What’s going on you ask? You’re watching morning TV and the newsreader is reporting on the weather in Perth from a London bus. Uncle Toby’s ads are on every 16 seconds. The local paper is selling boxing kangaroo badges and Laurie Lawrence is doing a speaking tour. Yes Booktopians, the Olympics are nearly upon us. A show of global unity for some, national disunity for others, t... Read more

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. What hogwash. To say we both share the same galaxy is an appallingly optimistic assumption. Since the dawn of time men have struggled to break free of the shackles of ordinary life. We want to be allowed to do things we enjoy, like getting drunk or chasing frogs. Just as women have yearned for space away from male madness so they can talk about Florence ... Read more

War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner – Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian.  What does a book do if not evoke feelings you didn’t know you had, bring them to the surface and make you examine them like an errant jigsaw piece? Before the brilliance of the Pulitzer Prize winning The Road, Cormac McCarthy shook the literatu... 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

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

Gather round, I’ve a story to tell. A tale of a new world of fiction, one with no boundaries or limitations, where thought is captured from the crisp morning air and shoved in the sweeping paper waves for curious discourse. If you enjoy a book that makes you reconsider the paradigms of fiction, the oddity of imagination and the brilliance of original thought, look no further than author Sam Mil... Read more

In June, Augusten Burroughs will pop his spectacled noggin up over the horizon of the literary landscape once again with another treat for fans of his work and those fearful of it alike. In his new offering This Is How, Burroughs rips a hole in the starboard side of the self-help industry and takes it upon himself to be your very own agony uncle. Using extraordinary life experiences that he pre... Read more