Tonight I’m Someone Else by Chelsea Hodson
Tonight I’m Someone Else by Chelsea Hodson is raw and evocative, blending a stream of consciousness with delectable knack for powerful…
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The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet maps continents of the human experience. In it, we follow Almustafa, a prophet who comes to the island of…
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
I picked this book up because I was going to see Paris and London soon, and thought that this would be a good primer to the milleu I was…
A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar
I was given this book as a parting gift by someone I admire. A Month in Siena unfolds in the medieval Italian city where Matar had long…
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
I wasn’t expecting to like this book as much as I did. Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity follows the life of Rob, a man in his mid-thirties who…
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Almanack of Naval Ravikant is structured with the thoughts of a “successful” investor and entreprenur. I write successful in…
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a tale which places you into the villages of East Nigeria nearing the end of the 19th century…
The Graveyard of Lost and Broken Things
For over a year. I planned a walkababout. In a flash, I remember scribbling these lines down on my pocket journal. I want the sands of the…
The Unmade Bed by Françoise Sagan
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ I didn’t know what to expect when I picked this book up from my local library. At first, I was intrigued by the orchid on the…
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ I was recommended this book by a friend, and told to read it during winter. I brought it with me on my travels, and read it through…
The Stranger by Albert Camus
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Stranger by Albert Camus was a provoking read, of a man who seemingly has lost the depth of emotion. I wonder if his stoicism…
The Women I Think About At Night by Mia Kankimäki
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ There was a point I thought I had lost this book while camping in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and I frantically tried searching for it…
Terminal Boredom by Izumi Suzuki
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ I picked up this book in a bookshop I returned to twice in Rio de Janeiro. It struck out to me with it’s yellow cover and interesting…
The Art of Travel by Alain De Botton
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ I read the Art of Travel with rapidity to prepare me for a three month expedition I was about to embark on. I hoped to glean…
Outline by Rachel Cusk
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Outline by Rachel Cusk was experimental. It followed the author herself through a series of vignettes with friends and strangers…
The Plague by Albert Camus
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ I picked up this book in 2025, a couple years after COVID-19 ravaged across the world, grounding airplanes, locking borders…
The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ I listened to The Courage to Be Disliked as I ran earlier this year, and it was a curious experience. I think listening to it was…
Almond by Sohn Won-Pyung
⭐ I tried to like Almond, but I didn’t at all. I think it’s perhaps because it was hard to empathise with a character who has no feelings…
The Nutmegs Curse by Amitav Ghosh
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ A lamp drops to the ground in 1621 in the Banda Islands situated in Indonesia, and with it triggers a massacre of the Bandanese…
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Orbital by Samantha Harvey reads like poetry, an offering unto our blue marble. I had the privilege of hearing her live during Sydney…
Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki begins like the stirring of a fugue, a story in which the unnamed narrator meets an enigmatic elder whom…
Normal People by Sally Rooney
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Normal People by Sally Rooney surprised me. In essence it had the characteristics of an simple and uncomplicated read, the kind…
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Walden by Henry David Thoreau was a deeply moving read. Set in the mid 1800’s, at the height of America’s industrialisation, Thoreau…
The Defining Decade: Why your Twenties matter - and how to make the most of them now by Meg Jay
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Defining Decade by Meg Jay is a reminder of living life intentionally, especially in the complex, and exciting era of your…
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Power of Now was a deeply insightful read, that I got a lot out of. Flipping through it’s pages, the act of reading itself…
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Housemaid was a thriller in every sense of the word. I haven’t really experienced many books like this, where the pages seemed…
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a read that attempts to span a lifetime. It begins with Sam, crippled at a young age…
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ In Cold Blood by Truman Capote was a tale it feels you’d hear from a stranger at a bar, detailing a series of events that seem…
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Matt Haig’s Midnight Library is a fable following the afterlife of Nora struck in between life and death in a mysterious shrouded…
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is an unputdownable read, chronicling an audacious mission to save the world. I can’t reveal too…
Ru by Kim Thúy
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Ru is a heart-wrenching tale of the aftermath of the Vietnam War, focusing on a family who were classified as bourgeois, but…
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ I picked this book up because the cover looked so intriguing. Blood marks on a bright yellow page, with a black and white cow. Asako…
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is one of those books that broadens your mind, because it revolves around understanding other…
Into the Lands of Vietnam
Vietnam is a magical land of vivid greenery, water buffaloes and mouth-watering food. I had the opportunity to visit Vietnam for 2 weeks in…
Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Man’s Search For Meaning by Victor E. Frankl is an effort to distil the importance of meaning in life, and provides guiding…
Camping at the Warrumbungles
Over the weekend, I went on a 2 night camping trip with some mates to the Warrumbungle National Park, the site of Australia’s first…
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Song of Achilles is a moving tale offering a new perspective on Homer’s The Iliad. It weaves through the origin of Achilles…
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro is an intimate novel, exploring the boundaries of what makes us ‘human’. We follow Klara, an…
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Vagabonding by Rolf Potts was an inspirational read recommended to me by a friend, who after suggesting it, went and applied some…
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Everything I Know about Love by Dolly Alderton was a fascinating read of her life, navigating through relationships and friendships…
Seeing Other People by Diana Reid
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ In October, I had recently gone through the end of my first and only relationship, and it was one where I felt regret…
God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy transports you to a world where the air is sticky with overly ripe fruit, nestled in the…
Homecoming by Elfie Shiosaki
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Homecoming was a touching multi-generational account of the lives of Elfie Shiosaki’s family. Throughout the text, there was a…
Stoner (A Novel) by John Williams
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Stoner was a beautiful novel, belonging to a genre called an academic novel, since its stage is a university campus. William…
4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Four Thousand Weeks is in my opinion a must-read. It covers a breadth of topics, some of which I’ll detail below. “Life, I knew…
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Steve Jobs’ biography is an interesting insight into one of the most recognisable inventors of the 21st century. The book captures the…
Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Kawaguchi’s Before the coffee gets cold is simple in its prose and storyline, but speaks volumes if you let it seep into you…
Hiroshima by John Hersey
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ John Hersey’s Hiroshima was seminal in its coverage of the first ever nuclear weapon used against humanity. It details the lives…
Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ I really enjoyed this book, and it had many kernels of wisdom, interwoven with a deeply personal story of Natasha’s experience of…
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This book was heartbreaking, because over the space of a few hundred pages I got to know a lovely friend. I learnt about her life…