Not only has it gone on to become a best-selling series – it’s also now being turned into a film for Netflix, with “the greatest British cast assembled since the [Harry Potter] movies!”

The one and only Steven Spielberg acquired the adaptation rights for The Thursday Murder Club back in September 2020 – the same time the novel was released. 

It was revealed that his production company Amblin Entertainment would be transforming the beloved book into a film, and Chris Columbus, who has worked on movies like Home Alone and Harry Potter, would be directing.

Since then, fans have been waiting with bated breath to find out more details, and boy-oh-boy are they in for a treat!

Here’s everything to know about the upcoming book-to-movie adaptation.

What is the plot of The Thursday Murder Club?

The Thursday Murder Club follows a group of four unlikely friends in a retirement village who team up to investigate unsolved murders.

“But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves,” the synopsis reads.

The Thursday Murder Club is the first book in the series, and there are three sequel novels that have also been released: The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed, and The Last Devil to Die.

A fifth (unnamed) book in the franchise is also currently in the works, and is set to come out in 2025.

Who has been cast in The Thursday Murder Club movie?

Prepare yourself to read one of the best ensemble casts we’ve seen in a long time.

The cast of The Thursday Murder Club will be spearheaded by Pierce Brosnan as Ron, Dame Helen Mirren as Elizabeth, Sir Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim, and Celia Imrie as Joyce.

Also appearing in the film will be Richard E. Grant, Jonathan Pryce, David Tennant, Tom Ellis, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Geoff Bell, Paul Freeman, Sarah Niles and Ingrid Oliver.

If this spectacular cast doesn’t get you excited about the film, we don’t know what will!

When will the movie be released?

The Thursday Murder Club is currently in production, with the cast and crew remaining tight-lipped on details about the potential release date.

We’ll be updating this article once we know more about the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation, so watch this space.

In the meantime, though, you can get your murder-mystery fix by binge-reading the first four books! Grab your copy here.

The post The Thursday Murder Club is officially being turned into a movie – and the cast is killer appeared first on Now To Love.

And there’s a stellar line-up of fresh talent writing their way onto our bookshelves and hearts, from debut novels featuring time-travel and time-bending rom-coms, to books about love, loss and navigating all that life has to throw at us.

So settle in and prepare to discover your new favourite author from our reading list!

BEST DEBUT NOVELS

01

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

from $34.99 at Dymocks

Best for: time-bending rom-com

Author Holly created a video game The Husbands Generator to help her create the characters for her debut novel which explores the pitfalls of modern dating and the paradox of choice! Lauren discovers her attic is creating an endless supply of husbands – 203 of them – and any one of them could be the perfect man for her, she just has to figure out which one!

02

First Year by Kristina Ross

from $32.99 at Amazon

Best for: lovers of Sally Rooney-style reads.

With shades of Sally Rooney and Coco Mellors in her writing style, it’s no surprise Kristina won The Australian/Vogel’s Award for Young Writers for her first novel. Inspired by her own experiences of being a professional actress, First Year follows Maeve as she secures a place at one of the country’s most prestigious drama schools – and the risks she’s willing to take in the name of art.

03

Manny and the Baby by Varaudzo

from $26.26 at Amazon

Best for: an emotional tale of loss

A dreamy debut about loss and unrequited love, Manny And The Baby sees grieving son Itali try to connect to his late father through the pile of cassette tapes he left behind. The journey leads him to discover two sisters he knew nothing about.

04

Jaded by Ela Lee

from $34.99 at Dymocks

Best for: delving into race and class

A tightly-wound tale of one woman’s seemingly perfect life unravelling, Jaded is an exploration of race, identity and the ripple effect of sexual assaults that has shades of hit TV series I May Destroy You. The life of a young London lawyer falls apart when she is sexually assaulted by a work partner.

05

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

from $32.99 at Dymocks

Best for: time travelling romance

Joyfully written, this fun novel is both a time travel romance and a spy thriller! A polar explorer from the 1800s is kidnapped by a near-future UK government and falls in love with his roommate – it’s both hilariously funny and heartbreakingly moving.

06

I Hope This Finds You Well

from $34.99 at Dymocks

Best for: exploring co-worker relationships

Unhappy office worker Joelene is lonely, depressed, and hates her co-workers. But when an unfortunate IT fail suddenly gives her access to all her colleagues’ private messages, her surprising discoveries change her life for the better.

07

Even-ings and Week-ends by Oisin McKenna

from $32.99 at Dymocks

Best for: re-living the hedonism of your youth

Lovers of London will be moved by this novel’s tender portrayal of the city and queer culture. It’s the hottest summer on record and a group of 30-ish Londoners are at a crossroads in their lives. As they struggle with their own identities, financial instability, and their love-lives, they head to yet another wild party…

The post Best debut novels of 2024 (so far)… as picked by our books editor appeared first on Now To Love.

“There is no friend as loyal as a book,” Queen Camilla once posted to her Instagram, sharing Ernest Hemingway’s famous quote.

And the 76-year-old’s love of reading has been a lifelong passion, with Queen Camilla and Princess Kate regularly sharing their favourite books, as well as which ones made them cry.

A fan of the classics, Camilla has even lent her voice to narrate children’s books and invests her own personal funds into literacy projects, because she believes reading leads to “a happier, healthier and more prosperous life.

QUEEN CAMILLA ON THE MAGIC OF BOOKS

“Like climbing through the wardrobe into Narnia, stories open doors into different worlds. They stretch our imagination and get our brains buzzing,” says Camilla of her favourite books.

“We fall in love with heroes and heroines and can’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens… stories help us to understand our world and the people in it.”

The wife of King Charles fell in love with books at a young age, thanks to her father Major Bruce Shand.

“He was probably the best-read man I’ve come across, anywhere,” she said. “I mean he devoured books. And so, he read to us as children. He chose the books, and we listened. And I think the love of books was ingrained in us, because you know, it was there from such an early age.”

A FAMILY AFFAIR

It’s a tradition she’s happily passed on to her children and now, grandchildren.

“I love it. I read to them when they were absolutely tiny,” shares Queen Camilla. “And they’ve got older and older and older, and now they actually read to me.”

Known as “Gaga” to her five grandchildren, Camilla’s also step-grandmother to five on the King’s side.

Charles is equally passionate about books, with the shelves at Clarence House crammed full of books on gardening, the environment, poetry and plenty of thrillers.

Queen Camilla says her husband leaves the kids “spellbound” with his dramatic readings of Harry Potter stories. “He does all the voices because he’s a brilliant mimic… He’s extremely good with children. They love it.”

QUEEN CAMILLA’S ALL-TIME FAVOURITE BOOKS

01

Black Beauty

from $27.99 at Dymocks

Best for: Childhood memories

Reflecting on her all-time favourite childhood reads, the Queen said a combined love of horses and reading left her sobbing into her pillow.

“I think I have to admit, in the end, I ended up probably being a sort of pony-mad child with Black Beauty, which I howled over, night after night after night.”

02

Where the Crawdads Sing

from $12 at Big W

Best for: Coming of age tale

Where the Crawdads Sing was one of Camilla’s Instagram-based book club picks in 201.

She said of the novel: “All is not as it seems in this beautifully written, heart-breaking coming-of-age novel. I couldn’t put it (or my handkerchief) down!:

03

The Light Years

from $21.99 at Dymocks

Best for: Family saga

“A multi-generational saga by this brilliant author, of a British family before, during and after World War II. If I was sent to a desert island with one book this would be my choice…!” Her majesty said of this book – praise doesn’t get much higher!

05

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

from $10 at Big W

Best for: Reading to the grandkids

With ten grandchildren, the Queen is no stranger to bedtime stories!

“I think the one I enjoyed reading more than anything else was Harry Potter,” she says.

But it’s her husband King Charles who is the star of the show.

“I can’t mimic voices for love or money, I’m completely hopeless at it,” she says. “I was a really bad actor at school, and I’ve never been able to master the art of mimicry.

“But my husband, he does it brilliantly. He can do all the voices.”

KATE’S FAVOURITE KIDS’ BOOKS

From invoking memories of her own beautiful childhood to books that can teach us something, the Princess of Wales has no shortage of favourite bedtime stories to read to George, 10, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six.

05

Charlotte’s Web

from $16.99 at Dymocks

Best for: celebrating friendship

Kate says Charlotte’s Web is also very popular in her house – perhaps it even provided some naming inspiration!

“This is a charming story about friendship, loyalty and love.”

05

Stig of The Dump

from $19.95 at Dymocks

Best for: childhood adventures

Stig Of The Dump inspired Kate’s love of the outdoors, “I have never forgotten this brilliant book and the values it teaches.”

The post Queen Camilla and Princess Kate’s all-time favourite books, including the ones that made them cry! appeared first on Now To Love.

One doesn’t have to be a bookworm or avid reader to appreciate the gift of a good book.

Considering Father’s Day is coming up quick (it’s on September 1 this year), a good book that whoever you are celebrating is sure to get lost in is always a good bet for a gift.

Outside of gripping novels and inspiring biographies (our go-to for the dads and granddads in our lives) there are helpful guides and how-to’s for hobbyists, limited edition collections for those with unique interests and even just great coffee table books for the man who dabbles in interior design.

From sport deep dives to best-sellers, we’ve found the best paperbacks and hardcovers to gift every man in your life.

Best Books To Gift Men

Kindle

$179 at Amazon

If he’s an avid reader and his bookshelf is overflowing, it may be time to upgrade him to a kindle, saving him space and money in the long run.

Size: 157.8 x 108.6 x 8.0 mm

Colours: Black & Denim

Key features:

• 16 GB of storage; holds thousands of books
• A single charge lasts up to six weeks
• Fully wireless and doesn’t require a computer to download content

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Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

$24.99 at Dymocks

This best-selling memoir by Academy Award winning actor, Matthew McConaughey, is a book Dad is sure to love.

Filled with life-lessons and antidotes from throughout his life, this is a non-stop thrill to read.

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On The Ashes by Gideon Haigh

$34.99 at Dymocks

If he’s a die-hard cricket fan then he will love this breakdown on the history of the iconic Ashes match by leading cricket writer Gideon Haigh.

shop now

The Chipilly Six by Lucas Jordan

$26.90 at Amazon

For the history buff, this book delves into the story of the heroic Chilpilly Six and their lives before, during and after the first World War.

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The Star Wars Archives 1999-2005 by Paul Duncan

$50 at Dymocks

Dive into the archives behind the iconic Star Wars series and discover script pages, concept art, storyboards and more in this keepsake coffee table book for fans of a ‘galaxy far far away’.

shop now

Lessons by Ian McEwan

$17.70 at Amazon

The latest novel by the best-selling author of Atonement, Lessons is an breathtaking story of love from a character who watches history pass by.

shop now

Tell Me Your Story, Dad

$19.95 at Amazon

Delve into the history of your own family with this keepsake book to gift Dad and have him complete the prompts so you can understand him on a whole new level. There is also one for Grandpa if you want to explore a generation further.

shop now

How To Drink Australian by Jane Lopes & Jonathon Ross

$79.99 at Dymocks

The perfect gift for the budding sommelier, this in-depth books goes into the the history of Australian winemaking and the different styles and techniques around the country.

shop now

Down Under by Bill Bryson

$19.25 at Amazon

Uncover parts of Australia you’ve never thought of before with this hilarious and insightful travel book into our very own home.

shop now

Best Seat In The House by Jack Nicklaus II & Don Yaeger

Audible subscription from $16.45 at Audible

If they’re constantly complaining they don’t have the time to read an Audible subscription is their perfect gift, putting thousands of books into their earbuds so they can listen on the go. This best-seller is a beautiful audiobook for fathers by one of the best golfers of all time.

shop now

What books are popular with men?

The genres of books that are most popular with men are historical fiction, autobiographies and science fiction.

Obviously every man is different and has different interests, so as long as you have a rough idea of what type of genre the men in your life like, you really can’t go wrong!

The post Give Dad the gift of a good read this Father’s Day with the best books for men appeared first on Now To Love.

Janet couldn’t stand to hear Jackie blame herself. None of this was her fault. But it was obvious why Jackie was so distraught: Her in-laws Rose and Joe Kennedy were already making snide remarks about Jackie’s smoking having caused her recent stillbirth.

If her marriage to JFK ended, the Kennedys, too, would blame Jackie. The press would blame Jackie. Society on the whole laid the success or failure of any family – but especially one with this much lustre – on the woman.

It was Jackie’s performance as a wife (dutiful, domestic, sexual) and a mother (if she could even successfully give her husband children) that would determine the success of their marriage. Not Jack.

Janet told Jackie to get a divorce while she was still young and beautiful and could make another life for herself. That November, physically stronger but emotionally still a wreck, Jackie left for London to be with her sister Lee.

TO DIVORCE ‘JACK’ KENNEDY

Jack could spin all the stories he wanted to his adoring press. But Jackie’s silence, her decision to put three thousand miles between them, spoke louder than anything that he could say.

Jackie had left him, likely for good. In Virginia, she confided in her neighbour Walter Ridder, the famous newspaper publisher. If anyone knew how this would play out in the media, it was Walter. She asked him to go for a walk and give her advice: What would happen if she filed for divorce?

