About the Book: Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in Harvard's library. He knows not to ask too many questions, stand out too much, stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve 'American … Continue reading Book Review: Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
Family
Book Review: Seeing Other People by Diana Reid
About the Book: After two years of lockdowns, there’s change in the air. Eleanor has just broken up with her boyfriend, Charlie’s career as an actress is starting up again. They’re finally ready to pursue their dreams—relationships, career, family—if only they can work out what it is they really want. When principles and desires clash, … Continue reading Book Review: Seeing Other People by Diana Reid
Book Review: Faithless by Alice Nelson
About the Book: Set between India and England, Faithless is the story of Cressida, a writer and translator, and her consuming love for Max, an enigmatic older writer – and married man. Cressida’s passion for Max engulfs her from the first giddy rush of sensation when she meets him in the mountains of southern India. It is … Continue reading Book Review: Faithless by Alice Nelson
Book Review: Salt and Skin by Eliza Henry-Jones
About the Book: Grief-stricken and on the verge of a breakdown, Luda Managan and her two teenaged children try to make a home for themselves on a collection of harsh and haunted Scottish islands. Luda, a photographer, is mesmerised by the extraordinary magic of the islands and soon finds herself condemned by the local community after … Continue reading Book Review: Salt and Skin by Eliza Henry-Jones
Book Review: I’m Sorry You Feel that Way by Rebecca Wait
About the Book: Immensely readable and gorgeously comic, this is Rebecca's finest novel yet. For Alice and Hanna, saint and sinner, growing up is a trial. There is their mother, who takes a divide and conquer approach to child-rearing, and their father, who takes an absent one. There is their older brother Michael, whose disapproval … Continue reading Book Review: I’m Sorry You Feel that Way by Rebecca Wait
Book Review: Bone Memories by Sally Piper
About the Book: Even though sixteen years have passed, Billie will never recover from the murder of her daughter, Jess, and clings to her memory — and the site of her death — like a life raft. Daniel, who was a toddler when his mother was killed, can recall little of what happened but knows … Continue reading Book Review: Bone Memories by Sally Piper
Book Review: Dinner at the Schnabels by Toni Jordan
About the Book: You can marry into them, but can you ever really be one of them? A novel about marriage, love and family. Things haven't gone well for Simon Larsen lately. He adores his wife, Tansy, and his children, but since his business failed and he lost the family home, he can't seem to … Continue reading Book Review: Dinner at the Schnabels by Toni Jordan
Book Review: Home and Other Hiding Places by Jack Ellis
About the Book: When eight-year-old Fin and his mum Lindy travel to spend Christmas with his Gran in Sydney, Fin assumes they’ll return to their isolated country property – the only home he’s ever known. But he soon discovers that this large and crumbling riverside house, surrounded by bush and unwelcoming neighbours, is his home … Continue reading Book Review: Home and Other Hiding Places by Jack Ellis
Book Review: French Braid by Anne Tyler
About the Book: The major new novel from the beloved prize-winning author -- a brilliantly perceptive, painfully true, and funny journey deep into one family's foibles, from the 1950s right up to the changed world of today. When the kids are grown and Mercy Garrett gradually moves herself out of the family home, everyone is … Continue reading Book Review: French Braid by Anne Tyler
Book Review: The Islands by Emily Brugman
About the Book: In the mid-1950s, a small group of Finnish migrants set up camp on Little Rat, a tiny island in an archipelago off the coast of Western Australia. The crayfishing industry is in its infancy, and the islands, haunted though they are by past shipwrecks, possess an indefinable allure. Drawn here by tragedy, … Continue reading Book Review: The Islands by Emily Brugman
Theresa Smith Writes 