What Chloe is Reading...

I once stumbled across a video about reading habits for those with short attention spans. In order to combat his lack of focus, the creator devised a plan. He would read several books at once on rotation. With five books on the hop, he’d read one chapter from the first book, then move on to the next. He’d read a chapter from that one, then move on to the next, ad infinitum.

As a fun project, I thought I would test the process.

Without further ado, here are the five books I am currently reading — and my thoughts so far. It has to be noted that every book below has me hooked.

DRAGONFALL

by L.R. Lam

In a nutshell: dragons hate humans. Humans worship dragons as Gods. A dragon princeling - the last male of the species - inadvertently bonds with a human magician. They both secretly need to kill the other, but need to use each other, first — and one cannot hurt the other without hurting themselves. Angst ensues.

The world building is solid and is not confusing, and although there is intended romance, the plot and the politics are the forefront. There is LGBTQ+ representation.

This book is for fans of a fast-paced, low-stakes fantasy with all of the tropes (enemies-to-lovers, anyone?).

THE FERRYMAN

by Justin Cronin

The Ferryman is an incredibly clever novel that could comfortably drift between the literary fiction section and the science fiction section.

In a nutshell: Proctor works as a Ferryman on an island touted as utopia. Those who live on the island are recycled humans; at the end of their life, they are ferried to a smaller, nearby island to have their memory wiped so that they can be made young again, and re-introduced to society as wards. Everything is not as it seems, however, and Proctor finds himself caught up in the conspiracy.

This book is for the philosophers — for those who like a ‘thinky’ novel. There are themes of class injustice, of family dynamics, and possibly the meaning of life. How would you feel if you knew reincarnation was a certainty?

THE BOOK THAT WOULDN’T BURN

by Mark Lawrence

How does that saying go? A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. That’s what it feels like going into Mark Lawrence’s The Book that Wouldn’t Burn. This does not do the book a disservice, though.

We follow two main characters - Evar and Livira - whose experiences read like entirely different stories. Evar has been imprisoned in an ancient, massive, magic library his whole life and Livira has lived a meager existence in the dust, outside in the open. Their stories start completely separate but slowly intertwine.

The world is unlike any I’ve read before, and the characters are so well-sketched you just want to keep reading. For those who love books about books and high fantasy.

IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS

by TJ Klune

I am a TJ Klune fangirl and devour anything that he writes. In the Lives of Puppets is a loose Pinocchio retelling set in a future where humans have almost completely been replaced by AI. The main character, human Victor, is raised by one such machine, and in turn rescues and repairs other machines. Until he rescues Hap — a robot that shares a history with Victor’s caregiver, and who inadvertently throws their quiet lives into chaos.

This is classic TJ Klune. It is cosy fantasy at its finest with found family at its core. He puts a new spin on the discussion around artificial intelligence and humanness — something I think we all need to consider in the very near future.

CITY OF LAST CHANCES

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

If you’re like me, you know Adrian Tchaikovsky for his heavy science fiction novels. City of Last Chances is a new fantasy novel, and it is… epic, is all I can really say.

The book reads a lot like its cover suggests; it’s a little chaotic, but if you have patience and forge on, you will easily find rhythm in the chaos. Give it a few chapters and you’ll find your groove.

The city itself is a main character, and though threaded with many, many points of view — it works. It gives the impression of a city about to implode. There’s revolution. The city is at war with itself — as well as the magical land on the other side of the Anchorwood.

This book is for those who love political high fantasy.

Review by Jessie - Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh

“If you eat the bread, you’ll die, he said, and it sounded more like a caress than a threat.”

Based on a real-life mass poisoning in a rural French village, this is a hypnotic and often absurd fever dream of a novel that I read quickly, as though in a trance. 

In the aftermath of World War II, Elodie, the baker’s wife, lives a staid and frustrated existence. When a new ambassador arrives in town, his glamorous wife Violet quickly captures Elodie’s attention and soon, an obsession is formed. What starts as seemingly innocent fascinations soon turns into more sinister events. A boy jumps into a fire, horses are found dead in a field and the townspeople start acting in strange ways, all culminating in the final, frenzied day.

