the most anticipated books of 2015 - Readings

FEBRUARY 2015

FREE

BOOKS

MUSIC

FILM

E V E N TS

THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2015

NEW IN FEBRUARY MIRANDA JULY $24.99 page 7

KELLY LINK

SAMANTHA TRENOWETH

THE FALL

BELLE & SEBASTIAN

$29.99

$27.95

$29.95

$21.95

page 7

page 12

page 14

page 18

R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5

3

News THE READINGS FOUNDATION GRANTS ANNOUNCED The Readings Foundation has announced grants totalling $113,880 to support a range of projects and organisations within Victoria in 2015. The successful grant recipients for this year are: Somebody’s Daughter Theatre ($10,000) Reading Out of Poverty ($16,000) Mallee Family Care ($20,000) Asylum Seeker Resource Centre ($15,000) Migrant Information Centre ($2,880) Aboriginal Literacy Foundation ($10,000) The Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowships ($20,000) HUSH Music Foundation ($5,000) Readings will also continue to support the Sacred Heart Mission in St Kilda and The Brotherhood of St Laurence’s HIPPY (Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters) in Fitzroy with a $5,000 donation to each. Please visit readings.com.au/news/ the-readings-foundation-grantrecipients-announced-for-2015 for more information on each funded project.

Project on 13 February at Testing Grounds, an exciting outdoor arts space and Melbourne CBD’s greenest creative hub. The program incorporates free screenings on the big screen at Federation Square, before moving to Cinema Nova until 6 March. Readings is a proud supporter of the Transitions Film Festival. Please visit transitionsfilmfestival.com for more information.

READINGS BOOK CLUBS The Queer Book Club is back at Readings St Kilda for 2015, dedicated to fiction and select non-fiction books that represent aspects of LGBTIQ life. For more information about the book club, or to make a booking, please contact Amy at Readings St Kilda on 03 9525 3852 or [email protected]. The Non-Fiction Book Club is also coming back to Readings St Kilda this year. For more information or to make a booking, please contact Gerard at Readings St Kilda on 03 9525 3852 or [email protected].

Readings Monthly Free independent monthly newspaper published by Readings Books, Music & Film

Editor Elke Power [email protected]

Editorial Assistant Bronte Coates [email protected]

Advertising Stella Charls [email protected] (03) 9341 7739

Graphic Design Cat Matteson [email protected]

Contributors Miriam Sved

Front Cover This month’s cover features a range of cover images for titles due to be published in 2015 by Australian-based publishers. Please note that image inclusion was based on cover

WHITE NIGHT MELBOURNE AT READINGS STATE LIBRARY On Saturday 21 February, Readings’ State Library shop will be open until midnight as part of the Melbourne White Night celebrations, where Melbourne’s streets, laneways and cultural institutions are transformed into a cultural playground from dusk to dawn. Visit whitenightmelbourne.com.au for more information about the festivities.

availablity at print deadline.

TRANSITIONS FILM FESTIVAL Cartoon Oslo Davis oslodavis.com Readings donates 10% of its profits each year to The Readings Foundation: readings.com.au/the-readings-foundation

The Transitions Film Festival returns this February, with an inspiring program showcasing groundbreaking features, shorts and documentaries about the transition to a better world. The festival launches with Inside Out: The People’s Art

INDIE BOOK AWARDS SHORTLIST Showcasing another year of great Australian writing, the Indie Book Awards have announced the category shortlists for the best Australian books of 2014. The shortlisted titles for the fiction categories are When the Night Comes by Favel Parrett (Hachette Australia), Amnesia by Peter Carey (Penguin Books Australia), Golden Boys by Sonya Hartnett (Penguin Books Australia) and The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (Text Publishing). The debut fiction shortlist includes Lost & Found by Brooke Davis (Hachette Australia), Foreign Soil by Maxine Beneba Clark (Hachette Australia), The Strays by Emily Bitto (Affirm Press) and After Darkness by Christine Piper (Allen & Unwin). Find out more about the shortlists for other categories at indies.com.au. The category

abc.net.au/adelaide

winners and overall Book of the Year winner will be announced on Wednesday 25 March.

20% OFF DK EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDES Back from summer holidays and already planning your next trip? Luckily, we are offering 20% off our range of DK Eyewitness Travel Guides from 1–28 February. This fantastic offer includes travel guides and phrase books. The sale is on in-stock items only while stocks last at all Readings shops and online at readings.com.au.

ST KILDA FESTIVAL 2015 The St Kilda Festival is on again from 31 January to 8 February 2015, celebrating summer outdoors and the leading lights of the local music scene. Readings St Kilda is proud to host one of the festival’s Live N Local events – visit stkildafestival.com.au for the full program.

4


February Events

11

QUENTIN BERESFORD IN CONVERSATION WITH JOHN VAN TIGGELEN

Quentin Beresford will discuss his incisive new non-fiction book The Rise and Fall of Gunns Ltd and the political and environmental stakes in the ongoing Tasmanian forestry wars, with author and journalist John van Tiggelen. Free, but please book at readings.com.au/events Wednesday 11 February, 6.30pm Readings Carlton

17

PETER TWOHIG ON THE TORCH

Fresh from the Adelaide Festival, the author of The Cartographer will discuss his new novel, The Torch.

3

BELLE ROSCOE AT ST KILDA FESTIVAL

Free, but please book at readings.com.au/events Tuesday 17 February, 6pm Readings Hawthorn

Get your blue suede shoes on and join in the Live N Local series as Belle Roscoe perform from their new album Boom Boom – a wonderful indie pop-rock sound that is the embodiment of summer itself.

TONY WALKER AND HARRISON YOUNG

Tony Walker will launch Harrison Young’s new novel Submission, a smart and sexy blend of historical fiction and romance set in the Middle Eastern desert in the 1980s. Free, no booking required

Thursday 5 February, 6.30pm Readings Hawthorn

7

HILDA THE MONKEY DOES YOGA WITH LOUISE GODFREY

17

BOOK SIGNING WITH JULIA DONALDSON

And into the woods we go! Come and get your book signed, and meet the author of The Gruffalo. Please note: Julia will sign books purchased on the day as well as one book from home. Free, no booking required. Tuesday 17 February, 10am Readings Carlton

18

FURY: WOMEN WRITE ABOUT SEX, POWER AND VIOLENCE

Rosie Batty will launch the essay collection Fury: Women Write About Sex, Power and Violence, edited by Samantha Trenoweth. Including contributions by Helen Razer, Clem Bastow, Anne Summers and more, this collection offers a much-needed wakeup call on violence against women.

Free, no booking required

Free, no booking required. Wednesday 18 February, 6.30pm Readings Carlton

Readings St Kilda

19

BENNY LEWIS ON LANGUAGE HACKING

LEANNE HALL LAUNCHES ANDREW MCDONALD’S SON OF DEATH

Leanne Hall will launch Andrew McDonald’s new children’s novel, Son of Death – the darkly funny tale of Sod, a teenage Grim Reaper who would much rather play guitar with his band than guide souls to the afterlife. Free, no booking required. Thursday 26 February, 6.30pm Readings Carlton

Benny Lewis only spoke English until the age of 21 – now he speaks 11 languages, 7 of them fluently. For the past decade, Benny has travelled the world, immersing himself in local cultures. Benny will share his techniques for ‘language hacking’ from his popular blog, and best-selling book, Fluent in 3 months.

SIR HENRY NEVILLE, ALIAS WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Free, no booking required. Thursday 19 February, 6.30pm Readings Carlton

Come and join local author Louise Godfrey for a relaxing and mindful morning session of yoga, perfect for the start of the hectic school year. Louise will be reading from her book Hilda Does Yoga and special guest Hilda the Monkey will be demonstrating poses with the kids.

Saturday 7 February, 10.30am

Free, but please book at events.unimelb.edu.au/events/4730-just-mercy Thursday 19 February, 6pm Derham Theatre, Melbourne Law School 185 Pelham Street, Carlton

26

Join us for the launch of Mark Bradbeer and John Casson’s Sir Henry Neville, Alias William Shakespeare, which analyses Shakespeare’s history plays and their controversial place in the Elizabethan political landscape

Join us for the launch of Vanessa Alford’s new memoir Fit Not Healthy, the eyeopening story of how the author’s obsession with fitness almost destroyed her body and chances of having a family.

5

Bryan Stevenson presents a lecture on racial inequality and the broken American justice system, following the launch of his latest book, New York Times bestseller Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.

19

VANESSA ALFORD ON BEING FIT NOT HEALTHY

Free, no booking required. Wednesday 4 February, 6pm Readings Hawthorn

BRYAN STEVENSON ON JUST MERCY

Free, but please book at readings.com.au/events Thursday 19 February, 6pm Readings Hawthorn

Free, no booking required. Tuesday 3 February, 6pm Readings St Kilda

4

19

21

STORYTIME WITH CHRISSIE PERRY

Local author Chrissie Perry (Go Girl) joins us at St Kilda for a signing and to read from her newest book, Penelope Perfect: Project Best Friend about the anxious but endearing Penelope Kingston’s mission to find a best friend. Free, no booking required Saturday 21 February, 10.30am Readings St Kilda

23

NICOLE JENKINS ON FASHION

Nicole Jenkins has been collecting and restoring clothes since she was a child. With a background in film and theatre costume design, her Melbourne boutique Circa Vintage, showcasing the best of 200 years of Australian fashion, opened in 2004. Over a glass of wine, hear Nicole talk about fashion and the history of clothing, and impart a few tricks of the trade. Entry is $10 per person and includes a glass of champagne. Please book at readings.com.au/ events Monday 23 February, 6pm Readings Hawthorn

26

JOHN DARNIELLE IN CONVERSATION WITH GERARD ELSON

Musician and author John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats) discusses his writing, music and criticallyacclaimed debut novel Wolf In White Van with Readings’ own Gerard Elson. Free, but please book at readings.com.au/events Thursday 26 February, 6.30pm Readings St Kilda

27

TERRENCE HOLT IN CONVERSATION WITH KAREN HITCHCOCK & PROFESSOR PAUL KOMESAROFF

Join critically-acclaimed doctor and writer Terrence Holt in conversation with Karen Hitchcock and Professor Paul Komesaroff as they discuss Holt’s new collection Internal Medicine: A Doctor’s Stories and the intersection between medicine and literature. Free, but please book at readings.com.au/events Thursday 26 February, 6pm Readings Hawthorn

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.


Mark’s Say

News and views from Readings’ Managing Director, Mark Rubbo

I am writing this column from Jaipur Literature Festival; it’s early days yet but yesterday I was privileged to hear one of my favourite authors, Paul Theroux, speak about his career as both a travel writer and novelist; having had three novels published and needing to make a living he thought travel writing was the way to go so he hopped on a train in London and travelled to India, Asia, Russia and back, which resulted in one of the finest travel narratives of modern times, The Great Railway Bazaar. Theroux famously befriended Nobel Prize winner V.S. Naipaul in Uganda, where they both happened to be in the ‘60s. The two also famously fell out and at Jaipur, Theroux joined fellow writers Hanif Kureishi and Amit Chaudhuri in paying homage to Naipul’s landmark work, A House for Mr Biswas. Theroux described it as ‘one of the finest books I’ve ever read’. Naipaul was in the audience, and he was invited to the stage afterwards. Naipaul, who is suffering from Parkinson’s, was visibly moved as he thanked the panel and Theroux in particular. Paul Theroux’s Mr Bones has just come out. The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald ran a story recently about the resurgence of the print book and the plateauing of the sales in ebooks and reading devices. People often ask me how things are going for books; I hope it’s because they are concerned and want bookshops to hang around. Are the stories of resurgence true? Well there is an element of truth about it, and I’d say that the printed book is not dead. People flocked to books last Christmas, with Nielsen Bookscan reporting book sales up 1.2% over the holiday period; even more encouraging was a 6% increase in sales of children’s books. What’s heartening is that, for Readings at least, Australian authored books dominated our top 20, led of course by The Narrow Road to the Deep North. The list included Julia Gillard’s My Story, Helen Garner’s This House of Grief, David Walsh’s idiosyncratic memoir Bone of Fact, Peter Carey’s Amnesia, Andy Griffiths The 52-Storey Treehouse, Don Watson’s The Bush and Graeme Simsion’s second book The Rosie Effect. I was particularly pleased that the inaugural winners of the Readings Prize – Only the Animals by Ceridwen Dovey (New Australian Writing Award) and Song for a Scarlet Runner (Children’s Book Prize) by Julie Hunt were both in our top 100 for the year. Titles announced so far for 2015 suggest a strong year for Australian writing. I’m particularly interested in the novel Wolf, Wolf by Australian–South African writer Eben Venter, which is about the South African rugby tour of Australia in 1971. The tour was particularly divisive and I vividly remember attending demonstrations against the tour. Fourth Estate are excited by an Australian debut historical novel by Robyn Cadwallader, The Anchoress, set in 12th century Britain. It’s already been sold internationally and I’m sure the publishers are hoping to repeat the success of Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites. Two Readings employees have books coming out this year – A.S. Patric’s novel Black Rock White City in April and last year’s Victorian Premier’s unpublished manuscript award winner Fever of Animals by Miles Allinson in September. Award winning poet Lisa Gorton ventures into fiction with The Life of Houses in April. I’m looking forward to Rod Jones’ The Mothers in June. His first novel Julia Paradise was exceptional. Penguin has high hopes for Steve Toltz’s second novel Quicksand. I have always admired Tony Birch’s work, so I’m eagerly anticipating his new novel Ghost River in October. There will be a slew of political books which is led off this month by David Day’s biography of Paul Keating; Day is a noted historian and this will be his fourth biography of an Australian prime minister. Finally, John Wylie, merchant banker and president of the State Library of Victoria (SLV) board, and Myriam Boisbouvier-Wylie have provided an endowment to fund The Boisbouvier Founding Chair in Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne. The aim of the position is to advance the teaching, understanding and public appreciation of Australian literature. As I understand it, the position will go to a writer so it’s not purely an academic post. Wylie and Boisbouvier join Maureen and Tony Wheeler in offering significant philanthropic support to Australian writing for Melbourne-based institutions. It’s very exciting to see.

