‘Opportunity and refuge: the privilege of the migrant Australian. Our lifelong responsibility and debt to be repaid. Opportunity and refuge: the entitlement of the white…

‘How do we do it? How do we accept the unacceptable?’ This is the last book in the trilogy that began with the wonderful The…

The Coast is a powerful historical novel that spans many turbulent years in Australia’s history, including the First World War and the Spanish Flu epidemic….

As we approach the end of another year (for those of us still alive), we would like to honour some important milestones of the literature…

The Night Ship tells two stories, both from the perspective of a motherless child, both bound to the inhospitable seas and islands off the western…

The sole protagonist, Amos Decker, must be growing on the author, as this novel is the seventh in the Decker series. Most of the author’s…

When does guilt by association end? In this heart-wrenching sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, 91 year old Gretel Fernsby has been running…

Britt-Marie Was Here, in classic Fredrik Backman fashion, is a novel ultimately about community and coming into oneself. Backman has always written incredibly tender and…

I read this novel some years ago, after the film was released in 2008, and found, generally, the film true to the book. There was…

One of the most pleasant tasks at the SMSA library is the inventory of books (or stock taking), as it not only allows the staff…

This book is a love-letter to libraries, and all who work in them. It is based on the extraordinary true story of the Bethnal Green…

There are books that make you want to delve deeper into a subject and those that wrap you in a big hug and prove to…