Told through flashbacks, as Elodie writes letters to Violet, the novel plays with subtle manipulations of power, through the characters’ desires and delusions and is constantly shifting the reader’s perception of what is real and who can be trusted. Sophie Mackintosh’s writing is silky smooth and incredibly effective at lulling you into a dream state, from which she then yanks you unceremoniously, leaving you dazed and confused, as though untimely woken from a nap. It felt like such a different reading experience and I absolutely loved being transported in this way. A perfect winter book, best enjoyed by candlelight, safely cosseted in blankets.

Review by Chloe - The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix

by Chloe

Garth Nix is one of Australia’s most prolific and successful fantasy authors. He writes across many age groups, with his latest book – The Sinister Booksellers of Bath – marketed toward the young adult audience but appropriate for anyone aged 16 to 100 (as Nix himself stated in a recent interview – I paraphrase – the labels are irrelevant and books are for everyone). The content of The Sinister Booksellers of Bath and its predecessor The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is designed for an older audience, however. Firmly set in 1983, this story will appeal to any who are nostalgic for the age of punk, of Bowie and MTV – even if the pop-culture references are mainly applied to books.

The main character, Susan, has strong Sinead O’Connor vibes (or perhaps Deadpool’s Negasonic Teenage Warhead), while her paramour Merlin exudes a Bowie-esque charm. In The Left-Handed Booksellers of London we find out that Susan is in fact a demi-human, daughter of a human mother and the mythical Old Man of Coniston. In The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, Susan’s wish to live a normal life despite her heritage is thwarted as she’s drawn into yet another mission with the left-handed booksellers.

It could be that I’m a bookseller myself and this series speaks to me due to its constant references to retail at Christmas and bookseller conferences – and books in general – but I think any lover of books and reading is going to devour this series. Susan, with her shaved head and her trademark Doc Marten boots, and Merlin – introduced, in this novel, as cos-playing as one of the Bennett sisters from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice – are an iconic couple. Their relationship plays a secondary role, however, the focus settling upon Susan and her reluctance to become the true daughter of Coniston. She wants to be normal, just for a little while, and at every turn she is reluctant to do what needs to be done – knowing that it’ll sink her deeper into power she does not want.

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath is a book filled to the brim with strong, multi-faceted women and non-toxic men – just the way we like it.

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Eighteen-year-old art student Susan Arkshaw arrives in London in search of her father. But before she can question crime boss Frank Thringley he's turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin. Merlin is one of the youngest members of a secret society of booksellers with magical powers who police the mythic Old World wherever it impinges on the New World - in addition to running several bookshops, of course! Merlin also has a quest of his own: to find the Old World entity who arranged the murder of his mother. Their investigations attract attention from enemies of the Old and New Worlds. Soon they become involved in an even more urgent task to recover the grail that is the source of the left-handed booksellers' power, before it is used to destroy the booksellers and rouse the hordes of the mythic past. As the search for the grail becomes strangely intertwined with both their quests, they start to wonder... Is Susan's long-lost father a bookseller, or something altogether more mysterious?

Review by Chloe - The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

by Chloe Townson

If you’re a reader who’s still chasing the high of The Hunger Games — the rush of needing to read the next chapter, regardless of whether it’s already three hours past your bed time — then I highly recommend The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

Violet Sorrengail is the daughter of revered General Sorrengail — all her life she’s wanted to join the Scribe Quadrant but, when the time comes to choose, her illustrious mother forces Violet to join the cutthroat ranks of the Riders Quadrant. Because that is where a Sorrengail belongs.

The Riders Quadrant is ruthless, many of its students failing to survive to graduation. Within its ranks are the marked — the children of rebels and dissidents, whose parents were all executed by General Sorrengail. Violet not only suffers a chronic illness that makes her bones easy to break, but also has a target on her back. Her main threat? Her wingleader Xaden Riorson, son of Fen Riorson, leader of the former rebellion.