Acclaimed author James Bradley (The Resurrectionist) ponders how a changing planet might alter our lives. Claude follows three generations of one family through disasters and plagues, miraculous small moments and acts of great courage, offering an evocative glimpse of what the future may hold.

He’s so hopeless that he can’t even end it all, but Sullivan Moss has reached a decision: he’ll do one useful thing. Now everyone wants a piece of him. From the creator of hit Australian TV series Offspring comes a smart, moving and wry novel about the search for meaning and self-worth.

While embarking on new culinary adventures, Rachel Khoo keeps her notebook right by her side. A collage of notes, ideas, photographs and illustrations, this is where her unique and inventive recipes are born. Now you can join Rachel as she harnesses inspiration from all she encounters in the world.

When Alice Eveleigh arrives at Fiercombe Manor during the summer of 1933, she finds a house brimming with secrets. She also finds photographs of Elizabeth Stanton – a woman who vanished a generation ago. Alice is determined to unearth the truth. But could her own life become an eerie echo of the past?

penguin.com.au

THE MOST FUN YOU CAN HAVE WITH YOUR PARTNER (WITH YOUR CLOTHES ON)

TALK LISTEN DISCOVER The Art of Couples’ Conversation brings couples of all ages and stages closer together as they delight in communications that enrich, enliven and strengthen their relationship.

LAUGH LEARN CONNECT

The Art of Conversation is available at Readings and all good book shops $19.95 RRP

www.taoc.com.au

5

6


The most anticipated books of 2015 Martin Shaw, Readings Books Division Manager

Welcome to my first column of 2015, which as well as my traditional wrap of the month’s new releases includes a rather panoramic survey of titles on the horizon for later in the year – rather a feast, I’m sure you’ll agree! February is already a tremendous month. On the fiction front James Bradley returns after a lengthy spell between books with a wonderful novel entitled Clade. As many of you may know, James is a regular book reviewer, so when I caught him a few weeks ago describing a book under review as ‘thrillingly taut and idea-rich’, I couldn’t help but feel he had involuntarily penned a brilliant encapsulation of his own new book. If you are ever stricken with the feeling that the world’s hell-bent on its own destruction, this book will speak strongly to you. And equally it’s a profoundly moving story of what human qualities might sustain us through the time that is bound to come, sooner than we might care to think. A beautifully calibrated piece of writing, it’s a tremendous start to the year for Australian literature. The book that will no doubt cause the greatest excitement internationally is Miranda July’s debut novel The First Bad Man. With her first book No One Belongs Here More than You – which won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award – July became one of the world’s hottest fictional properties, and this book, with glowing endorsements already from the likes of A.M. Homes, Andrew Solomon and Lena Dunham, feels like it’s 2015’s first essential fiction read. Fans of Anne Tyler and Andrew O’Hagan will also be well-pleased with their new novels: A Spool of Blue Thread and The Illuminations respectively. And we have several other significant Australian titles too: Medea’s Curse, the debut crime novel from Anne Buist (Chair of Women’s Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, and also as it happens Graeme Simsion’s partner: there must be something in their morning porridge!); the screenwriter Debra Oswald’s (creator of Offspring) Useful, which Geraldine Brooks describes as ‘more than useful, it's absolutely essential’; and a sequel to Richmond local Peter Twohig’s much-loved novel The Cartographer, namely The Torch. In non-fiction the far and away stand-out is celebrated historian David Day’s biography of Paul Keating: The Story of a Prime Minister. Keating still appears unwilling to pen his own memoirs, so Day has set himself the task of giving Keating the biography he surely deserves, with extensive archival research and interviews with colleagues and associates. As an aside, The Book of Paul: The Wit and Wisdom of Paul Keating was placed at an incredible 14th in our bestselling books list of 2014 – political nostalgia feels like it has never been higher in contemporary Australia! I wonder why… Meanwhile a topic doubtless close to Keating’s heart is addressed in Megan Davis and George Williams’s Everything You Need To Know About the Referendum To Recognise Indigenous Australians; the bestselling Norman ‘Neuroplasticity’ Doidge has a sequel to The Brain that Changes Itself entitled The Brain’s Way of Healing; while Samantha Trenoweth edits a collection of essays concerning that scourge of our society – violence against women – in Fury: Women Write About Sex, Power and Violence. Another (sadly) important book this month is the Guantanamo Diary of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who has been imprisoned without charge since 2002 at the notorious facility. I’ll close this section with mention of two happier books: former chef and food critic, now Tasmanian smallholder, Matthew Evans with a cookbook dedicated to sustainable seafood: The Gourmet Farmer Goes Fishing; and the little-known fact that the American actor David Duchovny actually has an MA degree in English Literature from Yale, and was heading for a PhD – which may well have rubbed off on his debut novel Holy Cow. On all accounts it’s a charming fable about ‘a conflicted cow, a Jewish pig and a debonair turkey seeking acceptance and enlightenment during a journey across the Middle East’. Turning to the rest of 2015 now, from this (of course very early) vantage point I have the following on my radar: Australian fiction: in April a simply great debut novel from Readings’ own A.S. Patric, Black Rock White City; Alice Robinson also on debut with Anchor Point; Robyn Cadwallader’s medieval tale The Anchoress, that is being published around the world this year; S.J. Finn’s Down to the River, and many, many more: Abigail Ulman, Amanda Lohrey, Marion Halligan, Tony Birch, Rod Jones, Malcolm Knox, Krissy Kneen, Gregory Day, Eleanor Limprecht, Kari Gislason, Patrick Lenton, Charlotte Wood, Steve Toltz, Stephen Carroll – I could go on and on!

Clockwise from top left: Fury: Women Write About Sex, Power and Violence by Samantha Trenoweth (ed.) (Feb, Hardie Grant) A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler (Feb, Chatto & Windus) Everything You Need to Know About the Referendum to Recognise Indigenous Australians by Megan Davis & George Williams (Out Now, NewSouth) The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader (March, HarperCollins) Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman (March, Penguin)

Allow me one special mention – a ‘Books Desk Hot-Tip’ for 2015, if you like: Antonia Hayes’ Relativity. She’s a former book publicist and bookseller for a start (we do love our own!), but it also turns out she’s a bit of a dark horse, with her debut novel being snapped up by major publishers around the world pre-publication. I think it comes out roughly mid-year, but while you wait I’d urge you to seek out her essay ‘Wolf Like Me’(on the Meanjin website, and indeed it’s in the Best Australian Essays 2014 volume from Black Inc.), which gives you a sense of the stakes involved in her writing. International Fiction: Karl Ove Knausgaard of course, for all of those like me for whom his books are read practically intravenously – we now have Volume Four of his My Struggle series, Dancing in the Dark; New Zealander Anna Smail, who might just be taking over the baton from Eleanor Catton with The Chimes; Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant, a whole new direction for the celebrated novelist; and the final installment in the Neapolitan series of Elena Ferrante – The Story of the Lost Child. Plus a list of other highlights: Orhan Pamuk, Kate Atkinson, Amitav Ghosh, Toni Morrison, David Vann, Louis de Bernieres, Milan Kundera, Zadie Smith, Jonathan Franzen … Memoir: Rebecca Starford’s reckoning with bullying and identity in Bad Behaviour is simply extraordinary: look out for more on this in the March Readings Monthly; another young literary wunderkind Oliver Mol offers us Lion Attack!; Maria Katsonis reckons with coming out and mental illness amidst her traditional Greek Orthodox upbringing in The Good Greek Girl; there’s Hannie Rayson’s memoir of her life as a playwright, Hello Beautiful; Kate Grenville’s account of her mother’s story, One Life; and, relatedly, a collection edited by Monica Dux on the experience of motherhood, Mothermorphosis. Omissions here are voluminous and notable I’m sure, but hopefully that gives you a sense of the year to come. Happy reading!


New Fiction Book of the Month THE FIRST BAD MAN Miranda July Canongate. PB. $24.99

Miranda July’s first book, No One Belongs Here More Than You, was a collection of short stories that, while not linked in the traditional ways through character or plot, was bound into a cohesive whole by its voice. Now, close to a decade later, she’s published her first novel, which slots in comfortably beside her short stories. July’s domain seems to be the weird side of the domestic in modern America, and her novel has the same unique voice again cast adrift in it. The First Bad Man’s narrator, Cheryl Glickman, is in her early forties and, at the novel’s opening, is pining for Phillip, a man twenty years her senior who’s on the board of the company she works for, which sells exercise videos based on the art of self defence.

‘July’s domain seems to be the weird side of the domestic in modern America, and her novel has the same unique voice ... ’ She believes that she and Phillip have been together throughout all of time, from cave people, through the Renaissance and up to the present day. Cheryl confesses this belief to him one night, during one of their long phone conversations, which Cheryl starts making to relieve the stress after her bosses, a husband and wife, move their 21-year-old daughter Clee into her apartment. It’s the antagonistic relationship between the two that forms the bulk of the novel, with the submissive Cheryl being both a host to, and afraid of, the domineering Clee. It would ruin the book to talk too much about how their relationship develops – suffice to say that the turns it takes are both hard to predict and keep raising the stakes. July’s ability to present us with the mundane and then surprise us is her forte, and it makes for a very funny and oddly heartfelt book. Chris Somerville is from Readings Carlton

Australian USEFUL Debra Oswald Viking. PB. Was $32.99 $29.99

Fans of Offspring, Australia’s popular TV series, will love this book! It’s author is Offspring co-creator and head writer, Debra Oswald, who has also written three ‘Aussie Bite’ books for young readers, six novels for teenage readers and now a novel: Useful. Sullivan Moss started life as a cruisy, baby-faced actor who picked up a bit of work here and there and got lucky with the women at uni. Meanwhile, his friends concentrated on their professions and eventually grew up to establish long-term relationships and good careers. Sully, as he was known by his friends, succeeded at becoming such a lazy, alcoholic, unemployed, underachieving loser that he couldn’t sustain a relationship or even commit suicide properly. However, clarity hits him when he wakes up in hospital after falling the wrong way on a rooftop. Now is his chance to be useful in this world – by donating a kidney to a stranger. Having to start from scratch after literally packing up his life, right down to the last of his clothes being thrown in a donations bin, Sully has to call on Natalie, a radio producer and friend of his ex-wife, for a huge favour: to pick him up from hospital. He’s already burnt through his friend credit with everyone else. Natalie’s dad has just died in the strangest of circumstances and so, fortunately for Sully, he now has a place to stay in her dad’s old house so he can look after the dog, Mack.

After many psychological tests, appointments with shrinks and a selfenforced healthier lifestyle, Sully miraculously forges a new, healthy life for himself. Now employed and sober, Sully finds his chutzpah again as he makes new friends with Natalie and her son Louis, and begins to patch things up with old friends such as his ex-best mate Tim. But Sully soon discovers that altruism is not as easy as it seems. Just when he thinks he’s got it together, Sully realises how fragile life is and how easily life can fall apart. In Oswald’s inimitable fashion, Useful is an incredibly fast-paced read brimming with brilliant insights into a diverse group of characters’ lives and a wry, moving snapshot of one man’s search for meaning in life. Emily Harms is the Head of Marketing and Communications for Readings

CLADE James Bradley Hamish Hamilton. PB. Was $32.99 $29.99

James Bradley’s new novel has been eagerly awaited. The wait has been well worth it – Clade is the first book I’ve read in 2015 and I’m already wondering how many literary prizes it will win. Clade consists of ten complete stories, or chapters, following the Leith family from the present day to a frightening but possibly realistic future. As the book opens, Adam and Ellie are trying to conceive. Ellie pursues IVF treatment in their home city of Sydney while Adam, a scientist, keeps in touch from a remote station in Antarctica. While he waits to hear whether she is pregnant, he listens intently to the creaks and groans of the ice – a shifting of land into sea and an

indication of fast moving global warming. In the next chapter, their daughter Summer is a toddler and Ellie appears to be suffering from depression. The fissures in the marital relationship are deepening while the physical landscape of the world includes changing monsoonal patterns in Asia, and limited power and blackouts in Sydney. As Summer grows up in this environment she becomes wary, and, like many of her generation, unsure of her future in a world where jobs, relationships and technologies are arbitrary and changing. Gradually, Clade reveals more of what our future might look like. Despite its apocalyptic overtones, the stories are told in a personal and moving way. The family grows over the space of about 100 years to encompass others – an autistic boy, an orphaned Chinese teenager, a refugee. Clade is carefully constructed and beautifully written. There may be some debate about whether it is a linked story collection or a novel, but nevertheless, the result is outstanding. It reminded me of Steven Amsterdam’s brilliant Things We Didn’t See Coming, with nuanced personal relationships like those created by Alice Munro or Elizabeth Strout.

7

THE TORCH Peter Twohig Fourth Estate. PB. Was $29.99 $24.99

Melbourne, 1960: Mrs Blayney and her twelve-year-old son live in South Richmond. At least, they did, until their house burnt down. The prime suspect, also twelve, has mysteriously disappeared. Our narrator, the Blayney kid, sets off on a covert mission to find the missing ‘Flame Boy’ (and the briefcase he disappeared with) before a small army of irate locals get him first. But the kid has got a lot going on: he’s also organising a new gang, coping with the ups and downs of having a girlfriend, trying to avoid Flame Boy’s dangerous prison-escapee father, who is suspected of selling secrets to the Russians; all the while wondering how he can get his hands on the Melbourne Olympic Torch. A madcap, shambolic and fun novel about loss, discovery and living life to the full, from the author of The Cartographer.

