Another Simple Favour director Paul Feig 'open' to Spy sequel

Here are 10 new books to add to your reading pile

Sydney Morning Herald

4 days ago

Sydney Morning Herald

Here are 10 new books to add to your reading pile

Classic espionage, an unconventional ghost story, David Attenborough's call to action for our oceans and a globetrotting search for the world's mythical creatures – there's something for every taste in this week's reviews. FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK Wait Here Lucy Nelson Summit Books, $32.99 Lucy Nelson's Wait Here is a striking short fiction collection populated by female characters who aren't and never will be mothers. Some experience childlessness as a form of liberation, some a curse; for some it's barely worth mentioning, for others a lost echo that haunts them. In the title story, Ivy attends a psychiatrist's waiting room, which she visits weekly, the cause of her distress never openly discussed, the waiting itself becoming a kind of comfort. Other tales involve such scenarios as a dancer who learns she can never have children, and two elderly spinsters with a 'found family' making a fateful choice. Nelson brings variety and vigour to the characters in these pages, and she's mastered the finely contrasting use of emotional registers. Read together, the stories range from quirky hilarity to purgatorial grief, and it's one sign of a gifted short fiction writer that none of them are over-realised – Nelson often suggests rather than tells and resists simple resolution, reserving enough mystery to provoke the reader into imagining women in all their diversity and complexity. Aftertaste Daria Lavelle Bloomsbury, $26.99 An eccentric supernatural power has assailed Kostya Duhovny ever since he was a child. His mouth has long been invaded by strange tastes he has never experienced himself. It appears he relives other people's taste sensations, and when he visits Maura, a hot goth-girl psychic, she reveals it is 'clairgustance' – a gustatory connection to the ghosts of the dead and more specifically, their favourite meals in life. This uncanny ability allows Kostya to rise above his job as a humble dish pig and make a unique contribution to haute cuisine on the New York restaurant scene. Daria Lavelle's satire of the more pretentious side of that industry is deliciously spicy, although an insipid romantic arc does flatten its flavour for a time, even as the otherworldly consequences of Kostya's link with the world beyond add more than a hint of ghost story. It's an unusual mélange of genres, not always blended to perfection, but with an intriguing dark comic taste, nonetheless. Best Left Buried Neil A. White Echo, $32.99 The second in Neil A. White's Matt Latham series, Best Left Buried sets the reader onto a dark and desperate trail of international espionage. It's a thriller built upon the intrigues and misdeeds of the CIA in Latin America, and its anti-hero becomes entangled in a dangerous legacy when he agrees to ghostwrite the memoir of a friend, Bryant Callahan – previously a senior diplomat, soon to be a senator. Travelling to Dallas, his research uncovers unpalatable truths – Callahan's involvement with the CIA, and the troubling history (or lack of it) behind his wife Aleja, a former Miss Cuba orphaned as a child. When Aleja asks Matt to help find her birth family, a trip to Havana unearths scandalous secrets. Matt finds himself hunted by those determined to keep them from coming to light, as another figure implicated in the secret history travels from Mexico City to the US, hell-bent on revenge. The writing can sometimes be a bit too telegraphic for my taste, but it is a taut and rather well-paced thriller, dreamt up from the shadows of real historical events. Whisky Valley Joan Sauers Allen & Unwin, $32.99 In this sequel to Echo Lake, Joan Sauers returns to the Southern Highlands and her historian-cum-detective Rose McHugh. Understandably, Rose's narrow escape from becoming a murder victim in the last novel has left her on edge, but mysteries have a habit of seeking her out, and the latest begins when her son's best friend, a talented musician, disappears. Rose was never going to take the advice of friends and family and stay away from sleuthing, and as floodwaters surge, she finds herself unravelling threads of treachery – some of it close to home – as she takes on the missing person's case. Is this cosy crime? Not entirely. Sauers' heroine is likeable enough, there's a healthy dollop of romance, and the Highlands locale exudes rural charm and features a majestic natural setting. Still, the author does leave open the door to darkness in a way that builds suspense and should keep readers apprehensive about Rose's fate. Julie Chan Is Dead Liann Zhang Raven Books, $32.99 A struggling checkout chick swaps lives with her identical twin – an Insta-perfect influencer – in Julie Chan Is Dead, the debut novel from former 'skinfluencer' (skincare and beauty influencer) Liann Zhang. Discovering her estranged sister Chloe van Huusen dead in mysterious circumstances, Julie Chan wants to call 911 but can't resist stepping into her life of fame, fortune and followers and seizing it for her own. The twins were separated at a young age and their fates diverged, but Julie soon finds that Chloe did not live the enviable existence she imagined. The luxuries and labels come at a price – Julie must try to fit in with Chloe's beautiful influencer clique, the Belladonnas, and a week away with them reveals bizarre and disturbing behaviours that take on an increasingly sinister complexion. What really happened to Chloe? Will Julie be the next target? Zhang mixes mystery and horror and melodrama to capitalise on the