“It’s not a decision you can make on a personal basis,” Walter said. That this came as no surprise to Jackie – product of a broken home, a prominent wife considering divorce precisely because her husband had depersonalised and abandoned her and their stillborn baby – was as much a reflection of her dutiful nature as it was the times.

“If you should leave him and divorce him, there is no way he can be president,” Walter said. “And I doubt you want that mark on your life.”

“I know,” Jackie said. She couldn’t see that this was not something she was doing to Jack, but something Jack was doing to himself. Jackie had Walter’s sympathy – up to a point. “We have all known Jack is difficult in the ways of women,” Walter said.

“But a) you knew that from the beginning” – you signed up for this. Do not complain. “And b) I’m sure that there are many moments that make up for it.”

FIRST LADY – AMERICA’S HOUSEWIFE

That was true, Jackie had to admit. Despite everything, she was still deeply in love with Jack. He was the smartest, the cleverest, the best gossip, the brightest light in any room. When she had his attention there was nothing like it.

“When he’s around,” Jackie told Walter, “he’s just an enchantment.”

So think hard, Walter said. “Now you’re in the public domain, and the decision you have to make involves a great deal more than your personal relationship with Jack.”

“I know that,” Jackie said. “I know that, and that terrifies me.”

It was a terrible weight for a 28-year-old woman. The idea that her needs could cost the country a potentially great president. Couldn’t she just tolerate it, as so many women of their class did? Sexual promiscuity did not necessarily mean anything. So much of being Mrs John F Kennedy made up for that.

Didn’t it? After all, her life’s ambition, as she wrote in her boarding school yearbook, was “not to be a housewife”. Then again, what was becoming First Lady if not becoming America’s pre-eminent housewife?

This was Jackie’s conundrum: her best chance at a great life depended on maintaining a smart marriage. Faithful husbands did not necessarily make the most interesting or enthralling ones.

Edited extract from Ask Not by Maureen Callahan, out Wednesday (HarperCollins, $35.99)

WOMAN’S DAY GIVEAWAY!

We are giving you the chance to win 1 of 5 copies of Ask Not: The Kennedys And The Women They Destroyed.

To enter, simply head to nowtolove.com.au/puzzles/asknot and enter your details by July 26, 2024.

SHORT TERMS Conditions apply, see aremedia.com.au/competitions. Commences 28/6/2024. Ends 11.59pm AEST/AEDST on 26/7/2024.

AU residents 18+. This is a game of chance. Five books worth $35.99 each, total prize pool $179.95.

The post Kennedy bombshell: The day Jackie walked out on JFK appeared first on Now To Love.

It can feel strange being the only sober person if your friends are still drinking. However, it’s important to surround yourself with people who have your best interests at heart.

Whether you’re temporarily pressing pause on alcohol or planning to make a long-term commitment, sobriety coach Sarah Rusbatch shares how to tackle those tricky convos.

CHANGING OLD HABITS

Navigating friendships when we make changes in our lives, especially changes that involve some kind of personal growth, can be tricky. And sometimes more so than having to deal with changes in our romantic partnerships.

As women, we are incredibly loyal. We may have friendships we’ve fostered for decades, built on history, shared memories, having children at the same time. We pride ourselves on the longevity of these friendships. Sometimes more so than the actual friendships themselves.

So often I hear women say to me: “We don’t have anything to talk about when we aren’t drinking. But we’ve been friends for 30 years, so I can’t just end it.”

We might feel vulnerable, scared and uncomfortable when we come to this point. And it can cause us to question our decision to be alcohol-free.

We know we are better without it. But we can feel such a deep sense of loyalty to others. I know women who have gone back to drinking to keep their friends happy.

There’s also a fear that we might never make new friends again. So we return to drinking even though we know it doesn’t work for us.

But if we navigate this shift in our old friendships with openness and effort to keep the connection going, a deeper and more authentic connection can be created in a way you would never expect.

We can also make room for new, incredible friendships to form that are relevant to this stage in our lives.

3 WAYS TO TALK ABOUT DRY JULY

For those friendships that we know are worth investing our time in and prioritising while we move through this awkward, clunky stage of sobriety, there are three things to keep in mind.

1. Keep conversations open and honest

Let your closest friends know that their friendship and support mean the world to you – especially during tough times like these. Check in how it has been for them with you not drinking (like we do with our partners).

Understand that they’ll also be managing tricky emotions while we go through this huge transition. Keep the lines of communication open and honest.

2. Prioritise doing fun things together

Don’t just meet in bars and watch them get sloshed while you sip your Diet Coke. Meet for walks, activities, coffee, live events or plan things to do together that you both enjoy.

3. Know (and set) your own boundaries, particularly early on

For me, in the early days of sobriety, going to big events such as concerts, weddings, birthday parties and holidays all felt way too difficult and overwhelming to navigate without a drink in hand. Nowadays though, I look forward to them even more because I know that I will remember them, and not feel like sh*te the next day. (And yes, I do get on that dance floor and shake my booty while I’m sober! It has taken time to get to that point but slowly my sober confidence has grown!)

HOW TO PARTY SOBER DURING DRY JULY

Take baby steps at first when navigating bigger events. Take alcohol-free drinks if you can – which aren’t just limited to Coca-Cola! There are plenty of alcohol-free options for beer, wine and even gin.

They have saved me so many times. More places are starting to stock alcohol-free drinks as sales of these are rising – yay!

Plan what you will say if someone asks you why you’re not drinking or what you would like to drink. Know that you don’t have to over-explain, especially to people you don’t know well.

And be clear on when you’ll leave the event and how. I also find it really helps to have something planned out if you do leave early once everyone else is drunk.

Some ideas might be an early morning yoga class or run, brekkie with a friend or the family or a sunrise beach walk where you can reflect on how great you feel.

Whether you’re sober curious, ready to fully commit to giving up alcohol for good or just prepping for Dry July, Sarah’s book Beyond Booze is a great resource to have by your side. Buy it here.

The post Give up booze for Dry July with these tips from sobriety coach Sarah Rusbatch appeared first on Now To Love.

And when better to pick up a book than winter? The nights are getting darker, the log-fire is roaring and curling up with a cuppa and life-affirming winter books is what brings us joy. Here Woman’s Day’s books editor Laura Evans shares her top five page-turners for July.

It’s the perfect excuse to cancel all your plans and stay in…

FIVE MUST-READ WINTER BOOKS

01

Welcome to glorious Tuga, by Francesca Segal

from $34.99, Booktopia

Best for: escaping to another world!

When Marian Keyes and Nick Hornby endorse winter books, you know it’s going to be a goodie! I read this after David Nicholls’ new book You Are Here and it gave me the same gentle, comforting feels.

Vet Charlotte embarks on a months-long journey to the tiny island of Tuga del Oro to study endangered tortoises and finds herself distracted by other creatures, locals and a doctor called Dan.

Welcome to Glorious Tuga reaffirms the joys of life with its vivid descriptions of place and people. The perfect book to escape into if life is feeling a little flat.

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02

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston

from $34.99, Dymocks

Best for: tugging at the heartstrings

Anna Johnston’s moving and laugh-out-loud debut novel is about second chances and finding family in the most unexpected places. On the brink of homelessness, 82-year-old Aussie battler Frederick’s luck changes when in a bizarre case of mistaken identity he finds himself living as cranky Bernard Greer in the Wattle River Nursing Home.

Tender and wise, you’ll fall in love with Anna’s wonderfully diverse cast of characters, who are both flawed and funny. Proof that you’re never too old to start life over.

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03

Just One Taste by Lizzie Dent

from $30, Booktopia

Best for: food and romance lovers

Our hunger for food-related TV shows hit peak viewing with Jeremy Allen White’s turn as Carmy in the stressful but gripping The Bear – and finally it’s crossing over into the world of books! Lovers of Emily Henry and Rachael Johns, will devour Lizzie Dent’s new book Just One Taste.

Follow Olive Stone as she comes to grips with the death of her celebrity chef father, who she has been estranged from for 14 years. When her dad leaves her his beloved and failing restaurant in his will, she’s forced to confront his surrogate son and sous-chef Leo and fullfill her dad’s dying wish, for the pair to complete his cookbook together.

As they embark on four weeks in Italy, traveling from Sicily to Tuscany to Liguria, they’ll discover more than just some new recipes…

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04

Wallaby Lane by Maya Linnell

from $32.99, Dymocks

Best for: a rural romance

Rural romances have been trending over the last few years, perhaps tapping into our post-Covid dreams of a romantic tree-change in a rural idyll?! Back with her sixth novel, Maya Linnell’s vivid descriptions of rural life are elegantly appealing in the delightfully comforting Wallaby Lane.

Set in South Australia’s winegrowing region, love doesn’t run smoothly for radio presenter Lauren and new cop in town, Jack, when their paths cross.

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05

The Lyrebird Lake Ladies Choir by Sandie Docker

from $31.75 at Booktopia

Best for: moving family drama

The Australian author beloved for her comforting, emotional reads is back with her sixth release, The Lyrebird Lake Ladies Choir. In it, Sandie Docker tells the story of single mum Hannah, who is homeless after being widowed, and sisters Eleanor and Maggie, whose home by the lake is a refuge for the lost and lonely.

Sandie, 50, drew on the mystery surrounding her own grandmother and a daughter she had that no one knows what happened to, to write this compelling and moving book.

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The post The cosiest winter books to snuggle up with as chosen by our book editor! appeared first on Now To Love.

She’s also recently joined forces with popular children’s cartoon Bluey to narrate The Creek audiobook. And now, the mum-of-one is adding published author to her list of jobs!

The 25-year-old wildlife champion celebrated the news with an adorable post on Instagram. She gave us a first-look at her book, which is titled, You Are a Wildlife Warrior!: Saving Animals and the Planet.

And the sweetest part of the book is that it pays tribute to her beautiful daughter Grace, 3, and the adventures they have in Australia Zoo.

“G’day guys! Today is one of the very best days of my entire life. I officially get to share with you my new children’s book – you are a wildlife warrior. Woohoo! Crikey!” Bindi shared on Instagram in a new video post.

“This book takes you on an amazing journey with me and my wonderful daughter Grace. You’ll explore our home Australia Zoo and the conservation work we do all over the world.

“I hope that this book will inspire the next generation to love, respect and protect our natural world.”

LITTLE GRACE’S CAMEO

Little Grace even made a cameo in the video. She was reading the new book with her mum, petting animals and naturally, they both finished the video with an enthusiastic, “Crikey!”

Bindi’s mum and Grace’s grandmother wrote: I am tremendously proud of you. You are a wonderful mama and a true Wildlife Warrior! Your book is beautiful and brilliant. A fantastic, fun story for everyone!”

Her husband Chandler also took to the comments, saying, “Congratulations So happy this day is finally here after all your hard work. So exciting!”

You Are a Wildlife Warrior is currently available to pre-order. It hits the shelves on 4 February 2025.

You can pre-order You Are a Wildlife Warrior from one of the below:

• Amazon
• Dymocks
• Big W

The post Bindi Irwin pens new children’s book, inspired by her daughter Grace appeared first on Now To Love.

This comes after the release of an explosive new book by former BBC journalist Tom Bower.

In The House Of Beckham: Money, Sex And Power, the writer paints a very unflattering portrait of the couple. He alleges that years ago they cut a deal to stay together to save their money-making family brand.

FAMILY UNDER FIRE

An insider says, “The claims are absolutely devastating – David atoning for his alleged cheating by funding her money-pit fashion house, her chain-smoking over Rebecca Loos in Madrid.

“David and Victoria are used to ridiculous stories about them. But what will hurt most are the claims of their separate lives and almost divorcing.

“It’s true they did almost split. So this does affect the kids now as they’re old enough to read and understand it. And they all remember what was a very dark time for their marriage.”

The book claims that as recently as 2016 the couple were living separate lives and headed for divorce, with their separate publicists allegedly leaking negative stories about the other. The situation was starting to affect David’s reputation and his Miami project, so he apparently “cut a deal” with his estranged wife.

“His status and survival would have been washed away without Victoria’s determination to maintain the illusion of a happy family,” reveals the book, adding that he agreed to fund her fashion business in return.

DAVID AND VICTORIA: PLAYING THE BLAME GAME

Friends insist this wasn’t “a deal” but a genuine attempt at patching up some problems in their marriage. “They were blame-gaming each other for their failure in the US. And their return to the UK was a bit of humble pie,” says a pal.

“When David started pouring everything into this Miami project, they were living an ocean apart for some time. But they’ve worked through marriage problems before.”

Perhaps it was no coincidence that Victoria would appear in Vanity Fair and Vogue, gushing about David that year. And the couple would seal their reunion by renewing their wedding vows the following year.

STAYING TOGETHER FOR THE BRAND

In an interview with Desert Island Discs, David spoke about marrying Victoria for the second time: “People have talked about, ‘Do we stay together because it’s a brand?’

“Of course not. We stay together because we love each other. Because we have four amazing children. Do you go through tough times? Of course. That’s part of relationships. It’s part of marriages.”

Friends say the couple are proud to have gone through tough times. “It’s hard being reminded of some of the worst times in their lives. But it’s also made them all, kids included, treasure what they’ve achieved.”

The post David and Victoria Beckham’s secret divorce: A new book tells all appeared first on Now To Love.