Annie Condon is from Readings Hawthorn

TRIO Geraldine Wooller Transit Lounge. PB. $27.99

West Australian author Geraldine Wooller’s fourth novel explores the depths and limitations of ‘that fragile thing’, friendship. Spanning five decades, from late ’60s London, early ’80s Calabria to postmillennium Perth, Trio charts the peaks and troughs of ‘a dodgy yet unregrettable, unforgettable time’ between three friends as they forge careers, move countries, succeed and fail in love and get on with the messy business of living together and alone. Drawn together by their passion for art, theatre and music, aesthete Australian set designer Celia, sensual English actress Marcia and troubled Irish director Mickey embark on an unconventional life together, sharing a flat in Earls Court as a mostly platonic threesome. Bit players dip in and out of their lives, changing the dynamic between them, but theirs is a relationship that endures distance, heartache, betrayal and eventual estrangement. Slipping back and forth in time, Trio is told mostly from Celia and Marcia’s perspectives, spotlighting the domestic as well as the political. Wooller slowly builds a portrait of three artists dogged by unhappy childhoods, who crave connection with others but ultimately struggle to achieve it. Says Celia, ‘No one, not even family, has much idea of the inner life of the other,’ and there’s a lingering feeling that we also don’t get to know these characters as well as we might like. Studded with pithy little life lessons and hard won insights, Trio moves at a meditative pace, one that will suit readers who prefer a reflective rather than an action-driven novel. Wooller seeks to address life’s big questions of love, loss, grief and growing old: how do we live, where do we belong and how do we become who we are? After life has ‘belted her about a bit’, Celia finally concedes that the most important relationship she will ever have is with herself. Sally Keighery is a freelance reviewer

International A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD Anne Tyler Chatto & Windus. PB. Was $32.99 $27.99

Anne Tyler writes about families; usually they are quite ordinary, middle-class families. They might have a few quirks but mostly they, like the rest of us, are trying to navigate their lives as best they can. In short, they are unremarkable. That is Tyler’s strength: like Alice Munro, she manages to make the mundane absolutely absorbing and draw characters that are believable and recognisable. Abby and Red Whitshank’s family have grown up mostly successful, apart from Abby’s favourite child, Denny, who seems unable to settle down or commit and is largely unreachable except when he chooses to drift back into their lives. Abby is starting to have memory lapses – calling their dog, Brenda, ‘Clarence’, which was the name of their old dog – and Red suffers a minor stroke. The idea of a retirement home is anathema and their youngest son, Douglas, and his wife, Norah, decide to move into the big family house to keep an eye on them. This brings latent family tensions to the surface as Douglas, the youngest, was adopted and it’s he who is taking over the family construction business. Abby was forever taking in her strays and orphans; Douglas was the one who stayed. While the family doesn’t unravel, Tyler strips back the facades of various family myths, fictions of the kind that many families construct to paper over tensions. While I have some reservations about the structure of the book, A Spool of Blue Thread is utterly engrossing, enjoyable and, at times, illuminating. Mark Rubbo is Readings’ Managing Director.


8

GET IN TROUBLE Kelly Link Text. PB. $29.99

Nobody writes short fiction like Kelly Link. Get In Trouble, her first collection for adults since 2005’s Magic For Beginners, showcases the author’s unique brand of magical realism, blending fantasy, sci-fi and American fiction, and is brimming with ideas astonishing in their simplicity – what if people had two shadows? What if superheroes were as common as dentists? What if we still built pyramids to bury rich kids? In these nine stories, Link constructs worlds almost but not quite like our own – where passengers on a spaceship wake from cryogenic sleep and tell ghost stories, pocket universes full of retirees and Disney characters materialise in Tibet, teenage girls collect animatronic boyfriends, and actors who made their names playing teenage vampires hunt ghosts at an

abandoned nudist colony. The beauty of Link’s writing is that these fantastical elements don’t crowd out the narrative – they slide seamlessly into a very real, very familiar America full of characters driven by very real, very familiar desires. A standout piece is ‘The Lesson’, about a gay couple who leave the woman carrying their child for a friend’s wedding on a nearby island. In a collection where everything is so out of the ordinary that nothing is, the only piece to be set ostensibly in the ‘real’, non-supernatural world feels strangest of all – highlighting the absurdity and terror of being a modern adult. Link's stories are exquisitely crafted – both tight and expansive, playful and thoughtful – with themes and subtexts that duck and weave from view, like the ghosts that feature throughout the collection, tantalisingly present but never quite palpable. Stories end teetering on a precipice, a sublime intake of breath that makes anything and everything possible. Get In Trouble is thrilling, inventive storytelling at its very best. Alan Vaarwerk is a freelance reviewer

MOBILE LIBRARY David Whitehouse Picador. PB. $29.99

Twelve-year-old Bobby Nusku has been having a hard time. He’s a prime target for the school bullies, friends are hard to come by and he and his dad just haven’t been getting along since the accident when his mother disappeared. However, things are set to change. Bobby may be living with his dad, but he’s really just waiting for the return of his mother. He’s been keeping a special file ready to help her reintegrate into his life. It contains photos, perfumes and make-up, snippets from her old dresses, and other precious remnants. The file also documents everything his dad and his new girlfriend have been up to. Bobby is great with numbers and places but he’s not so good with people. Then one day he makes friends with Rosa and her mother, Val, who cleans a

mobile library. The three of them enjoy a fun-filled summer and spend hours consumed by the amazing adventures contained within the library. But once school is back things don’t go so well, and then bad luck finds Rosa and Val – suddenly the mobile library looks like their only escape. David Whitehouse has created a fantastical story with Mobile Library. The child inside me had a riotous time reading this book and tagging along for the adventure. There is a strong element of ‘but what if?’ in which ordinary people do the extraordinary and I really enjoyed this, but Whitehouse doesn’t get lost in the fantasy. Bobby’s character grows and matures as his insecurities and fears dissipate and he finds his strengths. The adventure also illustrates to those involved that family can be many things – Bobby always thought he would find family when he found his mother, but he learns that you can choose to be a family too. Suzanne Steinbruckner is from Readings St Kilda

Feature

Janette Turner Hospital Miriam Sved on teaching creative writing and reading Janette Turner Hospital

I

am teaching a creative writing subject this semester about short fiction. I’ve tutored in this subject a few times over the years, and I love it. Lots of grist in the reader: Chekhov, Faulkner, Garner, Munro. I can keep coming back to these stories and finding new ways into them. And short fiction is good to teach: literary techniques jump right out at you, there’s nowhere for them to hide. In novels you tend to have to search for them in all the flesh. I came to short stories quite late, as a reader and a writer – for a long time I was only really interested in novels, then I got whacked over the head with Alice Munro (I think I was staying at my uncle’s, an old copy of The New Yorker lying around) and was never the same. In class we look at metaphorical and elliptical plot structures. A Marjorie Barnard story (fruit and breasts). James Joyce (piecing together a hypothetical plot from scant clues on the page; I find it satisfying but some of my students hate it). An ingeniously evasive Nabokov and deceptively simple Mansfield. At home I start reading Forecast: Turbulence by Janette Turner Hospital. In the first story, ‘Blind Date’, a young boy waits for a reunion with his father. Lots of weather imagery, conveyed in sensory gasps, the boy’s blindness never stated but there as subtext in every part of the story. The history of the family comes out in bites of dialogue and sense memory, the emerging understanding of a child.

‘I’m sorry, mate.’ When his father said that, he was hugging Lachlan so tightly that all Lachlan could think of was

washing machine. His face was pressed into his father’s shirt where the collar met the yoke and there was a damp vibrating sweetness that Lachlan recognised. The more the dripping Melbourne weather permeates everything the further you go into the boy. Pathetic fallacy: the attribution of human emotion to nature. As soon as I finish the story it seems like it was in first person rather than third. In class we look at different ways to begin a story: scene setting openings that paint the world before you occupy it, and in media res, dropping you straight into the action. Like most contemporary writers, I favour in media res. From ‘The Prince of Darkness Is a Gentleman’: ‘On one night, the worst one, and the last one before Katie ran away, there were eighteen of those calls.’ One day I’d like to write an opening line that good. She can do scene setting too: ‘Jodie’s desk in the capitol building in Wirranbandi is a scratched and gouged door resting across two wooden sawhorses in a room that was once the lobby and teller area of a now-defunct bank.’ A layering of camera angles, worked into the sentence to make it look seamless, no transition between close view and wide. In two clauses you get the measure of the place. We discuss material and treatment, which dictates chronology. Material: the what and what and what of a story, boring linearity; treatment: the how and why. And characterisation. Flat characters and round ones. I think most of Turner Hospital’s characters are round; certainly

the main characters, every line redolent of inner life. But there are ‘types’ too, characters who are quickly recognisable. Nelson, in ‘That Obscure Object of Desire’: computer geek, somewhere on the Autism spectrum, weirding his way through an escalating feud with his obnoxious former employer. But at some stage Nelson diverges from type; a decision, or a series of decisions; believable but so surprising that the Nelson we’re left with takes on retrospective heft, a shadowy roundness. It happens in just a few paragraphs; I re-read them to see if I can isolate the moment, the exact words; how she does it. ‘What’s the point of always picking apart these stories?’ one of my students says. ‘Wouldn’t it be better to just, like, experience them?’ And I give the spiel about reading as a writer, getting into a text so we can see its mechanisms, understand them, recreating them. In university terms the creative writing workshop is an exercise full of interesting tensions. A throw-back to a time before the author died. For me it’s a pragmatic alibi: I’ve always read like this, long before I started writing. As an undergrad I studied literature in a theoretically oblivious bubble that was somehow allowed to exist at Sydney Uni in the 1990s (or this is how I remember it) – an innocent textual playground where we were encouraged to chase down a unified, unitary reading, a meaning behind the text, and where close reading might one day lead to the golden pinnacle of understanding: authorial intention. You probably can’t get away with that kind of thing in a literature tute anymore, but in creative writing the question of authorial intention lurks behind the

other questions: how did she do this bit, why put that there? A way of embodying the text from within, claiming it almost; owning it. An act of readerly stalking. In class we do two weeks on graphic narratives (I flounder) and at home I read the last fictional piece in Forecast: Turbulence, ‘Afterlife of a Stolen Child’. A clever take on an emotive subject, and I’m glad for the slight tricksiness of it, which I trace with interest: multiple narrative perspectives on an event, the points of view beginning to concertina together until it seems like there might be a singular perspective behind them all, a character with his own agenda informing everything. Perspectives are distinct but not too distinct: there is an overarching narrative tone even when the voice moves close to the characters, inside the characters, melding with their own voices. A narrative mystery as well as a plot mystery, balanced between the questions who dunnit and who tells it. I wonder about trying something like that myself: multiple voices, multiple characters shimmering in slightly too golden light, not quite believable. Follow the literary clues, effect and intention, aware of being toyed with, and of toying back. Then somewhere in the last section – the point of view with the mother – the language races faster than I can pin it down, I slip into a space between devices, between narrative voices and rounded characters and chronological structuring – into the dream of a dream that feels real, phantom memories working on raw nerve endings. I finish the story, and I cry and cry and cry. Miriam Sved is a Melbourne-based writer and editor and the author of Game Day.


WEATHERING Lucy Wood Bloomsbury. PB. $29.99

Pearl doesn’t know how she’s ended up in the river, or why, for that matter, she’d been stupid enough to fall down the stairs. Ada, Pearl’s daughter, doesn’t know how she’s ended up back in the cold, rickety house she left thirteen years ago. Fascinated by the strange scattering of people she meets and by the river that unfurls through the valley, Pepper, Ada’s daughter, doesn’t know why anyone would ever want to leave. Each will discover the ways that places can take root inside us and bind us together. Weathering is an exquisite debut novel from the author of the critically acclaimed short story collection, Diving Belles.

THE ILLUMINATIONS Andrew O’Hagan Faber&Faber. PB. Was $29.99

In her youth, Anne Quirk was an artistic pioneer, a creator of groundbreaking documentary photographs. Now she is an elderly woman at home, while her beloved grandson, Luke, is on a tour of duty in Afghanistan. When Luke’s mission goes horribly wrong, he becomes haunted by questions of moral responsibility. He returns home to Scotland where both his and Anne’s secret stories begin to emerge. The Illuminations is a compelling new novel by two-time Booker finalist Andrew O’Hagan.

HOLY COW David Duchovny Headline. PB. $24.99

Elsie Bovary is a cow, and a pretty happy one at that – until one night she sneaks out of the pasture and finds herself drawn to the farmhouse. Through the window, she sees the farmer’s family gathered around a bright Box God – and what the Box God reveals about something called an ‘industrial meat farm’ shakes Elsie’s understanding of her world to its core. The only solution? To escape to a better, safer world. And so a motley crew is formed: Elsie; Shalom, a grumpy pig who’s recently converted to Judaism; and Tom, a suave turkey who can’t fly, but can work an iPhone with his beak.

TRIGGER WARNING Neil Gaiman Headline. PB. Was $29.99 $24.99

Neil Gaiman returns to haunt and entertain with this third collection of short fiction following Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things, which includes previously published pieces of short fiction-stories, verse, and a special Doctor Who story ¬ as well as ‘Black Dog’,

9

a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods. Trigger Warning is a cornucopia of horror and ghost stories, science fiction and fairy tales, fabulism and poetry that explores the realm of experience and emotion.

Art & Design

Riikka Ruittinen

MOMA. HB. $45

WOLF, WOLF

T&H. PB. $29.95

In 2030, the world's population will be a staggering eight billion people. Of these, two-thirds will live in cities; most will be poor. With limited resources, this unbalanced growth will be one of the greatest challenges faced by societies across the globe. The third of MOMA’s Issues in Contemporary Architecture Series brings together ideas from an international group of scholars, practitioners and other experts on architecture and urbanism. Featuring a variety of international proposals, Uneven Growth explores how emergent forms of tactical urbanism could address rapid and uneven growth around the globe.

Eben Venter Scribe. PB. $29.99

Mattie Duiker is trying very hard to live up to his dying father’s wishes. He is putting aside childish things, starting his first business serving healthy takeaway food to the workers of Cape Town, making his Pa proud. At the same time, though, Mattie is battling an addiction to porn – one which both threatens his relationship with his boyfriend, Jack, and imperils his inheritance. While Pa, once a swaggering businessman, fights against both the cancer inside him and his own diminishing authority, his family wrestles with matters of entitlement and inheritance. All the while around them, a new South Africa is quietly but persistently nudging its way forwards.

