Book Review

If you’re stocking up your summer reading pile, Vikki Petraitis’ debut novel The Unbelieved should definitely be up for your consideration ... My flight was only an hour but I got halfway through the book in that time, as the story grabbed me and wouldn’t let go ... The twist near the end that I was waiting for came, but it was multilayered and not predictable or easily puzzled out.

Author Leslie Scott never expected that a rumour about wild horses roaming on a mountain near her home would consume months of her life and result in such a deep connection between animal and human. Set in rural Victoria, Once Were Wild is an easy-to-read book that recounts the moment Leslie finds two brumbies amongst the rugged terrain of Mount Beckworth near the town of Clunes.

Sam’s memoir tells the story of his journey from farmhand to farmer. Along the way, it also explores the changing nature of farming, the complications of farm succession, and less traditional approaches to agriculture ... I had tears well up at some points, and laughed out loud at others.

Sarah Donnelley's book Big Things Grow has been called a love song to a small country town but it is also a love song to the profession of teaching ... Sarah's beautifully written memoir recounts key events of her four fulfilling years working in what was a complex and challenging environment.

A good place to start reading Farm is at the back. That may sound counterintuitive but by taking a look at the extensive bibliography you’ll quickly see how intensely researched the book is which adds weight to the arguments and questions it presents. While Farm is a memoir that chronicles the journey of Nicola Harvey and her husband after they leave their city lives to farm cattle in rural New Zealand, it is far more than that.

Fashion, culture, romance and a storyline peppered with twists and turns - what's not to love about A Remarkable Woman ... if you’re a lover of fashion, romance, outback life and a darn good story, this book makes a great summer holiday read. It’ll keep you turning the pages from start to finish and remind you that, in life and in love, “timing is everything”.

I was unexpectedly, and in the end pleasantly, surprised to find a story that is as much about 1950s and 1960s Australia as it is about one young woman’s experiences. It is the north-west Western Australia of Aboriginal missions, of cultural clashes, of extremes in temperature and of distance, of hardships tempered by moments of joy, of connections made and still treasured more than half a century later.

We Australians pride ourselves on our native animals. Koalas, kangaroos, wombats, deadly snakes, platypuses (platypi?), drop bears, emus … just some of the animals that have spent millions of years evolving separately from the rest of the world’s fauna on this island nation of ours. But most of us probably don’t think too much about them during our day-to-day lives. Alistair Paton’s “Of Marsupials and Men” puts a spotlight on men (and the occasional woman) who made Australia’s wildlife the centre of their lives.

The book demonstrates, through both the truly beautiful photography of Kimbal Baker and the meticulous detail regarding agricultural practices and the history of the establishments provided by Richard Allen, that properties are far more than houses. They are the land and the farming businesses which sustain the families, which the houses protect, and who, in turn, create, manage and develop the farming businesses which sustain the land and the houses. Each supporting and nurturing the other.

A fascinating concept – reviewing the historical background to an array of possibly tall and maybe true tales from Australia’s past ... The author has gone to a lot of trouble to combine excellent research and footnotes with an enjoyable set of short stories able to be read easily. We are introduced to some beguiling tales from Australia's past, some of which may be familiar to us whereas others may be new discoveries.

The author has set himself an enormous task to survey in depth the history of the Surrey Hills district of north-west Tasmania. Fires, Farms and Forests represents the culmination of much detailed and careful research, combined with the author’s extensive personal experience as a forester, and, in particular, his role managing the native grasslands and buttongrass moorlands on Surrey Hills. All this enables the author to weave a story which encompasses both general history as well as specialist insights into the management of land and forests.

An in-depth review of an excellent, timely and well-written book. Sold Down The River is really a text book on water trading for the uninitiated which sums up the tragedy of the Murray-Darling created by successive governments of all persuasions. Highly recommended.

‘There are so many stories to tell of my life, and sometimes I think they are not of importance, but they are, because often it is the little details that are the most important. I still remember every detail. [Like] Oodnadatta Country – I can still see it, in my mind’s eye, exactly as it was back in my time. The Country still calls me back to where I was born, a very exposed and stony land, but I still love it. That’s where my spirit is’: Kanakiya Myra Ah Chee.

In many ways this captivating book describes the relationship between the author, Lachlan Hughson, and his much loved Australian Outback. In travels rivalling those of Odysseus in extent, the author takes us across the vast expanse of the ancient Australian continent, mixing geological insights, historical background, and personal experiences with vivid descriptions of nature in all its forms.

No matter what one's position might be on the many variations of the Climate Change discussion, it is apparent that this well written book is a call from the heart for immediate action, with the author's focus being - ‘How do we simultaneously achieve good health for people and our planet?’

This superbly researched book documents 146 years of European activity in the northern Snowy Mountains and is replete with excellent maps and very helpful photographs which place the discussion into context, enabling the reader to visualise the descriptions clearly.

Chris Murray. Mary Marlowe’s novel, Psalmist of the Dawn (published in 1934 but probably written in 1931) is set on Lord Howe and populated with real places, activities and people – that latter only slightly disguised behind pseudonyms ... Garfishing was an important part of the Islanders’ semi-subsistence lifestyle before World War II. Large quantities of gars were caught not only for local consumption but also for sale to passing vessels.

An in-depth review of Stephen A Chavura and Greg Melluish's investigation into the philosophical roots of Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister.

Former Naracoorte High scholar Linda Cawley (nee Stanford) has written a children’s book called The Trick with Sticks. It is cleverly written in a Dr. Seuss style to help children and their parents with their child’s friendships. We all know how friendships can be tricky, so the book explores the bonds of friendship and how those bonds are formed.

The opening quotation of Henry Lawson’s ‘Ode to Peter Lalor’ sets the tone for what is to come in this rollicking tale set in colonial Australia at the height of the gold rush in the mid nineteenth century. The themes of mateship, danger, struggle against authority and the enticement of that precious metal – gold – are all there.

This is a beautifully presented and illustrated book which is a timely reminder to older children and to adolescents of the need to be aware of bullies and how they can attack a young person’s self-esteem in order to gain control over their emotions – sometimes with devastating consequences.

Did you know that a kangaroo can leap nine metres in a single bound, about the length of a school bus!? Or the perhaps implausible way in which the town of Alice Springs got its name?