Fourth Wing is the first title from new imprint, Red Tower Books. They advertise their books as ‘fantasy and romance’ which is exactly what you’re getting into with this book. The fantasy element is satisfied with dragons and magic and plenty of action that is not overshadowed by the romance — even if the romance is spicy. The first in a series, the pacing of Fourth Wing was exactly what it needed to be. It covers about a year in the life of our electric heroine where she bonds with dragons and discovers she is more than her illness and is capable of far more than she (and others) give her credit for. There are hints of political upheaval, of impending war, enough to know that the next book will not disappoint.

Fourth Wing is suitable for readers who enjoy fantasy that isn’t weighed down by lore and politics. There’s enough depth to keep frivolity at bay — it’s high-stakes action that keeps you turning the page (possibly until 2am).

Fourth Wing is released May 9th

Pre-order your copy below

Review by Suzy - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

by Suzy Wilson

Barbara Kingsolver says that ‘You can’t beat Dickens for a good plot’ but after reveling in this tremendous, well crafted, utterly compelling novel, I would argue that it would also be pretty damn hard to beat Kingsolver for plot, or for nuanced characters and fabulous gritty writing. I loved my days reading this story. 

Echoing Dickens, Kingsolver takes the David Copperfield story to Appalachia. This is country that she grew up in; it is in her bones, and her love of this place provides the powerful backdrop that gives the novel its strength. 

Demon Copperhead is the reader’s hero. He is flawed - an orphan, a victim, a survivor - charismatic, and blessed with much artistic talent and sporting skill. I am not overstating it, I think, to say that Kingsolver makes in Demon one of the strongest lead characters in recent years. But there are other heroes in this story: some extraordinary teachers, a doctor, several members of the Peggott family and a couple of anti-heroes (Fast Forward and U-Haul) who are charismatic and ghastly in their own right. 

It is a storm of a novel. It rages against the effects of endemic poverty, but particularly against pharmaceutical companies (Purdue* and others) and the oxy (Oxycontin) epidemic they delivered to the most vulnerable communities of America. I suspect the Sackler Oxy story is going to appear with relentless regularity in books and films (even the new Ted Lasso series has Rupert Mannion on a cruise with the Sacklers).

It is the characters who drive and ultimately make this novel outstanding, and they are with me still. We are all watching eagerly to see which prize lists this novel may pop up on in 2023. 

*“Purdue Pharma has pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges twice, in 2007 and in 2020, based ondeceptive marketing that downplayed the risk of becoming addicted to OxyContin’. Sackler familymembers maintain they were unaware of wrongdoing by executives at the company.” NPR, 2022.

buy the limited edition hardcover of Demon Copperhead for the same price as a paperback!

Review by Chloe - Weyward by Emilia Hart

by Chloe Townson

Weyward is one of those books that come in designated for the fantasy section but which could plausibly float into the fiction section.

We’ve all heard of the Weird Sisters from Macbeth. Apparently, they weren’t always called the Weird Sisters. Once upon a time, they were called the Weyward Sisters, which is the premise that underlies this story.

Weyward is perfect for those who love a family saga. We start with Altha in 1619, accused of witchcraft and put on trial. She is guilty only of using alternative medicine to the leeches the local doctor likes to prescribe, and her fate relies upon the unreliable evidence of men.

We then hear from Violet — a sixteen-year-old girl in 1942 who lives in a grand estate with her father and brother. She wants only to study insects and botany, but is instead foisted upon cousin Frederick, who has designs upon claiming the estate should he marry her.

Lastly, we have Kate — it is 2019, and she is running from an emotionally and physically abusive husband. She has inherited a cottage from her great Aunt Violet, whom she only met once. Kate, suddenly interested in her family history, uncovers the lives of the inspiring and independent women who came before her.

The magic in Weyward is a shadow in the corner. It is a whisper, a quiet voice in the background of the story being told in the foreground. Women throughout history have been accused of witchcraft for no other reason but that they are women who try to claim their own independence. This book is for the fierce feminists, the angry women, for those enraged, for those who would gladly claim witchcraft as their heritage.

Review by Chloe - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

by Chloe Townson

We all know the old adage don’t judge a book by its cover. It’s an adage I often repeat when recommending Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries to others. Which, when I describe the book, seems counterproductive. When one looks upon this cover they think ‘cosey’. They think fluffy, low stakes, light-hearted fantasy. Which… okay, this book isn’t not that. But nor is it entirely that, either.