THE WINTER WAR Philip Teir Serpent’s Tail. PB. $27.99

On the surface, the Paul family are living the liberal, middleclass Scandinavian dream. Max Paul is a renowned sociologist and his wife Katriina has a well-paid job in the public sector. They live in an airy apartment in the centre of Helsinki. But look closer and the cracks start to show. As he approaches his sixtieth birthday, the certainties of Max’s life begin to dissolve. He hasn’t produced any work of note for decades. His wife no longer loves him. His grown-up daughters – one in London, one in Helsinki – have problems of their own. So when a former student turned journalist shows up and offers him a seductive lifeline, Max starts down a dangerous path from which he may never find a way back.

THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES Sally Hepworth Macmillan. PB. $29.99

Neva Bradley, a third-generation midwife, is determined to keep the details surrounding her own pregnancy – including the identity of the baby’s father – hidden from her family and co-workers for as long as possible. Her mother, Grace, finds it impossible to let this secret rest, even while her own life begins to crumble around her. For Floss, Neva’s grandmother and a retired midwife, Neva’s situation thrusts her back 60 years in time to a secret that eerily mirrors her granddaughter’s – a secret which, if revealed, will have life-changing consequences for them all.

with Margaret Snowdon

STREET CRAFT Street art has transformed from a practice carried out by anonymous creators, seen by some as vandalism, into a commercial enterprise and a respectable part of the international art market. One of the richest movements in street art has been the development of an alternative, crafts-based, three-dimensional movement, broadly identified as Street Craft. Street Craft features artists creating uncommissioned, site-specific works employing a range of techniques including weaving, crocheting, sculpting, painting, gardening, light installation, and more.

ALTHANASIUS KIRCHER’S THEATRE OF THE WORLD Joscelyn Godwin T&H. PB. $60

Athanasius Kircher (1602–80) was considered to be the most learned man of his age. By profession a Jesuit priest, he made himself an authority on every subject under (and above) the sun and published the results of his research in over 30 lavishly illustrated volumes in Latin. Inevitably, his work has been superseded in most areas of study, but he remains a key figure in the history of ideas and in recent years there has been a revival of interest. But while every other aspect of his thought has been studied, the fascinating engravings with which he illustrated his ideas have been largely ignored until now.

TIE DIP DYE Pepa Martin and Karen Davis Craftsman House. PB. $24.99

Tie-dye has had resurgence on the catwalk, in interiors and with crafters as part of the ‘slow craft movement’. Tie Dip Dye is aimed at a new generation who value subtle and modern designs. Whether you’re trying dip-dyeing, arashi, space-dying or classic kumo circle designs, this book contains all the essential techniques you’ll need to start creating unique fashions and homewares.

MORPHING Joseph Choma

for using these mathematical transformations as design tools.

UNEVEN GROWTH Richard Burdett & Teddy Cruz

AKADEMIE X Marina Abramovic & Olafur Eliasson et al. Phaisdon. HB. $45

Akademie X: Lessons in Art + Life brings together a faculty of artists and writers from across the globe. Each of these ‘tutors’ has provided a unique lesson that aims to provoke, inspire and stimulate. The contributors draw on their extensive experience in the contemporary art world to share previously untold stories and identify the crucial things they wish they’d known at the start of their careers: with advice on practicalities, professional relationships, ideology, art education, and a range of ‘assignments’ to spark creative thinking.

ELSA SCHIAPARELLI Meryle Secrest Penguin. HB. $45

The name Schiaparelli had, like Dior, always created a little bubble of imagined, impossibly glamorous excitement in my youthful brain. There have been plenty of books on Dior but not so many on Schiaparelli, so Secrest’s biography is very welcome. After an exotic yet restrictive upbringing and early marriage to a selfdeluded occultist, Schiaparelli went on to great fame and fortune between the wars with clothes embedded with the aesthetics of Surrealism and a new spirit of freedom for women.

ICONIC: A PHOTOGRAPHIC TRIBUTE TO APPLE INNOVATION

Laurence King. HB. $70

Jonathon Zufi

Cylinders, spheres and cubes are a small handful of shapes that can be defined by a single word. However, most shapes cannot be found in a dictionary. They belong to an alternative plastic world defined by trigonometry: a mathematical world where all shapes can be described under one systematic language and where any shape can transform into another. This visually striking guidebook clearly and systematically lays out the basic foundation

Ridgewood. HB. $120

With vivid colour and detail, Iconic looks back at over 35 years of Apple to show the journey of design that made it the company and brand it is today. Created as a photographic tribute to all the engineers, designers, product managers and visionaries of the Apple story, this project began with the author’s website shrineofapple.com.

10


New Crime

Dead Write with Fiona Hardy

Crime Book of the Month WOLF WINTER Cecilia Ekback Hodder. PB. Was $29.99 $24.99

Swedish Lapland, June 1717 (note, this reader virtually never reads things set in the past): Finns Maija and Paavo take their children Frederika and Dorotea to Sweden, away from the fear that has beaten Paavo into a shadow of the man he once was. They settle in Lapland, beside the mountain Blackåsen, ill-equipped for living in an isolated and storm-racked area. They have been there only a short time when the two girls take their goats for a walk and stumble upon the body of a man. Wolves, or a bear, Maija tells them. But she knows it is not true. And so their new home becomes one not of hope, but one of fear renewed, with new atmospheric tension and a landscape as brutal to your home and body as it appears enchanting in a painting. Maija is a female protagonist so organically heroic that she seems not at all out of place

‘the mountain is bad, but is it the people on it who are bad, or is it the land itself?’ in these long past times. Things need to get done and Maija is the one to do them in this land of endless days that in winter turn into eternal nights, where the men are too trapped by their land, their anxiety and their stoic manner to do anything but shake their heads at a torn-up body in a glade. And so she is the believable midwife turned farmer turned 1700s-era forensic investigator when no one else bothered to try. As those around her say, the mountain is bad, but is it the people on it who are bad, or is it the land itself? The sorcery trials of the past still have a grip on everyone’s lives, but the question is whether Maija’s staunch faith in reality and God is the way, or if it is blocking her ability to see the truth. I was up until 3am reading this haunting thriller, but then it was as dark as the book itself. My advice: read it in the sun.

TELL THE TRUTH Katherine Howell

are some fires Natalie must put out before they engulf her entirely.

Macmillan. PB. $29.99

I love crime books that follow an unexpected perspective, and Howell delivers that in spades. Howell is an ex-paramedic and her expertise shines through. Her powerfully enjoyable detective, Ella Marconi, often finds herself counting on the help of paramedics, or saving their lives. Here, she is desperately trying to do the latter after paramedic Stacey Durham vanishes, leaving behind a car soaked in her blood and a picture-perfect life that surely cannot be real. With her own life unable to recover from chaos, especially when it comes to her captivatingly fraught relationship with her partner’s mother, can Marconi find the truth?

MEDEA’S CURSE Anne Buist Text. PB. $29.99

Forensic psychiatrist Natalie King is an excellent badass: tearing up to her offices on a Ducati, ready and willing with help for the helpless and cutting remarks for those who deserve them, namely Crown Prosecutor Liam O’Shea, the man she loves to hate. But she has a new direction for her rage: towards the person who’s leaving anonymous notes and creating a threatening environment around her that she needs to demolish. Natalie works with people involved in violent crimes, on both sides of the abuse, and she knows there’s no end of people with fire in their veins. There

DEAD GIRL WALKING Christopher Brookmyre Little, Brown. PB. $29.99

Brookmyre’s beloved Jack Parlabane returns – in a way – though bereft of his happiness and self-esteem, and waiting for something to turn his life around. It’s music that does it: the band Savage Earth Heart, to be precise, not because of their excellent sounds, but due to the disappearance of band member Heike Gunn. From Vegas to Europe and through a web of lies cast tight around the band itself, Parlabane needs to run to Heike and away from his past before the last notes ring out for both of them.

BRUSH BACK Sara Paretsky Hachette. PB. $29.99

Detective VI Warshawski barely recognises the man who comes into her office in ill-fitting clothes and a sheen of anxiety, until he calls her by her childhood nickname, Tori, and she sees in the larger man the redheaded baseball player she was in love with at 18. It’s been a long time for both of them, and Frank Guzzo has suffered from his mother’s incarceration following her conviction for killing his kid sister. But, he now claims, Stella Guzzo was framed. The gritty world of South Chicago isn’t a place VI wants to return to, but this case isn’t as clear as she remembered it being back in

their school days – though it’s a lot more dangerous.

THE WHISPERING CITY Sara Moliner Orion. PB. $29.99

In the fascist environment of 1950s Barcelona, young journalist Ana Martí Noguer gets the unexpected job of accompanying Inspector Isidro Castro on the kind of case that has the whole city abuzz: socialite Mariona Sobrerroca is found dead in her exclusive mansion, and as it often is with high-profile cases, the truth and the official story are rarely one and the same. Ana and her scholar cousin, Beatriz, are as intent on solving the puzzles of this case as the town is intent on hiding an unnerving conspiracy in aplace as beautiful as it is oppressive and violent.

THE WHITE VAN Patrick Hoffman Atlantic Books. PB. $29.99

Here is the story to read for the San Francisco you don’t see in wide-eyed and cheerful travel shows that can’t see past cable cars and the Golden Gate Bridge: Emily Rosario, desperate and unhappy and possibly, maybe, drunk, a bit, goes home with a Russian businessman and resurfaces after a hazy few drug-fuelled days to discover she is now part of a bank robbery – and so she makes off with the cash. Broken cop Leo Elias, who could do with a fix of cash, decides to be the one who finds her and the money – albeit off the books – and is not the only person on the hunt in this bleak but narcotics-level addictive neo-noir thriller.

GUN STREET GIRL Adrian McKinty Serpent's Tail. PB. Was $29.99 $24.99

There were a few books on this list vying for book of the month. Ekback won because I took enough notes during the read to have the review done before the book was. In this, I took no notes because I was too busy reading through at an enthusiastic and frantic speed. DI Sean Duffy ticks a lot of boxes: sarcastic, frequently drunk, and cynical about the force. He also ticks the most important boxes: likeable, original, and enjoyable to follow around. It’s November 1985 and Duffy is a policeman in Northern Ireland – not the best place to be a policeman, unless you enjoy being blown up. Snatching what looks like a smooth domestic murder away from the neighbouring department, Duffy and his team end up involved in something much more expansive and dangerous than they were expecting, but that’s really the least of it. This is fun, shocking, grim, as addictive as cocaine filched from the evidence room, and wonderful. Not least, this is one of the very few new crime books that is completely devoid of sexual assault, and for that I give it five gold stars and a round of sincere, heartfelt applause.


New Young Adult Fiction See books for kids, junior and middle readers on pages 18–19

Young Adult Book of the Month THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE Cynthia Hand HarperCollins. PB. $19.99

Lex is a self-confessed maths geek with a dream to go to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) where she can pursue her love of everything mathematics. But when her brother, Taylor, commits suicide in their garage, Lex suddenly has a lot to deal with. She has to cope with not only her own grief and anger, but her mother’s constant crying and inability to properly function, and a father who is mostly absent and whom Lex still resents due to an affair that saw him leave his family. But while so many things could have contributed to Taylor’s suicide, Lex blames herself. A therapist’s suggestion of writing a diary is at first met with indifference, but as Lex slowly writes she realises it may be the only way she can open up about what really happened. While I felt that, for the most part, Cynthia Hand has written a touching and captivating story that tackles the situation of suicide with dignity, I did find a couple of the storylines unnecessary. That said, this is a sensitive novel for teens who are interested in true-to-life stories. Ages 14 and up. Katherine Dretzke is from Readings Carlton

I WAS HERE Gayle Forman Simon & Schuster. PB. $19.99

‘I regret to inform you that I have had to take my own life’ – what a way to open a book! When Cody receives this line in an email one day after her best friend Meg has taken her own life, she feels like she has failed her friend. How could she not have seen that her friend was suicidal or even that she was depressed? Meg’s parents ask Cody to go to Meg’s dorm room to clean up and bring her possessions home and it is here that Cody meets Ben, a charismatic musician who she discovers broke Meg’s heart. However, it isn’t until Cody returns home and talks to Meg’s 10-year-old younger brother that she starts to think that someone else may have been involved in Meg’s death. I must admit, originally I thought, ‘not another teen suicide book,’ but this one was very different to what I imagined. Not only does it have a slight psychological thriller aspect, it tackles far more than suicide, looking into family life, first love, and the large role that the internet can play in our lives. I Was Here is an emotional and compelling read for ages 14 and up. Katherine Dretzke is from Readings Hawthorn

A SMALL MADNESS Dianne Touchell A&U. PB. $16.99

This is a beautifully crafted, cautionary tale for teenagers on the perils of unprotected sex and the dangers of keeping the truth hidden. Michael and Rose are both good kids going into their final year at high school – studious, involved in extra-curricular activities and with close families. They are also naiïve, inexperienced and very much in love. Ill-equipped to cope with the pregnancy that results from their first sexual experience, they deny what is happening to Rose’s body until circumstances take over.

Drawn from actual events, the story is written in alternating chapters from the perspectives of Rose and Michael with immediacy and compassion. It’s a wonderful, if tragic, tale. This book should be required reading for all teenagers 15 and up. It will also provoke powerful discussion within a classroom situation. Angela Crocombe is from Readings Carlton.

THE DOOR THAT LED TO WHERE Sally Gardner Five Mile Press. PB. $16.95

Sally Gardner’s stories step right into to your imagination and don’t leave until long after the final page and The Door That Led to Where is no exception. Sixteen-year-old AJ Flynn is given an old key that leads him through a door into 1830s London where a mystery that exists in the present day began. AJ is faced with many challenges in both time zones and is also trying to solve the mystery of his unknown (to him) father and how that has affected him and his embittered mother. AJ is a sensitive teenager who is loyal to his two close friends and as all the mysterious strands come together he is presented with the difficult choice of which era to remain in. Gardner is a masterful storyteller with a lot of heart and the juxtaposition of the two vastly different times in history is handled skillfully. A very enjoyable novel for ages 13 and up. Alexa Dretzke is from Readings Hawthorn

MOON AT NINE Deborah Ellis A&U. PB. $16.99

Fifteen-year-old Farrin has many secrets. Although she goes to a school for gifted girls in Tehran, as the daughter of an aristocratic mother and wealthy father, Farrin must keep a low profile. It is 1988; ever since the Shah was overthrown, the deeply conservative and religious government controls every facet of life in Iran. If the

Revolutionary Guard finds out about her mother's Bring Back the Shah activities, her family could be thrown in jail, or worse. The day she meets Sadira, Farrin's life changes forever. Sadira is funny, wise, and outgoing; the two girls become inseparable. But as their friendship deepens into romance, the relationship takes a dangerous turn. It is against the law to be gay in Iran; the punishment is death. Despite their efforts to keep their love secret, the girls are discovered and arrested. Separated from Sadira, Farrin can only pray as she awaits execution. Will her family find a way to save them both? Based on real-life events, multi-award winning author Deborah Ellis's new book is a tense and riveting story about a world where homosexuality is considered so abhorrent that it is punishable by death.

