Faraway tree or Andy Griffiths’ treehouse? Books for the inbetweeners.
It is not hard to find great books for young children. Libraries and bookshops have considerable areas dedicated to the…
Don’t sweat the small stuff when it comes to books
Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan said in a recent lecture that you didn't really need to get a book, song…
In defence of gossip magazines
It is easy to despise certain gossip magazines. They build up celebrities before brutally tearing them down with make-up free…
Why write?
The news is not good for writers. One of Australia’s great authors, Frank Moorhouse, is apparently going broke. He is…
The writer stripped bare
It can be hard to find gifts for a father-in-law. If he’s not into golf, footy or fishing, the choices…
A winter of content has arrived for the bookish tribe
It's footy season again. Aussie Rules supporters have risen out of their summer hibernation and gathered their sashed or striped…
Fiction blurs the line between good and evil
A disabled child is killed, yet the reader finds themselves sympathising with the murderer. A family is slaughtered, but readers…
When pet names go wrong
Terms of endearment help bring people together. They are a way of displaying affection and familiarity between couples, parents, their…
We need to talk about motherhood
The ideal mother looms large in art and popular culture, from the ubiquitous image of Mary cradling Baby Jesus to…
Books as gifts – to buy or not to buy?
There is a tradition in Iceland of giving loved ones the gift of a book on Christmas Eve. Closer to…
