As we inch toward the end of 2023, we would like to thank our local community for their incredible support of our small but mighty bookshop. We feel it and we appreciate it.

Now, on to this month’s favourite reads! Lachlan recommends Question 7 by Richard Flanagan, an astonishing work of nonfiction that begins with a visit to Hiroshima, where Flanagan’s father was a prisoner of war when the first atom bomb was dropped. It then tugs on the threads that make up the tapestry of his life, asking Chekhov’s question: “Who loves longer?” or why do we do what we do to each other? Towards the end of Question 7, Flanagan gives an extraordinary account of being nearly drowned in the Franklin River at age 21. To call this a “near death experience” would be to downplay a significant moment in the writer’s life. I can’t describe how great this passage is without hyperbole or cliche. Question 7 is a book about private lives, public lives, secret lives, history, memory, dreaming.  A book you’ll consume in great bites before returning to the beginning to wonder at it all over again.
Dasha recommends Running Grave by Robert Galbraith, a brilliant addition to the Strike series, set around a dangerous religious cult. Probably her favourite in the series so far.

Letitia recommends Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward. It’s a profound work of historical literature. Yes, it will hurt your heart, but oh is it worth it. The novel follows Annis and her unforgiving journey from a slave plantation to the deep south. The writing is masterful and breathtaking. She says this book will stay with her forever: “It’s not a stretch to say that it changed me in some way.” Claire Keegan is back with the publication of a brilliant short story, So Late in the Day. Letitia read it in one sitting and it doesn’t disappoint. And for a complete change of gear, Green Dot by Australian writer Madeleine Gray. If you’ve read all of Sally Rooney and Diana Reid, then this is the book for you. Modern, fresh and clever, this is a great Australian debut and a perfect summer read.

Koko recommends Eve: How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon, an amazing exploration of the evolution of the female body and how it continues to shape so much of our lives. This is a tome of a book – quality and quantity – highly recommended. For our younger readers, Soren recommends The Dangerous Business of Being Trilby Moffat by Kate Temple. It’s super wacky and exciting middle-grade fantasy that made her laugh a lot, and it has absolutely first-class villains. Soren has also been reading a lot of picture books and, in doing so, rediscovered her favourite Oliver Jeffers book The Heart and the Bottle, which is beautiful and heartbreaking and hopeful.

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