Sunshine Coast Hinterland Times

Playing God with the climate …

“… is the ultimate expression of humankind’s technological arrogance”, EARTH MASTERS – Playing God with the climate Clive Hamilton Allen & Unwin $25.00 THIS IS A SCARY BOOK. And it’s a book we should all read because it very seriously reveals a Dr Strangelove future for this planet. Clive Hamilton is professor of public ethics [...]

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The serendipity of second-hand bookshop browsing

Contrary to popular opinion, bookshops are not going away. In fact, in Maleny’s main street, there are five shops selling books, a positive sign say those who still love bookshops, and proof, if any were needed that here is a town with soul. OF THE FIVE SHOPS selling books in Maleny, there are two which [...]

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Self-published memoir is a healing journey for Bill & Margie

BILL AND MARGIE RICHTER’s self-published memoir, Radio Operator is described as a healing journey. That’s because Bill’s experience in the Army School of Signals and in Vietnam is part of the Vietnam Vet story, described in the book’s dedication as about, “those who have had a bit of a struggle since their return to Australia.” [...]

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Up the Kyber with Dad’s Army …

THE HISTORY OF Afghanistan over the past 200 years is too often a shabby story of desecration and destruction. Who doesn’t wonder for example, why the Western alliance is in Afghanistan today, killing and maiming, and being killed and maimed in return by a resistance group (Taliban) that comes straight out of the Middle Ages. [...]

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THE LOST DIGGERS … Memorial to Anzac Day

Ross Coulthard’s astonishing new publication, THE LOST DIGGERS reveals previously unseen images of Australian soldiers from the Western Front, not at war, but at relative ease, in the French town of Vignacourt, controlled by the Allies as a rest centre throughout World War 1. Thousands of glass plate images of Australian diggers and their allies [...]

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What about the slaves …?

I didn’t know much about slavery and the American Civil War and, having just seen two movies, Lincoln and Django Unchained, I don’t know very much more. These two films are so very different and yet they are linked because of their backdrop to slavery and the tensions that eventually led to civil war. I [...]

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Crime certainly does pay …

CRIME certainly pays if you’re an author who’s created a popular criminal investigator. Joe Nesbo’s Harry Hole for example, may be a deeply troubled police officer but he has an uncanny instinct for tracking down serial killers. In fact, your popular criminal investigator doesn’t have to be a good-looking, clean-cut, pillar of society – the [...]

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John Cantwell’s wounding story of modern warfare

THIS IS AN astonishing book, partly because it is a ruthlessly honest account of a senior army officer’s experiences of wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan. But it is his equally honest and soul-bearing account of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome that is both chilling yet uplifting. Here, Major General John Cantwell (incidentally, now a resident of [...]

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Weaving words of drama, intrigue and magic

FROM TIME TO TIME over several years the Hinterland Times has published short stories from the Maleny Writing Group. This ten year old group call themselves Wordweavers which is an accurate description of their rich mixture of short stories and poetry. Their first collection has just been published privately and you should grab a copy [...]

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Lust, seduction and good, old-fashioned romance

THE THIRD NOVEL in the Steve Conway trilogy, The Last Tuk Tuk to Bang Na, takes the all-Australian hero back to Thailand. From the moment he arrives at Bangkok airport he is embroiled in explosive action which would make James Bond reel. Once again John Pullinger blends Conway’s signature lifestyle of beautiful women, lust, seduction [...]

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