CATEGORIES

The Let’s Go Wild books are a new children’s series from acclaimed adventurer, filmaker, author and artist, Sorrel Wilby. Sorrel has published a number of books recounting her amazing adventures around the world and with her Let’s Go Wild series she hopes to bring her passion and enthusiasm for animals and nature to a whole [...]

The Times says Skippy Dies is a “carnival of a novel”. It says so on the cover. And The Times is right: the nostalgic sweetness of fairy floss in your mouth, the heated competition of the sideshows, the risk of life on the rollercoasters, the contentedness of the ferris wheel and the fear of ghosts [...]

‘I found myself thinking of cancer as this character that has lived for 4,000 years, and I wanted to know what was its birth, what is its mind, its personality, its psyche?’- Sid Mukherjee

Adventurer and artist, Sorrel Wilby successfully combined her passion for nature into a hugely successful presenting and public speaking career, including nine years as a journalist on Channel Nine’s ‘Getaway’ program. Sorrel has published numerous books recounting her amazing journeys and with Let’s Go Wild she hopes to bring her passion and enthusiasm for animals and [...]

Have you ever joined a book club? They’re not just for retired ladies anymore. Everything “old” is cool again: vintage fashion will now cost you an arm and a leg, you’ll find girls happily taking up knitting on the bus to work, and chardonnay is clawing its way back onto the wine charts of the [...]

    I know I’ve got two brilliant covers of Game of Thrones up there, and I promise I’ll get to the book later in the post, but first of all I want to make reference to another book I’m reading right now, and how it relates to the subject matter I’m wanting to discuss [...]

Winter is coming, and Ginia Bellafante thinks that the ladies won‘t like it. The Winter in question is HBO’s adaptation of George R. R. Martins political fantasy epic, Game of Thrones and Ginia, the New York Times reviewer who saw the screening in advance, is less than impressed. She feels that the TV show is [...]

Alpha Monsters, written and illustrated by Chris Kennett offers a fun and innovative way for children to learn their alphabet. It’s an Alphabet book with a story. The hero, Freddy is in his tree house when lightning strikes and hurls him into  whole new world. He lands on a strange jungle floor where he encounters [...]

So I’ve been thinking about ebook prices and greed lately. There are a few good arguments for lowering ebook prices, mostly to do with the win-win situation when cheaper books mean more sales and more profits (i.e. it doesn’t always work). What annoys me, though, is that a big proportion of blog chatter about ebook [...]

Scorpia Rising is the latest Alex Rider book by Anthony Horowitz. It’s the last book in the series and as far as red hot action goes, it doesn’t disappoint. “Alex Rider wants his life back. But when you’re the world’s most successful spy, there’s only one way out. Alex’s final mission will be the deadliest [...]

Once upon a time, in my dark and shady past, I stole a book. Yes, that’s right! I am a criminal… or, at least, my 9-year-old self was. It was the one and only time I have ever stolen a book. And it wasn’t really intentional, although it was premeditated. Let me explain… My memories [...]

Brisbane is back on its feet, relatively speaking, but spend any time in the city and you’ll quickly realise that the recent flood is still very much on residents’ minds. Conversations which are entirely unrelated veer back to the flood. Complete strangers share their own stories or offer condolences and sense of shock and awe. [...]

I’m a fan of top-10 lists at the best of times, but even more so when it’s the list of top-10 most complained about books. Emanating from America (where else?), this annual list ranks the books that most offended conservative sensibilities and, frankly, inspires my next years’ reading list. When will the self-appointed gatekeepers of [...]

Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true. And now, here is [...]

This trailer below is also available to view in eye-popping 3D: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45vFpXb-r5Y To get a free pair of 3D glasses, all you have to do is sign up to Andy’s newsletter here: http://www.andygriffiths.com.au/3D.htm

It sounds odd to tell you that an unassuming guy wearing non-descript industrial overalls reminded me of the simplicity and power of storytelling, but that’s exactly what happened to me. Twice, in fact, with the second time being just this week. I stumbled across Charles Ross a couple of years ago when he was touring [...]

Well, it was always going to happen – and I’m not surprised Amazon did it first. Since ebooks first launched people have been predicting that ads would be unceremoniously inserted into their reading material. They were right. The question is – are we bothered? As the focus on books, particularly ebooks, has become more and [...]

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” – C.S. Lewis. The Horse and His Boy represents a different direction for the Narnia books. The two previous works [...]

In 2003 Scott Bennett visited the Great War battlefields in France and Belgium to retrace the steps of his great-uncles, who had fought there. What he found led him to examine and question the Anzac legend, the battle of Pozières and the stories of his own family’s heroes. In Pozières – The Anzac Story he [...]

I was at the recent launch of Ella Kazoo will NOT go to sleep so I was fortunate to see the book read aloud by Lee Fox and performed by a talented group of actors including the author’s own daughter. Young readers were introduced to the lively and lovable Ella Kazoo in Ella’s adventure, Ella [...]

I don’t read Stephen King. Not out of some high-literary disdain for someone who’s written so much and sells so well to the general Joes. Not because he’s not a good writer. But precisely because he is. King has proved himself time and again throughout his 50-something books that he can create an intensely believable [...]

