August Recommended Reads

Tasmanian Recent Release: The Monster of Her Age by Danielle Binks.

‘There is an unexpected intersection where family, grief, forgiveness, and horror films meet, and in the lovely center is Danielle Binks’ The Monster of Her Age. Realistic, romantic, inclusive, and full of heart, this book belongs on everyone’s shelf’ – Trish Doller, author of Start Here and Float Plan.

Ellie Marsden was born into the legendary Lovinger acting family. As the granddaughter of the acclaimed Lottie Lovinger, Ellie shared the screen with her in a role playing the child monster in a cult horror movie. Despite the popularity of the movie, the experience left Ellie deeply disturbed and alienated from the people she loved.

Now seventeen, Ellie has returned to her hometown, Hobart, for the first time in years. Lottie is dying, and wants to make things right with her granddaughter before it’s too late.

When a random experience leads Ellie to a feminist horror film collective, she meets Riya, a girl who she feels she might be able to show her real self to, and perhaps come to an understanding of her family’s legacy.

Kids Recent Release: The Detectives Guide to Ocean Travel  by Nicki Greenberg.

Pepper Stark has always wanted to join her father, the Captain, aboard the magnificent RMS Aquitania on a voyage to New York. But she has never been allowed on board her father’s ship – until now.

From A list passengers to luxurious food, travelling First Class on Aquitania is every bit as glamorous as Pepper had dreamed. And then there’s American stage sensation Perdita West, wearing the world-famous Saffron Diamond around her neck. When the precious jewel vanishes mid-voyage, Pepper finds herself at the centre of the crime.

With her Father’s reputation at stake, Pepper and her new friends are determined to solve the mystery. But finding a missing diamond is no easy task on Aquitania, where everyone has something to hide…

A gripping adventure from award-winning author Nicki Greenberg, perfect for fans of Murder Most Unladylike and The Good Thieves.

Australian Recent Release: Still Life by Sarah Winman.

‘Utterly beautiful … filled with hope,’ Joanna Cannon, author of Three Things About Elsie

It’s 1944. In the ruined wine cellar of a Tuscan villa, bombs dropping around them, two strangers meet and share an extraordinary night.

Ulysses Temper is a young British soldier, Evelyn Skinner is a sexagenarian art historian and most likely a spy. Her mission is to salvage paintings from the wreckage in Italy and recall the time she encountered EM Forster and fell in love with an Italian maid in a particular Florentine room with a view.

Evelyn’s musings on truth and beauty inspire Ulysses’ and shape the course of his life – and loved ones– for the next four decades.

Still Life travels through the Tuscan Hills and piazzas of Florence, to the grime of London’s East End. It is a joyous novel about family, love, and the turnings of fate.

Tasmanian Classic: Old Sea Dogs of Tasmania by Andrew Wilson.

This is a beautiful collection that belongs on every Tasmanian’s coffee table. Inside you will find tales of high adventure accompanied by stunning black and white portraits and seascape photographs. You will meet hardy, wind burnt sailors, fishermen and shipwrights, who share their incredible stories across the world’s oceans on all manner of vessels. 

Tasmanian author and photographer Andrew Wilson has created a masterful combination of imagery and words to bring to life the stories of Tasmanian sailors, whose lives have been woven in sync with the rich and ever-changing tapestry of the ocean.