Jason Austin
Jason Austin is a buyer at Readings Carlton
Review — 3 Jul 2023
Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella
I had to read this book on title alone. I mean, who wouldn’t want to read a book called Bored Gay Werewolf? Seriously! I wasn’t disappointed.
Brian is a…
Review — 10 Jan 2022
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
This highly anticipated follow-up to 2015’s A Little Life is an epic tour de force. In fact, it’s impossible for me to praise To Paradise enough. Set in an alternative…
Review — 1 Oct 2020
The Cold Millions by Jess Walter
The free speech fight of 1909 in Spokane, Washington, was a civil disobedience action staged by the Industrial Workers of the World, also known as Wobblies, under the charge of…
Review — 6 Sep 2020
The Abstainer by Ian McGuire
In my reading life, there are a handful of writers whose next novel I anxiously await. In 2016, I read the rollicking, adventure-filled historical thriller The North Water. With…
Review — 23 Sep 2019
Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
Twenty years ago Stephen Chbosky wrote a YA novel called The Perks of Being A Wallflower, which he made into a successful film in 2012. Be fairly warned, Imaginary…
Review — 19 Aug 2019
The Devil's Grip by Neal Drinnan
It was said that Darcy Wettenhall was the world’s foremost expert on the subject of Corriedale sheep. Stanbury, the stud that he owned and ran with his elderly cousin Janet…
Review — 25 Mar 2019
Halibut on the Moon by David Vann
In Halibut on the Moon, David Vann revisits a theme that plays out in his staggeringly good debut short-story collection, Legend of A Suicide. Indeed it’s a subject…
Review — 24 Jun 2018
Clock Dance by Anne Tyler
A few years ago, there was a rumour going around that there wouldn’t be any more stories from Anne Tyler. She was threatening to retire from writing – after fifty-plus…
Review — 24 Sep 2017
Logical Family by Armistead Maupin
Armistead Maupin’s nine-volume Tales of the City chronicle is a cultural icon. Among other things, it’s the story of gay life in San Francisco from the late 1970s, through the…
Blog post — 1 Nov 2016