Emily Wilde is an efficient, prodigious professor cursed to live in a time where women are not given the same respect as men — especially in an academic field. She is forced to work alongside Wendell Bambleby — the same age, but already tenured. To Emily, who is not good with people, the overtly charming Bambleby is an annoyance she’d prefer to be without. She’s glad to be out of the office and in the field without him — only to have him show up on her doorstep anyway.

Set in a world where Faerie are proven real and their existence is accepted among humanity, Emily has made it her priority to write the first ever comprehensive Encylopaedia of Faeries and, unfortunately, she cannot do it without Bambleby’s introduction. She grudgingly accepts his help (though he gets in her way more than he helps), and soon discovers that Bambleby is not all that he appears to be.

Yes, this is a story set in a cold climate. There’s a cottage and warm fires and homely food, and at times you will laugh out loud at the interactions between Emily and Bambleby. The story is cosey, in so many ways. But there’s darkness, too. The Faerie are not cute and sparkly. They are dark, and they don’t care at all about humanity or their suffering. Humans, to these Faerie, are pets or mere amusements. If this story is a field of flowers, be prepared to stumble across a few thorns.

I was surprised by how much I loved this book. I fell in love with the characters — so well-rounded and fleshed out and who now live in my head rent-free. I loved the landscape and the setting, I loved the plot, which will only thicken in books two and three. For those who don’t like to start incomplete series, you’re safe with Emily Wilde - there’s no cliffhanger, and the bows are mostly tied up neatly. You can be satisfied by the end. If you want more, though, you need only be patient.

JESSIE’S 2023 RECS

I started my reading year by returning to a classic. I savoured the indulgence of reading an old favourite – The Secret History – a palette cleanser, before heading back to the land of new releases. And there are so many! Here are just a few coming out in the next couple of months that I’m excited for:

Shy
by Max Porter

Not to be dramatic, but I am IN LOVE with Max Porter. Two of his previous novels, Grief is the Thing With Feathers and Lanny sit in my room dog-eared and perpetually close at hand. His language is experimental, dreamy and magical. Shy follows a few hours in the life of a troubled teen boy, continuing Porter’s exploration of the emotional life of young men in a way that takes a pickax to the heart.

Due April 4th

Birnam Wood
by Eleanor Catton

Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries returns with an eco-thriller about a guerrilla gardening group – if that doesn’t pique your interest then I don’t know what else to tell you. Catton is brilliant at shaping worlds that are deceptively layered and I’m so eager to see where this one goes.

Due February 28th

Cursed Bread
by Sophie Mackintosh  

Based on the true story of a mass poisoning in a French village in 1951, this sounds like a feverish and hypnotic feminist fable. I loved both of Sophie Mackintosh’s previous novels – she has a knack for unsettling you in a really satisfying way – so I can’t wait to dive in!

Due March 7th

Old God’s Time
by Sebastian Barry

A retired policeman settling into life by the sea is confronted by his past when two young detectives seek his advice on a long-forgotten cold case. Sebastian Barry is often not for the faint-hearted but the payoff is always worthwhile, in my experience and his perfect Irish colour palette of moody hues is my beach reading of choice.

Due February 28th

Crushing
by Genevieve Novak

This sounds right up my alley: darkly humorous contemporary lit with a bite. Novak looks at the fraught and ever-confusing process of moving on and starting anew in relationships with comforting hilarity.

Due April 5th

Old Babes in the Wood
by Margaret Atwood

A new Margaret Atwood short story collection, huzzah! I have only read the first story so far but it’s delightfully Atwood; crisp and matter of fact while somehow making you question everything you’ve ever believed in. I’m going to eke these stories out in between the novels on this list so as to stay in Atwood’s bizarre and wonderful world for as long as possible.

Due March 7th

Suzy Recommends...

THE SUN WALKS DOWN

BY FIONA MCFARLANE

Denny, a six-year-old boy, is missing in the harsh South Australian desert. His parents (a hard of hearing mother and stockman father), his many sisters and the rest of their small, fictional town of Fairly are all involved in the search, whether it be on horseback, on foot or by proxy.

