The woman, mother, wife in Miranda Darling’s book is so much more, but will she spiral with subservient silence into her relationship or will her anger compound into a climatic burst and the title of this book is ‘Thunderhead‘.Carmel Shute tells us what’s happening with ‘Sisters in Crime’.By Miranda Darling and Sisters in Crime with Jan Goldsmith

An ancient map links two women from the studio of Ruebens in the 1620’s to Antwerp today, Lisa Medved’s historical research and clever cryptic clues have you guessing in ‘The Engraver’s Secret’.Lauren Chater takes us back to Restoration England where theatre and art gave women greater agency in 'The Beauties' and where a commoner married a soon to …

Magic, humour, horror and even romance are ‘mettled’ together in Lili Wilkinson’s latest tale of not so damsel in distress and a secret society, featuring sinister Toadmen, in ‘Deep is the Fen’.‘The Winter Palace’ by Paul Morgan is a sumptuous novel of war, survival and love.By Lili Wilkinson with Jan Goldsmith and Paul Morgan with Lisa Moule

‘The Cryptic Clue’ is a crime novel which puts capable older women in the spotlight and brings laughs about attitudes and happenings from the not so distant past. This is another Tea Ladies mystery written by Amanda Hampson.Ouyang Yu explores the dissonance between cultures which can lead to both comic outcomes and even a sense of loss in his colle…

Myfanwy Jones takes us into the historical past associated with the Queensland Tablelands and the friction between fathers and sons over three generations in, 'Cool Water'. An unflinching portrayal of modernday parenting is revealed in Bella Ellwood-Clayton's novel, 'Weekend Friends'.By Myfanwy Jones with David McLean and Bella Ellwood-Clayton with Lisa Moule

'The Pyramid of Needs' by Ernest Price is a darkly funny story about transphobia and family dysfunction.'Someone Else's Bucket List' by Amy Matthews is an exploration of values in the digital age as much as it is a story of an individual finding romance and her own identity.By Ernest Price with Lisa Moule and Amy Matthews with David McLean

Anne Freeman's novel, 'Me That You See' is a thrilling glimpse into online sex work.Steven Carroll's murder mystery, 'Death of a Foreign Gentleman', may appear to be simply detective fiction but we are taken on a whirlwind historical tour of philosophy and literature as the crime is finally solved.By Anne Freeman with Lisa Moule and Steven Carroll with David McLean

'The Eleventh Floor' by Kylie Orr is a suspense filled psychological drama.Donna Cameron's novel, 'The Rewilding', negotiates the balance between corporate consumptionism and eco-terrorism in an action packed adventure.By Kylie Orr with Lisa Moule and Donna Cameron with David McLean

In Imbi Neeme's novel, "Kind of, Sort of, Maybe . . . but probably not", we have the potential of relationships forming, a mystery to solve and psychologically quirky characters grappling with life's challenges.Teenage sports games descend into a brawl in 'Sidelines' by Karen Viggers.By Imbi Neeme with David McLean and Karen Viggers with Lisa Moule

‘The Independent Pea’ is another colourful picture story book from Maree Coote. It not only pleases the eye but questions what is best: individuality or co-operation. There is humour in the illustrations as well as the many pea puns. All her books are available through Melbourne Style.Elizabeth Coleman neatly weaves stalking, a disappearance and a …

What could be worse than losing a child and never finding them again. ‘Gone’ by Glenna Thomson has a younger sister still experiencing the grief, so centered in the family, but still questioning and looking 40 years after.By Glenna Thomson with Jan Goldsmith

‘The 20 Minute Author’ by Maja Wolnik is a clever way to write, publish and promote your book – fast.Old friends and new beginnings in ‘Whenever you’re ready’. Trish Bolton has three women, two friends and a daughter, look at their past and the possibility of an altered future after the unexpected death of a close friend.…

The challenge of finding your indigenous identity and heritage as an adolescent is explored in Graham Akhurt's novel, 'Borderland' where landscape, social assumptions and career potential all collide for Jono.Robbie Arnott highlights the changing attitudes and expectations of a society in 'Limberlost' as Ned grows into adulthood. The forces that sh…

'What You Become' is an anthology from RMIT's writing course.Murder, drugs, liasons and lies lie behind a quiet NSW coastal town in Bryan Brown's novel, The Drowning'.By Emma Goodhall with Lisa Moule and Bryan Brown with David McLean

Chelsea Roffey talks about her time as an AFL goal umpire in, 'An Open Letter to Doubting Thomas'. This essay addresses the changing attitudes in the AFL and the behaviour of ardent football supporters. The essay is now included on the VCE English Framework of Ideas book list for 2024 and is one of the mentor texts.…

‘Conversations With My Cat’ by Chuck McKenzie is a book of dialogue where you can read between the lines to further understand the characters.Parts of which are dramatised by David and Lisa. We all talk about some of the books we enjoyed this year and our book list is added on to our Published or Not website. Happy reading, we will be back in 2024.…

