Author: Lyn Harder

Live Review: Max Lawrence performs Chlorophyll with Forest Collective orchestra as part of the Midsumma Festival

Emerging Melbourne alternative-pop artist Max Lawrence has been gigging around town for a few years now and it was his performance at the 2019 Gaytimes Festival which led to a collaboration with Evan J Lawson and the Forest Collective orchestra for the Midsumma Festival. Forest Collective is a not for profit arts organisation focusing on…

Read More

Melbourne Zoo Twilights kick off their 2020 Season this weekend with Confidence Man and Icehouse

Melbourne Zoo Twilights will be kicking off their amazing new season very soon. Whilst many shows have sold out, there are still tickets available for an eclectic range of performances to suit any musical tastebud. Get a group together because you’re all invited to spend summer nights watching favourite artists in the lush surrounds of…

Read More

Book Review: Stoned by Jo Wood captures a unique time and a side to the Stones that’s rarely seen

Stoned, is a collection of images that have never been seen before by the general public. Consisting of over five hundred photographs, notes, artwork, newspaper clippings and other ephemera put together by Jo Wood documenting life behind the scenes of The Rolling Stones. Photographer and hoarder (thankfully) Jo Wood has kept thousands of polaroids and…

Read More

Book Review: Terry O’Neill’s Elton John: The Definitive Portrait documents a long and successful career

Elton John and photographer Terry O’Neill first collaborated in 1972. Since then, O’Neill has taken around five thousand photographs of the star across the decades that followed. Recently, when going through his collection, O’Neill recognised the special nature of these photographs and wanted to share them with Elton’s legion of fans. Elton John: The Definitive…

Read More

Book Review: Guy Rundle’s Practice: Journalism, Essays and Criticism is a distillation of wit and writing

Practice. Journalism, Essays and Criticism collects and distills the writings of journalist Guy Rundle. An intricate, clever yet funny, and mostly convincing take on all the big politicians, and some sordid Americans along the way, Practice is compiled from his work for Crikey, and various magazines and newspapers, over the years. Opinions on topics ranging…

Read More

Book Review: Melissa Ferguson’s The Shining Wall explores scientific possibilities through fiction

The Shining Wall, the gripping debut novel from author Melissa Ferguson, is an exploration of scientific possibility through the lens of feminism and fiction. The novel tells the frightening story of the orphaned Alida and her younger sister Graycie, who are left along following the death of their mother in the Demi-Settlements outside the wall. …

Read More

Book Review: David Cullen’s Parkland provides a deeply moving account of the teenage survivors of the Parkland shooting

David Cullen, author of the definitive bestseller Columbine, returns with a second book, this time detailing the story of the events surrounding the Parkland, Florida school shooting in February 2018, the extraordinary teenage survivors and the March For Our Lives (MFOL) campaign that followed.  In Parkland, Cullen takes the readers inside the school in the…

Read More

Book Review: Zoë Foster Blake’s Love! gives us a fresh and modern perspective on matters of the heart

Relationship advisor Zoë Foster Blake takes us on an enthusiastic journey through matters of the heart and offers a fresh perspective in her new reference guide: Love! The book offers hints, solutions and ideas on how to deal with many of the issues us women experience when dating, whilst also giving some insight into why we…

Read More

Book Review: Monica Tan’s debut Stranger Country may inspire you on your own adventure around Australia

Monica Tan’s first novel, Stranger Country, will take you on a 30,000km journey of discovery around selected parts of Australia. Tan is Chinese Australian, but at thirty-two, felt that she didn’t know as much about Australia’s history as she did about China’s. In a bid to change that, Tan embarked on a journey around parts…

Read More

Live Review: Cog + Osaka Punch + The Omnific – The Triffid, Brisbane (14.02.19)

When Cog announced they were touring again, the hairs on my neck stood up. Having taken a break from touring nearly ten years ago, they’re thankfully back doing what they do best – music. On this tour, they’re also bringing a new album, Drawn Together, with them, the band’s first new music in ten years. A wave of…