The novel presents a cast of characters, fleshed out and familiar. Even though there are many points of view from which this story is told, McFarlane brings each and every one of her characters to life. Among them, we have two young newlyweds, a First Nations man who is a force with a cricket ball, a vicar who is a bit of a mess, a Swedish painter and his British wife, a German sex worker, a sergeant who wants to write, and a teenage girl who knows better than everyone else. Their stories are cleverly, almost poetically, interwoven and contain some perspectives that are often omitted from the Australian colonial narrative. 

Then there is the sun – a character in its own right – symbolic of gods, of life, death and art.

In The Sun Walks Down, Fiona McFarlane doesn’t just describe the landscape of 1880s rural, colonial Australia, she slices it open and dissects it. The effect is visceral. 

The author makes it glaringly obvious that no coloniser has full understanding or ownership of this land. McFarlane should be celebrated for this book; it is excellent.

ALL THAT’S LEFT UNSAID

BY TRACEY LIEN

This is a page turning story about a part of Australia’s recent history that I don’t think we have heard before. 

In a Vietnamese immigrant community in Cabramatta, a woman investigates her teenage brother's murder.

The troubles in 1990s Cabramatta are many. The North and South Vietnamese people who came to the area as refugees after the war are deeply marked by the horrors they experienced, and they are inflicting their damage on the first-generation Australians who are their children. Lien's debut covers the specific operation of generational trauma with nuance and insight. The psychological predicament of the families she writes about is exacerbated by Cabramatta's heroin epidemic and institutionalized anti-Asian racism among the "blondies" of White Australia. Between these two factors, when 17-year-old Denny Tran (who is a studious and highly intelligent boy)  is beaten to death after Cabramatta High School's senior formal, the police show little interest in finding the murderer. Denny must have been a junkie or in a gang, they assume. And since everyone who was at the popular banquet hall where it happened - including the boy's best friends and one of his teachers - claim to have seen nothing, there's no reason for them to think otherwise. His older sister, Ky, returns from her newspaper job in Melbourne to attend the funeral and ends up staying on in shock and outrage to find the truth of what happened. 

This fictional tragedy is also part murder mystery. It is written  with such clarity and specificity that it will linger in your memory as if it really happened.

Reminded me of Helen Garner’s Joe CInque’s Consolation

LESSONS

BY IAN MCEWAN

Embracing the years from the Blitz to Brexit, McEwan’s latest finds Roland Baines, a single father,  who scrapes out a living as a lounge pianist and sometime journalist, worrying about his infant son, Lawrence. 

When the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has closed, eleven-year-old Roland Baines's life is turned upside down. Two thousand miles from his mother's protective love, stranded at an unusual boarding school, his vulnerability attracts piano teacher Miss Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade.

Now, when his wife vanishes, leaving him alone with his tiny son, Roland is forced to confront the reality of his restless existence. As the radiation from Chernobyl spreads across Europe, he begins a search for answers that looks deep into his family history and will last for the rest of his life.

Haunted by lost opportunities, Roland seeks solace through every possible means—music, literature, friends, sex, politics, and, finally, love cut tragically short, then love ultimately redeemed. His journey raises important questions for us all. Can we take full charge of the course of our lives without causing damage to others? How do global events beyond our control shape our lives and our memories? And what can we really learn from the traumas of the past?

Epic, mesmerizing, and deeply humane, Lessons is a chronicle for our times—a powerful meditation on history and humanity through the prism of one man's lifetime.”

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY

BY BONNIE GARMUS

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.

Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.

A WALK IN THE DARK

BY JANE GODWIN

Five teenagers are on a night walk in the Otway Ranges. With no adults supervising, this is their chance to prove their capabilities to themselves. After all, as their principal says, it’s just a walk in the dark, what’s there to worry about? As it turns out, rather a lot.

On top of unexpected storms and unpleasant strangers, the teens each have their own separate battles to fight.

Like all the best wilderness survival stories, A Walk in the Dark is a book where the protagonists emerge from the wild as changed people. As the reader, you follow them through life-and-death situations, cheering their personal growth as much as you’re cheering for their survival. 
Fantastically tense in places, A Walk in the Dark is a great read for all kids ages 11+.