market for stories about the toxicity of influencer culture. It's quite fun, but beyond the irresistible hook, I'm not sure that it does enough to make a lasting mark in a rapidly expanding subgenre. NON-FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK Ocean: Earth's Last Wilderness David Attenborough & Colin Butfield John Murray, $34.99 If you've seen David Attenborough's latest film Ocean, currently screening at cinemas, this book is an invitation to dive deeper. If you haven't seen it, you must. And then read this. While it spares us the film's graphic footage of the ruinous impact of industrial trawling, the dire implications for coastal communities and the health of the ocean in general are clear. The world's seas and their crucial role in sustaining life on Earth is a vast subject made intimate and accessible through the changes Attenborough has observed over the past century and the technological advances that have revolutionised our understanding of this watery realm. There are grim statistics – in his lifetime, almost half the world's coral has been lost – but there is also real reason for hope, as evidenced in the recovery of reefs, kelp forests and marine life in areas which have been declared sanctuaries. We know what needs to be done, say the authors, to fix the biggest problems we face as a species. 'The question is whether we also have the will and foresight to do so.' Monsterland Nicholas Jubber Scribe, $37.99 In the days when parts of the globe were still a mystery, cartographers marked uncharted regions with the phrase 'Here be monsters'. Since childhood, Nicholas Jubber has been drawn to the mythical creatures said to inhabit these margins. In this enchanting work, he travels to the shadowlands still haunted by such folk tales: to Cornwall searching for giants, Bavarian forests on the trail of dragons, Morocco in pursuit of supernatural beings known as genies or jinn, to Haiti where the story of the zombie took on chilling real life resonance as slaves, like 'living cadavers labour[ed] for their overlords'. Jubber focuses on four kinds of monster – the shapeshifter, the undead, the wild and creatures of the modern imagination – to explore the origins of these tales, what they tell us about the human psyche and how they live on in the present. With humour and flair, he probes how monsters register the 'emotional states of their epochs' and bind communities together. Michela Marzano Gazebo Books, $29.99 Michela Marzano had always thought of her grandfather as a refined, cultivated man. Then, in her 40s, she discovered that he'd also been a Fascist, a devotee of Benito Mussolini and member of his squadrista. 'Those thugs who beat up communists with their truncheons.' Marzano's parents were proudly left-wing, and her father never spoke of his father's politics. After her discovery, she is gripped by the thought that 'my grandfather must have been a monster'. What she learns about his experience as a soldier and a prisoner during the First World War helps her better understand his embrace of Fascism. As she delves into his personal archive, she also finds herself wrestling with the legacy of her father's domineering behaviour and its impact on her life. In this intense and unsettling memoir, Marzano constantly questions whether she should be exposing these family secrets, including her own mental health struggles. But the reader can only be grateful that she has braved her demons for the light they shed on how a nation's violent history reverberates down through the generations. Australia's Agricultural Identity Joshua Gilbert Penguin, $36.99 The marriage of Joshua Gilbert's convict forebear to a Worimi woman fused agriculture and culture, new and ancient ways, symbolising the aspirations of this forward-looking history-cum-memoir. From farming stock himself, Gilbert longs for the world to see that Indigenous people can thrive on the land, 'selling cattle at top prices, and golden fleece to make thousand-dollar suits'. And to recognise that their relationship with Country can evolve with new enterprises. Gilbert is a gifted yarn-spinner whose life story spans the divide between Indigenous and settler histories; a traditional rural upbringing with deeper roots. When he was a boy, his family didn't speak much of their Indigenous history. His adulthood has been a process of awakening to what it means to be an Indigenous person whose white ancestors worked for the Australian Agricultural Company that drove the Worimi people off their land. Through this personal lens, Gilbert offers a vision of what farming in Australia might become. Pilgrims have been making their way to sacred sites for millennia. These days, in the West, the destinations are more likely to be linked with the secular religion of sport. This guide to Australia's most celebrated venues is inevitably weighted in favour of team, rather than individual, sports with cricket grounds and AFL and rugby fields dominating, many of which are iconic and have international reputations. The absence of venues that host basketball, netball and soccer, however, might leave a few fans feeling miffed. Although numerous sites are products of the establishment – the MCG, SCG, Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Flemington Racecourse – the stories featured here are often the opposite. The SCG's renowned heckler known as Yabba is a prime example. At the more informal end of the spectrum are the surf breaks of Bells Beach and Snapper Rocks, and the Henley on Todd Regatta in Alice Springs, the famous waterless boat race. This is a bible for those seeking places of worship that align with their sporting values or that are of interest simply because of their legendary status.

