NOVEMBER 2025 EDITION #8

From the Desk—November in Review

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Matilda Bookshop Review #8, your monthly chronicle of books and writing, where we share with you our current reads, author interviews, book club wrap ups, and other literary ephemera such as reviews, award news, and books we love. 

Reflecting on the wild-weathered month of November, this strange spring has seen us get very excited about the Booker Prize win, with Flesh by David Szalay (more below), as well as celebrate some truly magnificent authors in events with Sofie Laguna, Madeleine Gray, Bryan Brown, and tonight ... Trent Dalton (to a sold out (beautifully-restored) Regal Theatre). We love what we do, and getting to hear authors up front and personal, is a particular revelation and delight. Thanks to all who attended our author chats in 2025. After tonight, we roll up our sleeves for the festive shenanigans ahead.

Christmas is ever-closer, but don't worry, we have all your bookish needs covered, as well as stationery, beautiful cards, gift-wrapping, gift-vouchers, and subscription services. We are delighted to have our superb Summer Reading Guides for adults  and kids in store. Peruse these carefully curated guides on our website here and here. 

Our featured author in this month's Review is the incredible, Catherine Lacey, whose hybrid novel-cum-memoir, The Möbius Book, is one of Matilda staff's favourite reads of the year. The interview is as smart and penetrating as the book. Browse our archive of Author Q&As here.

Happy Reading,

Jo, Gavin, Molly, Kasey, Rose, Heather, Nadia & Emilie

What We're Reading

Emilie:  Lost Evangeline by Kate DiCamillo (out now)

I adore DiCamillo's loosely interwoven Norendy books so I was thrilled to see this beauty arrive just when I felt the need for a book in this vein; a gentle tale of magic and wonder! For children 8 to 80 as they say, but I am reading it to my one year old at night and certainly don't let turning 81 keep you from this treasure either! 

Gavin: Earthquake by Niki Savva (out now)

Another deep-dive into the machinations of Australia's political class, Earthquake is a searing indictment of an election campaign that delivered a cataclysmic and demoralising loss for the Coalition. A very entertaining read. 

Heather: Vigil by George Saunders (out February)

I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on George Saunders’ upcoming novel Vigil, a companion piece to his 2017 magnum opus Lincoln in the Bardo. Bardo is perhaps my all-time favourite novel, so it’s a thrill to be back in his madcap underworld again. 

Jo: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth (out now)

A well crafted cosy crime story, full of twists and turns that centres on a beautiful and long standing friendship.

Kasey: The Anthony Bourdain Reader (out now)

Anthony Bourdain has always, to me, had a singular and enduring voice, particularly within his writing. This edition of his works, some previously unpublished, has catapulted me back to reading Kitchen Confidential for the first time. A wonderfully nostalgic and compelling collection. 

Molly: How to Live an Artful Life by Katy Hessel  (out now)

Always love this art historian's contextualising of art and artmaking, and in this edition, Hessel draws on a wealth of sources to offer a creative prompt, or a jewel of artist's wisdom/advice for every day of the year. I'm in.

Nadia: Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje (back in stock January)

Ivona and Vlaho met in university, and had an Ephron-esque romance to the backdrop of Croatia. Many years later after a sticky divorce, they are brought back into each other’s lives, and mess ensues. It makes me want to lay on the beach and yearn.

Rose: Power Moves by Leesa Ronald (out Dec)

Leesa Ronald's second novel is a banter-filled rom com about a media advisor to an MP and the handsome thorn in her side: a political journalist she's known since her university days. This is a fun summer beach read that will appeal to fans of Emily Henry. 

Kids Book Club News

Dear book-loving young people, we run three book clubs for kids, Magical Minds, The Matilda Society, and Chapter & Ink book clubs. Newcomers are always welcome for engaged chats and snacks in our cozy bookshop setting.

This month we chatted about When We Were Monsters in Chapter & Ink, Howl's Moving Castle in The Matilda Society, and Runt and The Diabolical Dognapping in Magical Minds.

With the blink of an eye we have found ourselves at the end of another year of our kid's book club program . It has been a truly marvelous year of reading, and I have greatly enjoyed seeing our participants tackle the challenge of new books, sharing their thoughts and opinions and working with their peers to make our book clubs a haven for readers. This year has been particularly exciting to have so many boys join us, particularly when all the data available about children's reading indicates boys are significantly more disengaged from reading and reading for pleasure. We're already excitedly planning for Term 1 2026, and can't wait to see where the books take us! Kasey

Highlight on Authors Series

Welcome to this month's Highlight on Authors series, where we ask authors (whose books we've read and absolutely loved) questions on books and writing. 

The next author we're introducing you to is the supremely talented Catherine Lacey, discussing her hybrid novel-cum-memoir, The Möbius Book.

(We've provided a glimpse of the interview  below):

Further Reading

Here's the literary ephemera that we've been loving this month, from the best in LitHub, Australian Book Review, The New York Times, The London review of Books, The Sydney Book Review, and others ...

Of course, we are thrilled to be visionary early adopters (read fans) of David Szalay's Flesh, which won the prestigious Booker Prize last week. And so we begin this section with a couple of Booker Prize ephemera:

Three years ago, Sarah Jessica Parker posted a plea on the Booker Prize’s Instagram page. She wanted to judge the prestigious award. “Oh let me try!!!!” she said. (you'll need to sign up for free access)

Fab review of Flesh in The Guardian: The novel’s protagonist is violent, libidinous and so inarticulate he says ‘OK’ some 500 times. So how did the author turn his story into a tragic masterpiece? Also, 'it's notoriously hard to write about sex', says David Szalay. 

“I don’t think I’ve read a novel that uses the white space on the page so well,” said Chair of Judges Roddy Doyle. This LitHub write up, includes an excerpt from Flesh, if you haven't read it and are wondering what all the fuss is about.

And in non-Booker related news, novelist Sarah Hall, calls out AI systems' training as Creative Larceny. We couldn't agree more.

And something sweet to finish: we love this Art of Nonfiction Essay (an interview with the extraordinary Maggie Nelson), recently unlocked in The Paris Review.

2023 ABIA Australian Bookshop of the Year