Read More

Book Review: Katie Little’s Catch A Falling Star shares the story of growing up with the much loved Jeanne Little

Jeanne Little entered the world of Television with for her fabulous outfits and wigs, boisterous laughter, make up, false eye lashes and her trademark saying: “Hello, darrrrlliiinnggs”! Jeanne’s story is a classic one. Tired of boring maternity dresses, she made her own, which caught the attention of the local newspaper. An assistant producer saw the…

Read More

Book Review: Island Story: Tasmania in Object and Text is a tribute to everything visitors and locals alike love about Tasmania

Tasmania lies just below mainland Australia like a hidden jewel, with its rainforests still standing, cooler temperatures, a treasure for the foodies and art and culture are found on nearly every corner. Island Story: Tasmania in Object and Text provides a juxtaposition of text and images, allowing both elements of shine, but neither to dominate….

Read More

Book Review: Matt Noffs and Kieran Palmer’s Addicted? highlights how addiction affects every one of us

What springs to your mind when you hear someone has an addiction? Drugs, gambling, porn, coffee or even smart phones? Maybe none of those, some of those and maybe even all of those. It has got you thinking though hasn’t it? In Addicted?, authors Matt Noffs and Kieran Palmer examine the ways in which addiction…

Read More

Book Review: Jameson Ketchum’s Echo Boom reveals a story behind the story

Inaugural novella, Echo Boom, by Jameson Ketchum has landed, with music journalist, publicist and Hopecore Magazine columnist Ketchum taking us on a diarised journey through the words and mind of fictional “writer” Edward Caspian. An over thinker to the end, Caspian, guides the reader through his twenty-nine year friendship with his friend, Giles Green, who has…

Read More

Book Review: Di Morrissey’s Arcadia is a modern mystery in a timeless Tasmanian forest

Australia’s favourite storyteller, Di Morrissey, returns with her Twenty-sixth book, Arcadia, a modern mystery born in a timeless Tasmanian forest. Set in the 1930’s, Arcadia tells the story of a young new wife, Stella, as she arrives at her husbands isolated property in Tasmania, where she finds love and beauty nestled amongst the nearby untouched forest. The…

Read More

Book Review: David Cohen’s The Hunter and Other Stories of Men is an offbeat look into the minds of men

Brisbane author David Cohen has put together a much anticipated collection of short stories in the form of his new book The Hunter and Other Stories of Men. The collection contains eighteen stories, most around the ten page mark, whilst some of which were published in various publications between 2004 and 2017. With some of the stories…

Read More

Book Review: Jessie Cole’s Staying is a raw and honest portrait of overcoming trauma

Author Jessie Cole had a relaxed childhood in Northern NSW, there were no words like “must” or “should” spoken by her parents. Instead, Cole and her brother learnt freedom, and were given free range to explore the trees and shadows around their rainforest home, unafraid of the spiders, bugs or the unknown. It all seems…

Read More

Book Review: Sally Piper’s The Geography of Friendship proves some journeys require walking the same path again

The Geography of Friendship, the second novel from author Sally Piper, tells of the journey of three young girls, Samantha, Lisa and Nicole, who set out on an adventurous five-day hike as teenagers. Three young girls who found and befriended each other at school, because no one else had, or would. Their frightening adventure starts…

Read More

Book Review: The Stripper Next Door by Emma Lea Corbett reveals the exotic dancer turned business entrepreneur!

Kicking off her book The Stripper Next Door with her days as a yoga instructor, it was hard to believe what the past would reveal for Emma Lea Corbett.  Corbett was seventeen when she answered an advertisement in the newspaper seeking dancers and hostesses offering “great $$$ potential“. Looking towards a future as a home…

Read More

Book Review: Dr. Karl’s new book Karl, The Universe and Everything offers facts and figures about everything!

Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki, or Dr. Karl as we all know him, really needs no introduction. He is an Australian institution. Karl, The Universe and Everything is his 43rd book! That is a lot of books, and a lot of knowledge, but he is still keen to share his knowledge, and make it fun. There are no boring…

Read More

Book Review: Alana Valentine’s Dear Lindy shows us just how far the story of Azaria Chamberlain travelled

We all know the story of when Azaria Chamberlain went missing in 1980. The case was one of the most documented murder trials in our nation’s history. So there is should be no need for me to recap the baying for blood by many that surrounded the coverage. in 2013 critically acclaimed playwright Alana Valentine secured a…

Read More

Book Review: Bruce Beresford’s The Best Film I Never Made is a collection of warm, droll and personal essays from one of Australia’s leading directors

“I wanted to make films from time I saw my first films in the mid-1940’s. Unlike my school friends I had no interest in animated films (I still don’t) but was fascinated by narratives with actors. Somehow I realised while still very young, that the key person in all the films was not the leading…

Read More

Book Review: The Stranger by Melanie Raabe is a well wrought suspenseful thriller

She doesn’t know him. He knows everything about her. Philip Peterson, a wealthy businessman disappears without trace on a trip to South America. Seven years later he’s back. Or is he? The Stranger starts with a memory, and these flashbacks creep in throughout the novel. Not too far into proceedings ‘The Stranger’ is found, appearing amid…

Read More

Book Review: Soon by Lois Murphy invites us to visit a haunted, and dying town

A haunted and deserted town, yet some people can’t, or won’t, leave. Any prospect of work is long since gone. The road sign offering directions to where the town is, has been removed. Yet, for a small group of locals it’s home, and the only place they know. perfectly captures the feel of country town…

Read More

Book Review: And Fire Came Down by Emma Viskic is a novel about the nature of family and belonging

Author Emma Viskic is an award-winning Australian crime writer, her critically acclaimed debut novel Resurrection Bay won the 2016 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction, as well as many other awards. Not only that but she’s also a classically trained clarinettist, who’s worked with Jose Carreras and Dame Kiri Te Kenawa. Her new novel, And…

Read More

Review: The breathtaking Parrtjima Festival lights up the red centre until October 1st

Touching down on the Alice Springs tarmac I know I’m in a special part of Australia. A town of over 25,000 people, the second largest town after Darwin in the Northern Territory and one largely influenced by its Indigenous culture. Straddling the usually dry Todd River and the Eastern and Western MacDonell Ranges, the town…

Read More

Book Review: The New Chinese by Barry Li provides essential knowledge of modern China

The New Chinese are the Chinese people born on mainland China after 1949. The book of the same name is intended for Australian readers who don’t know a lot about China, but who are eager to learn; either for business or pleasure. Australia has become a hotspot for Chinese immigrants, your next hire or business…

Read More

Book Review: Dirk Kurbjuweit’s Twins shows friends who put their bond to the ultimate test

Twin: duplicate or match. Identical: being the exact same one. Once again Dirk Kurbjuweit brings us a novel with some unusual characters, something I feel he is mastering rather well. Twins, is a novel about growing up, first loves and friendships. And whilst it touches on eccentric behaviour, it also involves two main characters that you’ll…

Read More

Book Review: Life of Brine by Phil Jarrett is a surfer’s journey across our great land

Life of Brine (brine – water containing salts), is a surfer’s journey across our great land and venturing across many continents. In this memoir Phil Jarrett, a world class chronicler of surfing culture, brings us a multitude of stories that placed him in some of the most exciting moments in surfing history. For Jarrett, growing…

Read More

Book Review: David Craig’s Defeating Terror takes us behind the scenes in the hunt for the Bali bombers

Defeating Terror is a behind the scenes look at the hunt for the Bali bombers. Although, given the nature of the book, many of the names and situations, have been altered for legal reasons. The author, David Craig, was a senior officer in the Australian Federal Police (AFP), he has trained with international forces including the…

Read More