The Age

4 days ago

The Age

Here are 10 new books to add to your reading pile

Classic espionage, an unconventional ghost story, David Attenborough's call to action for our oceans and a globetrotting search for the world's mythical creatures – there's something for every taste in this week's reviews. FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK Wait Here Lucy Nelson Summit Books, $32.99 Lucy Nelson's Wait Here is a striking short fiction collection populated by female characters who aren't and never will be mothers. Some experience childlessness as a form of liberation, some a curse; for some it's barely worth mentioning, for others a lost echo that haunts them. In the title story, Ivy attends a psychiatrist's waiting room, which she visits weekly, the cause of her distress never openly discussed, the waiting itself becoming a kind of comfort. Other tales involve such scenarios as a dancer who learns she can never have children, and two elderly spinsters with a 'found family' making a fateful choice. Nelson brings variety and vigour to the characters in these pages, and she's mastered the finely contrasting use of emotional registers. Read together, the stories range from quirky hilarity to purgatorial grief, and it's one sign of a gifted short fiction writer that none of them are over-realised – Nelson often suggests rather than tells and resists simple resolution, reserving enough mystery to provoke the reader into imagining women in all their diversity and complexity. Aftertaste Daria Lavelle Bloomsbury, $26.99 An eccentric supernatural power has assailed Kostya Duhovny ever since he was a child. His mouth has long been invaded by strange tastes he has never experienced himself. It appears he relives other people's taste sensations, and when he visits Maura, a hot goth-girl psychic, she reveals it is 'clairgustance' – a gustatory connection to the ghosts of the dead and more specifically, their favourite meals in life. This uncanny ability allows Kostya to rise above his job as a humble dish pig and make a unique contribution to haute cuisine on the New York restaurant scene. Daria Lavelle's satire of the more pretentious side of that industry is deliciously spicy, although an insipid romantic arc does flatten its flavour for a time, even as the otherworldly consequences of Kostya's link with the world beyond add more than a hint of ghost story. It's an unusual mélange of genres, not always blended to perfection, but with an intriguing dark comic taste, nonetheless. Best Left Buried Neil A. White Echo, $32.99 The second in Neil A. White's Matt Latham series, Best Left Buried sets the reader onto a dark and desperate trail of international espionage. It's a thriller built upon the intrigues and misdeeds of the CIA in Latin America, and its anti-hero becomes entangled in a dangerous legacy when he agrees to ghostwrite the memoir of a friend, Bryant Callahan – previously a senior diplomat, soon to be a senator. Travelling to Dallas, his research uncovers unpalatable truths – Callahan's involvement with the CIA, and the troubling history (or lack of it) behind his wife Aleja, a former Miss Cuba orphaned as a child. When Aleja asks Matt to help find her birth family, a trip to Havana unearths scandalous secrets. Matt finds himself hunted by those determined to keep them from coming to light, as another figure implicated in the secret history travels from Mexico City to the US, hell-bent on revenge. The writing can sometimes be a bit too telegraphic for my taste, but it is a taut and rather well-paced thriller, dreamt up from the shadows of real historical events. Whisky Valley Joan Sauers Allen & Unwin, $32.99 In this sequel to Echo Lake, Joan Sauers returns to the Southern Highlands and her historian-cum-detective Rose McHugh. Understandably, Rose's narrow escape from becoming a murder victim in the last novel has left her on edge, but mysteries have a habit of seeking her out, and the latest begins when her son's best friend, a talented musician, disappears. Rose was never going to take the advice of friends and family and stay away from sleuthing, and as floodwaters surge, she finds herself unravelling threads of treachery – some of it close to home – as she takes on the missing person's case. Is this cosy crime? Not entirely. Sauers' heroine is likeable enough, there's a healthy dollop of romance, and the Highlands locale exudes rural charm and features a majestic natural setting. Still, the author does leave open the door to darkness in a way that builds suspense and should keep readers apprehensive about Rose's fate. Julie Chan Is Dead Liann Zhang Raven Books, $32.99 A struggling checkout chick swaps lives with her identical twin – an Insta-perfect influencer – in Julie Chan Is Dead, the debut novel from former 'skinfluencer' (skincare and beauty influencer) Liann Zhang. Discovering her estranged sister Chloe van Huusen dead in mysterious circumstances, Julie Chan wants to call 911 but can't resist stepping into her life of fame, fortune and followers and seizing it for her own. The twins were separated at a young age and their fates diverged, but Julie soon finds that Chloe did not live the enviable existence she imagined. The luxuries and labels come at a price – Julie must try to fit in with Chloe's beautiful influencer clique, the Belladonnas, and a week away with them reveals bizarre and disturbing behaviours that take on an increasingly sinister complexion. What really happened to Chloe? Will Julie be the next target? Zhang mixes mystery and horror and melodrama to capitalise on the market for stories about the toxicity of influencer culture. It's quite