The Orchardist, another very polished first novel from the US, ... Read more

Booktopians, I’ve got a real treat for you. Within the folds of The Orchardist, I give you not only Amanda Coplin’s debut as a novelist, but also her debut as one of the most poignant, tender and gripping writers to emerge from the US in many years. The Orchardist, set in the late 1800’s, tells the story of the tender, if slightly hermitish orchardist, William Talmadge, as he encounters two pre... Read more