John's February Staff Picks

Ali Smith is a writer who knocks you off-centre. You start to see the world differently. It can be quite discombobulating. After reading Gliff and the more recent Glyph it's a wonder I was able to read anything else this month. I do wonder if my impression of the other reads was coloured by Smith. Because a few of them missed their mark.

No one writes like Ali Smith. Simple, compelling and intelligent. She compels you to look at this world and acknowledge it's strangeness. Dark and disturbing one moment, delightful and rare the next. You’ll be thinking about Glyph long after you put it down.

The book every bookseller is reading turns the teacher/student trope on its head and asks frank uncomfortable questions. But is it successful? I don't think so. But interesting nonetheless so i don't feel my time was wasted. I wonder what you will make of it.

Could not put it down. Two cops - estranged brothers - are sent to investigate the same murder. Family histories don’t get much worse than theirs. If you like your crime gritty, fast-paced and meaty, then Redbelly Crossing is for you. This is riveting stuff, superbly told.

Love books about books and writing? Don’t be misled by the title. There’s no bad fiction here.

Desperate times call for desperate measures in this delicious satire.