Booklover Book Reviews

The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) will be announced on Friday night as part of the Sydney Writer’s Festival this week.

So before the winners are announced I thought it worth recapping which titles have been short-listed.

General Fiction Book of the Year 2013

Secrets of the Tides by Hannah Richell (Hachette Australia)

Jack of Diamonds by Bryce Courtenay (Penguin Group Australia)

Nine Days by Toni Jordan (The Text Publishing Company)

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton (Allen & Unwin)

The Mother’s Group by Fiona Higgins (Allen & Unwin)

The Amber Amulet by Craig Silvey (Allen & Unwin)

(more…)

I am participating in a Book Debate about the Pulitzer Prize winning title, The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson at Bookkaholic.com.

If you read my review of The Orphan Master’s Son you’ll recall I thought it was outstanding. It tied for first place in My Best Books of 2012 and I have been recommending it to everyone I know.

My counterpart in this debate, who did not like several aspects of this title, is Rebecca Foster.

And so a Book Debate was born!

We invite book lovers to check out our ‘The Orphan Master’s Son Book Debate’ at Bookkaholic and vote for who you think won.

(more…)

Our Recent 4.5+ star Recommendations

Most Popular Book Reviews via Search

Book Reviews Coming Soon

(more…)

… no matter how brilliant your book content is, it will not sell!

Sorry for shouting (virtually), but I am sick and tired of seeing bad book covers.

Why? It is not because they hurt my eyes. It is because it means there are countless potential literary masterpieces out there that will never get the recognition and appreciation they and their authors deserve.

What do I consider a ‘bad’ book cover?

Okay, so I am not going to provide examples of actual book covers, because that would just be mean. And, you can easily find countless examples on display in the 99 cents price bracket on Amazon, etc.

For me, a bad book cover is one that looks cheap and unloved, one that has had little thought or effort put into its creation. Tell tale signs are:

(more…)

A few of my favourite retailers are offering some book bargains this weekend you might be interested:

• Booktopia is offering free shipping to Australian addresses on all orders made until midnight Sunday 14th April 2013. Simply enter the promotion code SAVE to take up this offer.

• Kobobooks is offering 30% off a selection of bestsellers (promotion code APRIL30), including the new release from Aussie Author Ashley Hay The Railwayman’s Wife, titles from the Beautiful Creatures Series, and multiple recent and latest titles from popular authors Lee Child, Diana Gabaldon, Clive Cussler, Kate Atkinson, Jodi Picoult, Jojo Moyes, Jane Green, Kate Morton, Jo Nesbo, and many more.

Important news for customers of ebook retailer BooksOnBoard:

They have halted sales of ebooks and encourage customers to download their ebook purchases as a priority.

(more…)

Perhaps I am a little behind the times, but did you know that Markus Zusak’s THE BOOK THIEF is finally being made into a movie?

Here is what it says on Zusak’s website, The City At Our Feet:

“In February, 2013, filming of The Book Thief began by Fox 2000 in Berlin, directed by Emmy award-winning Brian Percival (Downton Abbey). The cast includes Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush (Shine, The King’s Speech) and Academy Award nominee Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves, Anna Karenina), as well as exciting new talent Sophie Nelisse (Monsieur Lazhar) as the book thief, Liesel Meminger.”

(more…)

As part of the Aussie Author Challenge 2013, each month I will be highlighting a selection of the new books being released by Aussie Authors in the month ahead and April is almost upon us.

These features will by no means provide a comprehensive listing of all the titles by Australian authors being released, just the ones I have come across in my travels around the web. I’ll ask readers, authors and publishers to let me know of any other notable Aussie Author book releases that I have overlooked in the Comments Section.

Book Releases by Aussie Authors in April 2013

Click on the covers to read book summary and publication details. (more…)