In his new book Entrances And Exits, Michael Richards, 74, tells all about being raised by a single mum and a schizophrenic grandmother, his secret cancer battle and the highs and lows of fame as Kramer.

Have any of your Seinfeld castmates read the book, and how did they react?

Yes. Jerry [Seinfeld], was the first to react. He loved it. He wanted to write the foreword. Jason [Alexander] read the book and wanted to interview me on his podcast. Julia [Louis-Dreyfus] is busy with her podcast but only interviews iconic older women. I didn’t make the grade.

How did you feel reading Jerry’s touching foreword?

It made me cry.

The book took you over three years to write – do you miss the writing process, or are you relieved it’s over?

I’m glad I got some of my life on paper. I had forgotten things until I dug into myself through writing. Also, I wanted to tell my story instead of letting what’s out there on the internet or shaped by others stand as the record. I’m already working on a second book!

Given you largely stay out of the public eye, do you feel nervous about having your story out in the world?

I fear being misunderstood and quoted out of context.

What was the hardest part of your life to write about?

Remembering the days of doing Seinfeld episodes, the ideas that defined Kramer’s development. I wanted to get that right. And I really opened up about the post-Seinfeld years and shared some of the hardest times of my life including the infamous night at the Laugh Factory [when he responded to hecklers with a racist tirade].

Has your son (Antonio, 12) read the book? What did he think?

When I was writing one day, Antonio read a few sentences and said, “Dad, just write like you’re talking to me.” This helped me write more clearly.

Do you think he will follow you into showbiz? Maybe another Kramer?

He’s certainly very funny, he makes his friends laugh all the time. He’s witty in ways I’m not. And he plays piano very well. He’s classically trained and into jazz improv now. He likes acting in school plays. It’s certainly a start.

What’s next for you? Would you ever do TV again?

I plan to do appearances and share some of my stories and do speaking engagements. A few are coming my way. I’m always open to acting again if I can make magic with the material. I have been very much into writing and I tend to be a recluse. I like to read a lot and spend time in nature.

The post Michael Richards shot to fame as Kramer on ‘Seinfeld’ and now he’s sharing his story appeared first on Now To Love.

Now, it has been revealed that Lisa Marie’s daughter, actress Riley Keough, is honouring her memory by helping to complete her memoir which will be released in late 2024.

Titled From Here to the Great Unknown, the book will chronicle Lisa Marie’s life.

The cover features a photo of Lisa Marie as a child alongside her father, Elvis Presley.

Publishing house, Random House announced the news of the memoir saying, “We are honoured today to share the cover and the title of this much-anticipated memoir. Born to an American myth and raised in the wilds of Graceland, Lisa Marie Presley tells her whole story for the first time in From Here to the Great Unknown, a raw, riveting, one-of-a-kind memoir faithfully completed by her daughter, Riley Keough.

The book will be released on 15 October 2024, and is available for preorder now.

Fans of Lisa Marie took to the comments to express their excitement and eagerness to get their hands on a copy of their own.

“I pre-ordered it the second it was announced. I know Riley did so right by her mum. I’m thrilled Lisa will still have her story told. Xx ,” one person said.

“I am very excited about this one. Lisa Marie was a contemporary of mine – born just a couple years after me and she really was an enigma of sorts. I’m anxious to hear her story. I hope Riley reads the audiobook,” another shared.

According to PEOPLE magazine, Lisa Marie first asked for Riley’s assistance in finishing the memoir in 2022.

The Graceland website released a statement in January 2024 where they confirmed the upcoming book and gave details about the mother-daughter collaboration.

“Like most of us do with asks from our parents, Riley pushed off the project, feeling that there would be a right time for them to sit down together and finish it. 

“But, after Lisa Marie’s unexpected death last year, Riley carried a guilt that the world would never know the loving, joyful, and caring woman that she knew and grieved.”

Luckily, Lisa Marie had recorded numerous hours worth of tape for the book, and Riley decided it was time for the world to hear her mother’s story.

Riley said, “Few people had the opportunity to know who my mom really was, other than being Elvis’s daughter. I was lucky to have had that opportunity and working on preparing her autobiography for publication has been a privilege, albeit a bittersweet one. 

“I’m so excited to share my mom now, at her most vulnerable and most honest, and in doing so, I do hope that readers come to love my mom as much as I did.”

The post Riley Keough helped to complete her mother Lisa Marie Presley’s memoir, and it’s set to be released later this year appeared first on Now To Love.

Woman’s Day sat down with Julia to discuss everything about the book-to-screen adaption!

Did you ever imagine this level of success from the Netflix series?

No. I mean, I should say, I never thought that it was going to be a flop. Once we knew it was happening, and that it was a Shondaland show, I knew it was going to have really good people, a decent budget, you know, it’s Netflix.

And I also knew that there were plenty of romance readers who were just dying for something like this. So I knew it would find its niche audience. I just didn’t know that it was going to break out of that niche in the way that it did.

Like Lady Whistledown, do you love a bit of gossip?

Anybody who says they don’t like gossip at all is lying. Everybody likes a little.

Was it a difficult decision to willingly relinquish all creative control of your stories to Netflix?

No, well, for one thing, it was very clear that the people who were going to be making it were Shondaland and I trust them implicitly. They have an incredible track record.

They are a company whose values align with mine. And so I said just take it – it wasn’t hard at all.

What do you think of the new season that’s taken from your fourth book?

I think it’s great. it’s in two sections this time, so I have to keep track of what’s in which section, so I don’t mess that up! So now we have the friends-to-lovers trope, and all that entails.

But what it does mean in this case is that we’ve got these two characters who we’ve already met and we’ve known for two seasons. And I think that brings with it a different level of audience investment.

As a Taylor Swift fan, if you could cast her in Bridgerton, which character would she play and why?

Oh my gosh, I am very much a fan of Taylor Swift. I don’t know if I count as a full-fledged Swiftie because there are people in my life who are true Swifties and I do understand the difference with that.

I need to make that clear, but I do love her songs. I have a lot of favourites. I’m not one for casting, but you know, maybe Sophie from An Offer From A Gentleman, because I think that after seeing the Bejeweled music video, I think that [Taylor] likes a good Cinderella story. And that’s a true Cinderella story.

What do you foresee next for the Bridgerton universe? Do you see a Bridgerton theme park in the works?

It’s not really up to me, because they have creative control. But, if somebody really wanted to have a Bridgerton theme park, I wouldn’t make the ultimate decision. But I would hope I’d get free tickets.

You’re the romance writer, but can you tell us about the pendant necklace your husband gifted you for your anniversary?,

So my husband is a mountain climber and he has climbed all seven of the highest summits including Mount Kosciuszko in Australia. He summitted Mount Everest and he collected some snow from the top and I had no idea he melted it and put it into this special locket-type thing from Tiffany’s and gave it to me on our 25th anniversary.

So honestly, it’s kind of funny because [in our relationship] I’m the romance writer and he’s a doctor slash scientist, but he’s the one who does all the great romantic gestures.

The special TV edition cover of Romancing Mister Bridgerton is available now for $12 from BIG W. Buy it here.

The post EXCLUSIVE: Bridgerton author Julia Quinn talks success, gossip and being a Taylor Swift fan appeared first on Now To Love.

Called You Never Know, the ‘lucky’ actor sheds light on his “accidental” 50-year career, detailing his journey to the top in Hollywood.

In this exclusive interview, the Blue Bloods actor spills how he lost the lead in Indiana Jones to Harrison Ford, why he never wanted Magnum P.I., his thoughts on aging and retirement and much more. Let’s dive in.

How does it feel to publish your autobiography and why now?

It feels great. Why now? Because it’s taken this long. [Laughs] I had been asked about telling my story for years and it finally felt like the right time.

The book is called You Never Know. Why that title?

Because in this business, you never know. You never know what’s coming next. I still don’t, but I have somehow got this far and I’m still working. There have been a lot of ups and downs along the way, but I have been lucky. None of it was planned. It all kind of happened by accident. Life is like that. That’s really what the book is about.

Do you feel you have accomplished all you set out to achieve when you first became an actor?

No, because the truth is I never set out to become one. I never really trained to become an actor. It just happened. My dream was to be a pro baseball player.

I took History of American Theatre in junior college because I thought it would be an easy way to get the grades.

What did happen to make you consider becoming an actor?

It’s a long story, but the short version is that I needed to make money. So, my theatre arts teacher suggested I audition for some commercials. I had no idea what it would lead to.

Magnum P.I. made you a household name, but is it true that you almost turned down the role?

Yeah, because I read the script for the pilot, and I really didn’t like it. My contract with Universal was finishing, and I had already done six unsold pilots for other shows. Magnum felt like just another one. I had just worked with the brilliant James Garner in two episodes of The Rockford Files and that had given me different ideas as to what I wanted to do and the direction I wanted to take, but Universal insisted. Thankfully, the show was picked up and it turned out pretty well.

But then the success of the show cost you the role of Indiana Jones…

It did. I think the fact I was offered the role has become Hollywood trivia down the years. It was a wonderful opportunity to work with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, but it didn’t happen.

I couldn’t get out of my contract to do Magnum, and the role went to Harrison Ford instead. Was I disappointed? Of course. I could have done both Magnum and Indiana Jones, but CBS wouldn’t let me. But Magnum turned out to be a pretty good consolation prize. Things worked out pretty well for me and for Harrison, I think.

You turn 80 next year. How do you feel about ageing?

I honestly don’t really feel anything. In my head, I still feel the same as I did when I was 17. Age really is just a number. I’m just enjoying the ride.

Are you considering retiring now that Blue Bloods is ending?

Hopefully, not. Every job I have ever finished has felt like my last at the time, but I still want to work. I still love to work. I want to find out what’s next.

The post Tom Selleck: “I almost turned down Magnum P.I.” appeared first on Now To Love.

While the “romantasy” label is relatively new, having become trendy thanks to TikTok, the concept itself has been around for some time – think Anne Rice. Here we take a look at some of the most prolific romantasy writers and their top books…

A DEEP DIVE INTO ROMANTASY

Kate Forsyth

The Australian author is best known for her historical fiction, but she’s no stranger to the romantasy genre, with two heroic fantasy series. Kate worked as a journalist for several years before focusing on storytelling. She has a doctorate of creative arts in fairytale studies and lives in Sydney with her husband and three children.

Dragonclaw, from $22.99 at Dymocks

Since the Day of Reckoning, witches and magic have been outlawed in the kingdom of Eileanan, but there are those determined to restore magic. Raised by an old wood witch in the forest, Isabeau carries the last hopes of the witches.

The Tower of Ravens, from $22.99 at Dymocks

Kate’s second romantasy series also takes place in fictional Eileanan but focuses on a young half-human who flees her family. She meets a young man, Lewen, and together they embark on a journey of danger, love and death.

Sarah J Maas

It would be surprising if you hadn’t heard this author’s name thrown around. Her five-book series A Court Of Thorns And Roses is the original of the genre. Sarah began writing her debut novel when she was just 16 years old and has since written more than 20 books, selling 37 million copies worldwide. The author lives in LA with her husband and two children.

A Court of Thorns and Roses, from $12 on Amazon AU

Huntress Feyre is captured by a dangerous faerie and taken to a mysterious land. She becomes consumed by passion for her captor, but an ancient shadow threatens the kingdom and Feyre’s faerie keeper.

Throne of Glass, from $12 on Amazon AU

Sarah’s debut novel is a must-read. If trapped assassin Celaena can defeat 23 killers in a competition, she will be released from prison. But when her competitors begin mysteriously dying, Celaena must destroy the threat before she becomes the next victim.

Carissa Broadbent

The American author has been writing stories since she was about nine years old and debuted her first novel A Palace Fractured in 2017. She has since gone on to write two very successful romantasy series. Her novels are best known for their badass leading ladies and their heaping dose of romance. She lives with her husband and her son on Rhode Island, US.

The Serpent & The Wings Of Night, from $17.24 on Amazon AU

The adopted human daughter of a vampire king, Oraya, enters a dangerous competition known as the Kejari to obtain a wish from the vampire goddess. She is forced to make an alliance with the enemy.

The Songbird & The Heart Of Stone, from $18 on Amazon AU

Due to arrive on shelves in November, this novel follows reluctant vampire Mische, who is sentenced to death for killing a vampire. When she is rescued by handsome Asar, the pair embark on a treacherous journey.

Deborah Harkness

While she’s best known for her romantasy novels, Deborah’s true passion lies in history. The American author has studied around the world and has a doctoral degree in the history of magic and science. She currently teaches European history and the history of science at the University of Southern California.

A Discovery of Witches, from $17.70 on Amazon AU

Her first novel debuted to huge success and has been made into a series starring Teresa Palmer. It tells the story of Diana Bishop, a reluctant witch who is forced back into a world of magic after discovering a secret manuscript. She soon meets charming vampire and geneticist Matthew Clairmont.

The Black Bird Oracle, from $15.99 on Amazon AU

Deborah has expanded on her All Souls trilogy, and this upcoming novel will continue Diana and Matthew’s journey. The pair face a new challenge as the congregation demands they test the powers of their twins Pip and Rebecca. The family flee to Diana’s great-aunt’s, but once there, they face an even greater danger.

