Happy’s Best New Books (31st January – 6th February)
Updated weekly by the fine folk at Happy Mag, these are the best new books that this week has to offer from Australia and around the world!
Monica Ali – Love Marriage
The author of Booker Prize-shortlisted Brick Lane, Monica Ali, has returned with her first novel in more than 10 years. Exquisitely pitched and emanating humanity, Love Marriage is an addictive and ultimately poignant depiction of disparate cultures meeting through the impending marriage of Yasmin and Joe. Though centred in contemporary Britain, the themes of Love Marriage resonate with all readers who appreciate the intersection of personal desires, family pressure, and love.
BUY HERE
MONICA ALI
LOVE MARRIAGE
Al Campbell – The Keepers
Centred on Jay — who cares for her twins with special needs — The Keepers is a remarkable debut novel by Australian author, Al Campbell. Ultimately a tale about love, it presents this fundamental feeling from many complicated perspectives. It also confronts abuse and neglect with courage, blending real-life events with a gripping fictional narrative. Already attracting high praise from the cream of Australia’s literary talent, it marks the emergence of a significant new voice.
BUY HERE
AL CAMPBELL
THE KEEPERS
Paul Callaghan – The Dreaming Path
The Dreaming Path: Indigenous Thinking to Change Your Life provides a unique window into Aboriginal spirituality. Paul Callaghan — an Aboriginal man who belongs to the Worimi people of coastal New South Wales — invites you to reflect on love, humility, leadership, resilience, and many other aspects of life that are key to human health and contentment. In other words, it shows you how to connect to The Dreaming Path.
BUY HERE
PAUL CALLAGHAN
THE DREAMING PATH
Jessica Au – Cold Enough for Snow
In a tender, subtle piece of storytelling, Jessica Au’s Cold Enough for Snow explores deep familial connections (in this case, between a mother and daughter), as well as the unknowable obstacles in such relationships. It’s also richly atmospheric — the sense of time and space as the pair travels through Japan is a beautiful counterweight to the themes that the narrative conveys so naturally and powerfully.
BUY HERE
JESSICA AU
COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW
Erin Osmon – John Prine
The latest in the seminal 33⅓ series, Erin Osmon creates the most complete portrait yet of John Prine’s self-titled debut yet. It explores Prine’s rural roots and his rise through the Chicago music scene, before successfully conquering Nashville. This is Osmon’s loving tribute to an album that left an indelible imprint on the American consciousness and an illumination of its creator’s formative years.
BUY HERE
ERIN OSMON
JOHN PRINE
Carl Erik Fisher – The Urge
From clinical psychiatrist and recovering alcoholic, Carl Erik Fisher, comes a thought-provoking and extensively researched book on addiction — not just its impact on modern society — but also its very nature. Addiction is a condition that after centuries still confounds human understanding and science. Yet Fisher has taken a highly empathetic approach to the topic, resulting in a thoroughly enlightening experience.
