From the Desk—June in Review

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Matilda Bookshop Review #13, your monthly chronicle of books and writing, where we share with you our current reads, author interviews, book club wrap ups, and other literary ephemera such as reviews, award news, and books we love. Don’t forget to scroll to the very end (articles and poems).

We could not be more thrilled and proud for our esteemed colleague and kids’ bookseller extraordinaire/kids’ book club maven, Kasey Chambers, to have WON the ABA’s Children’s Bookseller of the Year, this month at the Australian Booksellers Association conference in June.

Speaking of the ABA conference, Joanna and Gavin returned enthused and energised by three full days of chat about books and bookselling in the surrounds of brutalist, but artistic, Canberra.

Coming up next month, we are excited to be presenting Alex Sawyer chatting to Alex Cothren in our beautiful cosy bookshop, about his debut novel, Rat Daniels.

Our featured author in this month's Review is Edwina Preston, who’s savage and exhilirating, Sororicidal, we discussed at our May Matilda Book Club. The interview is as perceptive as her writing. Browse the complete archive of Author Q&As here.

Happy Reading,
Jo, Gavin, Molly, Kasey, Rose, Heather, Nadia & Emilie

Emilie: All Her Beautiful Deaths by A. Rushy (out August)

Lush language and a propulsive plot full of scandal! If you are curious about Victorian Death portraiture, large scale art installation, or just love to read about beautiful people breaking each other's hearts, careers and lives, please give this one a read.

Gavin: Life of M by Rachel Cusk (out August)

To read Cusk is to be flayed alive, sentence by sentence. 

Heather: Said the Dead by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (out now)

Haunted by the voices of women erased by a Victorian asylum’s records, this novel dissolves the line between the living and the dead, the researched and the imagined, in a deeply moving work of literary sorcery. It’s one of the most original and formally daring books I’ve read in a long time, written in language so precise and lyrical it reads like poetry made solid.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ LOVED.

Jo: The Newer World by Sebastian Barry (out September)

I love Sebastian Barry's books, and this is another of his amazing American Civil War novels, it's brutal but beautiful.

Kasey: Whistler by Ann Patchett (out now)

Opening Whistler has felt like a warm hug from a long-lost aunt. Patchett writes families, loss and love like no one else. This is a heartfelt, wry and gorgeous novel.

Molly: Transcription by Ben Lerner (out now)

A writer visits the town of his college-days to interview his ninety-year-old mentor, but what enfolds is a stunning exploration of art, technology, conversation, translation, and intergenerational touchstones. Loved this homage to creativity.

Nadia: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (out now)

A highly-relevant psychological thriller that explores the harm of gender essentialism, through online Tradwife culture. It’s so addictive.

Rose: I Love the Whole World! by Victoria Hannan (out August)

A joyful, funny story of a middle-aged divorcee who wins a free trip to Las Vegas and decides to use the adventure to rediscover who she is. 

Kids Book Club News

Dear book-loving young people, we run three book clubs for kids, Magical Minds, The Matilda Society, and Chapter & Ink book clubs. Newcomers are always welcome for engaged chats and snacks in our cozy bookshop setting. But be quick, sessions sell out fast.

This term we have read The Wild Unknown in The Matilda Society, The Clueless Guide to Solving a Mystery in Magical Minds, and A Murder is Going Down in Chapter & Ink.

With bookclubs on a break until August, there’s plenty of time for school holiday reading. Stay tuned for our Term Three book and session announcements sent out in July.

Highlight on Authors Series

Welcome to this month's Highlight on Authors series, where we ask authors (whose books we've read and absolutely loved) questions on books and writing. 

The next author we're introducing you to is the perceptive and brilliant, Edwina Preston, discussing her Adelaide-set, eviscerating and invigorating novel, Sororicidal.

(We've provided a glimpse of the interview  below):

Further Reading

Here's the literary ephemera that we've been loving this month, from the best in LitHub, Australian Book Review, The New York Times, The London Review of Books, The Sydney Book Review, and others ...

We know this to be true: the best writing is never rushed—“what might have been excellent books are marred by shoddy copy editing, flat-out errors, cursory proofreading – and, in some cases, an obvious lack of revision.”

Speaking of crafting, here’s Claire Fuller on writing and sculpting: “when you’re carving wood or stone, you have to work with the material you start with. Perhaps this is where my lack of a plan in writing comes from”.

Twenty Questions with Lauren Elkin in the TLS (we are big fans of Elkin)

Love this regular writing prompt: Write the Day in HEAT online, (this one by joanne burns).

In expanding our Penguin Modern Classics rangely lately, we’ve had lots of chat between ourselves and our customers, about our top picks. This LitHub article lists favourite debut novels that have also become classics.

Your monthly poem (for the solstice): Threshold by Maggie Smith