About the Book: Maxine 'Max' Mayberry, an ad executive with writing ambitions, is holed up in a friend's apartment after discovering her long-term boyfriend in bed with another woman. If that wasn't bad enough, Max has recently been diagnosed with a brain tumour. Enter Johnny: a cheeky yet charming Tinder pen pal and the perfect … Continue reading Book Review: Duck à l’Orange for Breakfast by Karina May
Contemporary Fiction
Book Review: Prettier if She Smiled More by Toni Jordan
About the Book: One perfect life. One disastrous week. The brand-new novel from bestselling, acclaimed and beloved author Toni Jordan. As the eldest child in a single-parent family, Kylie's always had more important things on her mind than smiling for random strangers. Controlling her job, her home, her romantic life and - most importantly - … Continue reading Book Review: Prettier if She Smiled More by Toni Jordan
Book Review: Small Joys of Real Life by Allee Richards
About the Book: Shortlisted for both The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers and the Victorian Premier's Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. The night Eva shared a smile with Pat, something started. Two weeks later, lying together in her bed, Pat said, 'You can't live your life saying you'll get around to doing something you know … Continue reading Book Review: Small Joys of Real Life by Allee Richards
Book Review: The Gifted Son by Genevieve Gannon
About the Book: A Sydney family's picture-perfect life is upended in an unputdownable new novel from the bestselling author of The Mothers. With two bright children, a beautiful home and a husband she's always depended on, Lillian Hogarth considers herself blessed. Until, on her son Jamie's final day of high school, he fails to come home. … Continue reading Book Review: The Gifted Son by Genevieve Gannon
Book Review: Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith
About the Book: A nearly abandoned Italian village, the family that stayed, and long-buried secrets from World War II. On a hilltop in Umbria sits Valetto. Once a thriving village-and a hub of resistance and refuge during World War II-centuries of earthquakes, landslides and the lure of a better life have left it neglected. Only … Continue reading Book Review: Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith
Book Review: Without Further Ado by Jessica Dettmann
About the Book: Can a modern woman take lessons in love from Shakespeare? Beth O'Leary meets 10 Things I Hate About You in this sparkling romantic comedy from beloved Aussie author Jessica Dettmann. 'Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more. Men were deceivers ever ...' Since she was sixteen, Willa's curious touchstone in life and work has been … Continue reading Book Review: Without Further Ado by Jessica Dettmann
Book Review: A Country of Eternal Light by Paul Dalgarno
About the Book: An astonishingly inventive, playful, witty, poignant and deeply moving novel from one of Australia's most exciting writers. Margaret Bryce, deceased mother of twins, has been having a hard time since dying in 2014. These days she spends time with her daughters – Eva in Madrid, and Rachel and her family in Melbourne … Continue reading Book Review: A Country of Eternal Light by Paul Dalgarno
Book Review: Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
About the Book: Olivia McAfee and Ava Campanello have each had a change of life forced upon them. Olivia never dreamed that after her messy divorce she would find herself back in her sleepy New Hampshire home town, living in the house she grew up in and taking over her father's beekeeping business. Ava is … Continue reading Book Review: Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
Book Review: Tuesday Evenings with the Copeton Craft Resistance by Kate Solly
About the Book: A heartwarming story of friendship in an imperfect world, this is binge-worthy, feel-good fiction at its best. Meredith established the Copeton Crochet Collective (no knitters please) because it would be like having friends, only with her in charge, and because there would be no men. It comes as a nasty shock, then, … Continue reading Book Review: Tuesday Evenings with the Copeton Craft Resistance by Kate Solly
Book Review: Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes
About the Book: Nisha Cantor and Sam Kemp are two very different women. Nisha, 45, lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband inexplicably cuts her off entirely. She doesn't even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in. That's because Sam - 47, middle-aged, struggling to keep herself … Continue reading Book Review: Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes
Theresa Smith Writes 