books

Here's your chance to be part of The Mamamia Book Club. Don't miss out.

You asked, we listened, and the book club is BACK, people.

Starting July 24, Monique Bowley and Jackie Lunn will be joined by various guests in da club.
The list is here – get reading, bookworms, and come join in the fun.

Week one…the cult read.

Dropping on the 24th of July, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, is the first book of the rank for Mamamia’s Book Club.

The Sydney based author’s novel has been so popular it’s being made into a HBO upcoming miniseries, starring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern and Zoë Kravitz. The book’s plot follows three women, Madeline, a fierce woman whose ex-husband has taken up with a younger yogi wife, Celeste, mum to twin boys and school parent royalty, and Jane, a single mum whose new to town who harbors secret doubts about her son…but why?

This is a tale schoolyard scandal and the little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

Week two...crime.

Caroline Overington is a bestselling Australian author and journalist, and has had her work published in the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Women's Weekly - not to mention she is the author of eleven books.

Her latest, The One Who Got Away has been compared to Girl on a Train and Gone Girl. It follows the story of Loren Wynne-Estes, a woman who came from the wrong side of the tracks, and has built a picture perfect life for herself, with a handsome husband, a beautiful home, complete with shiny cars and two beautiful daughters ...but not is all as it seems, and what is uncovered will scandalise a small town, destroy lives and leave a family divided. But who can we believe?

Warning: Make sure you've read this book before listening to the episode - because there is a big, fat twist, and Monique Bowley will be buggered if she can't talk about it.

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Week three...the autobiography.

With so many incredible people penning autobiographies, it might seem hard to choose just one. But Rosie Waterland made our job easy. She is an author, columnist, and a household name for her hilarious recaps of the of The Bachelor Australia. She also co-hosts our podcast, The Binge.

Her book, The Anti Cool Girl, is brutal, brave and hilarious - it's a full-frontal memoir about surviving the very worst that life can throw at you. Spending her childhood living in housing commission, with two addicts for parents, Rosie tells of her experience growing up amidst rehab stays, AA meetings, overdoses, narrow escapes from drug dealers and a merry-go-round of dodgy boyfriends in her mother's life. As an adult - she had an epiphany: to stop pretending to be who she wasn't and embrace her true self - a girl who loved drinking wine in her underpants on Sunday nights - and become an Anti-Cool Girl.

 

Week four...the classic, re-imagined.

Elizabeth Curtis Sittenfeld is an American author of five novels, and her latest, Eligible, does not disappoint.

While this contemporary, tongue-in-cheek retelling of Pride and Prejudice does follow the Bennett family, there are some updated differences from the classic...Liz works in magazines in New York, Jane is a yoga instructor, Mary a studious hermit, and their younger sisters, Kitty and Lydia, are avid, unemployed CrossFitters. When their dad becomes unwell, they reunite at their family home, to face their mother who only has one thing on her mind - how to marry off her daughters, especially with Jane’s upcoming fortieth birthday.

Male suitors enter the scene...and the rest? Well you'll have to read it and then join our book club, of course.

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Week five. The sexy thriller.

As if we weren't going to include a sexy thriller...and this one's a good'un.

Maestra is a psychological thriller, the first in a trilogy by former magazine writer and journalist, author Lisa Hilton (who reportedly signed a seven figure advance for the series.)

The story follows Judith Rashleigh, an assistant at an auction house, who augments her income with night shifts at a hostess bar. After discovering a potential fraud involving a painting, she is promptly fired, and then accompanies one of her bar regulars to the south of France. After an ill-advised attempt to slip him sedatives has momentous consequences, Judith finds herself fleeing for her life.

 

Week six. The self-helpy book.

The last book in our club is non-other than Make It Happen by health and fitness entrepreneur Michelle Bridges.

Made famous by her key role in The Biggest Loser and online exercise and mindset program, the 12 Week Body Transformation, Michelle has also written ten health and well-being books.

In her latest, she shares what she's learnt on her own journey, and seeks to provide real solutions to everyday challenges, and to help others achieve their goals, whether they be related to jobs, employment, relationships or body image.

Michelle wants to help others break down barriers that might be blocking their path to achieving their goals.

Want a taste of what our book club is all about? Listen to an episode from our last season, where we discuss The Girl On The Train, by Paula Hawkins.