Rebecca Yarros

Rebecca began writing while her army husband was deployed to Afghanistan. Her first romance novel Full Measures debuted in 2014 to great success and she continued putting pen to paper. She first began writing romantasy in 2023 with the Empyrean series, which quickly became bestsellers. American Rebecca is also a proud mum of six.

Fourth Wing, from $14 on Amazon AU

Violet was supposed to become a scribe, instead she joins the candidates striving to become elite dragon riders. There, she must use her wits to survive the dangerous selection process. Meanwhile, the raging war outside the kingdom gets closer.

Iron Flame, from $16 on Amazon AU

The second book in the series continues Violet’s battle to become a dragon rider. But she soon begins to discover that those in charge have been keeping a secret hidden for centuries. Will the knowledge be enough to see her survive?

The post Romantasy novels deliver sex, spice and everything nice appeared first on Now To Love.

In a digital world, it is all too easy to get lost in the online and forget about the analogue world of books and physical media.

Growing up I was an avid reader, you could not pull me away from a book. But as is only natural, I got older and it became harder and harder to prioritise reading and I became positively stuck in a dreaded reading rut.

However last year, after years of letting my pile of ‘to-read’ books become dangerously high, I decided once and for all that I was going to get out of my rut.

It certainly wasn’t easy. I definitely found myself pushing, pushing, pushing to keep going. But on this journey, I learned to fall back in love with literature and curated some tips to keep me engaged.

Nearly a year and a half later, I can say proudly I am well and truly out of my slump. I’m normally reading a book a fortnight and have had the pleasure of getting lost in some true works of art.

Top tips for getting out of a reading rut

• Read your favourite book again. Go back to your childhood and read a long-forgotten favourite, remind yourself of the magic of getting lost in a good book.

• Set a timer for 15 minutes before bed and read until it goes off. If you are enjoying it, keep going! If not, at least you got 15 minutes in.

• Try a new genre or style than what you used to read. Taste changes and who knows you might love it!

• Don’t be afraid to opt out. Many of us feel the need to finish every book we start but if you aren’t loving it, don’t force yourself to continue! That will only make you read less.

• If you’re time-poor or are often stuck in long drives into the office, an audiobook is a great way to immerse yourself without having to physically read a book.

• Take recommendations. Ask your friends, family, and co-workers what they’re reading – it may inspire you.

Now I wouldn’t be anywhere if it weren’t for the books that helped pull me out, in the hopes that these might end up on your shelves or bedside table, below I’m taking a look at some of my very favourites.

Happy reading!

The 12 books that helped me get out of my reading rut

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Sunbathing by Isobel Beech, $32.99 at Dymocks

If packing up and moving to the Italian countryside is something calling your name right now, this book will only serve to further convince you. A devastatingly beautiful depiction of grief and healing, Sunbathing by Isobel Beech started for me as a beachside read, only to help me come to terms with my own journey of loss and the hope that is sure to follow.

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The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka, $32.99 at Dymocks

A biting satire about the political situation in 1980s Sri Lanka, this story follows closeted war photographer Maali Almeida as he navigates the afterlife. This book won the 2022 Booker Prize and is a must-read for those who are a fan of political, social and historical commentary. I also loved the use of second-person writing, which you don’t often come across but made an engaging and immersive read.

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Everything Feels Like The End Of The World by Else Fitzgerald, $24.90 (usually $29.99) at Booktopia

This is absolutely the book that pulled me out of my rut. I read this cover to cover in one day whilst on a trip with zero phone reception and have not stopped talking about it since. A collection of short fiction stories that delves into what the future of the world may look like. It explores grief, love, climate anxiety and despair with devastatingly descriptive prose and detail.

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Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo, $17.70 at Amazon

With the entwined stories of twelve characters, this book had me hooked immediately. It tells the story of Black, mostly women living in England as they navigate the world, with each story linking and connecting throughout the novel. Don’t expect a distinct ‘storyline’ per se, but instead, a realistic and beautiful look into a world and experience you may not have had the pleasure of being familiar with.

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Just Kids by Patti Smith, $24.99 at Dymocks

I am not one to read a memoir usually, particularly in the world of music, but Patti Smith’s Just Kids is a book I will never forget. Having lived a life far more interesting than I will ever live, I enjoyed escaping to Patti’s experience in the 60s and 70s of New York and learning about an era I grew up envying; with thrilling cameos by icons like Andy Warhol, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and more. If you’re a fan of rock and roll and not one to usually read memoirs, this is absolutely one to try.

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Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup, $33.88 at Amazon

For heartbreakingly beautiful descriptions of love, intimacy, and connection to nature, this novel by journalist Shubhangi Swarup is a must-read. It follows the interconnected stories of various characters across India and dips into the world of magical realism, which makes an imaginative and enchanting experience on every page.

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The Chiffon Trenches by Andre Leon Talley, $24.99 at Dymocks

I couldn’t possibly label myself a fashion nerd without featuring this memoir by the fashion journalism legend André Leon Talley on my list. Talley’s works are what sparked my own career, so this memoir provided a candid and inspiring glimpse into the life of one of my journalistic heroes. Whether you’re a fashion enthusiast or simply curious about the backstage gossip of the supposedly glamorous industry, this offers an honest depiction of what the world of fashion is truly like.

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the-fran-lebowitz-reader-reading-rut-books

The Fran Lebowitz Reader, $21.75 (usually $24.99) at Booktopia

To be completely transparent, I haven’t even finished this book and I have to recommend it. Very rarely has a book made audibly laugh aloud, but this collection of essays by the iconic Fran Lebowitz is a must-read for the true cynic. I will preface that some pieces do feel dated or even culturally distant, but there are some absolute zingers to enjoy.

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After Australia edited by Michael Mohammed Ahmad, $23.75 at Booktopia

This collection of short stories, penned by a diverse group of Australian writers, provided me with the chance to immerse myself in the voices of authors I had never encountered before. It’s an engaging yet thought-provoking read that delves into the darker aspects of the country. Among the stories, Michelle Law’s Bu Liao Qing and Karen Wyld’s We Live On in Story stood out as remarkable highlights for me.

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I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, $34.99 at Dymocks

If you haven’t heard the praises for this book, you might have been living under a rock. As someone who grew up watching McCurdy on the screen in iCarly (with her character, Sam, being my favourite), reading about the abuse she endured from her mother was a difficult experience, yet a wholly necessary one. This book delves into the painful and poignant details of the lives and challenges faced by a child actor, as well as the path to recovery.

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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, $14.25 (usually $14.99) at Booktopia

When I decided to break free from my reading rut, I began with my all-time favourite book. Allowing myself to truly immerse in the enchanting world of Wonderland reminded me of the very reason I developed a love for reading in the first place.

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Become written and narrated by Michelle Obama, $27.99 at Audible

If you’re anything like me and fell in love with the honesty and authenticity of former First Lady Michelle Obama, this is the book for you. In fact, I would argue that listening along to the audiobook, narrated by Michelle herself, makes an even more engaging experience. Michelle delves into her career as an attorney as well as the highs and lows of serving as the first African American First Lady and it makes a truly inspiring listen.

You can even try out this book for free when signing up for a trial with Audible, after that the membership is only $16.45 a month for access to thousands of audiobooks and podcasts.

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The post I was in a reading rut for years, these 12 books helped pull me out appeared first on Now To Love.

A neatly-packed, little box of books that sits on your doorstep, waiting for you to open and delight in all its goodness, a book subscription is simply one of life’s greatest joys.

Saving you the time spent stuck at the bookstore, gazing at all the shelves and genres for what to pick next, a book box will do it all for you and send you a curated selection from your favourite genres.

Finding the right book subscription can be tricky, though, which is why we’ve gathered some of the best book subscription boxes in Australia for you to enjoy.

The best book subscription boxes in Australia

Bionic Book Subscription

Bionic Book Subscription, $99.95 per quarter at isubscribe

This personalised book subscription service will send you books via an algorithm that learns your taste preferences, as well as expert curators, to select and send books you’ll love. You can enjoy a mix of new and recent releases across fiction and contemporary classics.

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Mystery Book Subscription Box

Mystery Book Subscription Box, $75 per six months at Etsy

Enjoy a great selection of preloved books, coming straight to your door for six months, with a range of extras to keep you reading comfortably. You can expect to receive three or six books sent to you month by month, across a genre of your choice.

“Purchased as a gift subscription for Father’s Day and he absolutely loves it! Such a fantastic and unique option for a book lover for yourself or a loved one,” a five-star reviewer said.

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Ultimate Mystery Book Subscription Box

Ultimate Mystery Book Subscription Box, $95 per quarter at Etsy

Sent to you month by month, each box contains three or six great books with one hand-drawn bookmark, a new handmade candle in a variety of colours, scents and containers, and new pair of socks.

“Got 2/3 books so far and I’m loving the selection!! Can’t believe I got a mint-condition hardcover on my first go, it was an amazing surprise. The custom little bookmarks are cute too, I’d recommend this subscription in a heartbeat and can’t wait to purchase a second round,” a five-star reviewer said.

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Australian Magazine Subscription Magshop

Australian Magazine Subscription, from $36.99 at Magshop

Magshop features all of the top selling Australian magazine subscriptions in one place, making it easy for you to enjoy your favourites. You’ll find all kinds of publications in its extensive catalogues – from entertainment, lifestyle, fashion and beauty to games and puzzles, health and fitness, cooking, homes, and so much more.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

The post Four book subscription boxes to help revive your reading list appeared first on Now To Love.

Each title has been reviewed by our respected book reviewers, Katie Ekberg and The Weekly’s editor at large Juliet Rieden.

We have something to suit every kind of bookworm, so settle in with one of these Women’s Weekly recommended reads, all available through Booktopia.

Want more book reviews from The Australian Women’s Weekly? Sign up for our e-Newsletter!

MAY’S GREAT READ: The Night Travelers by Armando Lucas Correa

When Ally Keller’s daughter emerges into the world, she’s silent, whimpers and finally howls – and it’s no wonder. The midwife who pulls her out condemns the newborn – “It’s a Rhineland bastard. You’ve brought a mischling into the world. This girl isn’t German, she’s Black,” she viciously announces. “She’s Lilith. Her name means light,” Ally corrects.

It’s 1931 and a terrifying change is underway in the fatherland of freethinking German writer Ally whose daughter is the result of a passionate affair with a black German musician. Her parents disowned her when she fell pregnant and soon Ally discovers her progressive ideas are out of step with the status quo.

As she grows up, Lilith learns to only go out under the cover of darkness, while at home Herr Professor, a Jewish lecturer thrown out of his university, becomes her educator. By age five she has nailed Pythagoras; age six she’s reading Shakespeare. But then as age seven draws near Lilith is called up in front of the German Commission for Racial Purity, her features measured in a chilling, barbaric scene.

“I’d read about the terrible fate of more than 60,000 Black Germans under the Nazis,” author Armando Lucas Correa says of his inspiration for this haunting novel. “Under the Nuremberg racial laws that Hitler introduced ‘mischlings’, mixed-race children, were sterilised when they turned seven. I started writing when my twins, Anna and Lucas, turned seven, and like Lilith’s mother, the number seven became an obsession for me. I couldn’t help thinking that my children would not have survived under Hitler’s racial laws.”

Ally is forced to make a terrible choice and opts to send Lilith on a ship to Cuba in the care of Jewish neighbours who also desperately need to escape. What follows is an epic tale with powerfully drawn characters through whom we learn the human cost of a history that in different guises is still with us.

“While I was writing the novel, the magazine where I was working was covering the US-Mexico border crisis in the Trump era. I remember many women questioning the mothers who’d sent their children alone to the US, accusing them of being bad mothers,” notes Armando. “Then I started thinking about the more than 10,000 children sent alone to London to save them from Nazi Germany … Let’s learn not to judge. No one knows what a mother, a father has to do to save their child.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cuban writer Armando Lucas Correa started his career as a theatre critic and after moving to the US in 1991 became a reporter for the Spanish version of The Miami Herald and later at People magazine in New York.

His first novel, The German Girl, was published in 2016 and an instant bestseller. The Night Travelers is his fourth novel and like all his books has women at its heart. “I grew up surrounded by strong, intelligent, determined women. My grandmother and my mother are the inspiration for all the female characters in my novels.”

BUY NOW at Booktopia.

Dust Child by Nguyên Phan Quê Mai, Bloomsbury

Phong, wife Binh, son Tai, and daughter Diem sit in the American consulate. “Throughout his life, he had been called the dust of life, black American child, bastard. He had to fulfill his promise to bring Binh to America, away from the rubbish dumps where she worked, collecting plastic and paper. A country that voted for a black president had to be better than here.”

But Phong wasn’t expecting an old visa application to be on file – one prepared by a crook who promised to help illiterate Phong in the US if he took his family with him. “You claimed strangers as family members. You broke the law.” Meanwhile, Trang and sister Quynh work rice fields – backs breaking. They are starving and need to find their way out. The intimate care for every character is phenomenally beautiful.

BUY NOW at Booktopia.

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson, Penguin

A bird’s-eye view over New York City as a generationally wealthy family unwittingly humiliates a new family member who has made an embarrassing error of dress. Chip and Tilda Stockton bought a new flat after handing their four-storey Brooklyn house in the fruit streets section of Brooklyn Heights (Pineapple, Orange and Cranberry) to son Cord and wife Sasha.

