Books Read Archive 2008
The Low Road by Chris Womersley
A modern Australian noir novel in which two men seek redemption while trying to evade their own pasts and a killer who stalks them. A debut novel from someone to watch.
Winner of the 2008 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Novel.
Deception by Michael Meehan
An Australian man arrives in Paris during the student riots of 1968 with an ancient French manuscript that leads him on a journey of mystery and discovery.
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
McCarthy's violent "modern western": a drug deal gone wrong, missing money, a pyschopathic assassin, and a chase to die for, or during. The style is as sparse as the country the book inhabits.
Tour to Hell by David Levell
Subtitled "Convict Australia's greatest escape myths", this book looks at the seedy side of Australia's early European settlement, the escape attempts by bewildered convicts, and the manner in which these failed attempts changed the colonists' view of the Australian continent.
Lucinda Brayford by Martin Boyd
Boyd's novel examines the destruction of two world wars, the relationship between England and Australia, and the effect it has on three generations of an Anglo-Australian family.
Book 11 of my Classic Year reading challenge.
Monster Blood Tattoo: Lamplighter by D.M. Cornish
The second volume in the series following the adventures of Rossamünd as he comes of age on the Half-Continent. And more monsters. A fantastic read.
The Case of the Diamond Shadow by Sophie Masson
The start of a new YA crime/mystery series featuring a pair of adventurous sleuths, glamour, humour and romance.
The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide
As a woman contemplates her approaching death from cancer, she is forced to confront her past, her present, as well as plan for her shortened future.
10 for 66 and All That by Arthur Mailey
One of the classics of cricket writing - Australian or otherwise. Light and jovial, self-deprecatory, and yet full of insights into the great game of cricket.
Book 10 of my Classic Year reading challenge.
The Biographer by Virginia Duigan
A biographer digs into the past history of his subjects who attempt to manipulate their own life story. Can a biographer go too far for a good story?
Read my review of this book on "Matilda".
Gate of Ivrel by C.J. Cherryh
Volume one of the Morgaine Saga. An epic fantasy that follows the adventures of Morgaine as she attempts to destroy a series of teleportation Gates left behind by an ancient civilzation. Seemingly light and flimsy on the surface, this series has a lot going for it. A very early novel by a quite prolific author.
Coonardoo by Katharine Susannah Prichard
Considered one of the first Australian novels to provide a detailed and realistic portrayal of an Aboriginal character. First published in 1929.
Book 9 of my Classic Year reading challenge.
The Steele Diaries by Wendy James
Family histories, full of conflicts and secrets, drive a story of the Sydney art scene from the 1930s to the 1970s. The follow-up to James's successful first novel Out of the Silence.
Read my review of this book on "Matilda".
The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay
Lindsay's classic Australian children's tale. In this age the extended songs seem a bit forced and quickly become tedious, but the story is funny and filled with wonderfully grumpy characters. Make sure you get the editions with Lindsay's illustrations.
Book 8 of my Classic Year reading challenge.
The Seance by John Harwood
A Victorian gothic in the classic tradition: spooky houses, unexpected inheritances, mesmerism, sudden death, and spirit visitations. Harwood has produced a memorable follow-up to his award-winning first novel.
Read my review of this book on "Matilda".
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
A young woman's hungering for love and life in the harsh outback of New South Wales in the early twentieth century.
Book 7 of my Classic Year reading challenge.
Sorry by Gail Jones
The author tackles a major issue of the times in Australia - reconciliation and the race relations. By keeping a narrow focus in her story, she shines a brighter light.
A History of the Great War by Peter McConnell
A story about how war affects families across generations in small country towns: the men who went to war, the sons who followed them, and the women who waited, and picked up the pieces when they returned.
See my review of this book on "Matilda".
The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson
A portrait of the writer as a young schoolgirl in 1880s Melbourne.
Book 6 of my Classic Year reading challenge.
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
A classic sf tale of the next stage in human evlution - with a little help from their alien friends.
El Dorado by Dorothy Porter
A crime novel written in verse - then it has to be Porter. Exquisite poetry, intricate plot and multiple murders. A heady brew.
Fivefold by Nathan Burrage
Five friends stumble on a secret long thought lost. It might have been better for them it had stayed that way.
See my review of this book on "Matilda".
Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner
An Australian children's classic of seven little children in one family in the 1890s.
Book 5 of my Classic Year reading challenge.
Bush Studies by Barbara Baynton
A collection of short stories by a little known pioneer writer. Contains the classic story, "The Chosen Vessel".
Book 4 of my Classic Year reading challenge.
A History of the Beanbag and Other Stories by Susan Midalia
A scenic tour of the surprises, secrets and fears beneath the cracked veneer of domesticity and suburban complacency.
See my review of this book on "Matilda".
For the Term of His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke
Set in colonial Australia, For the Term of His Natural Life is a powerful tale of human brutality and enduring love.
Book 3 of my Classic Year reading challenge.
Songs of Innocence by Richard Aleas
John Blake is back (after Little Girl Lost) in another wonderful pulp, noir novel from Hard Case Crime. This time a close friend appears to have committed suicide but Blake isn't so sure. And
his investigations involve the sex trade and a particularly nasty Hungarian.
Such is Life by Tom Collins
An account of the life of rural dwellers, including bullock drivers, squatters and itinerant travellers, in southern New South Wales and Victoria, during the 1880s.
Book 2 of my Classic Year reading challenge.
Robbery Under Arms by Rolf Boldrewood
The classic Australian novel of bushrangers from the 1880s. Told from the point of view of a man on death-row, this is a colourful tale, colloquially told, of cattle-duffing, robbery under arms and
Starlight, the gentleman bushranger.
Book 1 of my Classic Year reading challenge.