october book of the month
GUTS Melissa Leong
$ 34.99 $ 29.99
Gold Logie-nominated TV personality and food icon Melissa Leong bites down on her demons in this searing memoir, exploring themes of abuse in the hospitality industry, racism, mental health and, for a light palate cleanser, the thrill of mouth-wateringly memorable food. Guts is above all a glorious love letter to food, to choosing the unpredictable path and to believing in yourself. Inspiring and endlessly brave, you will hopefully walk away feeling full of heart, courage, and stomach.
Congratulations on being the Non-Fiction Book of the Month! Can you tell our readers a bit about your book?
Oh wow, thank you! This is huge! I’ m loathe to call Guts a memoir because while it does happen to be a host of stories that make up who I am, it’ s a bit more than that to me. I wanted to write a book that felt personal( because it is, deeply), but is also a collection of shared occurrences, experiences and happenstances that make us, as humans, connected. Life is, let’ s be frank, more often than not a less-than-ideal experience, but within that framework we need to find a way to live a life that feels like our best shot at contentment, happiness and community. So I hope that the things I share are picked up and owned by others, because after all, we’ re not that different, are we?
Each chapter opens with an essay on food, for those who love hearing me wax lyrical about the scent of a still-warm cardamom bun, whisked from the oven, languishing in sticky zest-spiked glaze. This essay becomes a metaphor for the chapter it introduces, then ends with a recipe that fits the theme.
I won’ t lie to you, there are some hard topics covered between the covers. Things I still struggle to live with to this day. But there is hope also, and ultimately that is what I want people to walk away with.
Guts is brash, rock‘ n’ roll, and so authentically you. How different was writing your own story compared to the writing you’ ve done in the past?
Gosh... rock‘ n’ roll? Thank you! I wanted to write this book the way I feel it in my soul. With honesty, heart and a fair amount of grit. As a journalist, we are taught to write for the reader and leave ourselves out of it, so writing a whole book based on personal experience was challenging to say the least. I think what gets me over the line is knowing that these experiences are very human, very shared; as sad as I am to know that is the case. So I tried to focus on telling my own story, knowing that people will be reading this with their own lived experience in play, and so the intent is for them to feel held through that journey. Is it different to restaurant reviews, profile pieces, copywriting and travel articles? Absolutely. But did I approach it with the same amount of honesty and joy that I always do? Absolutely.
In some ways, this book feels like a love letter to food. What role does food have in your life these days?
I guess in some ways, it is. It has to be. Food has always been the safety net that has caught me in my life, when times are tough or things feel too hard to handle alone. For that I will always be grateful. But I have definitely fallen out of love with food as much as I have into it, so I would say that just like any good love story, it’ s complex.
What do you hope readers will take away from your story?
I hope readers take hope away from this story. Firstly, I don’ t ever think I will be able to adequately express my gratitude to those who finish it in its entirety, but I will do my best! I want this book to feel like a rollercoaster of the emotions we all encounter as we try to figure out who we are in this world, and to reflect on their own rides as they come along on mine. I don’ t know that I will ever crack the code on what it is to be content in this world, but Guts is an honest to goodness account of giving it a red-hot go. At least this far into my life, anyway!
biography & memoir
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This is Virginia Roberts Giuffre ' s last word. The extraordinarily powerful and unforgettable memoir by the woman who stood up and spoke out about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell – an ordinary girl who would grow up to confront adversity and trauma of the darkest form, yet found the strength to move forwards, reclaim her voice and shine light on evil – advocating for others and fighting for a safer, fairer world.
THE CURIOUS DIPLOMAT
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Lachlan Strahan spent his career as a diplomat and an ambassador in some of Australia’ s most important postings, including India, Germany, Korea and Solomon Islands. He was involved in some of Australia’ s biggest diplomatic challenges. In this lively account, Strahan reveals how Canberra sees Australia and how our allies and adversaries see us, and offers a valuable perspective on what Australia can do to supercharge our relationships in the Indo-Pacific.
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