CATEGORIES

I remember my writing ritual as a kid. I’d rush my homework (well, rush most of it and leave what I figured I could get away with not doing), then would open a Word document, put on some music and start writing. I couldn’t just have any music playing, some artists worked better than others. Was [...]

50 Steps to Lose 50kg and Keep it Off by Sally Symonds Reviewed by AliceE At last, a weight loss book that doesn’t tell you to give up an entire food group or live entirely on protein. Sally’s book is based on personal experience, so all of the steps she gives here are actually achievable [...]

I’ve been delaying this for a little while, reviewing books is delicate business, and well, Gab Williams is a friend, but I guess I’m gunna have to suck it up and just come out with it: Beatle Meets Destiny is all kinds of fantastic. I first read Beatle last year, and loved it. But that was after [...]

Good Oil by Laura Buzo Reviewed by peacelove They say ‘age is just a number’ – but when you’re at the tender age of 15 and he’s 21, the difference can be worlds apart. This isn’t an action packed story nor is it wrought with twists and turns and revelations in every second chapter. It’s [...]

I’ve always been fascinated by two authors co-writing a book, and I’ve seriously considered it from time to time, sharing the workload with another author. But it isn’t as simple as just dividing the work and completing it, and Hazel Edwards, author of over 200 books for children, young adults and adults, has swung by [...]

I’ve already attested to the brilliance of Susanne Gervay’s Always Jack, so I thought, to spare you another post of flowing praise, I’d invite Susanne around to talk about her ten-year journey to complete the trilogy of Jack books. The first book in the series, I Am Jack, spawned a successful stage adaptation by MonkeyBaa, [...]

  Christmas is just around the corner, and we thought, what better way to celebrate than with a giveaway? When it came to selecting a book for the competition, we hit a bit of a snag – how do we pick one book that people would want, no matter what their gender or interests? Then, we [...]

‘An amazing tale of real adventure and genuine exploration in the modern era – unexplored regions, fearless animals, no support crew, disaster, excitement – the lot!’ Dick Smith In 2005, Australians Chris Bray (then 21 years old) and Clark Carter (20) dreamed of embarking on an adventure — one that would be completely different to [...]

Culinary genius Peter Gilmore is one of the top 50 chefs in the world. Quay‘s stunning design and photography perfectly echoes Peter’s nature-based philosophy and the organic presentation that is synonymous with the fine dining experience at Quay. Peter’s recipes, including the famous snow egg and his signature iridescent sea pearls, will take you on [...]

The Debacle by Emile Zola Reviewed by LawrenceW Tolstoy wrote War and Peace over five years between 1863 to 1868 and Zola had The Debacle published in 1892. Together, they have produced definitive war narratives interwoven with intimately and finely drawn affected lives that live on forever in the reader’s eye and mind. One can’t [...]

The winners of the 2010 Inkys were announced at a special ceremony at the State Library on Thursday. Lucy Christopher’s Stolen took out the coveted Gold Inky, rewarding an Australian novel, while Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater won the Silver Inky, rewarding a book by an international author. The shortlist was selected by judges Randa Abdel-Fattah, [...]

Frequent readers of the Boomerang Blog will know that Aussie author Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap has been up for every literary award imaginable. Now, a more dubious honour to add to the list: the Literary Review‘s Bad Sex in Literature Award, which (dis)honours the most embarrassing passage of sexual description in a novel. “It’s very [...]

The Sydney Writers’ Festival has just announced the 2011 School Days Program. For the second year in a row, the program features five primary school days held across Sydney, Parramatta and Penrith, with a day offered for free to NSW priority schools at Sydney Town Hall. The line-up for the primary school days features Deborah Abela, Morris [...]

In August, we featured Bill Condon on the blog to talk about his book Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God (click here to catch up). It really stood out for me when I read all the YA releases of last year – it was charming, funny, and as I’ve said a thousand times, [...]

Two Peas In A Pod by Chris McKimmie Reviewed by Rowie84 Violet and “Marvellous” Marvin are best friends;two peas in a pod to be exact. “They go together like the oo in moo.” They’ve lived next door to each other since dinosaur time, until one day Violet packs up her belongings and goes to visit [...]

I was surprised to realise that I’ve been blogging for over two years now, and yet, I’ve never once blogged about Terry Pratchett. That is astoundingly bad form, form I plan on correcting right now. I can trace my reading history through author loyalty. There was Enid, there was Morris, and then, Terry. Sure, I’ve had [...]

Our friends at the NSW Writers’ Centre have just given us a sneak peak at their upcoming program, so I thought I’d pass it on tonight - they’re running an extensive 5-week Writing For Children and Young Adults workshop with acclaimed author, Jeni Mawter… so, so tempting. Lots of you have mentioned creative writing on the Facebook Fanpage, [...]

Embedded below is the just-released second theatrical trailer for the first part of the final Harry Potter film – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Warner Bros. recently announced that it would not be releasing the film in 3D as previously announced, after realising the up-conversion to the third dimension would not be completed to [...]

Last week, I spoke on Perpetually Adolescent about bad books, and a friend passed on this link, and I laughed so hard that I had to share. EW.com compiled a list of its 15 scathing book reviews. a preview: Jeffrey Archer poses something of a problem for reviewers. On the one hand, his popularity makes [...]

Sorry, bad books exist. I know. You’d be forgiven for thinking they don’t, but they do. On this blog and others like it, bloggers focus on and praise books that move, that affect, that inspire. Because we love reading. All reading is good. But is it… really? Sometimes, you struggle from page to page, wondering how, [...]

