THE Reading room

Great reads

ALL OUR SHIMMERING SKIES by Trent Dalton, 4th Estate

Trent Dalton’s ambitious tale combines a dreamy aura of magical realism with scenes rooted in the Australian landscape. At its heart is Molly Hook, the “poor little gravedigger girl”, age seven when the story opens in Darwin in 1935. Molly’s mum, Violet, tells her to “keep your eyes on the sky” before she leaves. Molly knows her mum is up there and as her earthly life is engulfed in abuse and trauma, she uses her imagination to escape.

A TREACHEROUS COUNTRY by K.M. Kruimink, Allen & Unwin

Tigris the mare, Cannibal the guide and new English immigrant Gabriel Fox plod dully, saunter under impenetrable hair and with wild passionate thoughts, respectively, as each inhabits their own world traverse wild Van Diemen’s Land. Winner of The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award, the narrative and language is ancient and steeped in wisdom, warmth and wit.

THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS by Jodi Picoult, Allen & Unwin

Former Egyptologist Dawn Edelstein is a death doula – preparing people for the end of life, sometimes planned. She films a father’s waltz with his daughter, so it can be played at her wedding. When she boards a plane she sees the correlation between her job and the hostesses – the limbo. But when the plane starts