On the Savage Side | Tiffany McDaniel | $32.99 | Hachette | Matilda’s Review
Recently I’ve heard people say that McDaniel is one of America’s best living authors. After reading On The Savage Side -- brutal, melancholic but with a sting of optimism -- I’m inclined to agree. Arc and her twin sister Daffy live in downtrodden Chillicothe, Ohio, in a house full of women. Their mother, Addie, and their idiosyncratic Aunt Clover are struggling with heroin addiction, surviving by working in the local sex industry, and grappling with the death of the twins’ father. “Queens of Chillicothe”. As their friends begin to go missing, turning up in grizzly drownings in the town river, Arc and Daffy are desperate to keep holding on.
FEBRUARY BOOK OF THE MONTH
FEBRUARY ILF BOOK OF THE MONTH
Smashing Serendipity | Louise K. Hansen | $32.99 | Fremantle Press | Steph’s Review
Louise K. Hansen is a Binjarib Nyoongar, Palyku Mulbpa and Irish woman and this is her story. Told through chronological vignettes, reading this memoir felt very much like sitting in a yarning story, listening to one’s grandparent share snippets of their life and teach important lessons. And that is exactly what Louise set out to do, writing the novel to teach her family of her experiences as an Aboriginal woman growing up in the 1950s and 60s. Her stories also shed light on their political and social context, and I found this to be a very accessible and open account of hers and her community’s resilience, conviction and strength.
FEBRUARY KIDS BOOK OF THE MONTH
Tumbleglass | Kate Constable | $17.99 | Allen & Unwin | Carolina’s Review
When Rowan finds a mysterious ring in her sister’s bedroom, the pair are transported back in time. Trouble strikes when Rowan accidentally disrupts the laws of time and wakes up to her sister missing and her family having forgotten she existed. Rowan’s journey to save her sister is laced with magic, lessons in bravery, and no small amount of mystery. Both captivating and heartwarming, Tumbleglass is perfect for middle-grade readers who want a story they can sink their teeth into. Brace yourself for unexpected twists and turns! A beautiful and clever classic time-slip novel.
MARCH BOOK OF THE MONTH
Dress Rehearsals | Madison Godfrey | $24.99 | Allen & Unwin | Tahlia’s Review
This new poetic offering from Madison Godfrey is a searing memoir in verse. Published by Joan, an exciting new imprint for Allen & Unwin, Dress Rehearsals is a book to take your time with, offering an intimate meditation on the performance of femininity, through adolescence into adulthood. Godfrey shares hard won wisdom with a clear poetic voice, and no shortage of wit. It is fierce, sharp, rebellious, and ultimately loving. A song for those who will see themselves in its pages.
Gigorou | Sasha Kutabah Sarago | $34.99 | Bloomsbury | Reem’s Review
Gigorou (jig-goo-roo) means beauty or beautiful in Jirrbal, the language of Sasha Kutabah Sarago’s grandmother. And this book is just that, absolute beauty. Sasha begins by asking the reader to get ready to embrace their Gigorou, I knew I was in for a journey. Powerful and thought provoking all the way. Ending with a letter written to her niece, that’s filled with wisdom and love. This book has it all.
MARCH
ILF
BOOK OF THE MONTH
MARCH KIDS BOOK OF THE MONTH
The Hotel Witch | Jessica Miller | $16.99 | Text Publishing | Lexie’s Review
I never knew I wanted to be a witch until now! Sybil works in a hotel with her grandmother, where they both use their magic to keep things running smoothly. But rather than hiding their magic it’s the appeal of the hotel! When someone comes to stay in the hotel and gets her grandmother stuck on the thirteenth floor, Sybil must rise to the occasion, summon all of her powers, and take it upon herself to save her grandmother. A charming, heartwarming tale of courage and patience.
A Country of Eternal Light | Paul Dalgarno | $32.99 | Harper Collins
Margaret Bryce has been having a hard time since dying in 2014. Spanning more than seventy-five years this novel follows Margaret as she flits from wartime Germany to Thatcher’s Britain to modern-day Scotland, Australia and Spain. A poignant, utterly original and bitingly funny novel about complicated grief.
Funny Ethnics | Shirley Le | $29.99 | Hachette
Based in the streets of Western Sydney, I was so excited to get my hands on this coming-of-age debut. I knew I was going to be taken on a journey between two worlds through the eyes of a child of immigrant parents. The streets of Yagoona come to life with Le’s humour, honesty, and heart. -
ReemShirley | Ronnie Scott | $32.99 | Penguin
It’s been 20 years since her mother was photographed, blood-soaked, outside the family home. Since that time, the girl has grown up, bought an apartment, learned her own cooking style, fallen in love. But strange things are in the air. The daughter of a celebrity must discover who is worthy of her devotion and who is just a fan.
Higher Education | Kira
McPherson | $34.99 | Ultimo Press
Sam is struggling to find her place at university. That changes when a lecturer introduces Sam to Julia, his wife and a lawyer who agrees to mentor Sam through law school. With time, this unspools into a dynamic of mutual preoccupation and boundary crossing, as they navigate their feelings for one another.