Spending time to create a beautiful meal for her in-laws, Sasha is hurt as they arrive with bags of take-out. At a house-warming party Sasha dons smart blue trousers and a crisp white shirt. All night she is asked for drink top-ups or to carry dirty plates away. “You’re wearing the same as [housekeeper] Berta!” trills Cord’s sister. “They must have thought you were a caterer!”

BUY NOW at Booktopia.

The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams, Affirm

Companion novel to The Dictionary of Lost Words, sharing some common characters, but robustly standalone. Home to the Oxford University Press, Jericho has long been a bohemian community. It’s 1914 and when Great Britain declares war on Germany, it’s up to the women to keep the nation running. Motherless twins Peggy and Maude work in the bindery at the OUP. It’s the year writer Vera Brittain goes to Oxford to study English; Peggy reflecting, “I imagined spending my days reading books instead of binding them.”

Vulnerable Maude is happy with her lot. Actress Tilda, Ma’s best friend, promised to watch over the girls, staying in touch for all the “firsts” – Christmas, Easter, anniversary of her death. Later Tilda writes, “Asquith has become immovable on votes for women. Mrs Pankhurst thinks the war could be our Trojan horse and she’s mobilising her troops. She’ll find a way to keep us in the papers.” She certainly did.

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The Prize by Kim E. Anderson, Pantera

Flawless character studies unfold like a painting in this fictional account of the scandal surrounding William Dobell’s portrait of artist friend and lover Joshua Smith, which won the 1943 Archibald Prize. When the modernist portrait was accused by two artists of being a caricature and legal action taken as it “did not define the Archibald bequest”, even though the action was unsuccessful, the two artists are caught in a public spectacle.

They met in 1939, introduced by a friend in London. Bill takes Joshua to Wangi to stay at the cottage built by his father on the west shore of Lake Macquarie. It’s called Allawah, the Aboriginal word for “make your home here”. They paint, swim, become lovers. “Galleries are being infected by the ideas of the avant-garde,” says an artist at her studio soiree. “When the shape of a head is a violin, one has to question the integrity.” Australian society was conservative, homosexuality illegal and the “grotesque” painting described akin to a praying mantis.

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The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges, Pan Macmillan

Myra was five when her beloved grandmother, Trixie, died in a car crash; Myra at her side. Bereft, she is given Trixie’s miniature doll’s house, which is still her reason for living, at 34, as a recluse in the attic of her cabin in the Arizona mountains where the mini mansion resides.

Her stories of the minuscule palace are followed by tens of thousands of fans – Myra placing two tiny rockers either side of the library fire, sending bloggers wild. But the mansion has a life of its own – music playing in corridors; happenings Myra has no control over. Meanwhile, Rutherford Alexander Rakes hates working front of house at Rakes & Son, Lockhart, Texas. When two Mansion fans need help recreating one of Myra’s rooms, he is shocked to recognise his ancestral home.

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Read more book recommendations in the May issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly – on sale now.

The post Looking for a page turner? Here are all of the best new books to read right now appeared first on Now To Love.

“The spiral staircase appears to float, a twist of wrought iron eerily suspended between the chestnut groves below and the twelfth-century spire above”, writes author Dominic Smith.

This engrossing novel is packed with such evocative descriptions that immediately pull us into seductive Umbria.

Here, centuries of history are layered not just into the buildings and landscape, but the people. As the novel opens, we are in 2011 in Valetto, where just 10 residents remain in a town that once boasted 3000. In WWII it was a haven for refugees, with locals working for the Resistance.

Our protagonist Hugh is a Michigan history professor and single father to Susan, who is studying economics at Oxford University. Despite his daughter’s entreaties, Hugh is unable to shake a pall of grief following the untimely death of her mother, his wife, some years before.

But there is a great deal to love about this gentle man who recalls halcyon childhood summers spent in a cottage in the grounds of the family villa, visiting his three aunts and grandmother.

He arrives in the town to help with the preparations for the 100th birthday celebrations for his granny Ida Serafino but soon discovers Elissa, a Milanese chef living in his cottage.

She says the home was gifted to her family by Aldo Serafino, Ida’s husband, a Resistance fighter who disappeared during the war. It’s a claim the Serafino women cannot accept until a terrible incident involving Elissa and Hugh’s mothers comes to light.

Smith’s Valetto is fictional, inspired by his research into abandoned Italian towns. The female characters are “an amalgamation of the real and the invented”, he says.

“I was lucky enough to grow up with three older sisters and a mother who has endured a lot, so it felt natural to write about strong, resilient women.”

As for the character of Hugh, Smith concedes there may be a dash of his own personality in there. “My two daughters just read an advance copy of the novel and were speculating about that very thing! I’d say Hugh and I share a habit for wry commentary, self-deprecation, and we’re both sentimental but try to hide it.”

READ MORE: for more great book reviews by The Weekly see here for our top picks for March

About the author

Dominic Smith first penned short stories as a lad growing up in Sydney. “I gravitated toward far-flung places and people as a way of connecting with my surroundings but also as a way of ‘bridging the gap’ of the Pacific,” he says.

“That impulse has stayed with me as a writer.” In his last year of a graduate writing program he began writing novels, “calling them ‘long stories’ in case they didn’t work out”.

He now lives in Seattle, has published six novels including the multi-award-winning The Last Painting of Sarah de Vos, and is the father of two daughters.

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Get more top book recommendations in the March issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly – on sale now.

The post REVIEW: Dominic Smith’s evocative descriptions in Return To Valetto will immediately pull you in appeared first on Now To Love.

Each title has been reviewed by our respected book reviewers, Katie Ekberg and The Weekly’s editor at large Juliet Rieden.

We have something to suit every kind of book worm, so settle in with one of these Women’s Weekly recommended reads, all available through Booktopia.

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The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell, Bloomsbury

Swirling storytelling in the backstage machinations of the Mercury “tragic-play” Theatre Company. Jenny Wilcox’s theatre painter brother stole the family money and absconded with a “soubrette” (supporting actress) to America.

She has a job interview with theatre owner’s wife Mrs Dyer, who says her job is “correspondent”: to keep an eye on lead actress Lilith, who Mrs Dyer believes is sleeping with her husband.

The salary is £40 a year – our protagonist becomes a spy. But menacing superstitions hover behind the curtain. Bewitching Lilith has a pact with Melpomene, the tragic muse of Greek mythology, to become the greatest actress ever to grace the stage.

Besotted Jenny befriends her but commits a cardinal sin when she speaks the play’s name (Macbeth). A curse is unleashed.

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River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer, Hachette

It’s 1834 and Rachel has been a slave for 40 years at the Providence Plantation, Barbados.

When the Master announces that the King has decreed the end of slavery, but they must all still serve a six-year apprenticeship, Rachel runs. Freedom would be hollow if she didn’t find her children.

One day a sack is pulled over her head and she’s taken to a house. Mama B – Bathsheba – took her because “Me see it in your face. Your pickney [children]. You want to find them.”

Mama B’s working girl protege Hope helps Rachel find mute daughter Mary Grace. Thomas Augustus begs her to stop and stay with him at a camp of runaway slaves.

Then on Trinidad she finds fashionable (fairer-skinned) daughter Cherry Jane and kind-hearted pregnant daughter Mercy being beaten.

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The One and Only Dolly Jamieson by Lisa Ireland, Michael Joseph

Inspired to write this moving, dignified novel after striking up a conversation about a book a homeless woman was reading, Ireland recalls, “She said most people didn’t even make eye contact with her. She felt normal for a while.”

Dolly Jamieson, 78, doesn’t use the word “homeless”; she’s “without a permanent abode”. Plucked from her Geelong mill machinist job at 14, the talented singer, and dancer wowed in lead roles in ’60s West End and Broadway productions.

A life of hard knocks has not destroyed gutsy Dolly’s spirit when she meets a sad, well-heeled younger woman, writer Jane. The pair connect, discovering identical losses.

Dolly’s star is born again as her story is penned by Jane in a magical memoir.

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The Favour by Nicci French, Simon & Schuster

Jude is planning her wedding to bland Nat when the dangerous boy she devoted a summer of loving to before going to university to become a doctor pops up out of the blue.

Despite not having seen each other for a decade, Liam has an audacious and odd favour to ask and – bizarrely – Jude feels she can’t refuse. Cue a slick, twisty plot that leads to Liam’s murder and Jude’s life unravelling at an alarming pace as she is caught up in the investigation.

Nicci French’s best-selling thrillers are the work of married writing couple Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. Do their combined brains cancel out gender bias, giving their characters yin and yang? It’s hard to say, but together they certainly create a pounding and addictive aura of suspense.

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The Lost Song of Paris by Sarah Steele, Hachette

London 1941: A German Luftwaffe bomb has Baker Street in chaos. Children in pyjamas run for underground shelters, the “Moaning Minnie sirens” at full tilt. French agent Colette arrived in her hotel minutes before and must jump from her window ledge.

Below Flight Lieutenant Alec Scott grabs an ARP warden to catch the injured spy in a blanket. When he visits her in hospital she has complete memory loss, but he realises, “I would walk on hot coals to hold this hand again.”

Jump to 1997, and widow Amy Novak’s daughter Holly doesn’t want to go to school again. Once a classical musician, Amy now researches Cabinet Office declassified files.

Amy meet Colette: two peas in a pod.

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The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes, Hachette

A hypnotic debut thriller about posthumous baby Maya who never met her Guatemalan father. Her nurse mother warned her there was mental illness in the family and she should steer clear of drugs.

But grown-up Maya is having withdrawals from panic attack pills, which she used to buy from a friend who’s now disappeared. Her boyfriend Dan doesn’t know of her addiction, nor that she drinks morning vodka shots.

Maya hasn’t been back to the “cabin in the woods” where her friend Aubrey died “a sudden unexplained death” at 17. When another woman suffers a similar fate there, Maya is forced to return.

There’s embarrassing light relief as glass-eyed Maya consumes daquiri, red wine, and no food, at Dan’s birthday dinner for his mother at his parents’ posh house in what is a spine-chilling Gothic tale.

BUY NOW at Booktopia.

Solito by Javier Zamora, Oneworld

Javier is nine, waiting to join his mother and father in ‘La USA’. Born during El Salvador’s 1990 civil war, he was a baby when his father fled, and gets nervous talking to him on the bakery telephone, but notes he has a soft voice. He lives with grandparents in a tiny village and is tired of relatives talking about his upcoming trip.

There are two types of courier, the one bringing expensive American toys to “Chepito” – he has a Panasonic video player – and the “coyote” Don Dago, who will accompany him on the 3000-mile journey, which was to take two weeks but lasts two months. When Grandpa has to return to El Salvador long before the journey is over, sensitive Javier feels “alone, lonely, solo, solito, solito de verdad (really alone)”.

But his fellow migrants tenderly pass care of the boy from one to another, teaching him survival skills.

BUY NOW at Booktopia.

The Artist’s Secret by Alexandra Joel, HarperCollins

Art historian Wren Summers possesses talent, taste and integrity. Daughter of a brilliant hippie artist, she was brought up in a commune. In 1987 she lands her dream job at Sydney Art Museum as a curator and is chosen to go to Rome to collect a rare Raphael painting.

When she meets Signor “call me Alessandro” Baretti, who owns the gallery, “a tide of attraction swept through her. She’d never felt so drawn to a man.”

A former editor of Harper’s Bazaar, author Joel gifts us insider fashion observation at a 1988 Sydney Opera House gala.

“You look fabulous. I wish they’d put me in what you’re wearing,” Princess Diana tells Wren. “Wren could swear she glimpsed a hint of desperation in Diana’s limpid blue eyes.”

BUY NOW at Booktopia.

Life Unhurried by Celeste Mitchell, Katie Gannon and Krista Eppelstun, Hardie Grant

Slowing down is the new post-pandemic travel mantra and in this stunning book based on the blog of the same name, you’ll find a dreamy collection of Australian retreats to visit, switch off and recalibrate.

With a focus on sustainable tourism in small-scale sanctuaries, these are truly unique and enticing finds showing a new way to have a break. Enjoy!

BUY NOW at Booktopia.

Kiki Man Ray: Art, Love and Rivalry in 1920s Paris by Mark Braude, Hachette

Illegitimate Alice Prin was 12 when summonsed to Paris by her mother. She loved the city on sight and would become artists’ muse “Kiki de Montparnasse” at the Jockey nightclub in the gritty neighbourhood where she was queen in the 1920s.

She never knew if she would perform; sometimes too drunk, but the clang of cutlery on tables by adoring fans would bring her on stage purring and growling to the “music of organ grinders and dancing bears”. If a singing voice could smell, hers would be “garlic hitting a pan’s hot butter and wine,” writes Braude.

It was her decade-long entanglement with artist and photographer Man Ray that propelled him to wealth and fame, and she to capture the spirit of the age, by doing no more than making a performance of herself.

“The affection from her ardent watchers sprung from recognition of shared circumstances.”

BUY NOW at Booktopia.

MARCH TOP BOOK PICK: Read our in-depth review for Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith here.

The post What to read in March: The Favour by Nicci French, Solito by Javier Zamora and more great reads appeared first on Now To Love.

