The Stella Prize 2016 Longlist

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with Alice Robinson, Amanda Lohrey, Australian, AWW, AWW2016, Charlotte Wood, Debra Adelaide, Elizabeth Harrower, Fiona Wright, Gail Jones, Jen Craig, Mireille Juchau, Peggy Frew, Stella Prize, Stephanie Bishop, Tegan Bennett Daylight February 9, 2016

Stella-Prize-2016-longlist

I’m not a book-prize-tart* but I have warm-fuzzies for the Stella Prize.

The 2016 Stella Prize longlist was announced half an hour ago, so this news is fresh via Twitter. Here ’tis –

1. THE WOMEN’S PAGES by Debra Adelaide
2. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD by Stephanie Bishop
3. PANTHERS AND THE MUSEUM OF FIRE by Jen Craig
4. SIX BEDROOMS by Tegan Bennett Daylight
5. HOPE FARM by Peggy Frew
6. A FEW DAYS IN THE COUNTRY: AND OTHER STORIES by Elizabeth Harrower
7. A GUIDE TO BERLIN by Gail Jones
8. THE WORLD WITHOUT US by Mireille Juchau
9. A SHORT HISTORY OF RICHARD KLINE by Amanda Lohrey
10. ANCHOR POINT by Alice Robinson
11. THE NATURAL WAY OF THINGS by Charlotte Wood
12. SMALL ACTS OF DISAPPEARANCE: ESSAYS ON HUNGER by Fiona Wright

I’ve only read one but have another four lined up in the TBR stack. And I’m busting to read Small Acts…

It’s going to be a great reading year.

*I just made that up but it’s someone who only reads book-prize winners so that they can pontificate loudly at dinner parties.

Sunnyside by Joanna Murray-Smith

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with 2016, Australian, AWW, AWW2016, book review, books Leanne will like, chick-lit, fiction, Joanna Murray-Smith, review January 15, 2016

I read Joanna Murray-Smith’s novel, Sunnyside, while sitting on the beach. Basically, it’s the perfect beach read for a Mornington Peninsula holiday because fictional Sunnyside is a thinly disguised Mt Eliza and scungy Deptford is Frankston.

Anyway, I digress. It’s the story of Alice and Harry Haskins, their children, their flash house, their neighbours, their dinner parties and their friend Molly’s fling with the pool-man.It doesn’t get much deeper than a bowl of smoked salmon dip, which is exactly what you want in a beach read.

“All of them…made a good go of pretending they still led interesting lives. They subscribed to the Guardian Weekly, attended arts festivals, even went on the odd adventure-travel holiday. But was the stirring of the soul really answered by a two-week hike in the Himalayan foothills?” Continue reading →

Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with 2016, Abigail Ulman, Australian, AWW, AWW2016, book review, review, short story January 8, 2016

hot-little-hands-abigail-ulman

I reckon short stories have a bigger job to do than novels – they have to hook you quickly, keep you, and hopefully leave a lasting, favourable impression, all in fewer words than a novel – there’s less time for backstory, less time for character development, and less time for plotting. And so I come to Abigail Ulman’s Hot Little Hands. It just didn’t keep me. At all. Continue reading →

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Tag Archives: AWW2016

The Stella Prize 2016 Longlist

Sunnyside by Joanna Murray-Smith

Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman