Now to Love

The Secret Fate of Mary Watson by Judy Johnson, HarperCollins, $32.99. “Left Lizard Island September 2nd, 1881 in tank or pot in which beche de mer is boiled. Got about three miles or four from the Lizards. “September 7. Made for an island four or five miles from the one spoken of yesterday. Ashore, but […]

Bird Cloud: A Memoir by Annie Proulx, Fourth Estate, $35.95. This is a rare glimpse into the private world of Annie Proulx, 75-year-old author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain. Bird Cloud — her first non-fiction publication in 20 years — deals with her building a house for herself to live in and her […]

Less Than Perfect by Ber Carroll, Pan Macmillan Australia, $25. Striving to achieve your parents’ expectations is a battle with universal resonance and is at the emotional heart of this intriguing tale of love and loss. Caitlin O’Reilly meets the love of her life at her 18th birthday party. The boy in question is a […]

MM — Personal: From the Private Archive of Marilyn Monroe by Lois Banner, Abrams, $55. It’s hard to believe there’s anything new left to see or read about Marilyn Monroe, but this slickly presented hardback tome promises to lift the veil on the private Marilyn. While it may not do that exactly, what author Lois […]

Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel, Hachette, $49.99. Thirty years ago, Jean M. Auel became a literary legend with The Clan Of The Cave Bear, the first book in her Earth’s Children series. Auel made prehistory come alive with the story of Ayla, an orphaned Cro-Magnon girl with an amazing knack for survival. […]

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Virago, $22.99. First love is the sweetest they say. First love of a book may last longer — and if the book is worn out by that love it can be replaced. Take a naive and penniless girl, employed by the overbearing Mrs Van Hooper. Enter Maximilian de Winter, a […]

Faces In The Clouds by Matt Nable, Viking, $29.95. This is a surprising book in so many ways. It starts as a sweet very recognisable family tale about twin brothers growing up in the relative safety of an army barracks life and the wonderfully strong family unit that binds them. It then unfolds quite rapidly […]

What are your smart strategies to stop the kilo creep this year? Here's a top 10 list to give you some ideas.

What are your smart strategies to stop the kilo creep this year? Here’s a top 10 list to give you some ideas: 1. Tread well: One of the easiest, foolproof ways to train in the sun, hail or rain is on a home treadmill. If you’re a first timer, a great idea is to hire […]

As the sex scandal surrounding the International Monetary Fund chief rages on, Bryce Corbett questions whether the French have it right when it comes to sexual mores. The arrest in New York at the weekend of International Monetary Fund chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has caused shockwaves around the world, and once again raised the topic of […]