The Coast

A major feature of Australia is its dramatic coastline which, being an island continent, is extensive. In The Coast by Chris Hammer, originally published in 2012 and republished in 2026, the author explores some of the areas of the majestic eastern Australian coast which stretches more than 3,500 kilometres.

Chapters in the book focus on the Barrier Reef and its environmental issues, the islands in the Torres Strait, living on the 'cyclone coast' of Queensland, the Gold Coast, beaches on the coast north of Sydney, Bermagui and Bass Strait. When visiting Heron Island the staff of the scientific centre on the island had to evacuate as Cyclone Yasi was approaching. Later in the book we learn of the effects of Yasi and other cyclones on the Queensland coast.

Many of the locations described in the book were places that we had visited including Horn Island and Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, Cairns when we holidayed at Port Douglas and Mission Beach near Dunk Island where we enjoyed a holiday before Cyclone Yasi devastated the island. The effect of the environment, especially climate change, are topics discussed throughout the book. Surfers Paradise is a very different built-up, commercial area on the coast.

Chris Hammer explored various parts of the coast at different times. Sometimes this journey provided the opportunity to explore areas associated with his family in the past, especially on the NSW coast. The chapter on Bermagui included reflections on family holidays in the area which can lead readers to reflect on their own family beach holiday experiences. Further south he encounters the Bass Strait between Victoria and Tasmania which leads to exploring parts of northern Tasmania before concluding with a visit to Loch Ard Gorge and the Twelve Apostles in Victoria.

I found this an interesting book to read as the author described a significant part of the Australian environment and how we need to appreciate it and protect it. By telling of his own experiences with holidays on the coast he encourages readers to remember coastal areas significant to them and their family story.

Iluka

When Paddy, their grandfather, dies, Helen, Sylvie and Brendan agree to spend a few days together cleaning up the family home and deciding what to do with the property. But all does not go according to plan.

Iluka was built by Paddy and his friends when he and Iris were married. Not only was it a home for their daughter, Margaret, but also for Margaret's three children when their mother had trouble looking after them. The children were told that their mother was dead and it was only after reading a pile of letters that Iris had kept that they learned the truth.

In Iluka written by Cassie Stroud, the reader encounters the family dynamics between the three siblings as they come to terms with their past and what they should do in the future. Helen's daughter, Tegan, also visits Iluka and spends much of her time filming events for a university assignment. 

The novel deals with a variety of topics including grief, sibling rivalry, challenges of being a lone parent, addiction, and family secrets. The setting of the novel on the outskirts of a coastal New South Wales town adds to the atmosphere of the story.

The Woman in Cabin 10

Laura (Lo) Blacklock wakes up in the middle of the night. There is an intruder in the house. She is locked in her room. This experience reactivates anxiety issues that have troubled her for years. However she still accepts an invitation to travel on a new luxury ship in order to write an article for a travel magazine.However this adventure does not turn out to be the relaxing excursion she expected.

The journalists and other guests are allocated their cabins and Lo stays in cabin nine. The next door cabin is empty as the guest changed his mind about coming on the voyage. Then during the night Lo hears a scream and something, possibly a body, is thrown into the sea. When Lo reports the matter she is basically ignored. No-one on the ship is missing. But Lo knows that something is very wrong. So begins this account of Lo's nightmarish sea voyage. Parts of the novel move slowly but the tension builds as the story continues.

The sequel to this book is The Woman in Suite 11. 

In 2025 The Woman in Cabin 10 was made into a film for Netflix. 

The Slap

Hector and his wife Aisha invite family and friends to attend a family barbecue. All is going well until Hugo, one of the young children present, loses his temper and lashes out. His parents do not discipline him but eventually peace is restored. Later on the child has another break-down and when one adult, not related to the child, intervenes the child kicks him in the leg. Unfortunately the man slaps the four year old boy causing horror and a variety of reactions from those present, as well as bringing an early end to the barbecue.