ALL FALL DOWN Ally Carter Scholastic. PB. $19.99

Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things: She is not crazy. Her mother was murdered. Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay. As certain as Grace is about these facts, nobody else believes her – so there’s no one she can completely trust. Not her grandfather, a powerful ambassador. Not her new friends, who all live on Embassy Row. Not Alexei, the Russian boy next door who is keeping his eye on Grace for reasons she neither likes nor understands. Everybody wants Grace to put on a pretty dress and a pretty smile to block out all her unpretty thoughts. But they can’t control Grace any more than Grace can control what she knows or what she needs to do.

THE HONEST TRUTH Dan Gemeinhart Chicken House. PB. $15.99

Mark’s like any other thirteen-year- old. He loves his dog, taking photos and hiking, but he also has cancer. When his illness returns, Mark decides he’s had enough of hospital. With his small dog Beau, he sets out to climb a mountain – and he’s not going to give up until he’s done it.

AKARNAE: MEDORAN CHRONICLES BOOK 1 Lynette Noni Pantera Press. PB. $19.99

Dreading her first day at a new school, Alex walks through a doorway and finds herself stranded in Medora, a fantasy world. Only a man named Professor Marselle can help her return home ... but he’s missing. While waiting for him to reappear, Alex attends Akarnae Academy, Medora’s boarding school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts. She soon starts to enjoy her bizarre new world, but strange things are happening at Akarnae. An unwilling pawn in a deadly game, only Alex can save the Medorans, but what if doing so prevents her from ever returning home? Will Alex risk her entire world - and maybe even her life - to save Medora?

11

12


New Non-Fiction Music

Biography

SCHUBERT’S WINTER JOURNEY: ANATOMY OF AN OBSESSION

ON IMMUNITY: AN INOCULATION

Ian Bostridge

Text. PB. $29.99

Faber & Faber. HB. $39.99

Eula Biss’s elegant examination of our fear of vaccination opens with Achilles being dipped into the River Styx and closes with the metaphor of a garden. In between, Biss talks about milkmaids and scientists, about triclosan and thimerosal, about Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and Voltaire’s Candide. Her ability to draw connections between disparate ideas is thrilling. She links vaccination to slavery, communism, vampirism, class struggles – and, always, you are in safe hands with Biss. Her work has been compared with the writings of significant female essayists, including Sontag, Didion and Solnit, and it’s easy to see why with her deep empathy for the subject, her ranging intellect and her cool sophistication. Biss is particularly interested in the different ways language and stories are used in relation to immunity. She considers our predilection for using metaphors of war to describe bodies, our obsession with achieving ‘purity’ and our belief that ‘natural’ is always superior. She writes, ‘We seem to believe, against all evidence, that nature is entirely benevolent.’ The vampire is a recurring motif. For Biss, the personal significance of this creature has its roots in her son’s birth. After an otherwise uncomplicated delivery, her uterus burst and she later received a blood transfusion for the two litres she’d reportedly lost. Biss describes this event in gorgeously evocative prose, which stayed with me long after finishing the book: ‘the lapping of small waves as the blood pooled’, ‘Human hands were in me’. But Biss’s vampire goes far beyond the personal. She writes, ‘Our vampires, whatever else they are, remain a reminder that our bodies are penetrable. A reminder that we feed off of each other, that we need each other to live.’ Over and over again, Biss’s reflections reveal the importance of community. Fittingly, this metaphor extends even into the structure of her book. Biss’s ideas don’t fit together like a jigsaw puzzle but, rather, they overlap in layers. Her chapters leak – like us, they bleed.

Sitting through a performance of Schubert’s Winterreise can be a harrowing experience. We follow the protagonist as he, in the darkness of night, embarks on a winter’s journey with only the light of the moon as his companion. Restlessly he dreams of his beloved, and when he wakes he finds himself cold and alone with no end to his torment in sight. Set to poetry by Wilhelm Müller, Franz Schubert composed Winterreise towards the end of his short life (he died of syphilis, aged only 31, in 1828), and many consider the cycle to be an expression of the composer’s confused and depressed psychological state. In Schubert’s Winter Journey: Anatomy of an Obsession, singer and scholar Ian Bostridge sets out to explore the origins of the cycle, giving it historical, social, political, and personal context. Bostridge is a renowned interpreter of the work, having performed it countless times over the course of his illustrious career, and while he concedes to be no musicologist, his insights are profoundly interesting. The book follows the structure of the cycle, and each of the 24 songs is given a chapter, starting with Bostridge’s own English translations of the original German texts. Illustrations and musical examples are provided throughout, enabling the reader to follow each chapter as though sitting through a performance of the cycle. Although sometimes distractingly tangential, Bostridge’s writing is engaging and intelligent without seeming grandiose. Unlike most singers of Bostridge’s calibre, he has no formal music qualifications, which means he writes to be understood by a similar readership. Of interest are anecdotes from Bostridge’s own performance experience, which enliven the text and contemporise the subject matter, particularly in the final chapter, ‘Der Leiermann’. This beautiful book is a must-read for lovers of Schubert’s lieder. This release coincides with Schubert: 3 Song Cycles (3CDs + DVD) by Ian Bostridge (see page 19). Alexandra Mathew is from Readings Carlton

EARTH DANCES: MUSIC IN SEARCH OF THE PRIMITIVE Andrew Ford Black Inc. PB. $29.99

Earth Dances is an original investigation of how primitivism and music intersect – a dazzling journey through music and culture. Alternating between chapters of criticism and interviews (including with Brian Eno), author and broadcaster Andrew Ford explores the relationship between primal forms of music and the most refined examples of the art.

Eula Biss

Bronte Coates is the digital content coordinator and the editorial assistant for the Readings Monthly

JUST MERCY: A STORY OF JUSTICE AND REDEMPTION Bryan Stevenson Scribe. PB. $32.99

For advocates of social justice Just Mercy presents a scathing exposé of the inequalities, racial bias and discrimination that has characterised the US justice system, most notably in the South. It documents the indefatigable dedication of social justice lawyer Bryan Stevenson, founder of the

Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. Lauded as a real-life Atticus Finch, Stevenson has championed the rights of the disenfranchised and most disadvantaged: assisting clients on death row, challenging excessive punishments, helping disabled prisoners and assisting children incarcerated in adult prisons facing life-without-parole convictions. Stevenson presents extensive case studies that document inherent injustices sanctioned by law enforcement and legitimised through abusive justice systems within the US. Most notable is the case of Walter McMillian, an African American wrongfully accused of a murder and unlawfully put on death row as a pretrial detainee. As Stevenson worked on Walter’s defence he uncovered appalling lawlessness not only on the part of law enforcement officers, but also a grave miscarriage of justice through the court system. Stevenson testified that evidence had been wilfully ignored in order to expedite Walter's conviction to appease the community with a crime solved and a criminal punished. The statistics cited by Stevenson are damning. America has the highest rate of incarceration in the world with a disproportionate African American representation among the prison population. According to Stevenson the privatisation of US prisons has corrupted initiatives that focus on rehabilitation and instead contribute to mass incarceration. In particular, the pursuit of profit has seen the creation of new crimes and harsher sentences ensuring that more people are locked up and for longer terms. Stevenson’s legacy is not limited to his successes in achieving landmark social justice reform but also his reputation as a crusader of mercy and compassion. A profoundly important work. Natalie Platten is from Readings Malvern

GUANTANAMO DIARY Mohamedou Ould Slahi Canongate. PB. $29.99

Since 2002, Mohamedou Ould Slahi has been imprisoned at the detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In all these years, the United States has never charged him with a crime. Although he was ordered to be released by a federal judge, the US government fought that decision, and there is no sign that the United States plans to let him go. His diary is not merely a vivid record of a miscarriage of justice, but a deeply personal memoir – terrifying, darkly humorous, and surprisingly gracious.

Science THE BRAIN’S WAY OF HEALING Norman Doidge Scribe. PB. Was $35 $29.99

In The Brain That Changes Itself, Dr Norman Doidge described the most important development in our understanding of the brain in 400 years, the discovery of neuroplasticity. Now, The Brain’s Way of Healing shows how this amazing discovery

really works, significantly broadening the field from traumatic brain injury to all manner of diseases and conditions. Based on astonishing case studies, Norman Doidge presents exciting, cutting-edge science with practical real-world applications, and illustrates how anyone can apply the principles of neuroplasticity to improve their brain’s performance.

Cultural Studies FURY: WOMEN WRITE ABOUT SEX, POWER AND VIOLENCE Samantha Trenoweth (ed.) Hardie Grant. PB. $27.95

It’s too easy to read statistics on violence against women and do nothing. The stats are alarming, but they rarely instigate change. Giving a voice to what’s being called a ‘silent epidemic’ needs more than numbers. Fury: Women Write About Sex, Power and Violence, edited by Samantha Trenoweth, anthologises the sometimes controversial, always rational and very loud voices of twelve women writers. Together, their disparate opinions and styles form an immovable mountain of human experience. They are defiant in the face of decades of ingrained ideology, cultural taboo and cyclical behavioural oppression. They examine and name the roads to successful activism and call out helpless sympathy and wilful indignation. Theirs is a collective critique of the abuser: the individual, society at large, the media, policy and governance. Beginning with a fictional story (that may or may not be based on true events) Trenoweth has ordered the anthology carefully and thoughtfully. In the first few pages of prose Australian culture and the associated attitude towards gender roles comes under attack. Though the story would do well to come with a trigger warning (as would each chapter that follows) it’s also a deliberately cautious toe dipped into the pond before some much harsher facts and more impacting stories are revealed. Anne Summers takes us back to the tumultuous beginnings of the first feminist women’s refuge of the modern era, Elsie. Fahma Mohamed and Lisa Zimmerman take a stand against female genital mutilation and Clem Bastow despairs of ‘online activism’, asking for more than just a #hashtag response to misogyny. It’s a quick, easy read, though the seriousness of the issues is never taken lightly. Each of the writers Trenoweth has assembled is courageous in her storytelling and never claims a universalised female experience. The strength of the book is undoubtedly its collective voice, calling for collective change. Tara Judah is from Readings St Kilda

THE UTOPIA EXPERIMENT Dylan Evans Picador. PB. $29.99

In 2006, behavioural psychologist Dr Dylan Evans abandoned his life, sold his house and belongings, and moved to the Black Isle in Scotland to found a self-sufficient community in a remote valley with a group of


acolytes recruited online. The project was called the Utopia Experiment, and the idea was to imagine the conditions that might exist in the aftermath of society’s collapse. As the months went by, what began as an experiment became deadly earnest. Factions formed with different views about the future of the human race, and competition and fighting broke out. The yurts they lived in leaked, the vegetables they farmed wouldn’t grow, and Dylan began to fear for his sanity, and then his life. This is the story of Evans’s experiment in Utopia, but also an examination of the millenarian impulse - why do these doomsday scenarios fascinate us? Is there any sensible way we can prepare for the worst?

Australian Studies EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE REFERENDUM TO RECOGNISE INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS Megan Davis & George Williams NewSouth. PB. $19.99

There are strong arguments on both sides of the debate for changing the Australian Constitution to recognise Indigenous Australians and this text looks at the legal and constitutional ramifications of making such a change. The book aims to educate the reader about what they would need to know to make an educated decision if or when a referendum is called on this topic by looking at the Australian Constitution, the 1967 referendum, what changes may be likely and how to go about this for the best chance of success. Never having read the Australian Constitution before, I found the section on the document fascinating, revealing, but unsurprising in its treatment of Indigenous Australians and initially other non-white ethnic groups: it was born at the time of the White Australia Policy. The authors, experts on Indigenous and constitutional law, have created a book with deliberately accessible language, which does not alienate, and it is not expected that the reader have a prior knowledge of things legal or constitutional. The content however is not unbiased; it leans heavily towards voting Yes. When discussing the 1967 referendum the authors note the lack of a No campaign at the time – I feel as though this accurately matches the lack of the No side of the debate in this book. The majority of the book is spent discussing why changes should be made, what they should be and how to achieve them, but I only found a few examples where the other side of the argument was even discussed. A very brief mention is made that some Indigenous leaders have reservations, particularly about recognition only being symbolic and it taking away from campaigns towards recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and treaty. The book’s title and chapter headings do allude to its Yes leaning, so in that sense the authors have not swayed from what I read their intention to be – to inform about the constitution in such a way as to educate and influence the reader towards a Yes vote. Suzanne Steinbruckner is from Readings St Kilda

THE AUSTRALIAN MOMENT George Megalogenis Hamish Hamilton. PB. $32.99

Respected political and economic writer George Megalogenis examines how we developed from a closed economy racked by oil shocks, grappled with deregulation and survived consecutive economic crises to become the last developed nation standing in the 2000s. Drawing on declassified documents and interviews with former prime ministers, The Australian Moment reveals how our leadership and community have underestimated each other’s contribution to the nation’s resilience. This edition, with new afterword and appendix, is the book of the forthcoming TV series, Making Australia Great.

