Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • The Big Backyard Plan – Kirsten Ealand/Laura Stitzel

    Affirm Press February 2025 AUD RRP $24.99 ISBN 9781922992444 What a delightful and happy-making book this is! Until I was 14, my family home was our house in the front corner of 3 regular-sized Sydney suburban blocks, with the rest of the land being taken up with the family business of A. Warren & Sons Read more

  • Washpool – Lisa Fuller

    Hachette Australia Feb 26, 2025 | 9780734420756 | RRP $16.99 Let’s see. Take a little of Alice down the rabbit hole, and mix that with a smidgin of Oz. Then add in some snippets of lands reached using the Subtle Knife plus some of the strangeness of Nevermoor. After that, throw in some Upside Down and sprinkle it all Read more

  • Abbie’s True Colours – Claire Thompson Abbie Jane Eliott Bulpett

    Owlet Press May 2025 ISBN: 9781913339654 RRP; $25.99 Yes, I know its release date isn’t until March but given recent events and despicable actions by political parties especially, I want you to note this and support it fully. It’s not just another fine example of a young Australian with vision but represents a social initiative Read more

  • Comes the Night – Isobelle Carmody

    Allen & Unwin October 2024 ISBN:9781760294762 Awards: Imprint:A&U Children’s RRP: $24.99 In a future Canberra, the citizens are protected and insulated under domes, safe from extreme weather, solar radiation and all the after-effects caused by recklessness of previous generations. They are also guarded from civil unrest as small drones constantly monitor the skies, and AI Read more

  • I’m a Nipper Now – Sally Cordner. Illustrated by Lucy Sims.

    Boolarong Press June 2022 Imprint Boolarong Press ISBN 9781922643018 Just over three years ago I went on an errand to Bunnings and the local Redcliffe Peninsula Surf Lifesaving Club was holding the weekly sausage sizzle. I noticed the chalkboard that said ‘cadets up to 18 years old’ and struck up a conversation with the tireless Read more

  • The Bogan Book Club – John Larkin

    You know how sometimes you’ve waited patiently for something, and it turns out to be a massive disappointment… movie, a meal, a night out – whatever – and you’re left feeling completely ripped off? This is not one of those occasions. I had some slim hope of getting this as a review copy, which didn’t Read more

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