A short, strong, boyhood friendship and catastrophe link lives and emotional responsibilities many years later in Matthew Ryan Davies, ‘The Broken Wave’.In 'Dark Heir', C. S. Pacat continues the saga of the Dark King's rise but now that the Stewards are defeated it seems as if Sinclair will control the Dark King's army if he can faind and rejuvenat…

Meredith Temple-Smith has written about the harshness and highlights of a scientific field trip and how it may have shaped her life in ‘From Patagonia to Professor’.Towns run Deep. People run deep. And so it is in Lucy Treloar's latest novel, 'Days of Innocence and Wonder' where Till tries to escape her past only to see the trauma she experienced w…

Two middle aged men, Perry and Ivan, find love and respect having experienced loss, betrayal and the need to meet the assumptions and expectations of their respective cultural backgrounds and social groups in 'The In-Between', the latest novel by Christos Tsiolkas. Charli blames herself for her mother’s death and the township blames her for a bush …

Tara Calaby has set her historical fiction novel ‘House of Longing’ in the Kew mental asylum. A street corner gives a location point and can become a meeting place. In Robyn Annear’s book we read about some of the remarkable happenings and people in Melbourne’s early history linked to ‘Corners of Melbourne’.…

'Big Weird Lonely Hearts' is an anthology of delightfully absurd short stories where Allen C Jones challenges readers to challenge perceptions and expectations.Tim Loveday is a writer and he chats about his writing life with Lisa.By Allen C Jones with David McLean and Time :oveday with Lisa Moule

Kate Grenville speaks about Restless Dolly Mauder. A compelling novel about her grandmother.By Lisa and Kate Grenville

At the heart of many of Justine Sless’s short stories is connection, but little real contact between people. In ‘Measured, Silk and other stories’ there is keen observation by characters but it is the loneliness that people feel and their inability to voice it that gives these stories a potency. Dias Novita Wuri’s, “Birth Canal” addresses the inher…

Colin Batrouney has creatively crafted six books and authors for a literary prize ‘The Bannerman Shortlist’, as well as a mystery involving an enduring friendship of very different characters. A beautifully produced book by Clouds of Magellan.J P Pomare, once again, explores the darker side of people's psychology in 'Home Before Night' where the af…

Tom Valente and Geoff Rolls talk about their written and artistic contributions to 'Synergy' - an anthology of works produced by the Bayside University of the Third Age. Natasha Lester’s historical fiction is of the male dominated fashion industry and the difficulties of three women over three generations wanting acknowledgment of their creativity …

Short stories are like a bag of mixed lollies there’s going to be something that sparks interest. Laura Jean McKay has given us just that with ‘Gunflower’, especially as they are grouped into Birth, Life and Death. Darren Mort takes us into the challenging world of child custody when parents separate in his novel, ‘Isla’s Song’.…

Emily Spurr has researched brains, parasites, chat bots, psychological health and perimenopause and given us this humorous fictional relationship in ‘Beatrix and Fred’.The lives or three servicemen who died in World War One are cast against a backdrop of their heritage and their potential in Ross McMullin's latest historical biography, 'Life So Ful…

Detectives with a difference, especially as one has a particularly good sense of smell, and that’s Monty the golden retriever in Louisa Bennett’s crime novel ‘The Nosy Detectives’. Murder and Melbourne seem to go hand in hand in Hugh McGinlay’s, ‘Silks’, where a circus aerialist is throttled at the end of a silk performance rope. Can milliner and p…

Willa watches the dramatization of Shakespeare’s Much To Do About Nothing and wants the same stirring in her heart and loins. She finds zing in the romance e-books she publishes but not in her real life. Jessica Dettman has written a comedy of modern love in ‘Without Further Ado’.Living up to the expectation of your parents along with years of raci…

Anna Kate Blair writes insightfully and amusingly while exploring the issues of social conformity, desire, sexuality and a career in art through her debut novel, ‘The Modern’.The scarred and psychologically damaged platoon of the graves retrieval unit attempt to form a New Eureka in France after World War One but the utopia they strive for is soon …

Allee Richards has written ‘A Light in the Dark’, a story of ambition, envy, and disappointment. The title can refer to the theatre world or hopefully the way forward from secrets and grief.The migrant experience and its impact echoes through Australia. Eva Collins has captured some of that sensibility in her poetry collection, ‘Ask No Questions’…

Our lives, influenced as they are by our upbringing and past relationships, are both comic and even tragic. Such is the case in Rachel Matthews' novel, Never Look Desperate, as the central characters look for understanding as well as intimacy.By Rachel Matthews qith David McLean

'The Heart is a Star' by Megan Rogers is a lyrical story about how we can uncover our true selves when we are forced to face the myths that make us.'Serengotti' sees not just characters but the very reader dislocated as we question the values and narratives we create. Eugen Bacon's narrative style is energetic and intriguing as her displaced charac…

