STAFF’ S FAVOURITE READS
STAFF’ S FAVOURITE READS
WHEN THE GOING WAS GOOD
Graydon Carter
PB $ 36.99
When the Going Was Good is Graydon Carter’ s lively recounting of how he made his mark as one of society’ s most talented editors and shapers of culture. With his inimitable voice and raconteur’ s quip, Carter brings readers inside the drawing rooms of the great and not-always-good of America, Britain and Europe. Charming, candid and brimming with humour, When the Going Was Good perfectly captures the last golden age of print magazines from the inside out.
PICKED BY NICOLE FROM MELBOURNE
Clarke
PB $ 29.99
JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL( 20TH ANNIVER- SARY EDITION)
Susanna
1806. England is beleaguered by the long war, and centuries have passed since magicians faded from view. But one remains – the reclusive Mr Norrell. And one other... Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, he is Mr Norrell’ s very antithesis. And so begins a dangerous battle between these two great men.
ONE ALADDIN TWO LAMPS
Jeanette Winterson
HB $ 39.99
due nov 18
With her execution looming, a woman is fighting for her life. Every night she tells a story. Every morning, she lives one more day. One Aladdin Two Lamps cracks open the legendary story of Shahrazad in One Thousand and One Nights to reveal new questions and answers we are still thinking about today. Who should we trust? Is love the most important thing in the world? What makes us happy? One Aladdin Two Lamps is a celebration of the power of storytelling.
PICKED BY BLYE FROM BALMAIN
COLONY Annika Norlin, Alice E. Olsson( trans.)
PB $ 32.99
Burnt-out from a demanding job and a bustling life in the city, Emelie has left town to spend a few days in the country. Once there, she encounters a mysterious group of seven people. They are misfits, all led by the enigmatic and charismatic Sara. How did they end up there? Are they content with the rigid roles they’ ve been assigned? And what happens when an outsider appears and is initially drawn to their alternative lifestyle, but cannot help stirring things up?
FLESH David Szalay
PB $ 34.99
15-year-old Istvan lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. New to the town and shy, he is unfamiliar with the social rituals at school and soon becomes isolated, with his neighbour – a married woman close to his mother’ s age – as his only companion. These encounters shift into a clandestine relationship that Istvan himself can barely understand, and his life soon spirals out of control. Spare and penetrating, Booker-shortlisted novel Flesh, asks profound questions about what drives a life.
PICKED BY JACLYN FROM MELBOURNE
TWIST Colum McCann
PB $ 32.99
Anthony Fennell, a journalist, is in pursuit of a story buried at the bottom of the sea. So he has travelled to Cape Town to board the George Lecointe. Fennell learns the rhythms of life at sea and finds his place among the band of drifters who make up the crew. But as the mission falters, tensions simmer – and the crew are thrown into crisis. A terrible, violent tragedy is unfolding in the life he has left behind on land; and, trapped out at sea, it seems as if the vast expanse of the ocean is closing in.
PICKED BY HANNAH FROM MELBOURNE
PICKED BY ANNA FROM BALMAIN
PICKED BY JENNIFER FROM MELBOURNE
shop online at hillofcontentbookshop. com or hillofcontentbalmain. com. au Summer Reading Guide 2025 | 3