Little Plum | Laura McPheeBrown | $32.99 | Text Publishing
Coral is 29 years old and she’s struggling: with her mental health, her drinking and with her difficult mother, Topaz. And now there’s a thing growing inside her. McPhee-Browne writes in such a deft and striking manner about mental illhealth, and at times the book feels like a body horror. This is an exuberant and empathetic novel.
MatildaAn Ungrateful Instrument | Michael Meehan
| $32.99 | NewSouth
A novel that portrays a son’s struggle to be more than a mere instrument of his father’s ambition, both having been brought up as child music prodigies in the court of Louis XIV. Narrated by the deaf daughter and sister of the Forqueray family, this novel can almost be heard like music.
Return to Valetto | Dominic Smith | $32.99
| Allen & Unwin
The story of a nearly abandoned Italian village the family that remains, and long-buried secrets from World War II. When a family member returns, he uncovers a great betrayal, a disappearance and an unspeakable act of violence. This is a page-turning excavation of the ruins of history; who will answer for the crimes of the past?
The Bell of the World | Gregory Day
| $32.99 |
Transit Lounge
When a troubled Sarah returns from boarding school in England, she is sent to live with her eccentric Uncle Ferny on the family property, Ngangahook. With the sound of the ocean surrounding everything they do on the farm, Sarah and her uncle form an inspired bond with each other and the natural world.
Age of Vice | Deepti Kapoor |
$32.99 | Hachette
New Delhi, 3 a.m. A speeding Mercedes jumps the kerb, and in the blink of an eye five people are dead. It’s a rich man’s car, but when the dust settles a shell-shocked servant is the only one who remains. This is the age of vice, where pleasure and power are everything, and the family ties that bind can also kill.
Bad Cree | Jessica Johns | $29.99 |
Scribe Publications
Mackenzie is having nightmares - the thing is, they’re so vivid that it’s clear they are trying to tell her something. As the story unfolds, of a young Cree woman dealing with grief and family trauma, the mystery of her dreajms unfolds with absolute intrigue! This stunning prose is evocative of Melissa Lucashenko’s Too Much Lip! - Steph
Victory City | Salman Rushdie | $32.99 | Penguin
In fourteenth-century southern India, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history, as she embodies the goddess Parvati and brings about the rise of a great city called Bisnaga. The epic tale of a woman who breathes an empire into existence, only to be consumed by it over the centuries.
Wandering Souls | Cecile Pin | $29.99 | Harper Collins
One night, not long after the last American troops leave Vietnam, siblings Anh, Thanh and Minh flee their village and embark on a perilous boat journey to Hong Kong. This is a heart-wrenching portrait of a family in unimaginable adversity, exploring the power of stories to heal generational wounds.
Weasels in the Attic | Hiroko
Oyamada | $24.99 | Granta
Is there anything more wonderful than interwoven short stories?
These three stories (making up the smallest novella you ever saw) all centre around our unnamed protagonist and his wife, and his best friend. It’s staggering how much heart break, envy, and love is packed into under a hundred pages . - Lexie
American Mermaid | Julia Langbein | $32.99 | Text
Publishing
A woman braves the casual slights and cruel calculations of a ruthless LA industry town, where she discovers a beating heart in her own fiction, a mermaid who will fight to move between worlds without giving up her voice.
The Shards | Bret Easton Ellis | $32.99 | Allen & Unwin
Bret is in his final year at prestigious Buckley College. His Los Angeles is about to be rocked by a series of grisly killings by a serial killer dubbed “The Trawler”, and Bret’s personal world is shaken by the arrival at Buckley of Robert Mallory, attractive and mysterious... The Shards is Ellis with all guns blazing. - James
The World and All That It Holds | Aleksandar Hemon | $34.99 | Pan Macmillan
An epic, continent-spanning story of a world in convulsion, of millions broken between war, displacement and revolution, and of human bonds so strong that they stretch from Sarajevo to Shanghai without snapping, and encompass all.
The Heroines | Laura Shepperson | $32.99 | Hachette
When writing of ancient times, women are often the chased victim in need of rescuing. With The Heroines, Laura Shepperson blows that all away; giving her “Heroines” a voice, giving warmth and depth to her female leads as they deftly manoeuvre through the confines of ancient Athens, in this rich tale of Royal scandal. - Robert
Old Babes in the Wood | Margaret Atwood | $45.00 | Random House
Atwood’s latest collection of short stories showcase with sparkling clarity the breadth and depth of the literary talent she has become so renowned for. How masterfully she evokes a keen sense of nostalgia through her stories that span a variety of genres and explore aging, loss, and the evolution of relationships was particularly notable to me. Reflective, and at times hilarious.
- CarolinaA Minor Chorus | Billy-Ray Belcourt | $27.99
Birnam Wood | Eleanor Catton | $32.99 | Allen & Unwin
Five years ago, Mira Bunting founded a guerrilla gardening group: Birnam Wood. Then Mira stumbles on an answer, a way to finally set the group up for the long term: the town of Thorndike is abandoned and fit for a farm. But Mira is not the only one interested in Thorndike.