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas examines the aftermath of the slap from the perspective of eight of the adults present at the barbecue including, a family friend - Anouk, Hector's cousin - Harry, Connie who works with Aisha, Hugo's mother - Rosie, Hector's father - Manolis, Connie's friend - Richie, as well as Hector and Aisha. The novel deals with many topics including family relationships and values, parenting, discipline, respect, marital relationships. It also provides a glimpse of multicultural Melbourne at the beginning of the 21st century.

Awards and commendations for The Slap: Australian Literary Society Gold Medal 2008; Commonwealth Writers' Prize - best book - 2009; Shortlisted for Miles Franklin Award 2009; Winner of Nielsen BookData Booksellers' Choice Award 2009; Victorian Premier's Literary Awards - Winner of Vance Palmer Prize for fiction 2009 and long listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2010.

The book was the basis for an eight episode television series made in Australia 2011. The series was remade for an American audience in 2015.

 

The Cat Who Saved the Library

Nanami spends most of her time in the library so she knows the collection well. Until one day she noticed that books had vanished from the shelves. Feeling concerned she watched some of the other library users until one evening she spied a strange man who may be the thief. Nanami began to follow him until a cat appeared and warned her that danger lies ahead.

Nanami and Tiger, the talking cat, work together to retrieve the missing books that are now in a building in a different world. The entrance to this other world is via a passage in the library but there is no guarantee that it will always be there. Another passage, Nanami discovers, leads to a book shop. 

In The Cat Who Saved the Library by Sosuke Natsukawa,  Nanami and Tiger discover a world where the occupants are expected to mechanically follow what others are doing and not think for themselves. Questioning decisions and beliefs is harmful and not an option. That is why books that encourage readers to question different theories and beliefs, to experience different worlds and ideas through literature and come to their own conclusions are being removed. 

For those who love books and reading this is a book worth considering for your to be read list. It is a sequel to the first book in this series - The Cat who Saved Books.

Dirt Music

Dirt Music is a novel by Tim Winton published in 2001. Set in locations in Western Australia it is a study of three characters who have had a complicated past and are trying to readapt their lives. As with most of Tim Winton's books the setting where the action takes place is an important feature of the novel.

Georgie Jutland has been living in White Point with a local, well to do, fisherman, Jim Buckridge, whose family has a reputation in the community's past. Georgie feels that she doesn't belong until she meets a local poacher, Lu Fox, who was a local musician until his family members died in a car accident. He now lives alone keeping away from the local community.The relationship between Georgie and Lu grows with Georgie considering leaving Jim to live with Lu. Then Lu disappears up north. 

Meanwhile we learn more about the former lives of Georgie and Jim and how they deal with memories of the past. Eventually Jim decides that he and Georgie should head to northern West Australia to locate Lu who retired to a small island where he is trying to survive. 

Dirt Music is about people attempting to gain redemption from past events and deciding on possible changes that may shape their future lives and relationships.

Dirt Music was a 2002 Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel and winner of the 2002 Miles Franklin Award. It was a film in 2019.

The Woman in Suite 11

The Woman in Suite 11 is the second book in the Lo Blacklock series by English author, Ruth Ware. When Laura, also known as Lo, receives an invitation to visit the opening of an exclusive hotel in Switzerland she is uncertain whether to take up the offer. She wants to return to the workforce after the birth of her two boys but a traumatic experience when attending a ship launch ten years previously, plus the gap in her career largely due to the COVID pandemic, makes her think twice about accepting the invitation. Still she needs to start writing again sometime.

Arriving at the impressive hotel, Laura is surprised, and disturbed, to find three of the men who had also attended the ship launch had also been invited to the Swiss hotel. Then she is contacted by a fourth person who had been on the ship and Laura's quiet visit to Switzerland, where she hopes to interview the owner of the hotel for a commissioned article, becomes another dangerous episode in her life.

Throughout the novel there are many references to the events that occurred ten years earlier so I suspect that reading the previous novel, The Woman in Cabin 10, first would have been an advantage. However, I still enjoyed reading this fast paced mystery with Laura endeavouring to prove her innocence.