A lot can happen in 10 years. For me, there have been some big changes, including marriage and three kids, moving back to my hometown and getting my dream job…

Earlier this month I wrote about the 11 best books of 2019 for 10 Daily. However, there were also many books that I read this year that were not necessarily…

Part of the appeal of book shopping in op shops is the element of chance involved. One day, you might stumble on a pristine copy of the newish release you’ve…

There is no doubt that the title of this book is gorgeous, and that’s what attracted me to Ocean Vuong’s novel. The same poetry that is in the title also…

Espionage has hit the news this week, with a Chinese spy reportedly defecting to Australia. This might sound like the stuff of movies to some people, but I have barely…

If you’re looking for a feel-good beach read and stumble across Islands because of its summery title, you might be disappointed. Australian author Peggy Frew’s third novel, Islands, is a…

I think I’ve found my new favourite writer. I loved reading Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls and can’t wait to get my hands on more of his books – Naked…

I have always loved reading a family saga, whether it’s A Suitable Boy, set in India, or Thornbirds, in Australia, and so Pachinko was right up my alley. This one…

For many people, holidays are a time to catch up on reading. The existence of the 'beach read' category of books attests to this tendency. My husband swears he can…

Who doesn’t love a list of the best books of the year, the decade, or all time? These lists are a grounds for gushing agreement and fierce debate. A lot…

I thought I was going to struggle reading this one as I only had it as a one week loan from the local library, but ended up reading it in…

I might have been the last person on earth to have read Gone Girl, but I’m glad I finally got around to reading it. What a ride! Gillian Flynn’s bestseller…

The headline in The Washington Post read: “If you like despair and ‘Orange is the New Black’, You’ll Love The Mars Room’. After having loved The Mars Room, it made…

The usage of words can evolve as quickly as the typical relationship on Married at First Sight. Take the word ‘basic’. Those born in the ‘80s and earlier might remember…

Last year, it was ‘Lauren’ who came under fire for her approach to interior design, which included turning books around so their spines were not visible on a bookshelf to…

There is so much in Alice Munro’s short stories that it is hard to know where to start in reviewing Dear Life. I don’t usually read short stories as I…

I read Rachel Cusk’s acclaimed trilogy out of order – first Kudos, then Transit, then Outline. I’m not sure whether the trilogy would have been improved by reading it in…

It sounds macabre, but for some reason I feel attracted to books about the Holocaust. In recent years, I have read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Nightingale and The Book…

Since the death of American writer, Toni Morrison, this week, a chorus of writers and readers has paid tribute to the role her words played in their lives. Hailed by…

Is there anything more annoying than an invitation to a fancy dress party? All of the anticipation of a night out is lost with the words, “Dress up as your…

Black Rock White City is a difficult book to sum up, as there are so many themes and ideas at play. But I’ll do my best to do justice to…

Sometimes, reading can make you feel like people are living much bigger lives than your own. Lying in bed after a day in front of the computer and replying to…

I had no idea what to expect from Hot Milk, but as soon as I started reading, I was swept along by Deborah Levy's beautiful language. This is one of…

Buying books can get expensive when you have a tbr pile as high as mine. In fact, my collection of unread books is so large it is no longer a…

The books that change people I find it fascinating to hear people talk about the books that changed them. I want to know where they found words powerful enough to…

I read Tony Birch’s The White Girl in three days – once I started reading about grandmother, Odette, and her granddaughter, Sissy, I couldn’t put it down. The White Girl…

I came to The Witches of Eastwick as a big fan of John Updike. I had read Couples and the Rabbit series years ago, and loved his keen eye for…

I was thrilled to pick up a copy of John Updike’s Witches of Eastwick at an op shop recently. I hadn’t read a book by Updike in years, and had…

I didn’t really think about Bob Hawke much before he died. I was a young child when he was prime minister, and I had an impression of him as a…

Where the Crawdads Sing is a book that has been all over social media, so I was intrigued to have a read and see what everyone was talking about. The…

After seeing Roxane Gay on the ABC’s Q&A program, I thought I knew what to expect with her memoir, Hunger. She is renowned as having a fierce intellect, and being…

Do you remember that feeling of freedom and possibility when you graduated from the children’s and young adult section of the library? Suddenly you had the choice of so many…

I might have come to Autumn a little uninformed, believing it to have been written by Zadie Smith, rather than its true author, Ali Smith. However, the aesthetic was right,…

Reading the list of books most commonly borrowed from libraries from April 2018 until March 2019, just after the shock results of the Australian Federal election, I have to wonder…

When I travel, I rarely read about places before I visit them; it is afterwards when I scour the travel section of newspapers for mentions of the places I have…

Set in Sydney in 1942, The Aunts’ House is the charming story of a young recently orphaned girl named Angel who is sent to live in a boarding house run…

May has been a big month for literary groupies like me, with the authors of two of my favourite books from last year appearing at Melbourne's The Wheeler Centre. Last…

Review by Sam, 8 years What is the book about? There are seven short stories that all have a completely different theme but all starring Alex Rider. Alex Rider is…

It seems wrong to dwell on the death of mothers in fiction in the lead up to Mother’s Day, but that is what has been on my mind and my…

Bridge of Clay is an intimidating book, the size of a brick and as eagerly anticipated as it was, following the success of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. And at…

The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) shortlist was announced this month, and there are some wonderful Aussie and international books in the running. I've added many of them to my…

In literary fiction, it is often the language that rises above the plot. Sometimes, little seems to happen, but the reader is carried away with the lyricism of the language.…

I’ve just joined Instagram (I know, I know, I’m late to the party), and bookstagram in particular, and have been enjoying seeing the gorgeous photos of book series. There are rows…

I recently finished reading The Rosie Result, which has been praised for helping break down misconceptions about autism. I found that reading Graeme Simsion’s books helped me not just understand…

As seen on Ten Daily The season for laughs is upon us as the Melbourne Comedy Festival begins this month, followed closely by the Sydney Comedy Festival in April. In…

What has everyone been reading and loving? Dymocks gave us the answer yesterday when they released a list of the top 101 favourite books of 2019. As premature as it seems…

There is a big, white wall in our living room that we are looking to fill with an art work. While visiting galleries and scrolling through online art sites, I…

I’ve been holding off on reviewing Toni Morrison's Beloved because how can you really critique such a book? It won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and its author Toni Morrison won…

With the follow up just published, I finally got around to reading Dervla McTiernan’s The Ruin. Set in Galway, The Ruin spans two decades, from the time a young police…

Lately I have been hearing a lot about competitive reading, and the pressure to have read ‘the right’ book.I have written before that there is nothing more off-putting than feeling…

In a recent podcast, author and the enviably-titled Director of Books at Booktopia, John Purcell, spoke about the way books helped him see life in colour, rather than in black…