A gripping psychological thriller, Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its wit, drama and immersion in character.
The Bandit Queens | Parini Shroff | $32.99 | Murdoch Books
- Matilda
Belcourt has written a gripping and gorgeous work about Indigenous endurance. Our unnamed narrator returns home to Alberta after abandoning his thesis, and begins to find the shape of a novel in the stories of those people around him. This is a literary take on the small-town narrative that effortlessly weaves literary and gender theory into the fabric of its striking story. An absolute must-read.
In rural India, an isolated woman falsely accused of killing her vanished husband becomes an unwilling consultant to other aspiring widows. In darkly irreverent and fresh prose, this unforgettable feminist revenge thriller acknowledges the unfortunate status quo for women everywhere, and shows that female connections and friendships are what will carry us through the darkness and absurdity of life.
Furies: Stories of the Wicked, Wild and Untamed | $32.99 | Hachette
In Memoriam | Alice Winn | $32.99 | Penguin
It’s 1914, and Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates from an idyllic British boarding school are eventually drawn to the adventure of the front. An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip.
Hungry
Ghosts | Kevin
Jared Hosein | $32.99 | Bloomsbury
Two families collide when a wealthy farmer disappears - setting into motion great change in a divided community, A mesmerising novel about violence, religion, family and class, rooted in the wild and pastoral landscape of colonial central Trinidad.
Blue Hunger | Viola Di Grado | $27.99 | Scribe Publications
Blue Hunger thrums - with uncertainty, grief, desire, and the shimmering lights of Shanghai. The novel follows Ruben as she navigates a turbulent but compelling relationship with the electric stranger, Xu. Pleasure, pain, danger, and passion coagulate and foment inside this compelling duo. Viola Di Grado has crafted a selfassured and haunting novel, sure to be loved by readers of Ottessa Moshfegh and Jamie Marina Lau.
To celebrate Virago’s fiftieth birthday, fifteen award-winning, bestselling authors have written original stories embodying the spirit of Virago: feminist, fearless, fun, wild and defiant of convention. This blazing cauldron of a book is an entertaining and irresistible collection of feminist tales for our time. Includes works from Margaret Atwood, Ali Smith, Kamila Shamsie, Helen Oyeymi and more!
In a world that shares undeniable similarities with the Victorian era, Dora investigates the death of her brother and searches for clues to the meaning of his ambiguous last words. An intriguing and fantastical story full of revolution, murder and mystery, set in an intricately built world.
| Ultimo Press
Is it paranoia – or is someone watching?
A riveting psychological thriller drawn from true events, Dark Mode delves into the terrifying reality of the dark web, and the price we pay for surrendering our privacy one click at a time.
- Ruby
All Fryda wants is to become a shield maiden and fight with honour for her family and clan. When her father forbids her from fighting, she continues to train in secret, always prepared to jump into action to defend what she holds dear. A really fun and engrossing retelling of Beowulf.
- Darcy
A Day of Fallen Night | Samantha Shannon | $34.99 |
When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, three women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat. Intricate and epic, A Day of Fallen Night sweeps readers back to the world of A Priory of the Orange Tree, showing us a course of events that shaped it for generations to come.
| Thames & Hudson
A claustrophobic and Alex has all but given up on her dream to become an author, until she is invited to a month-long writing retreat. However, her former BF and current rival is attending too... This is a propulsive thriller exploring the dark side of female friendships and fame.
Welcome to The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts - a luxurious, clandestine college dedicated to the fine art of murder. A delightful mix of witty wordplay, breathtaking twists and intrigue, enter the world of wellintended murderers.
I absolutely adored this. A graphic memoir, Ducks depicts Kate Beaton’s experience living and working in Alberta’s oil sands. It is an environment of relentless misogyny and harassment, where men outnumber women 50 to 1. And yet we also see moments of tenderness, kindness, and humour. It’s quite extraordinary the nuance Kate Beaton is able to bring to this blue-collar reality. She tells her story with immense grace, and a kind of narrative and artistic skill that is mesmerising. A vivid glimpse into a world I knew little about. - Tahlia
Best friends Chris, Jo, Elise, and Alex work hard to keep themselves afloat. Their regular brunches hold them together even as the rest of their lives threaten to fall completely apart. In an effort to avoid being the oldest gays at the party (like they are at every other queer event in Minneapolis), the crew decides to put on a new party called Grind!, a queer gathering specifically for folks in or over their dirty-thirties. A shockingly frank and funny adult graphic novel.
Expanded Thinking is a new podcast series of illuminating conversations with writers, creatives and spiritual practitioners that expand the mind and feed the spirit.
Join host Walter Mason in-conversation with:
- Vanessa Berry
- Debbie Malone
- Alana Fairchild
- Barry Eaton
- Delia Falconer
- Nigel Featherstone
- Maggie Hamilton
- Andres Engracia
First episode debuts on February 21st, wherever you get your podcasts.
Robert
Lexie
