Tinkers, Sydney Bridge Upside Down & 2011 Book Design Awards

In addition to my own blog reviews, I also, through work, do some reviewing of adult fiction books. And I’ve read a couple of amazing ones this past month.

The first was David Ballantyne’s Sydney Bridge Upside Down, a seemingly forgotten ‘New Zealand classic’ that has recently been republished/printed by Text. Just gorgeous – atmospheric, gothic, nostalgic, disturbing, enthralling, well-written; all those things I read it would be. Will get around to publishing a link to my review when it’s published but if you can, in the meantime, get a hold of this book, then it will be well worth your time, especially because it is very nearly YA fiction.

The second was 2010 Pulitzer Prize winning Tinkers, by Paul Harding. The writing isn’t for everyone, but I found it to be a remarkable, ethereal read. So perceptive, such exquisite ways of capturing the transitory moments that leave their mark on our lives forever. There will sometimes be moments in movies when I just want to sob and sob because what I see is so stunning, so perfectly captured, so beautifully tragic that I just ache because I know life can never be like that. It was a similar experience with this book – there is such a perfect mix of tragedy and beauty and hope. I want to cry because Harding has captured, in such delicious prose, the moments where we almost think we can see beyond the here and now, beyond the physical body that holds us to this life. Absolutely loved it.

Other literary news that caught my eye this week is the shortlist for the 2011 Australian Book Design Awards. The full list, incuding the YA and Children’s categories, can be found by following the links here:
http://www.publishers.asn.au/