Politics RED NOTICE: HOW I BECAME PUTIN’S NO. 1 ENEMY Bill Browder Bantam. PB. $35

Bill Browder comes from a family with an impressive communist pedigree. His grandfather, Earl Browder, was the leader of the Communist Party USA and his parents are well-respected leftwing academics. Browder feels himself to be out of place in his family. Neither as academic as his brother nor as esteemed as his parents, he rebels in the only way he knows how – by embracing capitalism. Red Notice follows Browder from his year in boarding school, through university and into the world of business. Browder becomes fascinated with the opportunities for investment that present themselves with the privatisation of Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. This leads him to Russia, where he founds Hermitage Capital Management and becomes one of the largest foreign investors in Russia. But Browder is soon to learn that the playing field in Russia is far from fair, and that corruption hinders progress at every turn. He begins to work to expose fraud and the punishment is swift and frightening. After conducting business in Russia for 10 years, he is detained on a return trip from London and deported, declared a threat to national security and forbidden to return. And there are consequences for angering the Russian oligarchs that are worse than deportation, something that the death of Browder’s lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, tragically demonstrates. Red Notice gives an interesting insight into the day-to-day corruption that plagues modern Russia, stifles its growth – both economically and culturally – and threatens its citizens. There have been several books concerning modern Russia in the last few years – Masha Gessen’s The Man Without a Face is a spectacular book for those looking for further reading. Browder’s perspective is an interesting one, as he brings his very American sensibilities to combat what is a uniquely Russian problem. Brigid Mullane is a freelance reviewer

Q

uentin Beresford illuminates for the first time the dark

corners of the Gunns empire. He shows it was built on close relationships with state and federal governments, political donations and use of the law to intimidate and silence its critics. Gunns may have been single-minded in its pursuit of a pulp mill in Tasmania’s Tamar Valley, but it was embedded in an anti-democratic and corrupt system of power supported by both main

parties, business and unions. Fearless and forensic in its analysis, the book shows that Tasmania’s decades-long quest to industrialise nature fails every time.

w w w. n e w s o u t h p u b l i s h i n g . c o m

13

14


Food & Gardening

GONE GIRL

N ew Fi l m & TV with Lou Fulco

with Chris Gordon

THE GREENGROCER’S DIET

DVD of the Month

$39.95

Judy Davie

THE FALL: SEASON 2

Macmillan. PB. $39.99

Some of you may have heard of this concept: ‘Eat food that is in season, eat less and limit luxurious food items like chocolate’. Davie, author and creator of The Greengrocer’s Diet already has a huge following because of her nifty website with informative and encouraging blog posts. The recipes are easy, divided into seasons and are suitable for the whole family, even those not watching their weight. It’s another great idea, another great plan to eat as we should and a top kick up the backside to make 2015 the year you became health conscious.

RACHEL KHOO’S KITCHEN NOTEBOOK Rachel Khoo Michael Joseph. HB. $39.99

Rachel Khoo is a terrific writer, spirited adventurer and cook and knows exactly how to package all her loves into one delicious bundle so that they become your loves too. Based in the UK where she has a successful BBC show and twitters to trillions, Khoo’s book shares her travels across Europe seeking out delicious national dishes. Filled with photos, her own illustrations and stories, she has tracked down the perfect dish for drinks with friends, food for large groups and tastes for everyone.

A COOK’S STORY Scott Pickett & Rita Erlich EBK. HB. $49.95

Scott Pickett, local owner–chef of tremendous north-side restaurant Estelle fame, asks what does it mean to be a great cook? And, actually, what does it take be an owner and a chef? Pickett began his career at the age of 14 in a winery restaurant and has learnt his craft with some of the greats – Phil Howard of The Square in London, Philippe Mouchel in Melbourne. A Cook’s Story tells of a life that combines a passion for food with the art and crafts of cooking.

FELONY

$29.95

The second series of The Fall picks up 10 days after the end of series one, so if you haven’t seen that I’ll wait while you go and watch 5 hours of absorbing, glacial darkness. A crime drama revolving around a serial killer at work in Belfast, The Fall immediately seems to slot into a tradition of serial killer vs police procedurals. From the start, though, The Fall offers something different. In the first episode of series one we are introduced to DSI Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) a high-ranking police officer imported from London to investigate the local constabulary. We are also introduced to Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan), grief counsellor, family man, and an escalating serial killer. The Fall is not a whodunit, a search for a monster. It is, rather, as some reviewers have suggested, a whydunit, a meditation on male violence. Series 2 opens on Stella Gibson hunting for a suspect and Spector trying to occupy his time away from killing. As Spector returns to Belfast and Gibson escalates the search for evidence we are pulled back in. This series has always been deliberate in its pacing but it is this very slow inexorable creep of anticipated violence that is so compelling. The Fall is not concerned with finding the monster who did it. As Stella repeatedly corrects, the killer is a man, not a monster. What is monstrous is the way that in perpetrating such violence he seeks to dehumanise the women he kills. Gibson won’t let the women he has killed be forgotten. Neither will the series. Spector moves his rage from mannequin to woman to mannequin repeatedly, emphasising the complete objectification of his victims. Stella Gibson brings it back to the women killed, their names, their habits, their humanity. The Fall’s great strength is in making very human something we would rather see as an aberration. The result is truly horrifying.

Three detectives become embroiled in a tense struggle after a tragic accident that leaves a child in a coma. One is guilty of a crime, one will try to cover it up, and the third will attempt to expose it. Written, produced and starring Joel Edgerton, this potent thriller explores the blurred lines between right and wrong, loyalty and betrayal and the extraordinary ripple effect of one lie.

$39.95 Available 4 February

This thriller is based on the best selling crime fiction novel by Gillian Flynn, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne reports his wife, Amy, missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick’s portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies and strange behaviour have everyone asking the same dark question: did he kill his wife?

CLARKE AND DAWE: OPERATIONAL MATTERS

HAWKING

$29.95

$19.95

A regular feature in the Australian media for 25 years, Mr Clarke and Mr Dawe continue to provide a balanced perspective at the national broadcaster. In this fine collection they seek to understand events in the troubled period between 2011 and 2015.

Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this biographical drama, documenting the life and work of theoretical physicist Professor Stephen Hawking who, despite being diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, galvanised the scientific world with his groundbreaking work on the nature of the universe.

MAYDAY

A COUNTRY ROAD: THE NATIONALS $19.95

$29.95

Mayday is a gripping new crime story set against the picture-perfect backdrop of a traditional town, one that is thrown into a sinister and paranoid world as its community discovers the gruesome murder of a young girl.

Hosted by Heather Ewert, A Country Road: The Nationals is a rollicking political history of the National Party featuring larger-than-life characters such as Bob Katter, Clive Palmer and Barnaby Joyce as well as old-timers such as Doug Anthony and Malcolm Fraser.

ACADEMY AWARD ® NOMINEE

Marie Matteson is from Readings Carlton

BABY PIP EATS Amie Harper HB. $29.95

I love the combination of practical yet quirky in a cookbook and this book is the winner for downright sweetness and sensibility. Baby Pip Eats is filled with recipes for food babies will eat, or mash, or throw, or explore. Food stylist and author Harper has captured the need for colours and textures in baby’s first experiences with food. Included in this wonderful collection are gems like gooey duck-in-a-hole eggs and steamed baby zucchinis. This book is a perfect gift for parents of 6-month-old babies through to toddler menaces.

THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN RACE RIOT $29.95 Available 4 February

The Australian race riot is a distinctive and enduring part of the way our country works. Major race riots happen here only slightly less often than we compete in the Olympics, yet they are accommodated by none of our national myths. This series, presented by Peter FitzSimons, not only reclaims the dramatic stories, heroes and villains of tribe-on-tribe street fighting but also reframes our race riots as a vicious but vital part of our polity and progress.

380 Lygon Street Carlton cinemanova.com.au


Tim Bonyhady

CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN GARDEN DESIGN

PB. Was $35 Now $12

John Patrick & Jenny Wade

GOOD LIVING STREET

Tim Bonyhady’s greatgrandparents were leading patrons of the arts in fin de siècle Vienna: Gustav Klimt painted his greatgrandmother’s portrait. In 1938, when the family fled Vienna to escape the Nazis for a small flat in a harbourside suburb of Sydney, they brought along their private collection of art and design. In Good Living Street, Bonyhady follows the lives of three generations of women in his family.

FOAL’S BREAD Gillian Mears PB. Was $32.99 Now $12

Set in hardscrabble farming country and around the show-jumping circuit in rural New South Wales prior to the Second World War, Foal’s Bread tells the story of two generations of the Nancarrow family and their fortunes as dictated by the vicissitudes of the land. This is a love story of impossible beauty and sadness, framed against a world both tender and unspeakably hard.

THE CRANE WIFE Patrick Ness PB. Was $27.99 Now $12

One night George Duncan is woken by a noise in his garden. Impossibly, a great white crane has tumbled to earth shot through its wing by a giant arrow. George helps the crane, and from the moment he watches it fly off, his life is transformed. The next day he meets and falls in love with the enigmatic Kumiko, but it is a passion that comes at a terrible price.

THE BLIND MAN’S GARDEN Nadeem Aslam PB. Was $29.99 Now $12

Set in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the months following 9/11, The Blind Man’s Garden is a story of war and of the simplest, most enduring, human impulses. Jeo and Mikal, foster-brothers from a small Pakistani city, secretly enter Afghanistan in the hope of helping and caring for wounded civilians. But it soon becomes apparent that good intentions can’t keep them out of harm’s way.

COOKING FOR CLAUDINE John Baxter PB. Was $22.99 Now $12

When John Baxter, acclaimed film critic and food lover, fell in love with a French woman, his sceptical in-laws charged him with cooking the next Christmas banquet – for eighteen people in their ancestral country home – as a test of his love. Baxter’s memoir of his year-long quest takes readers with him through misadventures and delicious triumphs.

PB. Was $39.99 Now $12.95

Gardening Australia’s design guru John Patrick and garden enthusiast Jenny Wade take you on a tour of 20 of Australia’s most beautiful gardens. Featuring the work of leading designers including Paul Bangay, Catherine Shields, Jamie Durie and Kate Cullity, this is an essential read for every gardener.

THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY James Garvey & Jeremy Stangroom HB. Was $24.99 Now $16.95

At heart, philosophy is a passionate, exhilarating quest for human understanding that cannot be reduced to dry categories or simple definitions. Packed with intriguing anecdotes and fascinating detail, The Story of Philosophy is the ideal introduction for anyone who wants to gain a new perspective on philosophy’s biggest ideas.

ELIZABETH DAVID ON VEGETABLES Elizabeth David HB. Was $39.95 Now $19.95

Culinary legend Elizabeth David revolutionised British cooking, her recipes bringing the colour and vibrancy of sunnier climes to kitchens everywhere. This collection celebrates Elizabeth’s best and most-loved vegetable recipes, spanning her lifetime’s cooking and featuring a range of delicious, timeless dishes filled with irresistible flavours and scents. Elizabeth David on Vegetables is a must-have for anyone wishing to give vegetables a starring role in the kitchen.

teams up with legendary chef Guillaume Brahimi for a celebration of the incredible breadth and diversity of French food traditions. Some of the world’s most celebrated French culinary masterpieces feature alongside beautiful rustic family favourites in this gorgeous cookbook, with simple recipes that anyone can cook at home.

THE TIMES COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE WORLD Richard Overy HB. Was $50 Now $29.95

Edited by leading modern historian Professor Richard Overy, here is the ultimate work of historical reference. From cavemen to the Cold War, from Alexander the Great to global warming, from warfare through the ages to the great voyages of exploration, The Times Complete History of the World is the authoritative text in one breathtaking historical source.

RYSZARD KAPUSCINSKI Artur Domoslawski HB. Was $49.99 Now $16.95

The life and work of Polish journalist and writer Ryszard Kapuscinski was dangerously bold and deeply enigmatic. In this controversial biography, Artur Domosławski travels the globe, following in Kapuscinski’s footsteps, delving into his private conflicts and anxieties and discovering the relationships that were the catalyst for his unique style of ‘literary reportage’. The result is a compelling and uncompromising portrait of a conflicted and brilliant individual.

Bargain Table

THE COMPLETE MIDDLE EASTERN COOKBOOK Tessa Mallos HB. Was $59.95 Now $29.95

This is a completely revised and updated edition of Tess Mallos’s iconic The Complete Middle Eastern Cookbook. Written with the home cook in mind, Mallos’s recipes are straightforward, simple to follow and work every time. Recipe and chapter introductions give valuable information about how local dishes are prepared and served, while the comprehensive glossary explains unfamiliar ingredients.

FRENCH FOOD SAFARI Maeve O’Meara & Guillaume Brahimi HB. Was $55 Now $19.95

As part of the muchloved Food Safari series, Maeve O’Meara

CREATIVE LIVES Penelope Hanley HB. Was $34.95 Now $13.95

Penelope Hanley delves into the papers of 22 well-known Australian literary and artistic figures to provide an insight into their creative lives. The papers of these writers and artists are held at the National Library of Australia and contain amazing stories such as convict James Tucker’s gruesome floggings, Judy Cassab’s outwitting of the Nazis, and the attempted sueing of Thomas Keneally for plagiarism.

NO DIRECTION HOME Robert Shelton HB. Was $39.95 Now $15.95

Robert Shelton became Bob Dylan’s friend, champion, and biographer. First published in 1986, No Direction Home took 20 years to complete and is the most comprehensive biography ever written about Bob Dylan. This updated edition includes parts of the manuscript not originally included, an updated

15

discography, bibliography and new footnotes.

HOW TO BE WELL READ John Sutherland HB. Was $49.95 Now $14.95

In the course of over 500 witty and informative pieces, literary sleuth and academic John Sutherland gives us his own very personal take on the most rewarding, most remarkable and, on occasion, most shamelessly enjoyable works of fiction ever written. How to be Well Read is the perfect reading list for the would-be literary expert.

THE GENIUS OF DONALD FRIEND Donald Friend HB. Was $39.95 Now $15.95

The Genius of Donald Friend presents a representative selection of the extraordinary drawings from the Donald Friend diaries held in the National Library of Australia. Witty, moving and evocative, these drawings chronicle the brilliance of one of Australia’s finest draughtsmen over four decades. The volume is an essential purchase for all lovers of Australian art and culture.