fun, but beyond the irresistible hook, I'm not sure that it does enough to make a lasting mark in a rapidly expanding subgenre. NON-FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK Ocean: Earth's Last Wilderness David Attenborough & Colin Butfield John Murray, $34.99 If you've seen David Attenborough's latest film Ocean, currently screening at cinemas, this book is an invitation to dive deeper. If you haven't seen it, you must. And then read this. While it spares us the film's graphic footage of the ruinous impact of industrial trawling, the dire implications for coastal communities and the health of the ocean in general are clear. The world's seas and their crucial role in sustaining life on Earth is a vast subject made intimate and accessible through the changes Attenborough has observed over the past century and the technological advances that have revolutionised our understanding of this watery realm. There are grim statistics – in his lifetime, almost half the world's coral has been lost – but there is also real reason for hope, as evidenced in the recovery of reefs, kelp forests and marine life in areas which have been declared sanctuaries. We know what needs to be done, say the authors, to fix the biggest problems we face as a species. 'The question is whether we also have the will and foresight to do so.' Monsterland Nicholas Jubber Scribe, $37.99 In the days when parts of the globe were still a mystery, cartographers marked uncharted regions with the phrase 'Here be monsters'. Since childhood, Nicholas Jubber has been drawn to the mythical creatures said to inhabit these margins. In this enchanting work, he travels to the shadowlands still haunted by such folk tales: to Cornwall searching for giants, Bavarian forests on the trail of dragons, Morocco in pursuit of supernatural beings known as genies or jinn, to Haiti where the story of the zombie took on chilling real life resonance as slaves, like 'living cadavers labour[ed] for their overlords'. Jubber focuses on four kinds of monster – the shapeshifter, the undead, the wild and creatures of the modern imagination – to explore the origins of these tales, what they tell us about the human psyche and how they live on in the present. With humour and flair, he probes how monsters register the 'emotional states of their epochs' and bind communities together. Michela Marzano Gazebo Books, $29.99 Michela Marzano had always thought of her grandfather as a refined, cultivated man. Then, in her 40s, she discovered that he'd also been a Fascist, a devotee of Benito Mussolini and member of his squadrista. 'Those thugs who beat up communists with their truncheons.' Marzano's parents were proudly left-wing, and her father never spoke of his father's politics. After her discovery, she is gripped by the thought that 'my grandfather must have been a monster'. What she learns about his experience as a soldier and a prisoner during the First World War helps her better understand his embrace of Fascism. As she delves into his personal archive, she also finds herself wrestling with the legacy of her father's domineering behaviour and its impact on her life. In this intense and unsettling memoir, Marzano constantly questions whether she should be exposing these family secrets, including her own mental health struggles. But the reader can only be grateful that she has braved her demons for the light they shed on how a nation's violent history reverberates down through the generations. Australia's Agricultural Identity Joshua Gilbert Penguin, $36.99 The marriage of Joshua Gilbert's convict forebear to a Worimi woman fused agriculture and culture, new and ancient ways, symbolising the aspirations of this forward-looking history-cum-memoir. From farming stock himself, Gilbert longs for the world to see that Indigenous people can thrive on the land, 'selling cattle at top prices, and golden fleece to make thousand-dollar suits'. And to recognise that their relationship with Country can evolve with new enterprises. Gilbert is a gifted yarn-spinner whose life story spans the divide between Indigenous and settler histories; a traditional rural upbringing with deeper roots. When he was a boy, his family didn't speak much of their Indigenous history. His adulthood has been a process of awakening to what it means to be an Indigenous person whose white ancestors worked for the Australian Agricultural Company that drove the Worimi people off their land. Through this personal lens, Gilbert offers a vision of what farming in Australia might become. Pilgrims have been making their way to sacred sites for millennia. These days, in the West, the destinations are more likely to be linked with the secular religion of sport. This guide to Australia's most celebrated venues is inevitably weighted in favour of team, rather than individual, sports with cricket grounds and AFL and rugby fields dominating, many of which are iconic and have international reputations. The absence of venues that host basketball, netball and soccer, however, might leave a few fans feeling miffed. Although numerous sites are products of the establishment – the MCG, SCG, Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Flemington Racecourse – the stories featured here are often the opposite. The SCG's renowned heckler known as Yabba is a prime example. At the more informal end of the spectrum are the surf breaks of Bells Beach and Snapper Rocks, and the Henley on Todd Regatta in Alice Springs, the famous waterless boat race. This is a bible for those seeking places of worship that align with their sporting values or that are of interest simply because of their legendary status.

