News & Reviews

Moving to the Northern Beaches in 2003 from the Mid-North Coast, with her husband Ben and two young children, Sally was delighted to find a few days work at Bookoccino, an Avalon institution with Margaret

  You must read this smart, tragic, humorous story! Julia: Funny, smart, and strangely moving, I absolutely loved this book! Set in ancient Syracuse, but written with a modern Irish Street wit, it follows two

A wickedly funny satire. An academic flees a recent break up and lands in the absurd heart of Middle Eastern politics, charged with running a de-radicalisation program, armed with nothing but naïvely good intentions.

  Hard By a Great Forest reads like a dark fairytale for our times. Lyrical, unsettling and strangely tender, it is the story of young man on the hunt for his missing family, now

Modern Man is lost, floundering in a sea of neuroses. The legendary psychoanalyst presents an eminently readable theory of their origin and treatment, carefully articulating his understanding of the unconscious, the place of dreams

Wed 03 Sep – 06:00 pm Glen Street Theatre (Glen Street, Belrose, NSW 2085) Suitable for ages 12+ 2 hours (inc interval) Kate Grenville is no stranger to the past. Her success and fame

Three debut authors join two returning finalists and a two-time winner on the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist, which the judges praised for “writing that refuses to compromise” and for inventing “new languages

  By the author of Bookoccino favourite Withering-by-Sea, a long-awaited new fantasy adventure novel for sophisticated 8-12 year olds who love a strong heroine and don’t mind a little danger. This much praised story will

  Helen Garner’s capacity to pay attention and look at life with a curious gaze has never wavered. In this simple, beautiful book she thinks about and appreciates young men as they train, play

Mums of Avalon, join us with your little ones for morning tea with Sophie Walker, founder of Australian Birth Stories and authors of The Complete Guide to Postpartum and The Complete Australian Guide to

Uplifting. Moving. As journalist Cheng Lei describes her soul-destroying imprisonment in China, outrageously accused of spying, I wondered how she endured — more than three years in the cells, the lights always on, the

illustration: maría medem Jun 5th 2025 Biography and memoir Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America. By Sam Tanenhaus. Random House  William Buckley revived American conservatism in the second half of the

Wild Dark Shore has been one of the literary highlights of 2025. Join us for this free and fun interactive session with its author – Charlotte McConaghey, fresh from her sold out Sydney Writers

A tender love story and meditation on Blackness and masculinity set in contemporary London. Told in the second person with a lyrical prose that reads like water, Nelson questions what it means to be

I LOVED this book — funny, smart, and strangely moving. Set in ancient Syracuse but written with a modern, Irish street wit, it follows two unemployed potters who decide to put on a Greek

Hard New World: Our Post-American Future; Quarterly Essay 98 by Hugh White Generally speaking Americans no longer want to bear the economic costs of being the world’s policeman, believing their security is not at

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, A True Story of Abduction, Adoption and Separated Twins. A tour de force, in writing and reporting. As part of China’s one-child policy, a baby

The Director by Daniel Kehlmann Daniel Kehlmann’s historical fiction novel, The Director, delves into the life of legendary filmmaker G.W. Pabst. Known for his socially conscious and sexually frank silent movies, Pabst directed Greta

  Our Book of the Month is A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyn. It’s a sensational debut, completely absorbing. “I’ve been telling everyone: You simply must read it. . .it is that good,” says Literary Critic Caroline

Love Art? Love interiors? Join us for an intimate soiree in the private dining room at Elvina.  Join us in welcoming Kym Elphinstone, an arts advisor and advocate with more than 20 years experience