ZENBU ZEN Jane Lawson HB. Was $69.99 Now $16.95

In this collection of superb Japanese recipes, food writer and Japanophile Jane Lawson reveals the restorative power of Japanese food. Stressed and unhappy, Jane retreats to peaceful Kyoto to seek balance and equilibrium in her life. Her personal story offers an insight into the artistry of Japanese cuisine and explores the concept of Zenbu Zen: ‘everything is zen’.

SACRED PLACES Philip Carr-Gomm HB. Was $45 Now $19.95

Journeys to sacred places or shrines undertaken as acts of religious veneration or penance have been a feature of religious observance from the earliest times. In this lavishly illustrated book, Philip Carr-Gomm tells the stories of 50 sacred sites across all five continents, including sites venerated by all of the world’s major religions.

THE TESTAMENT OF MARY Colm Tóibín HB. Was $19.99 Now $12.95

In the ancient town of Ephesus, Mary lives alone, years after her son’s crucifixion. She has no interest in collaborating with the authors of the Gospel – her keepers, who provide her with food and shelter and visit her regularly. This tour de force of imagination and language is a portrait so vivid and convincing that our image of Mary will be forever transformed.

16


Picture Books

COUNT WITH MAISIE, CHEEP, CHEEP, CHEEP!

MIGLOO'S DAY

Lucy Cousins

William Bee

Walker Books. HB. $19.95

Walker Books. HB. $24.95

A cast of many is introduced in this very busy ‘find it’ book and children with patience and a keen eye will have plenty of fun with it. Migloo is a little dog who goes exploring in Sunnytown, visiting lots of different places that will appeal to children and meeting many people with different jobs. He is very enthusiastic and his wagging tail is even translated into human language! There is much to look for, including occupations to match with the characters at the start of the book, as well as extra puzzles at the end of the book. This may be an activity book but young kids will also learn a lot as they pore over the colourful illustrations. Children 2 and up will be very well entertained. Alexa Dretzke is from Readings Hawthorn

AS AN OAK TREE GROWS G. Brian Karas Penguin. HB. $24.99

The 200 year history of a tree may seem a little dull, but believe me this picture book is a gorgeous introduction to history and nature. From a seedling planted in 1775 by a little boy, every 25 years we see the development of the tree and the surrounding land as it becomes a busy riverside town. The only consistent things are the house next to the tree, the church and the river and watching the seasons change and the advances in transportation, communication and even occupations is magical. The oak, withstanding all manner of progress and weather, steadfast and majestic, is like a guardian angel over the town. I loved this book and spent a long time enjoying the details of the ever-changing landscape. It’s a history lesson that is fun and while interest is aroused you could also introduce the Little House On the Prairie series as a read aloud or Jeannie Bakers’ fantastic Window and Belonging picture books. For 3 and up. AD

ARMADILLO IN PARIS Julie Kraulis Tundra. HB. $29.99

Arlo is an armadillo who is always up for adventure. His grandfather, Augustin, loved adventure too. When Arlo was born, Augustin wrote travel journals about his favourite places for Arlo to use when he was old enough to go exploring on his own. When Arlo reads about Paris and the mysterious La Dame de Fer, or Iron Lady, he decides it’s time to strike out on his first adventure. He travels to France and, guided by Augustin’s journal, discovers the joys of Paris: eating a flakey croissant at a café, visiting the Louvre, walking along the Seine and, of course, meeting the Iron Lady... But who is she? Each spread has a clue about her identity, and kids will see hints of her scattered throughout the book. This book is like a gorgeous stroll through Paris with an adorable new friend – a stroll you’ll want to take again and again.

AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA Eric Bogle & Bruce Whatley (illus.) A&U. HB. $24.95

The iconic song about the Battle of Gallipoli, written by Eric Bogle in 1972 at the height of the anti-war movement, re-imagined by esteemed children’s illustrator Bruce Whatley. ‘But the band played “Waltzing Matilda” when we stopped to bury our slain. We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs; then we started all over again.’ Eric Bogle’s famous and familiar Australian song about the Battle of Gallipoli explores the futility of war with haunting power. Now Bruce Whatley’s evocative illustrations bring a heart-rending sense of reality to the tale.

Count from one to ten with Maisy in this farmyard game of hide-and-seek! It’s bedtime, but where have all of Mummy Hen’s chicks gone? Maisy is soon on the case to search for them, and you can help too! Lift the flaps along the way to see who’s hiding in the stable, in the tractor, or up in the apple tree. Cluck, cluck, cheep, cheep - find all ten chicks and make sure they get home safely!

Junior Fiction LEROY NINKER SADDLES UP Kate DiCamillo & Chris Van Dusen (illus.) Walker Books. HB. $19.95

Leroy dreams of being a cowboy; he’s got a hat, a lasso and boots – everything except something to ride! So when Maybelline, an old horse with few, yet specific, needs (lots of love, compliments and food) comes into his life, it’s the beginning of a beautiful relationship! But disaster strikes when the forgetful Leroy is remiss with his true love’s care and so, like any good cowboy, he must rescue the horse of his dreams. Full of fun illustrations, this gorgeous little treat is for younger readers who’ve graduated to chapter books. Best of all, it’s the first in the series, Tales from Deckawoo Drive. (Readers may also recognise familiar characters from the delightful Mercy Watson books.) I loved this humorous tale of friendship, love and dreaming big. Kate DiCamillo, the only author to win the prestigious Newberry award twice, has once again woven her magic words into a story any child is sure to love. Highly recommended for ages 6 and up and a wonderful read aloud for the whole family. Athina Clarke is from Readings Malvern

THE JOLLEY-ROGERS AND THE GHOSTLY GALLEON Jonny Duddle Koala Books. PB. $11.99

The small town of Dull-on-Sea is ransacked by pirates every full moon, baffling the police force and throwing its inhabitants into panic. Matilda enlists the assistance of her best friend, Jim Lad, a pirate from the Jolley-Rogers, to put an end to this situation. Matilda and the crew of the Jolley-Rogers are soon caught up in a swashbuckling adventure involving marauding, ghostly pirates with a dastardly plan. This is a fun, easy-to-read chapter book for junior readers. With illustrations on every page, this laugh-out-loud adventure is guaranteed to entertain. Recommended for ages 7 and up. AC

DOUBLE DARE YOU: ELLA DIARIES 1 Meredith Costain & Danielle McDonald Scholastic. PB. $6.99

It’s a new school year, and everything is perfect. Ella has a new uniform, glittery stationery and can’t wait to meet her new teacher. Until class starts, that is – and everything goes wrong. She can’t believe she has to sit next to her absolute worst enemy ever, Peach Parker! No matter how far she moves her pencil case across the desk, Peach is in her space. Where’s her BFF Zoe? Can this year get any worse? Tune into the secret thoughts of Ella as she battles the school bully and turns a lunchtime curse into a lunchtime craze!


17

Book of the Month THE PILOT AND THE LITTLE PRINCE Peter Sis Pushkin Press. HB. $24.99

Peter Sis is one of the most extraordinary and talented author–illustrators working today. Born in Czechoslovakia and now residing in the US, Sis is an artist with a penchant for incredible detail who writes from real life. His stunning Caldecott Honor book, Tibet Through the Red Box, is the story of his father’s journey to Tibet. Sis has also created picture book biographies of Charles Darwin, Galileo and Columbus. He now turns his attention to the life of author and pilot, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. There are three levels of text that invite exploration. The main narrative is a bare bones biography of Saint-Exupéry’s life, from his birth in 1900 during the early days of aviation history to his mysterious death while flying 44 years later. In between, the story traverses his involvement in the beginnings of air mail, two world wars and the writing of many books. The second, italicised narrative provides more detail to the story, and embedded within the illustrations themselves are many fascinating tidbits. Just when you think the pages might become too busy, you’ll turn the page to an exquisite double-page illustration. Suitable for readers aged from 5 years right through to adults, this is a truly marvellous book. Those interested in biography and the history of flight will be particularly intrigued. Peter Sis admirers, old and new, will be thrilled that he has captured the essence of such a fascinating adventurer in his inimitable style. Angela Crocombe is from Readings Carlton

LETTERS TO LEO Amy Hest & Julia Denos (illus.) Candlewick Press. PB. $16.95

The joys and trials of fourth grade – and of life with her father now that her mother is gone – play out in charming letters from Annie to her dog, Leo. Genuine and funny, Amy Hest’s firstperson narration revisits a winning young character as she takes on a new year – and a new dog – with humour, honesty, and resilience.

Middle Fiction BEYOND THE LAUGHING SKY Michelle Cuevas & Julie Morstad (illus.) Dial Books. HB. $19.99

This is a small gem of a novel which, with graceful, sensitive prose, opens up the possibilities that come with difference. It champions being true to yourself and learning to live your one precious life. Nashville hatched from an egg and he is a boy with some birdlike features, a changeling who is loved by his family and marvelled at by his community. He understands nature, particularly birds, but he feels constrained by his humanness; he yearns to be free and you want to weep at his sweet oddness. If you like your tales to be a little bit eccentric with a touch of magic then this lyrical gift of a story is for you. As the good folk of Nashville’s town say ‘there ain’t nothing that’s impossible’. For ages 8 to 11. AD

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A TOTAL AND COMPLETE GENIUS Stacey Matson Scholastic. PB. $12.99

Arthur Bean is no shrinking violet. The exceptionally bright 13-year-old boastfully broadcasts his extraordinary abilities, especially his outstanding literary talents. If you think he sounds like a challenging personality, you’d be right. He has one friend and is too blunt and tactless to make any new ones. However, you’ll

New Kids’ Books find yourself laughing out loud while reading Arthur’s funny, upbeat story. And that’s surprising given that he’s recently lost his mum. But what’s most unusual (and wonderfully refreshing) about this story is its lack of traditional narrative. Arthur’s life is revealed through his schoolwork: assignments, revealing essays, poems, cartoons and drawings; emails to and from students and teachers; and his reading journal, in which he confides all. This is an incredibly funny and bittersweet story, exploring big themes including identity, friendship, discovering tolerance and making sense of loss. Highly recommended for ages 9 and up. AC

THE 9 LIVES OF ALEXANDER BADDENFIELD John Bemelmans Marciano & Sophie Blackall (illus.) Puffin. PB. $9.99

Alexander Baddenfield is a dreadful and cruel young boy from a family of rich yet historically ill-fated villains. He manages to steal his cat’s nine lives and, emboldened by his improved odds, he embarks on a series of reckless adventures, hastily clocking up deaths. Each chapter is a dangerous and tragic adventure: there’s electrocution, drowning, a killer python and a hare-brained flight attempt from the top of the Empire State Building. It’s a hilarious read, enriched with brilliant gothic illustrations by Sophie Blackall and, like any good cautionary tale, will be very appealing to children,

particularly those with morbid fascinations. Perfect for ages 8 and up. Kim Gruschow is from Readings Hawthorn

DARKMOUTH Shane Hegarty HarperCollins. PB. $19.99

A monstrously funny debut from the new star of middle-grade adventure. Legends (also known as terrifying, human-eating monsters) have invaded the town of Darkmouth and aim to conquer the world. But don't panic! The last remaining Legend Hunter – Finn – will protect us. Finn: 12 years-old, loves animals, not a natural fighter, but tries really, really hard, and we all know good intentions are the best weapons against a hungry Minotaur, right? On second thoughts, panic. Panic now!

PENNYROYAL ACADEMY M. A. Larson Putnam. HB. $19.99

Pennyroyal Academy: Seeking bold, courageous youths to become tomorrow's princesses and knights ... Come one, come all! A girl from the forest, with no name and no idea why she is there, arrives in a bustling kingdom only to find herself at the centre of a world at war. She enlists at Pennyroyal Academy, where princesses and knights are trained to battle the two great menaces of the day: witches and dragons. There, given the name 'Evie,' she must endure a harsh training regimen under the steely glare of her Fairy Drill-sergeant, while also navigating an entirely new world of friends and enemies. As Evie learns what it truly means to be a princess, she realises surprising things about herself and her family, about human compassion and inhuman cruelty. And with the witch forces moving nearer, she discovers that the war between princesses and witches is much more personal than she could ever have imagined.

Classic of the Month I CAPTURE THE CASTLE Dodie Smith Vintage. PB. Was $12.99 $9.99

Cassandra Mortmain lives in a crumbling castle in the English countryside with her eccentric family. Life seems to her as though it’s just rolling on slowly – then the Cottons arrive. A wealthy American family, they have just inherited the nearby Hall. I Capture the Castle is a beautiful and sweet coming of age novel, written when Smith was living in California during World War II. Smith’s own homesickness and nostalgia seeps through, creating a delicate and tender picture of a place and time that was already ceasing to exist even as she was writing about it. Cassandra’s voice is so strong throughout that it cannot be possible to finish this novel and not feel as though a friend has been found for life. Isobel Moore is from Readings St Kilda

18


New M us ic Album of the Month GIRLS IN PEACETIME WANT TO DANCE Belle & Sebastian When I was asked to write this review I couldn’t help indulging in nostalgia for the time I lived in Glasgow. It was the ’90s and the popular book/music shop where I worked in the hip West End was a revolving door of established and soon-to-be cultural icons, both literary and musical – think Alasdair Gray, Irvine Welsh, Teenage Fanclub and The Pastels.I once served John Peel, or, rather, his minder on behalf of Mr Peel, who was standing in the background. You get the picture, and yes, I am bragging a little! Enter Belle & Sebastian. They were hardly more than a twinkle in the Scottish music scene’s eye yet without the help of social media had already sold out of the 1000 copy vinyl pressing of their debut album, Tigermilk, and people were clamouring for more. I still can’t believe that was 18 years ago. They were regular customers who came to listen to, buy and enthuse about music. I suspect no one in the band would have predicted what was to follow – but who does? I remember hearing them for the first time in a small venue where the audience sat on the floor, cross-legged and captivated. It’s a completely different story now, with sell-out concerts worldwide, but to me their music retains a touch of innocence from those early days. Their fans are still enthralled and fiercely loyal; they’ve just collected more and more along their extraordinary journey. Belle & Sebastian have always passionately embraced their musical and artistic influences and their long-awaited ninth studio album, Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance, is no exception. The range of the album is indicative of how much they enjoy challenging themselves as musicians and, consequently, the band’s evolution. Opening track ‘Nobody’s Empire’ is lyrically the most personal and from there you’ll find everything from dancefloor number ‘The Party Line’,infused with an ’80s electro-pop sensibility, to ‘Cat With the Cream’, a beautiful ballad with lush strings and vocal harmonies. They have even dared to set a song about Sylvia Plath, ‘Enter Sylvia Plath’, to a wonderful, driving disco beat! It may come as a surprise to some fans that this album is so danceable, but the superbly crafted songs are still full of their trademark style. Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is a story about love, and life, but it’s also a joyous celebration of ‘pop’ power. Judi Mitchell is from Readings Carlton

ABSENT FATHERS Justin Townes Earle $21.95

Absent Fathers was recorded alongside Single Mothers, the critically acclaimed album released in September 2014. The two were originally conceived as a double album, but as Townes Earle began to sequence it, he felt each half needed to make its own statement and they took on their own identities. These two albums perfectly showcase exactly why Justin Townes Earle is considered a forefather of contemporary Americana.

