Sunday, August 30, 2009

Good Reading: crime contents this month

One of the magazines I write for is Good Reading, the Australian-based "magazine for book lovers". I was fortunate enough to stumble across this great magazine late last year, after returning to New Zealand after more than a year of round-the-world travels.

Each month the magazine has more than 60 new or recent books reviewed, news from around the literary world, information on events around Australia, and several features articles (including author interviews, literature-related travel articles, overviews of different sub-genres, celebrities revealing what books they love, looking at books adapted for film, and much more).

It's a cool magazine, and I am proud to write for them. The great thing is, if you aren't able to get your hands on a hard copy in Australia or New Zealand, you can instead become an online subscriber (at a very reasonable price), allowing you access to not only the current issue, but a massive database of archived feature articles and more. You can find more information at: https://secure.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/products.aspx

Since Good Reading's inception there have been more than 200 author interviews, from local Australian and New Zealand authors deserving of more attention, to international heavyweights like Maeve Binchy, Wilbur Smith, Michael Ondaatje, Sir David Attenborough, Alexander McCall Smith, Amitav Ghosh, Sebastian Faulks, Linwood Barclay, and Joanna Trollope.

As you can imagine, I concentrate on crime fiction when it comes to my contributions to Good Reading. But each month I'll give you a heads-up on ALL the crime or thriller-related content in the upcoming issue (ie not just my articles/reviews). For the September issue which is now on the shelves, that includes:

FEATURES
"The Home Front" (by Lachlan Jobbins) - a 2-page cover-story interview with Australian doctor-turned author Kathryn Fox (MALICIOUS INTENT, SKIN AND BONE, BLOOD BORN, WITHOUT CONSENT), who uses her award-winning and internationally acclaimed crime novels to promote victims rights.

In one comment, Fox says "It probably sounds naive, but I think I can actually affect more people through writing than I ever could in [medical] practice". Subscribers can read more at: http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/articles.cfm?ArticleID=817

BOOK REVIEWS
Anyone can view Good Reading's books database online, which includes information about the book, a note of which issue it was featured in, and a snippet from the review (subscribers can see the full reviews):

TROPIC OF DEATH by Robert Sims (2-stars)
http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/book_details.cfm?book=10117&page=15

BLIND EYE by Stuart MacBride (4-stars)
http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/book_details.cfm?book=10118&page=15

BRUNO CHIEF OF POLICE by Martin Walker (4-stars)
http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/book_details.cfm?book=10120&page=15

FINGER LICKIN' FIFTEEN
by Janet Evanovich (3 1/2-stars)http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/book_details.cfm?book=10119&page=15

DEEP WATER by Peter Corris (3-stars)
http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/book_details.cfm?book=9962&page=15

THE CHALK CIRCLE MAN by Fred Vargas (5-stars)
http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/book_details.cfm?book=10000&page=15

FAR CRY by John Harvey (4 1/2-stars)
http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/book_details.cfm?book=10121&page=15book=10121&page=15

Note: in amongst the new and recent books being reviewed, Good Reading also "revisits the classics" on occasion.

THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES by Agatha Christie (4-stars)http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/book_details.cfm?book=9159&page=15

So have you read Good Reading? What do you think of the magazine? What authors would you like to see featured?

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