Better Read Than Dead Bookstore Newtown

MAY Book of the Month

Painting Portraits of Everyone I've Ever Dated

By Joseph Earp

We love a local debut! Especially one as funny and sharply observed as Joe’s here. Our protagonist Ellie Robertson has always wanted to be a painter – and just this side of thirty, it actually seems to be happening for her. Off the back of a big prize win, and under a level of scrutiny that brings out her immensely spiky nature, Ellie decides that her next project will be painting portraits of her exes. Certainly a cool and normal choice. What follows is a novel that beautifully represents the intersection of two of my favourite micro genres: women artists and slightly insane women.

To be honest, I find it hard to trust not-women authors to write ‘difficult’ women, but Ellie is authentically and precisely petty, hysterical, and root-for-able. Within the first few pages I’d laughed out loud multiple times, and exhaled sharply through my nose with a regularity that was probably concerning to outside witnesses.

– LEONA –

$34.99

MAY ILF Book of the Month

Not Telling

By Alison J. Barton

Not Telling, is a metaphor for cultural silence and its ongoing effects. Alison J. Barton’s debut poetry collection tells, through its non-linearity and bold depictions, the deep-seeded realities of colonial dispossession, its ongoing legacy and the legacy of those who continue to feel the weight of their own survival. Intergenerational grief, loss, a disruption of cultural practice and community, Not Telling offers a unique perspective on the invasion of Australia.

– FRANCESCA –

$27.00

MAY Kids Book of the Month

This Dream Will Devour Us

By Emma Clancey

Nora is gifted, beautiful, poor and desperate; her dead father has left her nothing but debts and her brother has contracted a mysterious illness. While trying to hold it all together, she is thrown into an abyss full of rich, ruthless, reality-warping characters. There’s dazzling fame, high-stakes magic, thrilling romance, and smirk-worthy banter.

Set in a New York contemporarily familiar yet completely alien, in a world where only the rich and powerful have access to magic, this is a captivating fantasy that blends a delightfully twisting plot with swoon-worthy romance, and an exploration of celebrity and inequality. The overall concept, when science and magic are fused together and those that have power will do anything to keep it, leads us through this cut-throat, adrenaline-charge page turner. 13+

– ROBERT –

$24.99

MAY Cookbook of the Month

Viet Kieu

By Thi Le

With two restaurants and a bánh mì bar under her belt, it is no wonder that Melbourne-based chef Thi Le has been hailed by many as the new voice of Vietnamese and South East Asian cuisine. In her debut cookbook (which also happens to mark the 10th anniversary of her flagship restaurant Anchovy), Thi takes a deep-dive into her culture’s food, sharing the mouth-watering (and beautifully photographed) recipes that have shaped her life and restaurants.

However, for me, it is the intimate and surprising stories that Thi includes here of growing up in Sydney’s West with a foot in two cultures that give us a true insight into her determination and passion for bringing us her heart-lifting, inspiring food.

– SYLVIA –

$55.00

Australian Fiction

Fiction

Rabbits: 'Darkly funny as Saltburn, but with kilts' - Val McDermid

Young Adult

Death on the Tracks: The Interactive Murder Puzzle Mysteries

Middle-Grade Fiction

The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow

Cooking

Richard Hart Bread: Intuitive Sourdough Baking

The Broadsheet Melbourne Cookbook: The New Classics: Recipes from the city’s best restaurants, cafes and bars

Good Cooking Every Day: Simple recipes. Beautiful menus. All year round.

Karkalla at Home: Native foods & everyday recipes for connecting to Country

Biography

Just About Coping: A Real-Life Drama from the Psychotherapist's Chair

Refugees of the Revolution: Experiences of Palestinian Exile

Australian Non-Fiction

The Legend of Albert Jacka: From the brutal shores of Gallipoli to the battlefields of France, the epic story of the first Australian soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross in WW1

Cactus Pear For My Beloved: A Family Story from Gaza

Non-Fiction

The Fran Lebowitz Reader: The Sunday Times Bestseller

Lifestyle

Love Me!: One woman’s search for a different happy ever after

Art

Japanese Tattoo: The History and Evolution of an Art Form

This Morning, This Evening, So Soon: James Baldwin and the Voices of Queer Resistance

Better Read Than Dead

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