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Back in 2013, Chris Harrington may have found love in Summer Bay, but I found mine in a dance studio in Sydney in 2013.

I was preparing for an upcoming tour and using the studio for rehearsals and back-up dancer auditions. While passing through the waiting area, I saw a woman I recognised from Instagram. And this, kids, is how I met your mother. (Just kidding, I don’t have kids.) And this, friends, is how I met Tahnee Sims.

Technically, I met Tahnee on Instagram a few months prior. I don’t know what Insta-cupid was working their magic, but I stumbled onto her account, and after scrolling through a checkerboard of photos of her dancing, laughing with friends and travelling the world, I immediately knew I needed to know more.

So I did what any sane 26-year-old would do. I slid into her DMs [direct messages]. We chatted a bit back and forth, but nothing too deep. When I saw her in person, it was so unexpected that I didn’t really know how to approach her.

Hey, I’m the guy from your inbox!

Hey, I’m the guy who deep-scrolled and accidentally liked that photo you posted in February 2012. (Still dying of embarrassment.)

Hey, I’m the guy who would desperately like to get to know you.

They all felt wrong (clearly). For a few weeks, we kept crossing paths at the studio, but neither of us could work up the courage to do more than hold eye contact for slightly longer than one should or fumble our way through small talk.

One Monday, we were both walking out the door at the same time when her friend, Amy, tapped me on the shoulder.

“Hey! Are you free Wednesday?” she chirped.

I cracked a grin because I could smell a schoolyard date set-up a mile away.

“Yes …” I said coyly.

Amy turned to Tahnee and stated, “And you’re free Wednesday… So why don’t you two hang out?”

WATCH: Johnny Ruffo returns as special guest on Dancing With The Stars. Article continues after video

Thank God I managed to make my brain work with my mouth and tap into the charming guy I knew that lived inside me. From there, I asked Tahnee for her phone number and invited her over for dinner and a movie.

When Wednesday rolled around, I was conscious that I was nervous. There was something about Tahnee that made me struggle for words.

While she is an absolute stunner, I’m going to conclude that it was her talent as a dancer and radiant energy that rendered me smitten. The woman was pure daylight.

Tahnee arrived at 7pm on the dot and the first thing out of her mouth was a playful jab at me for not selecting her as a backup dancer. Ooooooph. “I didn’t get to choose! It was up to the producers,” I tried to explain.

Tahnee laughed and then joked with a wink, “It was sh-t choreography anyway.”

Over the course of the evening, I learned that Tahnee was originally from Byron Bay and had been studying performing arts in Sydney for two years. Passionate about dancing, she was working heaps and probably didn’t even have time to be my back-up dancer.

Even though I was touring and doing shows and Tahnee was dancing most weekends, we managed to find time to have lots of evenings like this. About three months in, I got to meet her family.

I don’t know why I thought they’d be pot-smoking, Camilla kaftan-wearing, green-juice-drinking yuppy hippies, but they couldn’t have been further from that. In fact, Tahnee’s dad, Kevin, and brother, Jayden, are total cowboys. I’m serious. You could serve an entire Christmas dinner on one of their belt buckles.

And before I knew it, we were all chatting away about everything from travel to TV shows to tennis.

On the flight back to Sydney from Byron, I kept thinking about how much I liked Tahnee and her family. The magnitude of it made me nervous.

What if I stuff it up?

What if Tahnee meets someone better?

What if I meet someone better?

Determined not to let my inner monologue get the best of me, I pushed those confronting thoughts aside and asked Tahnee how she felt about travelling over to Perth with me to meet my nonna and family.

She very much liked the sound of it.

No Finish Line by Johnny Ruffo is out now (Allen & Unwin). BUY HERE from Booktopia.

The post “She made me struggle for words”: Johnny Ruffo recalls the moment he first laid eyes on his girlfriend Tahnee Sims appeared first on Now To Love.

While this is a standalone, if you haven’t read the first novel, now is the perfect opportunity.

The power of Burton’s writing is in the lush three-dimensional world she creates – it’s as if the paintings of the Dutch masters have sprung to life, the damp streets and elegant houses of the waterside city alive with dark, complex characters.

Nella Brandt, the heart of the first novel, is now a widow grappling with the disgrace heaped on her house following the death of her husband Johannes at the end of the first book, and the prurient fascination with her niece Thea, the illegitimate daughter of Johannes’ sister Marin and his African man servant Otto.

Marin died in childbirth and in their wills brother and sister left their townhouse to Otto, as well as shares and small parcels of land outside the city to Nella.

As The House of Fortune opens 18 years have elapsed, and Nella, Otto, Cornelia (the house’s cook) and Thea are still in the family home but struggling.

In theory they should have managed a comfortable existence with Otto, who had worked by Johannes’ side for almost a decade, easily capable of continuing his business.

But the stain of shame from Johannes’ past life and ugly racism levelled at Otto and Thea has taken its toll.

For her part Thea is unaware of her family history and desperate to know more about her mother, her father’s childhood as a slave, and the reason aunt Nella is so reluctant to return to her own home in the countryside.

But no one is keen to tell Thea the truth. The naïve teenager is also hiding her own secret – a love affair with the chief set painter at the Schouwburg Theatre. But Nella has other plans – to find a wealthy suitor for her niece.

And the miniaturist whose spectre via beautifully crafted objects that signify eerie warnings, is back.

Burton says she felt compelled to return to the characters of her first book. “They’ve been a part of who I am, for a long time before I even wrote The Miniaturist. I can’t ignore them, so if they want to come out, I have to let them,” she teases.

In The House of Fortune Burton hopes readers will “feel transported into a story of a woman at a crossroads in her life, wrestling with her past, and what shape her future is going to take. I have tried to write a portrait of an unorthodox family, one full of difficulties but also love.”

Settle in for another intriguing page-turner.

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For more hand-picked recommendations, read our top books for August.

You can read this story and many others in the August issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly – subscribe here.

The post REVIEW: The one thing Jessie Burton “felt compelled” to do when writing The House of Fortune appeared first on Now To Love.

Much of the discussions around sexual autonomy, women in power, female rights, and discrimination based on gender have sought context from Julia’s speech. Whether through subliminal attribution or direct reference, its impact has grown stronger in the years since it first shot the nation out of one era and into another.

Across the room, she boldly declared to the then Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, “I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man. I will not… not now, not ever.”

WATCH: Julia Gillard give her Misogyny Speech in 2012.

Now Now, Not Ever: Ten Years on from the misogyny speech will be released on October 5 this year and a snippet has already been shared on the former PM’s website.

“Then it was done. After staying silent, I’d had my say. At no time did I feel worked up or hotly angry. I felt strong, measured, controlled. Yet emotion did play its role in the energy of the speech. The frustration that sexism and misogyny could still be so bad in the twenty-first century. The toll of not pointing it out,” it read.

The book will also include a variety of contributors who, along with Julia, will explore “the history and culture of misogyny, tools in the patriarchy’s toolbox, intersectionality, and gender and misogyny in media and politics.”

Some of the former Prime Minister’s contributors include Jess Hill, Jennifer Palmieri, Mary Beard, Katherine Murphy, as well as members of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership.

Over the past 18 months, Julia’s speech gained a rebirth of sorts on TikTok when creators began to lip-sync to the speech and in the book, author Kathy Lette will share how the social media platform and other mediums responded to the political moment that occurred so many years ago.

WATCH: A TikToker perform Julia Gillard’s Misogyny Speech.

Notable Australians including actors Deborah Mailman and Cate Blanchett, former treasurer Wayne Swan and feminist and writer Anne Summers will also share their recollections of the speech.

Julia also includes excerpts from the next generations of feminists including Brittany Higgins, Sally Scales, Caitlin Figueiredo, and Chanel Contos.

The book’s proceeds will go to the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership.

Can’t wait to get your hands on the book?

You can pre-order Now Now, Not Ever: Ten Years on from the misogyny speech from Booktopia for the reduced price of $27.75 ahead of its October 5 release here.

The post 10 years on from her iconic misogyny speech, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard is releasing a book all about it appeared first on Now To Love.

Starting out with our top pick, Wake by Shelley Burr, we have something for every kind of reader, from romance to crime.

So settle in with one of these great reads, all available through Booktopia.

Wake by Shelley Burr, Hachette

In the heady rush of Aussie crime thrillers flooding the bookstores, Shelley Burr’s Wake is blazing its own trail. For this gripping drama boasts all the energy of a true-crime podcast with a cast of wounded characters you desperately want to protect.

The action takes place in rural NSW, in a tiny outback town where farm life has been decimated by drought. Nannine is notorious, though, for a very different reason. It was here almost 20 years ago that nine-year-old Evelyn McCreery went missing, vanishing from her house one night seemingly without a trace. Her twin sister has lived in the shadow of Evie’s presumed abduction and murder ever since and when a private investigator turns up wanting to dig around, she is understandably sceptical. But Lane Holland has a record of solving cold cases and there’s something about him. Soon Mina finds herself letting him in, hoping he might be able to find her sister.

In a complex and tightly wrought plot, Lane tries to crack not one but two disappearances of young girls, all the time playing his own cards close to his chest. The subsequent tale pulsates with intrigue, something Shelley Burr worked hard to achieve.

“You need to hold a rope at two points to put tension on it,” she explains. “In a story, those two points are how much the reader wants to see the characters safe and happy, and the danger the story puts them in. If the reader doesn’t care about the characters, it doesn’t matter how high you ratchet up the danger, there’s no tension. The rope just flaps about.”

As for the plot, Shelley says it was inspired by the curious phenomenon of true-crime bloggers. “I went through a period of fascination with unsolved crime forums,” notes Shelley. “There are people on there who are deeply empathetic, trying to bring attention to forgotten cases and John/Jane Does. But it also creates an environment where people lose touch with the fact that they are talking about real people, especially when it comes to the surviving relatives and friends of victims. I read one particularly invasive comment digging into the life of a victim’s brother, and Mina was born from the spark of horror I felt.”

The starkness of Shelley’s prose echoes the parched land, while her atmospheric descriptions draw you in to a town that quickly feels so familiar you could walk into the pub, pull up a stool and order a beer. The result is a yarn that feels so plausible and terrifying it stays with you. This is a plot ripe for TV adaptation.

Order it here from Booktopia.

Sheilas by Eliza Reilly, Pan Macmillan

A bushranger, a pilot and a WWII spy are among the “badass women” Reilly musters for this whip-cracking line-up of girls who shot through the glass ceiling. Over 120 years ago Sydney sheila Annette Kellerman was born with a debilitating bone condition and told she faced a life in a wheelchair. But her dad nailed down a doctor who suggested swimming. Out of her steel braces, the “Diving Venus” even performed her underwater ballet in front of royalty in London – the night the women’s one-piece swimming suit made its debut; her men’s bathers deemed too risqué. In America “She was all, ‘Dad, here’s an idea, what about I throw myself off some high things for money?’ as she dove out of a stone tower into raging seas.” Gorgeous hardback keepsake.

Order it here from Booktopia.

The Caretakers by Amanda Bestor-Siegal, Little Brown

Set in the sprawling luxury mansions outside Paris, where au pairs are treated as family members. Geraldine is director of the au pair language school program, but numbers have dropped since the 2015 terrorist attack. The book opens with the arrest of Alena, accused of killing her charge, Julien, his body lying under a sheet as it is carried into the ambulance. A police officer questions caring Geraldine, who invites homesick students to stay at her apartment. Alena and Lou were both at her place when the alleged crime happened. Confident Lou voiced, “Maybe Geraldine could rescue the children from their parents.” Alena adds, “Where are the parents when we’re seeing all the ways they [the kids] are completely messed up?”

Order it here from Booktopia.

Remember Me by Charity Norman, Allen & Unwin

Twenty-five years ago, bushwalker Dr Leah Parata, 26, went hiking in challenging terrain near her home in Tawanui, New Zealand. She disappeared off the face of this breathtaking part of the world. The last person to see her was neighbour Emily Kirkland, 21. Leah’s mother, Raewyn, was the school bus driver, and has been caring for Dr Felix Kirkland, who has advanced Alzheimer’s. Emily returns from her London home to help. She is shocked to see “Feed dogs” notes, watch distressed Dad cut the heads off his prize roses. But when she discovers a box containing sultry photographs of Leah and devoted letters to father Felix from “L”, a can of worms opens up. Tightly constructed with a tender heart.

Order it here from Booktopia.

The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews, Raven Books

Stunning debut. Norfolk, 1643, and soldier Thomas Treadwater is home from civil war, summonsed by sister Esther, 16. She has accused a maid of improper behaviour with their widowed father – “We are under attack by ungodly evil,” she says.Maid Chrissa is taken to prison and accused of witchcraft and examined by a midwife to “see if her body has signs of communing with imps or the devil”. When Esther starts cackling and talking in tongues, Tom tries to sedate the “Non-Esther” drowning out his sweet sister. Esther’s origins are the stuff of myths. Sixteen years ago a baby was rescued from a shipwreck – the boat was lifted 20 feet by a sea monster with a head “like a rattlesnake’s” – and taken in by Tom’s father.

Order it here from Booktopia.

