When Helen Garner sees accused murderer Anu Singh, she writes that Singh “raised my girl hackles in a bristle.” That is Garner’s writing in a nutshell; succinct, sincere, spare. We’ve all felt that sensation without ever voicing it, and we all know exactly what she means. In 1997 Singh murdered her boyfriend Joe Cinque in […]
Top Five Best Books of All Time
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
I love everything about this 1994 novel, but mostly I love how Doyle demonstrates that simple writing can be so profound. Told from the perspective of 10 year old Irish Catholic Paddy Doyle, watching his parents’ marriage slowly disintegrate while he tries to make sense of school and church and other kids, this book is […]
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
It’s a classic for a reason – profoundly good, unexpectedly funny and unforgettable. If you were unfortunate enough not to encounter it in your early teens, read it now. But whatever you do, don’t read the appalling Go Set a Watchman afterwards. That book should never have been published. It makes me so mad I […]
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Wow. What an incandescent ball of light this book is; a scorching, eviscerating examination of nature versus nurture and the limits of parental love. Shriver shines a unflinching light on the bits of being parents we’d all prefer to keep hidden and unsaid. What do we do if we regret becoming parents, and it’s too […]
The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman
This is not so much a book as a trip around Kalman’s mind, and what a beautiful place to be that is. Maira Kalman is an American artist but she’s anything but pretentious. She’s more like the eccentric great aunt you see at someone’s funeral and wish you knew better, ‘cause she seems like a […]