Pop THE THIRD Kitty, Daisy & Lewis Was $21.95

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have spent the last three years writing songs and building a new 16-track analogue studio. Once they got their hands on their new studio space, they knew that they wanted to take the third album to another level with the songwriting, style and production. An early fan, Mick Jones (The Clash) was keen to get involved, and as producer he immediately started weekly rehearsals, learning and playing the songs.

New Classical Music

MODERN BLUES

Maurizio Pollini

Waterboys $21.95

$21.95

Country

down for a 5-piece band. We knew these songs extremely well. It was all done live. Maybe one or two takes. No overdubbing. No vocal booths. No headphones. No separate tracking, and, for the most part, mixed as it was recorded. ’

In practice, Jones became a new band member during the months of rehearsing, and he is a guest on a couple of tracks. The Third is a unique, self-penned studio album that sets Kitty, Daisy & Lewis apart from anyone else today. The stories in this album resonate with moods and melodies that touch you in ways that are both uplifting and unnerving. With three different writers and multi-instrumentalists in the band, each track is a sparkling gem that reflects a different facet of experience.

THE PHOSPHORESCENT BLUES Punch Brothers $21.95

After working with T-Bone Burnett numerous times – most recently on the soundtrack for the Joel and Ethan Coen film Inside Llewyn Davis – they decided to join forces with the multiple Grammy Award–winning producer for their new record. Thile explains one of the ways the music on The Phosphorescent Blues reflects the band’s view of modern life.

SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT Bob Dylan $21.95

Upon the announcement of the album’s forthcoming release, Bob Dylan commented, ‘I’ve wanted to do something like this for a long time but was never brave enough to approach 30-piece complicated arrangements and refine them

In true Waterboys style, a spirit of exploration defines the album. Few bands have changed as much as this one. Formed in 1983, on their first three albums, The Waterboys sculpted a layered post-punk sound, culminating in 1985’s sky-scraping This is the Sea. Since then, their music has never ceased to evolve – from the hugely influential mix of Celtic folk, gospel, country and rock on the classic Fisherman’s Blues, to the fired-up poetic passion of An Appointment with Mr Yeats. Modern Blues is an electric, eclectic, soulful, bold and gloriously freewheeling rock‘n’roll record.

ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER TIME Various 2CD $34.95

A one-night-only concert was held at the New York City Town Hall late in 2013 to celebrate the music of the Coen brothers’ film Inside Llewyn Davis. This album features performances by The Secret Sisters, Lake Street Dive, The Milk Carton Kids, Rhiannon Giddens, Punch Brothers, Joan Baez and Elvis Costello, The Avett Brothers, Colin Meloy, Marcus Mumford, Conor Oberst, Willie Watson, Gillian Welch, and Jack White.

SYLVIE Sylvie Simmons $19.95

The label Light In The Attic has an impeccable reputation for uncovering rare and precious albums from the past. Their latest release, Sylvie, is the debut album by esteemed writer and Leonard Cohen biographer Sylvie Simmons. It is haunting and out-of-time, but it is also a brand-new album, by a singer-writer who has been making music since she was a little girl but just for herself. The raw, delicate, and sensual songs about love and love gone wrong are performed on a ukulele, which here sounds like a broken harp or a heartbroken guitar.

I LOVE YOU HONEYBEAR Father John Misty $19.95

Joshua Tillman is back with I Love You Honeybear, his second release under the Father John Misty moniker. The songs are a narration of Josh Tillman’s experience of falling in love, which he says ‘means different things to different people, but which I found incredibly inspiring, personally and creatively.’ What came out is something meticulous but natural, dense but still spacious.

BEETHOVEN: COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS (8 CDS) DG. 4794120. $64.95

Winning the 1960 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw at the age of 18 kicked off an extraordinary career for Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini. His recording of Beethoven’s piano sonatas began in the mid-1970s with an award-winning reading of the late sonatas, and he only completed the cycle (32 in total) in 2014. Pollini is famous for crisp, clear precision, a dazzling technique and lightning speeds, but never to the point of obfuscating the emotional intensity of these magnificent works. He has been accused of clinical intellectual detachment, but even a cursory listen to the Adagio sostenuto movement of the ‘Hammerklavier’ and the opening movement of the ‘Moonlight’ render such assessments ridiculous. Pollini’s ‘Appassionata’ is particularly noteworthy, and I have never recovered from seeing him perform it at Carnegie Hall in 2013, during which I was on the edge of my seat. This is a masterful set that is both an excellent starting point and an essential complement to other core cycles. And priced at $64.95, it’s an absolute steal. Lisa MacKinney is from Readings Hawthorn

STRAVINSKY: CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND WIND ORCHESTRA Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Chandos. CHSA5147. $29.95

On his latest recording pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (who toured Australia in late 2014) explores the complete works for piano and orchestra of one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century: Igor Stravinsky. Beginning with the expressive and weighty ‘Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments’ a work that Bavouzet considers one of the greatest concertos of the twentieth century, the listener is quickly drawn into this work with its strong rhythms and polyphony and Bavouzet quickly sets the tone of this fascinating new recording. Next the ‘Capriccio’, a piece that Stravinsky composed as a repertoire alternative to his concerto. This is followed by the antitonal, twelve-tone idiom of ‘Movements’ which represents Stravinsky’s experiments in the use of serial techniques. And the final work is Petrushka. Here the piano is not a solo instrument but rather part of the orchestral fabric. Moreover, Bavouzet himself has described blending in with the fortissimos of the orchestra as ‘one of the best musical experiences of my life’.

THE FLATTERER: CECILE CHAMINADE PIANO MUSIC Joanne Polk Steinway & Sons. STNS30037. $29.95

Joanne Polk, noted pianist and champion of music by female composers, makes her debut on the Steinway


Classical Album of the Month GABRIEL FAURÉ: REQUIEM OP. 48 GOUNOD: AVE VERUM IN E FLAT MAJOR/ LES SEPT PAROLES DU CHRIST SUR LA CROI Herve Niquet/Flemish Radio Choir Evil Penguin. EPRC015. $27.95

Fauré’s Requiem is masterpiece. Robust as it is intimate, the combination of choir, soloists, organ, and orchestra creates astonishing dramatic impact. Fauré worked on the setting over a thirteen-year period, during which time it received at least three performances. The original five-movement version, titled Un Petit Requiem, was performed at an architect’s funeral, conducted by the composer and with treble soloist in the famous ‘Pie Jesu’.

‘Robust as it is intimate, the combination of choir, soloists, organ, and orchestra creates astonishing dramatic impact.’ This new recording, conducted by Hervé Niquet and featuring the Flemish Radio Choir and Brussels Philharmonic, seems closer to the second iteration of the work, complete with seven movements and larger orchestral and choral forces. There are some unusual features, the most obvious being a group of sopranos performing ‘Pie Jesu’, which is usually the preserve of either soprano or treble soloist. However, different doesn’t necessarily mean worse, and the fullness of women’s sound, while without the purity of a single voice, lends a lusciousness to the movement it often otherwise lacks. Baritone Andrew Foster-Williams gives his operatic all in ‘Libera Me’, a highlight of the work and of this particular CD. The recording occasionally features idiosyncratic Latin pronunciation, which is again a difference rather than a deficit. The following ‘Ave Verum’ and ‘Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross’, both by Gounod, although less grand than the Fauré, are still dramatic and grave, exquisitely performed by the Flemish Radio Choir. The absence of orchestra highlights the precision and delicious blend of the choir, and their capacity for well-controlled dynamic variation. If you are a stickler for the pure, English brand of choral music, this is not the recording for you. However if, like me, you love the sound of a full-bodied choir with a luscious soprano section balanced out by a dramatic and weighty bass, then your record collection is not complete without this fantastic CD. Alexandra Mathew is from Readings Carlton

label with this irresistible collection of Cécile Chaminade’s piano works. Coming of age in Paris in the second half of the 19th century, Cécile Chaminade’s major models were Berlioz, Meyerbeer, Gounod, Bizet and Franck – all renowned composers of serious Romantic music. When she reached her own compositional maturity in the 1880s, she made her first mark writing in genres associated with these recognised masters. Yet her true voice emerged later, writing smaller character pieces for piano. Her so-called ‘salon’ pieces are the same kind of short works that Brahms and Chopin made popular – many are true virtuoso works, equal in technical difficulty to any of the concert etudes of Chopin or Liszt. Based on this small collection of Chaminade’s music, we can only wonder why she has had to wait so long to be admitted to the pantheon of great French Romantic composers.

1865: SONGS OF HOPE AND HOME-SONGS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR Anonymous 4 Harmonia Mundi. HMU807549. $29.95

The songs of the Civil War era tell a story about life in volatile times, with the feelings evoked by the music and lyrics – longing and grief, faith and patriotism, nostalgia and hope – utterly resonant for us even 150 years after the conflict’s end. These are deeply human feelings, universal and timeless. While many of these songs are like

discoveries in an old family chest, some are still familiar to us now. The melody of the Elvis Presley hit ‘Love Me Tender,’ for example, can be traced back to the mid-19th-century tune ‘Aura Lea,’ while ‘Shall We Gather at the River?’ and Stephen Foster’s ‘Hard Times’ remain standards in the American treasury of song. With this release, Anonymous 4 completes a trilogy of Americana recordings, begun with ‘American Angels’ and ‘Gloryland’. As with their previous Americana albums, Anonymous 4 – sought out collaboration within the folk music community. The featured guest on 1865 is Bruce Molsky, whose fiddle, banjo, guitar and vocals are a galvanising presence. This is their final recording after nearly 30 years together.

GUITAR MUSIC OF COLUMBIA Jose Antonio Escobar Naxos. 8573059. $14.95

Colombia’s thriving cultural heritage derives from Spanish, African and Amerindian elements. The rich blend of colour and rhythmic vitality found in the synthesis of dance forms and styles, notably the sharply accented Andean bambuco (‘pursuit dance’), the flowing, graceful pasillo and the traditional, rhythmic guabina, recurs throughout this programme. Poignant expressiveness and intricate virtuosity are features of Montaña’s ‘Suite Colombiana’ Nos. 2 and 3. Saboya’s ‘Suite Ernestina’ includes characteristically South American melodies and rhythms, while Caribbean rhythmic patterns are

19

recreated in González’s ‘Preludio’. On his third recording on the Naxos label Chilean guitarist Jose Antonio Escobar takes the listener on a joyous ride and his playing is a delight from beginning to end. This recording is definitely one to savour.

collaborative process. This release coincides with Ian Bostridge’s new book on ‘Winterreise’, Schubert’s Winter Journey: Anatomy of an Obsession (see review on page 12).

SCHUBERT: 3 SONG CYCLES (3CDS + DVD)

Classical Special

Ian Bostridge

RICHARD WAGNER – GREAT RECORDINGS (40 CDS)

Warner. 2564620418. $32.95

Particularly renowned for his insightful and sensitive performances, acclaimed tenor Ian Bostridge is on fine form in these three major Schubert song cycles. Alongside his affecting interpretation of ‘Die schöne Müllerin’ and deeply felt ‘Winterreise’ is his celebrated recording of ‘Schwanengesang’, which won golden opinions for its ‘marvellously haunting expression’ (Gramophone). This threedisc set includes a bonus DVD of ‘Winterreise’ with pianist Julius Drake, this is a unique dramatisation of Schubert’s terrifying and deeply-moving portrayal of human desolation. Studio sets, actors, costumes and props lead the song cycle a new close-up dynamism, extend its interpretative possibilities and uncover fresh allusion and meaning. Also included on the DVD is the documentary film Over the Top with Franz. This documentary illuminates the difficulties of bringing ‘Winterreise’ to the screen. Focusing on the developing relationships of the artists, from first rehearsal to final day of filming, this is a rare and humorous insight into the

Various Sony. MSWK543504.2. Was $149.95 $39.95 (while stocks last)

This 40CD box set contains complete operas and recitals alongside orchestral works and piano transcriptions. Features recordings of legendary artists such as Kirsten Flagstad, Lauritz Melchior, Helen Traubel & Gösta Winbergh as well as more recent recordings featuring such leading artists as Leonard Bernstein, Herbert van Karajan, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta and many more. Also included is the complete Ring Cycle conducted by Marek Janowski.

DID YOU KNOW…? THE DECCA SOUND The Mono Years 70 years ago, amidst war-time privations, a small team at Decca made technological breakthroughs that brought hi-fi to the world. This is its story told over 53 CDs recorded from 1944–56 (with original sleeves) encased in a luxury box.

PRE-ORDER NOW and RECEIVE A BOXED SET “MUSIC OF THE MONARCHS” *

ABSOLUTELY FREE

*only while stock lasts, so hurry and place your pre-order with Readings now!

DIANA KRALL Wallflower Diana Krall tells the story of the music that meant so much to her as she was growing up including California Dreamin’, Desperado, Don’t Dream It’s Over and other songs that are so much part of everyone’s lives.

#ESCAPE What’s your perfect escape? Here is music to chill, relax and detox to: William Orbit, club DJ Schiller, Ólafur Arnalds, Norah Jones join you for your summer at the beach, for your ideal getaway.