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The Library Is Open

A blog about books and writing, through rainbow-tinted glasses. Every book gets a gay rating.

  • About
  • Reviews
    • Fiction
      • Contemporary
      • Classics
    • Nonfiction
      • Essays
    • Poetry
  • Certified gay
  • Gay stuff

Author: James Whitmore

I am a writer based in Melbourne. I’m interested in nature and the environment, and queer books.

Review: Macunaíma by Mário de Andrade (translated by Katrina Dodson)

A shape-shifting romp through Brazil.

Brazil, Classics, Fiction, Novel

Review: Root And Branch by Eda Gunaydin

A compelling search for origins.

Australian, Class, Contemporary, Essays, Multiculturalism, Racism, Sydney, Turkey, Western Sydney, Working class

Review: Hydra by Adriane Howell

A many-headed mystery of a novel.

Australian, Contemporary, Fiction, Novel

Review: Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright

A vast, “open-wound theatre” that peers deep into a continent’s soul.

Australian, Contemporary, Fiction, Indigenous Australians, Indigenous writers, Novel

Review: We Come With This Place by Debra Dank

A rich and beautiful history of family and place.

Australian, Historical, Indigenous Australians, Indigenous history, Indigenous writers, Memoir, Nonfiction

Review: Alec by William di Canzio

A sexy flip of E. M. Forster’s illicit queer romance.

Fiction, gay, Historical, LGBTIQ, Novel, UK, War, World War I

Review: Boulder by Eva Baltasar (translated by Julia Sanchez)

A juicy domestic horror.

Contemporary, Fiction, lean ian, LGBTIQ, Man Booker International, Novel, queer

Review: big beautiful female theory by Eloise Grills

A gorgeous and liberatory collection of illustrated essays and memoir.

Essays, Female writers, Feminism, Illustrated, Memoir, Nonfiction, Stella Prize

Review: Indelible City by Louisa Lim

A gripping and frightening account of the city’s history.

China, History, Hong Kong, Nonfiction, Politics, Protest

Review: This All Come Back Now (edited by Mykaela Saunders)

A spectacular anthology of First Nations spec fic.

Anthology, Australian, Fiction, Indigenous writers, Speculative, speculative fiction

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