What Are the Riverbenders Reading this Month?

Suzy, Vicky, Lisa & Jessie are reading…

LUCY BY THE SEA
by Elizabeth Strout

In March 2020 Lucy's ex-husband William pleads with her to leave New York and escape to a coastal house he has rented in Maine. Lucy reluctantly agrees, leaving the washing-up in the sink, expecting to be back in a week or two. Weeks turn into months, and it's just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the sea.

Rich with empathy and a searing clarity, Lucy by the Sea evokes the fragility and uncertainty of the recent past, as well as the possibilities that those long, quiet days can inspire. At the heart of this miraculous novel are the deep human connections that sustain us, even as the world seems to be falling apart.

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Staff Review - Babel by RF Kuang

Babel - Or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution

RF KUANG

review by Chloe Townson

Robin Swift – an unassuming name for an unassuming character, lifted out of poverty and plague and transplanted in a new world where he is given all that he needs and afforded every opportunity. Robin Swift, who soon does not remember the name he was born with, only the anglicised name that he chose to fit in – a requirement, he is told, to make it easier for Englishmen to pronounce.

Taught to read, write, and breathe in Latin, Greek, English, and Chinese, Robin’s ultimate destination is Oxford and the Babel Institute of Translation. Set in an alternate London where silver is used as a conductor for magic via language and translation, Robin’s education and purpose is to be able to create and wield these magical silver bars, usable only by those who can not only speak two or more languages but who understand those languages right down to their etymological roots.

Babel is a book for language nerds; it’s a book for those who are in love with words and language and the ebbs and flows of borrowed meaning and meaning lost. It does not fit squarely into any specific genre – some will call it fantasy, some will call it dark academia, others will call it historical fiction. Like language, it borrows from all the above, pieces that fit together to create an alluring whole.

At Oxford, Robin finds his people; others who have been uprooted from their Motherlands and used by the British Empire to further imperial gain. This is not a book about friendship and scholarly adventures, not really. It’s a book about colonialism, about otherness and the internal struggle between taking the path that is easy or taking the path that is right, because the two don’t always converge. As the main protagonist, Robin’s struggles are wholly believable. He is not the ‘reluctant’ hero who suddenly finds courage and valour. It takes time – as it should.

At first, Babel meanders. It’s a quiet novel that slowly gathers momentum until it lays an invisible wire in the reader’s path, tripping them into a chaotic bramble of murder, tragic betrayal, and emotional upheaval. Babel is not just a new fantasy that sits prettily amongst the others. No, Babel is an important novel – one that I will push into the hands of others not only because it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year, but because I think it’s a book that needs to be read.

Babel is due for release on September 7th. Click the link below to pre-order your copy.

Chloe's Speculative Fiction Round-Up

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Chloe Recommends for Christmas

THE STARLESS SEA

by Erin Morgenstern

“All you’ll get out of me is a garbled mess of ‘ohmygod, you just have to read it’. Magic, mystery, romance, and the power of stories and books — what more could you possibly want?”

When Zachary Rawlins stumbles across a strange book hidden in his university library it leads him on a quest unlike any other. Its pages entrance him with their tales of lovelorn prisoners, lost cities and nameless acolytes, but they also contain something impossible - a recollection from his own childhood.

Determined to solve the puzzle of the book, Zachary follows the clues he finds on the cover - a bee, a key and a sword. They guide him to a masquerade ball, to a dangerous secret club, and finally through a magical doorway created by the fierce and mysterious Mirabel. This door leads to a subterranean labyrinth filled with stories, hidden far beneath the surface of the earth.

When the labyrinth is threatened, Zachary must race with Mirabel, and Dorian, a handsome barefoot man with shifting alliances, through its twisting tunnels and crowded ballrooms, searching for the end of his story.

You are invited to join Zachary on the starless sea - the home of storytellers, story-lovers and those who will protect our stories at all costs.