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson, Hachette

Based on the real-life secret library that ran beneath London’s disused Bethnal Green underground station which was a half-completed stop when war broke out. Open from 5.30-8pm every day, doors were locked when the air-raid siren sounded – captive audiences down below. Fictional characters Clara and Ruby run the community service, which houses a theatre, nursery, bunk beds and a cafe. East Enders defied Churchill’s orders not to shelter in tube stations – though at 78 feet below ground, Bethnal Green was really safe, dubbed the “Iron Lung”. But countless books were destroyed in 1940 when a bomb hit the library. One of the most rewarding resistance stories of the war.

Order it here from Booktopia.

The Promise by Damon Galgut, Chatto & Windus

This literary tour-de-force injects an epic family saga spanning three generations with razor-sharp observations on the failings of post-apartheid South Africa. At its heart is a promise which is given and then broken with devastating results. Rachel Swart is on her death bed when she asks her husband to give their black maid, Salome, the deeds to the small house she lives in on the family farm, as recognition of her unfailing service. It was Salome who cared for Rachel, taking on the dirty jobs the family couldn’t or wouldn’t face. Manie agrees but reneges on his promise, along with two of their three children. As grief engulfs them all Damon Galgut flits among his characters, embodying each to tell their stories with mesmerising results.

Order it here from Booktopia.

The Mother by Jane Caro, Allen & Unwin

Jane Caro is a firebrand on issues facing women so it’s no surprise that her first foray into novel writing tackles domestic abuse. But don’t expect a polemic, this is a clever domestic noir with a plot that keeps you guessing. At the centre is North Shore real estate agent Miriam Duffy who is feeling bereft when her recently wed youngest daughter Ally stops contacting her. They used to talk most days. Is Miriam being needy or is something up? As she delves further Miriam realises they don’t know new son-in-law Nick at all and what she starts to uncover she doesn’t like. The shocks come thick and fast, as love, loss and empathy combine with explosive effect. Most of all, these are people we can all recognise – friends, family, neighbours.Thought-provoking reading.

Order it here from Booktopia.

A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin, HarperCollins

A ton of reasons to love this high society season debut, which begins in conniving Kitty Talbot’s cottage home in Dorset, 1818. Eldest of five sisters, Kitty must fortune-hunt when her fiancé drops her for a prettier catch. Her late mother arranged the match before she died, now father has died too. The “unredeemable cad” wants a political career, which he could hardly do “married to someone like you”. But, not for the penniless reasons Kitty assumes. She’s concealed Mama’s youthful demimonde in London with actress “Aunt” Dorothy who, at 45, dyed her flame-red hair brown, morphing to respectable widow, “spending days in houses she had only spent evenings”. Is the Talbot courtesan scandal out? Bookish sister Cecily recoils. Under Dorothy’s wing in London, haut ton Archibald de Lacy drools over Kitty from his theatre box. Dashing brother Lord Radcliffe steps in, a fencing match for wily Kitty. Sage, sassy, word perfect.

Order it here from Booktopia.

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Hachette

Loosely based on the real-life 1973 case of Minnie Lee and Mary Alice Relf, 12 and 14, sterilised without their consent in Alabama. Their social worker blew the whistle and the case went to court and won – a pivotal moment in reproductive injustice among poor, black minors. Their mother could not read or write, and signed an “X” not knowing what she was consenting to. In this exploration of the ramifications, Erica, 13, and India, 11, live in a shanty cabin with their widowed father and grandmother. Our protagonist, nurse Civil Townsend, daughter of a doctor, works at Montgomery Family Planning Clinic. From a moneyed background, she has a car, so is assigned to this remote family. She had an abortion at 23; just starting her career. She buys the sisters clean clothes, takes them home for baths, eventually securing them a three-bedroom home. This beautiful book is both an elegy to the girls she came to love as family, and a letter to Anne, 23, the girl from the care system, who Dr. Civil adopted at 48.

Order it here from Booktopia.

A House Party in Tuscany by Amber Guinness, Thames & Hudson

Eighteenth-century Tuscan farmhouse Arniano was bought and restored by an English couple in the 1980s. Their daughter, Amber Guinness, discovered her passion for cooking there and set up a painting school. Stunning photography and mouth-watering recipes.

Order it here from Booktopia.

The post What to read in June, according to The Weekly: Wake, Take My Hand and more great reads appeared first on Now To Love.

Starting out with our top pick, The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan, we have something for every kind of reader, from romance to crime.

So settle in with one of these great reads, all available through Booktopia.

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan, Hutchinson Heinemann

“We have your daughter.” So starts Jessamine Chan’s engrossing dystopian drama. Frida Liu is driving back from work when she picks up the message that summons her to the police station. It’s a call that would strike fear into the heart of any parent and for Frida kickstarts a terrifying spiral of repercussions.

Quickly we discover that her 18-month-old daughter, Harriet, was found crying at home alone after a neighbour notified the police. Right from the get-go Frida is treated as a “bad mother” who has failed at the most basic of female requirements. That she was exhausted, working for a demanding boss while minding her daughter; that her husband, Gust, had left her for a younger woman; that she was alone in an unfriendly city struggling financially and emotionally … all this matters little.

Frida had left Harriet safely strapped into the ‘Exersaucer’ contraption while she dashed into the office. She wouldn’t be long. Frida knows she messed up, she’d had “a very bad day” and her punishment unfolds at a startling pace.

Harriet is taken from her, custody given to her husband and his girlfriend. Cameras in her house now monitor her every move and supervised encounters with Harriet are scrutinised. In court she is found guilty of neglect and abandonment. If she submits to a year at an experimental reform school to learn “motherease” she may be reunited with her daughter.

At the school Frida meets other “unfit” mothers, each paired with a robot doll with uncannily human reactions to learn the “Fundamentals of Care and Nurture”.

“When I began this project in 2014, I was consumed with anxiety about whether or not to have a baby,” says author Jessamine. “In the midst of wrestling with my ambivalence, I read an article about a mother fighting to regain custody of her son after leaving him home alone and her nightmarish experience with the family courts. The clinical language used by Child Protective Services, and the keen sense of injustice I felt on that mother’s behalf, lodged in my memory. Mothers are judged even before their babies are born. And those judgements come from everyone. It’s hard to tune out the cultural message that mothers should always be striving to do better.”

The novel’s future world has an aura of possibility and we ache for Frida. Can she make it back to Harriet?

Order it here from Booktopia.

The Social Lives of Animals by Ashley Ward, Allen & Unwin

Professor in Animal Behaviour at the University of Sydney, Ward takes us on a fascinating journey revealing the hierarchy and habits of animals. Long-living elephant families are built around a single female matriarch. “The rest of her family choose to follow her for the good judgement she brings to her leadership.” A pride of lions has at its heart generations of lionesses, often great-grandmothers. They adopt orphans whose mothers were killed in confrontation. The kamikaze female honey bee dies, protecting her nests, when her sting snags in its target, pulling away her entrails. “Take locusts, surging over the land in their millions, unable to slow down for a moment because the hungry ranks behind will bite their legs off if they don’t stay ahead.” Superb!

Order it here from Booktopia.

Strangers I Know by Claudia Durastanti, Text

Part novel, part memoir, this coming-of-age story plunges us into the complex childhood of the author and her brother, born to deaf parents. Her father preferred people to “enunciate clearly”, slapping away their hands if they tried to use sign language, which in the family home was never used. Her mother became deaf following childhood meningitis and her parents sent her to a boarding school where the nuns recognised her artistic talent. “Deaf girls are funny – they’re wild,” her mother once declared. The author’s dedication is “to a girl and a boy [her parents] who lived through their deafness with recklessness. While I was trying to be brave or good, they were teaching me how to be free.”

Order it here from Booktopia.

The Plant Hunter by T.L. Mogford, Allen & Unwin

A splendid adventure in the fantastical Victorian plant-hunters’ world, whose bold travel and oft frowned upon removal of species resulted in exotic displays in London’s hothouses. Prestigious plant nurseries, such as Josiah Piggott’s Plant Emporium in this tale, attracted the influential in droves. Our protagonist, Harry Compton, is a fine horticulturist, but chosen as one of the dandy salesmen in top hat and frock coat for his handsome face, which makes wealthy women swoon. But a plant-hunter’s dream is an expedition. Harry is left a rare Icicle Tree flower by opium-addicted botanist Lorcan Darke and a map of its location in China. Harry risks all for his specimen and a green-eyed, red-headed artist.

Order it here from Booktopia.

The Maid by Nita Prose, HarperCollins

Prepare to fall in love with Molly. Abandoned by her mother, raised by lifetime maid, granny Flora. Molly can’t believe her lofty position at the Regency Grand Hotel. She knows people think she is a lowly nobody but she loves her trolley’s “cornucopia of bounty”, and is proud to leave rooms in a “state of perfection”. Gran’s “If you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life” attitude bathed sheltered Molly in sunshine. But Gran died, unaware Molly’s bad egg romantic “date” emptied their bank account. Naïve Molly now believes the grill bartender is her boyfriend, unaware he’s using her as a mule to supply empty rooms for nefarious drugs activity.

Order it here from Booktopia.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea by Axie Oh, Hachette

Tender, precious feminist retelling of Korean The Tale of Shim Cheong. Mina was born an orphan. Her grandfather says, “Nothing seemed to comfort you.” But then her gentle brother, Joon, insisted he held her. “When you opened your eyes, the smile that lit your face was the most wondrous I’d ever seen.” Joon loves Shim Cheong, but she has been chosen as sacrificial bride to the wrathful Sea God. Mina wraps the red ribbon of fate around her wrist and plunges into the sea in place of Shim. The village girl enters the bedazzling Sea God’s City, where immortals celebrate and feast, while humans suffer. An enigmatic, epic achievement.

Order it here from Booktopia.

Mother’s Boy by Patrick Gale, Hachette

A fictional novel loosely based on author Gale’s fascinating discovery in his twenties that British poet Charles Causley [Eden Rock] lived up the road. Charles, five, meets his father, Charlie, for the first time when he comes home from WWI a shattered man. Laundress mother Laura recognises her son is a prodigy. At five he counts the four syllables of the word “temperature” as she takes his father’s “tempritcher”, confused it has but three. A top scholar, he is beaten up at school, Mum observing, “[the boy] won’t be the last to be maddened by his brilliance”. Father dies of TB and Laura feels she and Charles are “all in all” to each other. But his prize-winning poem at grammar school reveals his true self, “safely in a place where only those granted the key access”. He begins hiding himself from Laura. At male bathing spots, Charles’ closet life reveals. In WWII he signs up with the Navy as a coder and Laura is alone. Devastatingly dignified.

Order it here from Booktopia.

Only Birds Above by Portland Jones, Fremantle Press

Uniquely crafted tale of two world wars, seen through Jones’ tender horse trainer touch, as man and animal sweat, suffer and support each other in terrible times. Blacksmith Arthur Watkins weds horserace crazy Helen, before he leaves WA to join the 10th Light Horse Battalion in the Middle East. “We’re shipping out soon, not all of us and some poor bastard’s got to stay behind to feed and shoe [the horses].” When the regiment returns, Arthur counts the losses by the number of riderless horses. “Herbert, 19, the best of him left at Gallipoli.” War over, silent, sealed Arthur, “His heart behind his ribs, like a dog behind a fence.” In 1945 Arthur’s son, Tom, is taken prisoner in Sumatra and forced to build the infamous “death railway”.

Order it here from Booktopia.

The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan, HarperCollins

Like her protagonist Hannah Rokeby, author Dervla McTiernan studied law at university and says she’s still fascinated by “its nooks and crannies and deep injustices”. This twisty thriller was sparked by a newspaper article about a law student working for the Innocence Project, which finds new evidence in cases where the accused continues to protest their innocence. Here, Hannah manages to secure a place on a project to free a convicted rapist and murderer currently on death row. The subterfuge is because Hannah believes he’s guilty, if not of this crime, certainly of another and she is prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure he stays in prison. Her evidence – scribblings she has found in her alcoholic mother’s diary.

Order it here from Booktopia.

Joan is Okay by Weike Wang, Text

Joan-na, 36, as her mother likes to call her, breaking her name into two syllables, is an attending doctor at a New York hospital intensive care unit. Her parents returned to China 18 years ago; businessman brother Fang living in Connecticut luxury. At 18 Joan was dropped off at Harvard. “The speed of [my parents’] exit reminded me of those old cartoons, ‘That’s all, folks!'” Joan is a wonderful character – she doesn’t want to stand out but she is different. She has never had a boyfriend, she’s not interested; work is everything. When their father suffers a fatal stroke, Fang flies them first class for the funeral. Joan is back at her work station the next day, but forced on bereavement leave. “I relish being [an anonymous] cog. What I was experiencing now was the reverse crisis. No person-y things to do.”

Order it here from Booktopia.

The post What to read in May, according to The Weekly: The School for Good Mothers, The Maid and more great reads appeared first on Now To Love.

It says a lot about how you know someone when you choose what type of story will capture their imagination – and if you’re not against writing inside their sleeves, a handwritten note brings some extra love to the page.

This Mother’s Day, show your mum how much you appreciate her by picking up a book to pair with your flowers.

We have sourced novels that fit every type of bibliophile itch like addictive page-turners, odes to the female experience, magical realism, and thought-provoking literature.

Below we have curated a list of 8 books published by authors around the world.

