This week Dean reviews
Kat Jumps the Shark

by Melinda Houston

This debut novel is an easy holiday read and a whole lot of fun. It is perfect light entertainment shaded with a great sense of humour and loads of twists along the way. Anyone familiar with the inside workings of the Australian television industry will enjoy the pleasant pokes and outdated references and anti-fans of reality television will laugh at the humorous undertone as Kat stumbles through her lowly job as a location scout on Survivor CBD Melbourne. With a shifty boss, a down and out vintage car named Box and a fancy director boyfriend that she’s suddenly realised she not that into, Kat is very real and very likeable, bumbling through her many mistakes and momentary lapses, giving this book way more heart than ordinary chick lit to graciously warm the contemporary Aussie fiction shelf. Breezy, funny and light, this is pure escapist fun!

RRP: $29.99
Online Price: $26.99

This week Mischa reviews
The Quick
by Lauren Owen

I can’t say too much about this book because one of its many endearing qualities is not knowing what twist or turn the plot will take next. What I can say is that this debut is rich in emotion, thoughtfulness, and enchanting prose. Taking elements of the classic Victorian novel, such as the austerity of Dickens and the traditional atmosphere of 19_^th century London, Owen creates a contemporary novel meticulously embedded in the old world. With a similar style and prose to Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, and a plot so vividly imagined it’s at times eerily chilling and at others tumultuously bleak, I was conflicted with whether to devour this book in one sitting or draw out the delectable experience. Owen also uses the interesting concept of having no specific antagonist that works in her favour to create a stunning and highly regarded debut. Definitely up there with my favourite books of all time!