For years, I’ve dreamt of TINA (This Is Not Art). To be fair, in promo material, they always print it as THISISNOTART, so I mistakenly dreamt of attending the awesomely-named This Is No Tart festival for a short while. TINA is run in Newcastle every year, and encompassing a big part of it is the National Young Writers’ Festival. I [...]

The Princess and her Panther by Wendy Orr Reviewed by Rhishy What a delightful tale of two young sisters. The older sister, dressed as a princess, is the leader of the expedition. The younger sister, dressed as a panther, lets her imagination run wild. Together they embark on a journey to camp in their backyard. [...]

“I love you…” “I know.” This is one for film buffs and Star Wars fans – a newly-announced in-depth look at the making of fan-favourite second/fifth installment, The Empire Strikes Back. As someone who devours making-of documentaries on anything Star Wars, I honestly can’t wait… Check out the clip below. Description An exclusive behind-the-scenes look [...]

As the release of the first part of the final installment of the Harry Potter film franchise fast approaches, Warner Bros. have released a TV spot. Click here to view the trailer, it contains some never-before-scene footage… and now I’ll have the theme song stuck in my head all day… Thanks, JK.

One of the great things about Get Reading! is that I’ve had a fantastic chance to meet authors from other states I haven’t crossed paths with before – one of those authors is the fantastically entertaining Gabrielle Williams, who I sat down with while in Melbourne to talk about all things Beatle Meets Destiny. Okay, first [...]

Four Get Reading! 2010 authors Gabrielle Williams, Judy Nunn, Malla Nunn and William Kostakis descended on Sydney’s Hyde Park to appear on a live cross for Ten’s The Circle, where they spoke about their own books and the reading programme. Check it out below: So how many of the Get Reading! 50 Books You Can’t Put Down [...]

Burnt Snow by Van Badham Sophie is in the last term of Year 11. She’s used to moving around with her accountant father and free-spirited mother, so the move to a small town on the South Coast in NSW doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary – at first. As Sophie negotiates teenage preoccupations with [...]

Lost On Earth by Steve Crombie “The only way I am coming home is by bike or by box,” Steve Crombie writes when he first hits the road, travelling 90,000 km from Australia to the Arctic Circle via South America. It takes him two years. He suffers from dehydration, starvation and disease. He rebuilds his [...]

I know introducing Steph Bowe online is like introducing Google, but still… This is for the 5 people who don’t know who she is, and was initially written as an introduction for a book event today: I’ve been tasked with introducing Girl Saves Boy. Now, I know the importance of a good introduction. Call me [...]

Dead In The Family by Charlaine Harris Reviewed by Molly Dead In The Family, #10 in the Sookie Stackhouse series, is definitely no let-down. Loyal and dedicated fans who have read the previous books in the series will not be disappointed. The novel is still action-packed and realistic in its depiction of Harris’ supernatural world, however in [...]

Let me make it in time. Let me meet Shadow. The guy who paints in the dark. Paints birds trapped in brick walls and people lost in ghost forests. Paints guys with grass growing from their hearts and girls with buzzing lawn movers. CATH CROWLEY On Graffiti Moon At the start of Graffiti Moon, Shadow [...]

Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Underachiever co-author Lin Oliver is coming to Sydney, attending the International Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference (SCBWI), 17-19 September.   The HANK ZIPZER series stars charismatic underdog Hank, and is co-written by Henry Winkler – The Fonz from Happy Days. Inspired by the true life experiences of Henry Winkler, the series is funny, touching [...]

In a time when publishing for young adults seems to privilege the here and now (and sparkly paranormal romance), Bill Condon had the guts to set his Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God in 1967. There are no token youth-of-today references – there’s not an iPhone or a Facebook fight in sight [...]

Christine Bongers, a former radio and TV journalist, is celebrating the release of her new novel, the riotously funny, fast-paced Henry Hoey Hobson, a novel aimed at upper-primary readers. For those unfamiliar with Christine’s work, her Dust was released to critical acclaim in 2009, and went on to be selected as a CBCA Notable Book [...]

Pit of Shame by Anthony Stokes Reviewed by GavelBasher [Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers] You may or may not have thought of a gaol – even a famous one—as anything worth writing a book about, but fortunately and perhaps predictably, the author, Anthony Stokes does not agree with this view. [...]

I’m currently reading Fiona Capp’s My Blood’s Country, and loving every word of it, so I thought I’d invite Fiona onto the blog to share some of her words with us, an invitation she has kindly accepted. For those that don’t know My Blood’s Country, it’s a memoir of sorts, as Fiona takes us on [...]

Adele Walsh is another, and possibly my favourite, perpetual adolescent. She’s taken another break from her review/commentary website Persnickety Snark (which is really quite awesome and bookmarkable), to grace us with her ever-appreciated presence (and snark… the snark is always appreciated). ADELE WALSH Mary Sue? No, thank you I hate Mary Sues. I loathe them.  I want [...]

We’ve just received word of a new competition that’s sure to get your inner-chef excited: For your chance to win $1000 to spend at the Curtis Stone shop, simply cook a recipe from Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone and take a picture of you, Curtis’ cookbook and the dish, and send it to curtis@randomhouse.com.au along with [...]

Evil In The Suburbs by Cindy Wockner and Michael Porta Sydney will never be the same. In August 2000 a gang of rapists lured 12 victims from train stations and via the internet in a series of planned attacks. One 16-year-old was staked to the ground by a dozen men and raped repeatedly. Another young [...]

Darkwater by Georgia Blain Amanda Clarke is dead. Her body was found floating facedown by the riverbank, and no one knows what happened. As rumours fly and fear grows, it seems that everyone suspects Lyndon, one of Amanda’s friends. He’s known for his temper, his cruelty and his criminal family – and now the police [...]