Want more Mother’s Day ideas? Take a look at the links below:

Nine perfect last minute Mother’s Day gifts for when you still haven’t bought her anything

Gorgeous Mother’s Day gift ideas under $100 so you can spoil mum without breaking the bank

The 18 best beauty gifts to give mum this Mother’s Day that you’ll want to “borrow” later

Treat mum this Mother’s Day with these 27 chic and indulgent gifts – because she’s worth it!

From elaborate bouquets to sweet native bunches, these are the best flower delivery services in Australia for Mother’s Day

Support the new mums in your life with these game-changing gifts for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day books

Charlotte Higgins’ retelling of iconic Greek Myths puts the stories of women narrators and characters into the spotlight. The novel reads like a collection of stories your mum can dip in and out of with its intriguing structural device woven between them that will likely halt her from putting it down.

Greek Myths: A New Retelling by Charlotte Higgins, down to $34.95, Book Depositary.

Mother’s Day books

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a deeply heartbreaking but stunning literary debut from poet Ocean Vuong. The coming-of-age novel reads as a letter from Little Dog, in his late 20s, to his mother, who cannot read. It unearths a family history that predates his birth and tells the story of his family’s life in Vietnam to America, during and after the war.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, down to $17.52, Book Depositary.

Mother’s Day books

If you’ve seen your mum read a copy of Daisy Jones and The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, then finish off her Taylor Jenkins collection with Malibu Rising. The intoxicating read takes place in sun-soaked 1980s Malibu and follows a family drama with so many twists your mum’s jaw will permanently drop.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, on sale at $34.37, Book Depositary.

Mother’s Day books

The famous author of The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir’s lost book, has finally received its English translation. The compulsive story about two female friends growing up and falling apart gloriously depicts a tale so intrinsically connected to women’s experiences.

The Inseparables by Simone de Beauvoir, $24.87, Book Depositary.

Mother’s Day books

Elena Ferrante places this book in her list of Top 40 Books by Female Authors for its notable depiction of three women trying to determine their lives in modern-day Tokyo. Thirty-year-old Natsuko is single but years for a child, while her older sister Makiko is an ageing hostess trying to hold onto her youthful features, and her daughter Modoriko is entering womanhood. Its author Mieko Kawakami dissects the conflicts and pain with beguiling nuance.

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami, $22.11, Book Depositary.

Mother’s Day books

This debut novel by Coco Mellors is a funny and evocative debut about the repercussions of one couple’s impulsive marriage. The book is likened to Modern Lovers and Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors, $38.67, Book Depositary.

Mother’s Day books

The iconic author Zadie Smith won the Women’s Prize for Fiction for this literary piece about love and family. The novel follows two feuding families, The Belseys and The Kipps and their confusions, affairs, and histories.

On Beauty by Zadie Smith, $21.50, Book Depositary.

Mother’s Day books

In Tokyo, a small café has served coffee for a hundred years. However, it’s no ordinary establishment – customers can travel back in time, but they must obey four rules, or they may lose themselves forever. The novel adapted from plays introduces its reader to four visitors, each hoping to re-do the past.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, down to $15.73, Book Depositary.

The post Sing to the beat of your mum’s literary heart this Mother’s Day by gifting her a book she won’t be able to put down appeared first on Now To Love.

However, nothing is sweeter than fiction.

While we can’t possibly experience every type of love story possible in our lives, because, for one, that would be exhausting and second time is a finite resource, we can read!

Whether it was a beach read that exceeded expectations, a classic like Pride and Prejudice, or a guilty pleasure like Twilight, every reader has that book with a love so clearly written, it feels like it’s almost happening.

These page-turners are so romantically captivating, all responsibilities get thrown out the window, the pages are unashamedly stained, and they breed an obsession akin to falling in literal love.

On theme for Valentine’s Day, here are 11 books with or about romance that will take over your life – for better or for worse.

romance books

Love Stories – Trent Dalton

Trent spent two months in 2021 asking people, “can you please tell me a love story?” and from those observations and reflections comes a warm, funny and moving book that pays tribute to the feeling we don’t always understand but definitely need.

$24.75, Booktopia.

romance books

The Stationery Shop of Tehran – Marjan Kamali

Set in Iran in the 50s, Roya falls in love with the handsome Bahman at her favourite stationery shop run by Mr Fakhri. However, Iran is changing around them and on the night before their wedding, the couple plans to meet in the town square, but when violence erupts, Bhaman never arrives. 60 years later, Roya finds herself at a college in California, but fate intervenes.

$17.95, Booktopia.

romance books

Red, White & Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the first son who has a great marketing strategy for his mum, President Ellen Claremont. But when photos of a fight between him and his nemesis Prince Henry at a wedding leak, they stage a fake friendship between the men for damage control. However, the first son and prince find themselves in a secret relationship that could cause a major scandal.

$22.95, Booktopia.

romance books

How We Love: Clementine Ford

Australia’s feminist icon wrote this memoir to understand love in all its forms, which is a nice break from stories about pure romance. She details her experience of losing her mum, her first love, and motherhood.

$22.50, Booktopia.

romance books

Seven Days In June – Tia Williams

Eva Mercy is a single mum and erotica writer. Shane Hall is a reclusive award-winning author. When they meet a literary event, their chemistry is insane, but people don’t realise they already shared a week-long love affair years earlier and wrote about each other in their books. However, they’re pretending they don’t know each other, but how long can they deny their chemistry?

$48.25, Booktopia.

romance books

Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This work of magical realism is about Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza, who fell deeply in love in their youth. However, Fermina chooses to marry a wealthy doctor, and Florentino is distraught. Over decades, he becomes a successful businessman and has 622 affairs until Fermina’s husband dies, and he plans to declare his love again.

$33.75, Booktopia.

romance books

Everything I Know About Love – Dolly Alderton

The High Low‘s Dolly loves love, and this memoir about her experiences in early adulthood is a beautiful ode to many of life’s purest moments but none more than friendship. However, it also dives deep into the painful heartaches and losses we must overcome to grow. It’s also getting made into a television show, so it’s best to get your hands on a copy ASAP.

$20.35, Booktopia.

romance books

Like Water For Chocolate – Laura Esquivel

This worldwide bestseller translated from Spanish is magical realism at its best. It follows the unusual history of the all-female De La Garza family and Tita, the youngest girl, who is forbidden to marry her one true love, Pedro after her mother dies as per Mexican traditions. But over the next 22 years, freak tragedies, bad luck, and fate will bring them back to one another.

$17.95, Booktopia.

romance books

The Course of Love – Alain de Botton

Modern philosopher Alain de Botton wrote this novel to discover how to survive, endure and flourish in a relationship after the honeymoon period. Characters Rabih and Kristen find their love is complicated when they settle down, start a family and build a home – it’s a more realistic view on relationships that isn’t bleak.

$17.25, Booktopia.

romance books

Less – Sean Greer

A failed novelist is about to enter his 50s when a wedding invitation from his former boyfriend of nine years who is engaged to someone else. Unsure how to accept or decline the invitation, he accepts every literary invitation from events around the world. But can our novelist escape the past on his 80-day journey? Less is a touching novel filled with passages worth underlying with pen, for it speaks to the flaws and beauty of the human heart.

$22.75, Booktopia.

romance books

People We Meet on Vacation – Emily Henry

Alex and Poppy may have nothing in common, but they became best friends after sharing a car home during college until one fateful vacation ruined everything. However, two years later, Poppy realises that the last time she was happy was when they were friends, so she convinces Alex to take one more holiday with her – but what could go wrong?

$33.25, Booktopia.

The post From the unrequited to the fated: 11 romance novels that explore love in all its forms appeared first on Now To Love.

Just like magic, it’s 20 years later, and the original cast and filmmaker Chris Columbus are coming together to celebrate and reflect on the eight Harry Potter films.

From interviews to behind-the-scenes footage, get ready for an exciting journey through one of the most loved series of all time.

1. Harry is sorted into Gryffindor house (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone)

The sorting ceremony was nerve-racking for a young Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe, with Maggie Smith as Professor Minerva McGonagall).

Although he was new to the wizarding world, Harry was desperate to be “sorted” into Hogwarts’ Gryffindor house. Thankfully, the sorting hat heard his plea, sending him there alongside his friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson).

Dobby is a free elf (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)

Dobby is a house elf who was a servant to the Malfoy family for generations. For years, the mistreated Dobby (voiced by Toby Jones) dreamed that one day, they’d give him an item of clothing to release him from service.

After seeing the abuse he’s endured, Harry sneaks his own sock into Tom Riddle’s diary, which he returns to Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs). When Lucius unwittingly hands it to Dobby, he frees him from a lifetime of servitude.

Harry’s name being pulled out of the goblet of fire (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

Because he was only 14, Harry wasn’t eligible to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. But that only made it more shocking when the Goblet Of Fire spits out his name.

With no choice in the matter, Harry must compete alongside older, more experienced witches and wizards in the life-threatening challenges the tournament presents.

When Hermione punched Draco Malfoy in the face (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

Ever since The Philosopher’s Stone, Draco Malfoy has been a bully.

So when Hermione finally gives Draco (Tom Felton) a piece of her mind (well, more accurately, all of her fist) after he sentences Hagrid’s (Robbie Coltrane) pet Hippogriff Buckbeak to death, it’s a triumphant moment for both the trio of friends and the audience.

Sirius Black is actually good (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

Whispers of the ruthless Sirius Black had been circulating ever since Harry started at Hogwarts. But it’s not until his third year that he finally meets him.

While he’s terrified at first, Harry soon realises Sirius (Gary Oldman) isn’t a bad guy after all and discovers he’s been wrongfully locked up in Azkaban, the wizarding world’s strongest prison, for a crime he didn’t commit.

Snape’s true valour is revealed (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2)

Harry never trusted Severus Snape, believing Lord Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) former henchman was plotting his demise. But in the final film, we learn Snape (Alan Rickman) always had Harry’s best interests at heart.

After falling in love with Harry’s mother Lily (Geraldine Somerville), he vowed to protect them both until his last breath.

Ron and Hermione finally get together (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2)

No matter how much Ron and Hermione denied it, there were something between the young wizards.

Although everyone around them, including us, knew there was romance on the cards, it took until the final film for them to admit their feelings for each other. Aww!

Stream Harry Potter on Foxtel Now, live and on demand with a 10-day free trial. START FREE TRIAL.

Or, stream Harry Potter on BINGE, live and on demand with a 14-day free trial. START FREE TRIAL.

The post The seven most magical, unexpected and heartwarming moments from Harry Potter appeared first on Now To Love.

It’s one thing to watch a scary movie, but there is something about reading a truly terrifying horror book that stays with you much longer than any movie jump-scares.

And while Halloween is a great time to read something spooky, the really good stuff can be picked up anytime of year.

Ranker, a website that collates votes of internet users from around the world, listed some of the scariest horror-fiction of all time in 2020.

While some time has passed since the list was last updated, good horror holds up for years, even decades after it first tops the charts.

So if you’re after a real scare this October or just want to pick up a new book you’ve never tried before, these are the novels you need to flick through.

But fair warning; you may want to invest in a nightlight while you read them…

The top 10 scariest books of all time

It: Stephen King

It by Stephen King comes in at number one, and it’s no surprise given the novel’s history in pop culture. It was the 2017 movie everyone was talking about and the book every horror enthusiast needs to read.

Buy the novel, $20.35, from Booktopia.

Pet Sematary: Stephen King

Pet Sematary by Stephen King (again) came in second, because only a horror genius like King could turn your pet into a horrifying entity.

Buy the novel, $18.95, from Booktopia.

Salem’s Lot: Stephen King

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King is number three on the list, and you’ll see his name again soon.

Buy the novel, $16.75, from Booktopia.

The Exorcist: William Peter Blatty

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty took fourth place. You may have seen the movie, but you haven’t been truly scared until you’ve read the book.

Buy the novel, $22.40, from Booktopia.

The Shining: Stephen King

The Shining by Stephen King came in at number five – spoiler alert, King took out sixth and seveth place too. This man really is the king of horror.

Buy the novel, $20.35, from Booktopia.

Misery: Stephen King

Misery by Stephen King was ranked at number six. While the movie starring Kathy Bates is intense enough as is, the book manages to be even more horrifying.

Buy the novel, $20.35, from Booktopia.

The Stand: Stephen King

The Stand by Stephen King is seventh and it really is post-apocalyptic horror/fantasy at its best.

Buy the novel, $20.35, from Booktopia.

Dracula: Bram Stoker

Dracula by Bram Stoker takes eighth place. Read it to discover why this 1897 novel remains of the most iconic and well-known horror books of all time.

Buy the novel, $12.25, from Booktopia.

The Haunting of Hill House: Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson has jumped to ninth on the list, party due to the popular Netflix show of the same name. Trust us when we say the book is so much scarier.

Buy the novel, $20.35, from Booktopia.

The Amityville Horror: Jay Anson

The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson rounds off the list in tenth place, but don’t think it will be any less horrifying than the books above it.

Buy the novel, $31.95, from Booktopia.

The post The top 10 scariest books of all time, just in time for Halloween appeared first on Now To Love.

Can’t get enough of The Australian Women’s Weekly? Why not subscribe or treat a loved one to a subscription and save up to 25% off the retail price!

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