The Booktopia Book Guru asks Deborah Burrows author of A Stranger in My Street Ten Terrifying Questions —————————– 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born in Perth, WA. I grew up in the riverside suburb of Applecross. It is now a rich suburb of mansions and ... Read more

Drip Drip Drop Trickle Splash In reviewing the latest and one of the greatest novels in Pulitzer-Prize winning writer Richard Ford’s literary career Canada, one is reminded of the simple turn of the tap, the water slowly seeping out before a sudden rush of brilliance, albeit the brilliance is also there in the wonderful beginning, only in more hushed tones. It’s been six years since Ford has re... Read more

I interview writers every week here on the Booktopia Blog. My Ten Terrifying Questions have been answered by over 250 published authors ranging from mega selling global stars like Jackie Collins and Lee Child to brilliant, relatively unknown debut authors such as Miles Franklin shortlisted Favel Parret and  Rebecca James. In each of these interviews I ask the following question: Q. What advice ... Read more

Ears to the ground. Do you hear the gentle caress of a forearm to the face, the whimsical thud of a scrum engagement, the glorious stroke of leather boot on synthetic rubber? Yes Booktopians, here we are, halfway through another Rugby season, and with it mid-year tests for the Wallabies. Rugby has been a major force in the Australian sporting landscape for over a century with teams now based in... Read more

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TRU1vt8o7o&rel=0] I loved the book and the musical. I wasn’t impressed by the most recent film and hated the mini-series but check out the teaser trailer of the film of the musical. It looks good, doesn’t it? We’ve just got to remember one little thing… All good things come from books. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo I do not ne... Read more

Alain de Botton‘s School of Life series is determined to reinvigorate and rehabilitate the self-help genre. Alain, as we know, has done a great deal towards achieving this goal himself. His entertaining and informative guides to life – Religion for Atheists, How Proust Can Change Your Life, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work – have lead many to re-examine their lives and helped... Read more

I interview writers every week here on the Booktopia Blog. My Ten Terrifying Questions have been answered by over 250 published authors ranging from mega selling global stars like Jackie Collins and Lee Child to brilliant, relatively unknown debut authors such as Miles Franklin shortlisted Favel Parret and  Rebecca James. In each of these interviews I ask the following question: Q. What advice ... Read more

It has been a bizarre month in politics. We’ve seen a speaker talk (or text) about dud roots, an MP allege union officials used his hotel phone while he was in the shower and an opposition minister for business declare  he had the skin of a rhinoceros, the speed of a gazelle and was watching the opposition like a hawk (yes ladies and gentlemen, a one man menagerie voted in by the people f... Read more

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8C4KwIHvdE&rel=0] The Daughters Of Mars by Thomas Keneally Escaping the pain and guilt of their mother’s death, and the future they inherited, the Durance sisters leave Australia to nurse on the front during WWI. In 1915 sisters Naomi and Sally Durance answer a call for nurses to join the war effort. They are escaping the family dairy farm in the Mac... Read more