‘The Hummingbird Effect’ by Kate Mildenhall. A kaleidoscopic story of four women connected across time and place by an invisible thread.Was Vincent van Gogh a good Samaritan or self centred artist? In ‘Vincent and Sien’ Silvia Kwon has written about a prostitute who became his model and lover during the time of his own artistic development.…

Another thought provoking crime novel by Amy Suiter Clarke. Instead of podcasts concentrating on cold case murders in ‘Girl, 11’ this time she has a cult-like church being exposed in ‘Lay Your Body Down’.A billycart race, a brother in jail and mum’s on again – off again friend all make life hard for Jimmy as he tries to make sense of the world whil…

‘Death in the Sauna’ by Dennis Altman is a murder mystery with an array of interesting characters who may all be suspects in this enjoyable story of politics, sexuality and secret lives. ‘Thaw’ is Dennis Glover’s account of Scott’s expedition to the Antarctic and the modern day consequences. More is trapped in the ice than we realize.…

‘Born For You’ by Magdalena McGuire has written a luminous short story collection about the intensity of women’s lives and reveals the myriad of ways that women are compelled to reinvent themselves and to confront who they were, with who they become.Politics, money and power are usually behind terrorism, but what connection does this have with youn…

‘Monster Island’, the latest children’s book by George Ivanoff, is populated by strange and unusual creatures that could well be real. Bernie and Ivy must prevent poachers from stealing these curious mythical and prehistoric animals. (Puffin)Is the purpose of life making the right choices when it comes to friends, family, relationships and especial…

Nine Year old Ruby and her father Mitch, had an itinerant lifestyle in Gina Perry’s debut novel ‘My Father the Whale’. Sixteen years later we see the repercussions of those lifestyle choices.In The Rush, Michelle Prak has the weather and her characters morph from friendly to violent in this tense and twisted thriller 65…

From boarding houses to share houses to tough accommodation on the streets, Libby Angel has written about a young women encountering like minded artists and activist in 1990’s Melbourne. ‘Where I slept’ has short colourful descriptions of these people and places.'Cursed Bunny' by Bora Chung was shortlisted for the Booker prize. Lisa speaks with her…

Primrose has problems. It’s not just her obsessiveness but her marriage, her journalistic career, her first love living over the road and her entitled brother-in-law coming to stay. Nina Wan writes humorously about golf perhaps not being the answer in ‘The Albatross’.Truth and reality are blurred in Michelle Jager’s, Bird Bones, as Vera’s narrative…

Lisa Moule talks with author, literary agent and creative writing teacher, Danielle Binks on our Radiothon program.By Lisa Moule with Danielle Binks and Jan Goldsmith

'The Heart is a Star' by Megan Rogers delves into a mother-daughter relationship against a backdrop of the untmed wilds of Tasmania's west coast.Three generations of women face the challenges of social, political and economic change in Armando Correa's novel, 'The Night Travellers'.By Megan Rogers and Armando Lucas Correa with David McLean

'The Glow' is a wonderfully spooky children's story (also for adults) by Sofie Laguna.'The Secret History of the Rainbow Trout Hotel' is a quirky novel about discovery where the protagonist, Andy Lightfoot, discovers new people, new ideas and new situatons. The author is David Metzenthen.By Sofie Laguna with Lisa Moule and David Metzenthen with David McLean

'After The Rain' addresses the foundations of uncertainty within lives and even countries and is the debut novel of Aisling Smith.Lorraine Peck continues the crime saga of drugs and money which are all part of a violent crime family in 'The Double Bind'.By Aisling Smith with David McLean and Lorraine Peck with David McLean

'Search History' by Amy Taylor is a sharp and funny debut novel about obsession and desire in the internet age.Catherine de st Phalle entertains us once again with familiar characters in 'Call Me Marlowe' where we find individuals and countries resemble each other when they try and avoid or escape reality.…

Robert Gott's novel, 'Naked Ambition', mocks politicians, fundamentalists and public relations experts who all have a habit of over exposing themselves in one way or another. Claire Christian is the author of the contemporary and progressive new novel, West Side Honey, which is an inclusive, gently subversive and joyful rom com.…

‘Where Light Meets Water’ is a big historical read. Susan Paterson has written about a sailor and the sea and the artistic talent that he shares with the woman who fights for him even though her own artistic abilities are overlooked in a time when class and gender were paramount. The complex and transformative nature of desire is seen evolving with…

Every family is different and in Jacinta Halloran, ‘Resistance’ it’s a therapist’s job to decide if a mother and father are fit parents but with so many other family stories in the book, how can anyone decide what makes a good parent.Dominic Smith explores just how much our past can haunt us in ‘Return to Valetto’ where long buried secrets from Wor…