Palestine, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza: names that may be vocalized behind closed doors, but are rarely uttered in public, and if so, in rather hushed tones. From Jerusalem – wherever that may be? – the silence seems to be rather deafening. Published by Monash University Press, John Lyons’ report is honest and reads without fear of reprimand; so if you are wanting a brief introduction to the debate this 84-page gem is a great place to start. Lyons acutely details that we must not make the mistake of equating political quietness with Australia’s neutrality, indeed the opposite seems to ring true!

Monash University, 2021

How to End a Story, the final book in Helen Garner’s brilliant series of diaries, follows Garner between 1995 and 1998 dealing with the aftermath following the release of her controversial book, The First Stone, and the disintegration of her marriage to ‘V’. Raw, emotional and gripping, the diary entries read just like a novel. Highly recommend.

Text Publishing 2021

Young adult fiction

I loved Kay Kerr’s second novel, Social Queue. It follows Zoe Kelly, who has just finished high school a wreck from years of bullying and autistic masking. When a piece she wrote goes viral and leads to requests for more articles about dating and love, Zoe embarks on a journey to decipher attraction and spark true love. It’s an insightful neuro-diverse, own-voices story. Perfect for those who enjoyed Kerr’s first book, Please Don’t Hug Me, and Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal  by Anna Whateley.

middle readers 

What a pleasure to discover the author of the bestselling novel Wonder has turned her pen to what I’d flippantly call a gothic western, brimful of her hallmark themes of empathy and friendship. Taking inspiration from tintypes and daguerrotypes prized by photography collectors, R.J. Palacio set her story in Boneville in 1858. Silas Bird lives with his father on their farm, until in the dead of night a posse of strangers demands he come away with them on mysterious business. He sets out to find them on a strange pony with a bone-white face and his steadfast friend Mittenwool, who happens to be a ghost. Their quest involves facing some real and unreal challenges along the way. I loved the relationship between Silas and his clever father, and how Mittenwool’s backstory becomes a larger strand of the narrative. And Pony’s too (somehow all the grander names for him never seem to stick). It’ll suit readers who like animal stories, and authors like Katherine Rundell and Michael Morpurgo.

Penguin Books 2021

fantasy

For an unreasonable amount of time I believed this book was called Priority of the Orange Tree, and now will only refer to it as such. In any case, I admire POTOT: there’s a lot going on, it has a huge number of characters, some who are queer, others who are, we assume, folks of colour. There are dragons who talk, the heroes are all women. The best thing is that this book is very big, if you read it you will get strong wrists and it will take you a while to consume. Excellent bang for buck. Great fantasy.

Bloomsbury, 2019