Vicky Recommends for Christmas

THE FALCONER

by Dana Czapnik

“Coming of age story set in NY in the 1990s from the perspective of an incredibly bright, basketball playing teenage girl who doesn't quite fit in. Reads like Salinger's Catcher in The Rye meets Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries. Fast paced, whip-smart and deeply moving. LOVE.”

A new coming-of-age classic, an early '90s New York-set novel of love, basketball, art and feminism. Seventeen-year-old Lucy Adler, a street-smart, trash-talking baller, is often the only girl on the public courts.

Lucy's inner life is a contradiction. She's by turns quixotic and cynical, insecure and self-possessed and, despite herself, is in unrequited love with her best friend and pick-up teammate Percy, son of a prominent New York family who is trying to resist his upper crust fate. As Lucy questions accepted notions of success, bristling against her own hunger for male approval, she is drawn into the world of a pair of provocative female artists living in what remains of New York's bohemia. In her hit US debut, Dana Czapnik memorably captures the voice of a young woman in the first flush of freedom searching for an authentic way to live and love.

Suzy Recommends for Christmas

THE DUTCH HOUSE

by Ann Patchett

“The kind of book that makes you neglect your chores. A book about homes, architecture, and the messiness of family life.”

Danny Conroy grows up in the Dutch House, a lavish mansion. Though his father is distant and his mother is absent, Danny has his beloved sister Maeve - Maeve, with her wall of black hair, her wit, her brilliance. Life is coherent, played out under the watchful eyes of the house's former owners in the frames of their oil paintings.

Then one day their father brings Andrea home. Though they cannot know it, her arrival to the Dutch House sows the seed of the defining loss of Danny and Maeve's lives. The siblings are drawn back time and again to the place they can never enter, knocking in vain on the locked door of the past. For behind the mystery of their own exile is that of their mother's - an absence more powerful than any presence they have known.

Told with Ann Patchett's inimitable blend of humour, rage and heartbreak, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale and story of a paradise lost; of the powerful bonds of place and time that magnetize and repel us for our whole lives.

Tanée Recommends for Christmas

THE WIFE AND THE WIDOW

by Christian White

“If you like Jane Harper, you’ll love this. Super readable - perfect holiday/weekend read for crime lovers. Devouring it takes no effort at all as you'll be desperate to see how the mystery unfolds...”

Set against the backdrop of an eerie island town in the dead of winter, The Wife and the Widow is a mystery/thriller told from two perspectives: Kate, a widow whose grief is compounded by what she learns about her dead husband's secret life; and Abby, an island local whose world is turned upside down when she's forced to confront the evidence that her husband is a murderer. But nothing on this island is quite as it seems, and only when these women come together can they discover the whole story about the men in their lives. Brilliant and beguiling, The Wife and the Widow takes you to a cliff edge and asks the question: how well do we really know the people we love?

Holly Recommends for Christmas...

DISAPPEARING EARTH

by Julia Philips

“A softer kind of crime thriller where an incredible emotional acuity to the personal worlds of (seemingly) peripheral characters takes centre stage. Incredibly subtle yet completely ‘unputdownable’!”

Spellbinding, moving - evoking a fascinating region on the other side of the world - this suspenseful and haunting story announces the debut of a profoundly gifted writer. One August afternoon, on the shoreline of the Kamchatka peninsula at the northeastern edge of Russia, two girls - sisters, eight and eleven - go missing. In the ensuing weeks, then months, the police investigation turns up nothing. Echoes of the disappearance reverberate across a tightly woven community, with the fear and loss felt most deeply among its women. Taking us through a year in Kamchatka, Disappearing Earth enters with astonishing emotional acuity the worlds of a cast of richly drawn characters, all connected by the crime: a witness, a neighbor, a detective, a mother. We are transported to vistas of rugged beauty - densely wooded forests, open expanses of tundra, soaring volcanoes, and the glassy seas that border Japan and Alaska - and into a region as complex as it is alluring, where social and ethnic tensions have long simmered, and where outsiders are often the first to be accused. In a story as propulsive as it is emotionally engaging, and through a young writer's virtuosic feat of empathy and imagination, this powerful novel brings us to a new understanding of the intricate bonds of family and community, in a Russia unlike any we have seen before.