A little bit of background📃 Matt Haig (born 1975) is an English author and journalist. I have followed him on Instagram for some years now, and I find myself nodding on the regular at his posts about life, politics, and humanity. His values align with mine and I admire that he uses his platform for good. He is open about his mental health struggles and these struggles form the basis of his books. While Matt has written both fiction and non-fiction for children and adults, he

A little bit of background📃 I must confess to never having read anything much about the incredible scientist, Marie Skłodowska-Curie. I could see that the subtitle of the book on display at the library suggested a focus on the pathway that Mme Skłodowska-Curie forged for female scientists, but I was still keen to start somewhere to better understand the most notable female scientist of all time. The elements of Marie Curie: How the glow of radium lit a path for women in scie

A little bit of background📃 The whole concept of Unruly had me from the get-go. A comedian's take on history? Cool. A journey through the history of England's kings and queens? Also cool. Did the book live up to my expectations? Read on for my thoughts. Unruly: The ridiculous history of England's kings and queens | Published September 2023 | Read May 2025 The author✏️ David Mitchell (born 1974) is a British comedian, actor and writer. He has numerous comedy television cred

A little bit of background📃 Jojo Moyes is one of my go-to authors when I am looking for a break from my usual dark and disturbing reads. Sure, her books are predictable and a little schmaltzy, but they are absolutely a comfort read for me. You can check out my review of the Jojo historical fiction titles I've read, her first book, Night music, and my favourite book to date, Someone else's shoes. I bloody love that book! We all live here | Published February 2025 | Read May 2

A little bit of background📃 Naomi Klein has only recently come into my orbit, largely for her criticisms of Israel's recent actions in Gaza. I'd heard something of her activism and finally had the chance to read three of her books, The shock doctrine, Doppelganger, and No is not enough. I learnt so much from these books so I urge you to give them a go. I have nothing but respect for Naomi Klein now, and I can't wait to read the rest of her work. She is clever, insightful, se

A little bit of background📃 History, politics, culture, sociology and social anthropology are totally my jam, but I am yet to find a single book that gives me a broad yet comprehensive overview of the history of humankind. I am not sure such a book even exists. I picked up the two books in this review at my local library, hoping for some insights from the similar approaches to being human and how we have grown and changed as a species. The species than changed itself: How

A little bit of background📃 I waited over six months for a copy of The Nazi mind after putting it on hold at my local library. The 2025 publication is clearly in demand! I was looking forward to reading the book, not only because of the long wait but because of its claimed psychological perspective on the heinous crimes the Nazis committed. Did the book live up to my expectations? Read my review to find out... The Nazi mind: Twelve warnings from history | Published May 2025

A little bit of background📃 The historian in me made a beeline for the history section at the 2025 Brisbane Lifeline bookfest. This post reviews some of the titles I picked up that day, sparking my interested in the three quite different perspectives on war that the books explore. Read on for my thoughts on the three books that I read in the weeks following the bookfest. Empires of the dead | Published September 2013 The author✏️ David Crane read History and English at Oxf

A little bit of background📃 I readily admit that I had no idea about A little history of the world before purchasing it to add to my library of history texts. I was looking for something that would give me a general overview of the history of humankind - a big ask, I know - and this book looked like it would fit the bill. I'm kind of glad I didn't know its backstory before reading it, as the book is well...quirky..... Read on for my review. A little history of the world | Pu

A little bit of background📃 My local library has a shelf near the check-out area that always seems to have a random collection of interesting books on display. It's like one of the librarians has wandered about the place, picking up books on a tapestry of subjects. I've found quite a few fascinating reads on that shelf! I know little of Mongolian history so I was keen to give Emperor of the seas a go. Emperor of the seas: Kublai Khan and the making of China | Published Janua

A little bit of background📃 War and the soul is another of the books I found at the 2025 Brisbane Lifeline bookfest. The book sale is a goldmine of works on all manner of subjects. I made a beeline for the history, politics and culture section and was immediately drawn to Edward Tick's book about veteran post-traumatic stress disorder. As a social historian, I have long been fascinated by the human impact of war. War and the soul: Healing our nation's veterans from post-trau

A little bit of background📃 I spotted Incest and influence at the Brisbane annual Lifeline bookfest in 2025. I am a social historian at heart, so the subject matter and the book's title were enough to make me add the book to my basket. I have to admit, though, that the book is not what I was expecting. Read on for my review... Incest and influence: The private life of bourgeois England | Published January 2009 | Read July 2025 The author✏️ Professor Adam Kuper is a social an

A little bit of background📃 I found Beyond the Wall in my local library and was impressed enough after reading the book to buy a copy of my own. I learnt German at high school and the country has always been a fascination of mine, particularly the period when Germany was split in two. It is quite extraordinary to realise that a country simply disappeared in 1990, its short life as the German Democratic Republic under Soviet control relegated to a grey, harsh, Cold War past.

A little bit of background📃 I had just read Beyond the wall, Katja Hoyer's account of life in East Germany from 1949 to 1990. I have always been fascinated by life behind the Berlin Wall and I was keen to read more about East Germany. I went searching and found Nina Willner's Forty autumns, a personal story of Nina's mother's family. Forty autumns: A family's story of courage and survival on both sides of the Berlin Wall | Published October 2016 | Read September 2025 The a

A little bit of background📃 I picked up The girl in the picture at the annual Lifeline second hand book fair in Brisbane in 2025. I was born as the Vietnam War entered its final stage and I have always been interested in the effects of war on the people who lived through it. The image of Kim Phuc is synonymous with all the tragedy of an unnecessary war and I was keen to read Kim's story. The girl in the picture | Published 1999 | Read September 2025 The author✏️ Denise Cho

A little bit of background📃 Picking up Nobody's girl at my local library felt like the right thing to do. I expected the book to be a tough read, but I wanted to learn more about Virginia Roberts Giuffre's story. It's one that needs to be told. Nobody's girl: A memoir of surviving abuse and fighting for justice | Published October 2025 | Read February 2026 The author✏️ Virginia Roberts Giuffre was born in the United States in 1983 and sadly died by suicide in Western Austral

A little bit of background📃 I was completely drawn to The lack of light when I spotted it at my local library. I have always been fascinated by the Cold War and life in the former Soviet Union. An epic tale of the Georgian experience at the fall of the Iron Curtain sounded right up my alley! Author Nino Haratischwili was born and raised in Tbilisi, moving to Germany in the early 1990s with her mother to escape the social and political chaos that followed the collapse of the

A little bit of background📃 I have been reading Kate Atkinson's books for as long as I can remember. Her writing is so quintessentially British, her dry wit woven through cracking stories of eccentric and complex characters with strong evocation of the time period. Life after life is the first of two books about the Todd family, this one with Ursula at the heart of the story. The follow-up book, God in ruins, was published two years later. It follows the exploits of Ursula's

A little bit of background📃 I spotted Reykjavik at my local library, drawn in by the cover's blurb and the Icelandic setting. I love Scandi noir - so dark in its exploration of the nasty side of humans - so I expected an Icelandic book to be similar. I hadn't read anything previously by main author, Ragnar Jonasson, although I understand that he has penned the hugely successful Dark Iceland series. Interestingly, co-author, Katrin Jakobsdottir, is a former Prime Minister of

A little bit of background📃 If you've read my other Michael Robotham reviews, you'll know that I am a diehard fan of his books. I am continually in awe of his masterful storytelling and character building. Robotham is an Australian author and I love seeing creatives from the big, brown land at the bottom of the world do well on the world stage. This post reviews Robotham's latest series, featuring PC Philomena McCarthy, a London Metropolitan police officer who also happens t