Sydney Sweeney breaks silence on split from Jonathan Davino, says she's ‘loving' single life

West Australian

6 days ago

West Australian

Sydney Sweeney breaks silence on split from Jonathan Davino, says she's ‘loving' single life

Sydney Sweeney has spoken publicly for the first time about her breakup with fiancé Jonathan Davino, confirming in a new interview that she's now single. In her interview with The Times , Sweeney confirmed she and Davino had ended their engagement three years after getting engaged. When asked if she was planning a wedding, Sweeney replied, 'No.' When asked if she is single, she said, 'Yes.' She added, 'I'm learning a lot about myself, spending more time with my friends. And I'm loving it.' Sweeney and Davino first sparked dating rumors back in 2018 and got engaged in February 2022. A source previously told People Magazine that their relationship had been 'rocky for a long time' and that Sweeney has been focusing on her career since the split. 'She's exactly where she wants to be. Most people would feel overwhelmed by her working schedule this year, but not Syd. She's all about working right now and very excited about all her projects,' the source said. 'What did make her overwhelmed, though, was her relationship and her wedding. She didn't feel right about it.' Sweeney is currently busy with a new season of Euphoria, as well as several film projects, including an adaptation of The Housemaid and roles as Christy Martin and Kim Novak. According to the source, Sweeney 'is in the middle of this magical career that she could only dream of a few years ago. This is what she wants to focus on right now.' They added, 'She's not ready to settle down. They only lasted for this long because it was hard for her to break it off. They didn't split because there is no love. They split because she just wants to focus on her career right now.' Despite the breakup, Sweeney and Davino, a Chicago businessman, have been seen together in public. A source told People, 'This wasn't just a relationship. This was two people living together and planning a future. They still have things to figure out.' Throughout their relationship, Sweeney kept many details private. 'Everyone is always so curious about who I'm with and what's that like, but I think it's important to have something for me,' she told Glamour UK in December 2023. 'I'm very open (otherwise). I talk about so much and sometimes it gets me in trouble, but I do try to keep something for me.' Since the split, Sweeney has been the subject of intense dating rumors, especially with her Anyone But You co-star Glen Powell. Their undeniable chemistry during the film's press tour led fans to speculate about a possible romance, though both have insisted they are just friends. More recently, Sweeney was spotted getting close with The Housemaid co-star Brandon Sklenar at the 2025 Stagecoach Festival, fuelling further speculation about her love life. Sweeney also explained her approach to dating in a 2022 Cosmopolitan cover story, saying, 'I don't date people in the spotlight. I don't date actors or musicians or anyone in entertainment because I can just be normal Syd that way and it's easiest. I have a great support system. I have people who will battle for me and allow me to be on the pedestal and shine without making me feel like, 'Oh no, I'm shining too bright and I need to step back.' I look for a best friend. I need to be able to be with someone who I can literally hang out with 24/7 and never get sick of and we laugh every single day.'

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Here are 10 new books to add to your reading pile

Here are 10 new books to add to your reading pile

Sydney Sweeney breaks silence on split from Jonathan Davino, says she's ‘loving' single life

Another Simple Favour director Paul Feig 'open' to Spy sequel

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Here are 10 new books to add to your reading pile

Here are 10 new books to add to your reading pile

Sydney Sweeney breaks silence on split from Jonathan Davino, says she's ‘loving' single life

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