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Book Reviews


9780349125268

All My Rage

Reviewed by Bianca

All My Rage is both a heart-warming and heart-breaking story about two Pakistani-American Muslim young people trying to survive the hardships of life in Juniper, California. Winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, this novel is another example of Tahir’s be... (continued)
9781838933586

The House with the Golden Door

Reviewed by Bianca

The sequel to Elodie Harper’s outstanding historical fiction, The Wolf Den, The House with the Golden Door continues Amara’s story of struggle and love in the beautiful, dangerous, and tantalising world of Ancient Pompeii. Seamlessly blending fact and fiction, this narrative effort... (continued)
9781399706124

Joan

Reviewed by Bianca

Katharine J. Chen brings Joan of Arc to life in this brilliant historical fiction. From her difficult childhood as an outcast in the small village of Domrémy to her position as the renowned leader of the French army, Chen recreates Joan as strong-willed, powerful warrior with a skill an... (continued)
9780648987680

The Branded

Reviewed by Bianca

An excellent fantasy debut, Jo Riccioni’s The Branded offers a complex but gripping look into social hierarchies and class divides. Drawing off the YA fantasy tropes we all love, Riccioni weaves together an exciting, mysterious, and dangerous narrative of two sisters navigating shocking ... (continued)
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This Is Gonna End In Tears by Liza Klaussmann

Reviewed by Hayley Saunders

It was perfect – until it all fell apart.  Miller, Ash and Olly were always the best of friends, growing up in the idyllically named Wonderland, a Quaker town in middle America. When they finish school in the early 1980’s the three of them travel across country to LA, esta... (continued)
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THE MAGICAN / TOIBIN

Reviewed by Book Barn Berrima

The Magician is first and foremost a portrait of the writer as a family man; there is comparatively little in it about Mann’s development as a writer or about his status in the literary world. Rather, it places him at the centre of a panoramic vision of the early 20th-century German... (continued)
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THE PLAGUE Albert Camus

Reviewed by BOOKBARN, BERRIMA

Revived interest in Albert Camus’s novel The Plague (1947).  A thinker for our age of pandemic and polarization. He sought to transcend the divides of his own epoch by warning against dogmatic ideologies on both the left and right, all while earnestly defending democracy a... (continued)
9780141375632

One of Us is Lying

Reviewed by Zac Warne

I read the teen fiction novel, One of Us is Lying, a little over a year ago, yet it still left a mark on my mind. The style of writting was incredible to read as it was very different, changing between the main characters. The mystery of movies and book is something I have always enjoyed, and ... (continued)
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The Truth About China

Reviewed by Book Barn Berrima

A journalist’s perspective on this rising global power has never been more important, as Australia’s relationship with China undergoes an extraordinary change that’s seen the detention of a journalist Cheng Lei, Canberra’s criticism of Beijing’s efforts to crush H... (continued)
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WITH THE FALLING OF THE DUSK

Reviewed by Book Barn Berrima

Don’t be fooled by the title of Stan Grant’s latest offering. With the Falling of the Dusk may sound gentle and poetic but the book is about nothing less than the challenges facing the world and how to avert crisis. From geopolitical shifts, global pandemics and... (continued)
9781760854478

The Mother Fault

Reviewed by Peta Miller

Set in an Australia of the near-future, climate crisis has irrevocably altered the landscape: meat is a luxury few can afford, farmlands are contaminated and every movement is monitored by the Department. When Mim's FIFO husband is reported missing she is left with little comfort and no as... (continued)
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DESIGN LIVES HERE Penny Craswell

Reviewed by BOOKBARN BERRIMA

A compelling snapshot of contemporary Australian design through the lens of materials, utility, site and place. It showcases the best of Australian residential architecture and interiors, paying homage to local designers and makers of furniture and lighting. Exceptional. (continued)
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TROY

Reviewed by BOOKBARN BERRIMA

Following his bestselling books on Greek mythology, Mythos and Heros, Fry returns with an inimitable retelling of the siege of Troy. The pillars of the story are well known - the beauty of Helen, Aphrodite's bribing of Paris, the wooden horse ... but Fry's narrative, artfully humorous ... (continued)
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THE LIVING SEA OF WAKING DREAMS

Reviewed by BOOKBARN BERRIMA

The pandemic has had a strange distorting effect on time and perspective. The modern condition - simultaneous connection and isolation through our devices - feels particulary acute. Flanagan hasn't just written about the space between living and dying; in writing about the things that are ... (continued)
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PANDEMICS/WALTNER-TOEWS

Reviewed by BOOKBARN BERRIMA

David Waltner-Toews is a renowned Canadian epidemiologist, veterinarian and specialist in food and waterborne diseases, zoonoses and ecosystem health. On Pandemics: Deadly Diseases from Bubonic Plague to Coronavirus examines the increasing impact of animal-borne diseases on our world and e... (continued)
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STALINGRAD/GROSSMAN

Reviewed by BOOKBARN BERRIMA

Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman  – the prequel to Life and Fate Stalingrad is a strange and complicated book. It is undoubtedly an amazing achievement of translation and scholarship. It’s lucid and readable, with moments of wonderfully evocative prose... (continued)
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'Writers & Lovers' by Lily King

Reviewed by Michela

A compulsively readable novel following the trials of the artist as a young woman.   We meet Casey Peabody as she arrives back in Massachusetts after the tragic death of her mother and tries to figure out what she's meant to do next. She spends her time alternating between wor... (continued)
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Elephants With Headlights by Bem Le Hunte

Reviewed by Monika Sheridan

Elephants With Headlights is a gripping book with good pace.  It brings two cultures together showing the good and bad of both.  The author Bem Le Hunte uses the most beautiful expressive language.  It was a joy to read. (continued)
9781760760113

A Painted Landscape by Amber Creswell

Reviewed by Kylie

A comprehensive collection of current Australian artists as diverse as the landscape itself.  Each artist offers a unique insight and understanding into their deep connection to place, and how it inspires them and stirs their creativity.  Nature is the perfect subject matter to study... (continued)
9781760292010

The Weekend by Charlotte Wood

Reviewed by Michela

This unputdownable new novel by one of Australia's most celebrated authors follows three friends in their seventies as they gather for a last weekend at the holiday home of their recently deceased fourth best-friend. In this sharply observed, excruciatingly funny, and brilliantly written n... (continued)