Yes, that’s right, MORE TRAILERS! I can’t help myself… I love watching book trailers. Whether they entice me to get the books or not, they are an art form in their own right and I enjoy sharing them. In my last post (The author in front of the camera), I showed you an author promo [...]

By now, I suspect you’re well enough acquainted with my passion for Marie Antoinette. Since she turned up randomly in an illustration from my Treasury of Fairytales when I was quite small I’ve been a fan, and since then my love has grown – I’ve even got two pug-breed dogs in honour of her own [...]

Zou and the Box of Kisses is a beautiful new picture book written and illustrated by Michael Gay about a situation that every kid is faced with at some time in their life – spending their first night away from home. Zou is preparing to leave on school camp and doesn’t want to seem like [...]

If you’re yearning for some great non-fiction, check out Boomerang’s latest promotion. We’re giving away a pack of new releases, including Kay Saunder’s Notorious Australian Women, a thrilling compendium of female derring-do replete with First Fleeters, courtesans, rebels and revolutionaries. If you’re looking for something more contemporary you can check out Hotel Kerobokan, the inside [...]

Not every author can be as charismatic as Neil Gaiman. When Mr Gaiman talks, everyone listens… especially when he is reading from his own writings. He has a presence and a real sparkle in his voice. He makes it all look so easy. But, of course, it’s not. Authors are constantly asked to sell their [...]

There is nothing more unbecoming in a lady, not thievery, not fraud, not murder, than being held accountable for the crime. Or so it seems in the Victorian sensationalist novel, Lady Audley’s Secret. Mary Elizabeth Braddon, the famous author of this book, made a practice of writing stories that were considered popular culture for the [...]

In my previous post, I introduced the wonders of Google Reader, a fast and easy way to keep up with your internet reading – be it blogs, newspapers, long form journalism or any content that updates regularly. In this post I’ll cover off how to save and share your posts, and a couple of extra [...]

They say the sense of smell is the most powerful of our five human senses, because it’s most strongly related to our understanding of memory. I’m inclined to agree – one whiff of Australis Waterberry deodorant, for example, and I’m transported immediately into our Year 9 post-P.E. girls changerooms (not the best memory, but hey, [...]

I broke my no re-read rule again this month, which yes, kind of made me wonder why I ever came up with it. But as with the others, this re-read was warranted. I’d nominated John Perkins’ Confessions of an Economic Hit Man to a friend in a list of Books You Must Read Before You [...]

Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan has won the top award at this year’s Tasmania Book Prizes, presented as part of the Ten Days on the Island festival. Flanagan was awarded the $25,000 prize for best book with Tasmanian content in any genre for his book Wanting (Vintage). The $5000 Margaret Scott Prize for best book by [...]

Every now and then, someone will FaceBook or Tweet a really good book trailer. If I particularly like it, I’ll bookmark it. And when I have enough of them, I put together a post like this… A post in which I don’t really say very much other than, “hey, take a look at this cool [...]

Virtually every site on the web nowadays that serves up content has a feed. That feed is a way for people to keep up to date with their favourite blogs and news sites without having to visit twenty different websites a day. There are basically two kinds of feeds – RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and Atom. [...]

DOUG-DENNIS and the FLYAWAY FIB is a picture book that’s fun for young readers but will also invite some interesting discussion in the classroom. Doug-Dennis the sheep and his friend Ben-Bobby the elephant are bored. And what happens when we’re bored – we sometimes do things that get us into trouble? That’s what happens to [...]

You know how sometimes someone unveils a secret so spectacular and so heartwarming that you’re blown away? That you then relive every email and conversation you’ve had with them in the preceding weeks and marvel at how they managed to keep such a fantastic secret? Well, I’m experiencing that now, having interviewed talented Brisbane writer [...]

HarperCollins Children’s Books is thrilled to announce the publication of THE BIPPOLO SEED AND OTHER LOST STORIES by Dr. Seuss – a collection of seven stories by the iconic author and illustrator that were originally published in magazines between 1950 and 1951, but never before in book form. THE BIPPOLO SEED AND OTHER LOST STORIES [...]

Adelaide’s Wakefield Press recently sent out notification of their new and current publications, which included a few re-releases of some older titles.  They have some delightful titles in their new editions and I urge you to pop over here for a look, but I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a closer look at a [...]

I’m pretty cynical about the interest in an author immediately following their death—I find it tasteless, especially when retail stores quickly order in stock and set up a display to capitalise on that short-lived interest—so I’m fairly reluctant to be writing a blog about Joe Bageant, author of Deer Hunting With Jesus and Rainbow Pie. [...]

The kindness of strangers is something that’s brought into sharp focus when you’re travelling, most likely because you’re out of your comfort zone, you’re aware and attuned to your surroundings, and you’re often relying on others to help you make your way. It’s fitting, then, that a random act of kindness by a nameless stranger [...]

Dogs seem to be a popular feature of kid’s books lately and being a dog lover from way back, I can see why. Aussie Dog is a new book by Eleanor Nillson and Beth Horling from Scholastic’s Mate’s series. I think every kid has a dream dog (mine was a dalmation) and Sophie is no [...]