Craig Sherborne, poet and author of memoirs Hoi Polloi and its sequel, Muck, has turned his hand to fiction with The Amateur Science of Love. It follows the see-saw relationship of naive but cocksure Colin and eccentric artist, Tilda. Colin pursues an initially reluctant Tilda and they start a new life together in the country and along the way deal with isolation, illness, infidelity and their everchanging feelings. I can’t fault this book—the characters are solid and believable, the storyline unpredictable and the rural Australian imagery vivid. The science of love and lust in its many forms is played out convincingly through Colin and Tilda and is not told in an overly soppy or trite way—it’s tangible, and that’s what works so well. In my opinion, books with ‘love’ in the title don’t tend to reflect real relationships, or none I’ve had knowledge of, but this one does. I admit I haven’t read any of Sherborne’s previous books but after thoroughly enjoying this absorbing tale, I will be tracking down his other work tout suite.
Katie Horner is presently on maternity leave from her role as assistant editor of Bookseller+Publisher.
Jennifer Egan’s 
The Throne of Fire
Part one of the TV mini-series dramatisation of Tim Winton’s 
Last year we spoke to Fatima Bhutto, author of 
What book do you wish you could have written?
One of the interesting things about the Man Booker International Prize is that it’s open to any author whose work is available in English, which includes translations. This makes it a much more diverse prize than most literary awards, which are usually for one recently published book. But where to start? Fortunately at this year’s prize announcement, judge chair Rick Gekoski was happy to share his favourite titles from the 13 shortlisted authors. We think they would make a pretty fine shelf display …
Sally Morgan and her children Ambelin, Blaze and Ezekiel drew on their own childhood experiences to create this brand new series for younger readers. Set in the Australian outback, the series follows its narrator, Charlie Burr, on his accidental adventures in the bush. The first adventure involves three stolen dollars, some missing gold, a twohumped camel and a naughty little dingo pup: Charlie isn’t sure how he’s going to explain the missing money and the new pup to his mum and things seem to go from bad to worse. This is a lively and entertaining book. Spike the dingo is a perfect companion to the mischievous Charlie, as is Rosy the two-humped camel to his friend Johnno. Despite its distinctly outback setting, Charlie Burr will ring true to any child who has ever done something that they know is going to land them in hot water with Mum. Charlie’s dad is a loveable larrikin who tries to keep the peace but, like Charlie, ends up in even more trouble. The outback setting is perfect for the high-spirited exploits of Charlie and his friends, which will ignite the imaginations of its readers.