Voice of Commonwealth

Litty Committee: New Books to Read

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Happy Endings by Bella Green

 “Bella Green is a Sunday-afternoon sex worker. Divorced dads, IT nerds, international students – she’s here for the idiosyncrasies of human behavior, for soothing the lonely. But really for the cash. Taking us on a funny, candid, can’t-look-away journey through brothels, strip clubs, peep shows and dominatrix dungeons, Happy Endings is a hilarious and compelling memoir from a bright and bold new Australian voice.”

The Mother Wound by Amani Haydar

 “After her mother’s death, Amani began reassessing everything she knew of her parents’ relationship. They had been unhappy for so long – should she have known that it would end like this? A lawyer by profession, she also saw the holes in the justice system for addressing and combating emotional abuse and coercive control. Writing with grace and beauty, Amani has drawn from this a story of female resilience and the role of motherhood in the home and in the world. In The Mother Wound, she uses her own strength to help other survivors find their voices.”

Setting Boundaries by Dr Rebecca Ray

 “It is about pursuing the things that set our soul on fire, loving deeply without losing ourselves, and better resisting the demands and expectations of others. Many of us, raised to be people-pleasers, find ourselves giving in to draining colleagues, friends, partners and relatives.”

On Politics and Stuff by Mark Humphries and Evan Williams

 “If you love iambic pentameter, then look away because this book about Australian politics is pure prose, baby! This book is quite possibly the most comprehensive book on Australian politics ever written. That’s right, it covers both houses of parliament. We’ll take you inside the halls of power. And if we can’t actually get inside because of security, we’ll do some very fun speculating on what might be in there.

A Pho Love Story by Loan Le

“Linh and Bao like each other. A lot. The only problem? Their families own rival pho restaurants and hate each other’s guts, so they have to keep their relationship a secret. But they can only steal kisses in dark alleys and the art room at school for so long. Can their love transcend an age-old feud and heal the rift between these two families? Or have these high school sweethearts bitten off more than they can chew?”

Henry Hamlet’s Heart by Rhiannon Wilde

 “Henry Hamlet doesn’t know what he wants after school ends. It’s his last semester of year twelve and all he’s sure of is his uncanny ability to make situations awkward. Luckily, he can always hide behind his enigmatic best friend, Len. They’ve been friends since forever, but where Len is mysterious, Henry is clumsy; where Len is a heart-throb, Henry is a neurotic mess. Somehow it’s always worked.”

She Is Haunted by Paige Clark

“A mother cuts her daughter’s hair because her own starts falling out. A woman leaves her boyfriend because he reminds her of a corpse; another undergoes brain surgery to try to live more comfortably in higher temperatures. A widow physically transforms into her husband so that she does not have to grieve.”

Escape From Manus by Jaivet Ealom

“The awe-inspiring story of the only person to successfully escape from Australia’s notorious offshore detention center on Manus Island. In 2013 Jaivet Ealom fled Myanmar’s brutal regime and boarded a boat of asylum seekers bound for Australia. Instead of receiving refuge, he was transported to Australia’s infamous Manus Regional Processing Centre.”

The Mismatch by Sara Jafari

 “Soraya knows she could never fall for someone like Magnus. He’s her complete opposite in every way. Popular and confident, Magnus seems to have his life figured out, while Soraya has got to 21 and has somehow never been kissed. When Soraya sets her sights on Magnus for her first kiss, the last thing she expects to find is first love.

Trivial Grievances by Bridie Jabour

 “In 2019, Bridie Jabour wrote a piece for the Guardian about the malaise of millennials and how the painful, protracted end of their adolescence is finally hitting home. They’re looking at their lives and thinking: ‘Is this it? Have I chosen the right place to live, the right job, the right partner? Am I, perhaps, not as special as I thought?’

Catch Us the Foxes by Nicola West

 “Ambitious young journalist Marlowe ‘Lo’ Robertson would do anything to escape the suffocating confines of her small home town. While begrudgingly covering the annual show for the local newspaper, Lo is horrified to discover the mutilated corpse of her best friend – the town’s reigning showgirl, Lily Williams. Seven strange symbols have been ruthlessly carved into Lily’s back. But when Lo reports her grisly find to the town’s police chief, he makes her promise not to tell anyone about the symbols. Lo obliges, though it’s not like she has much of a choice – after all, he is also her father.”

Kooking with a Koori by Nathan Lyons

 “Western Sydney dad Nathan Lyons regularly feeds his family of eight for just $8, and his #madfeedz videos have attracted more than 127,000 followers and more than 1.4 million likes. Kooking with a Koori is a collection of Nathan’s best recipes and more Indigenous Australian soul foods that won’t break the bank. His aim is to get Aussies back into the kitchen making their own meals instead of grabbing fast food. So what are you waiting for? Get yourself to the kitchen and start making your own madfeedz!”

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