Author: Peter Goldsworthy

Title: Everything I knew

                                                         Sarah’s pick

It’s 1964 in rural South Australia. Robbie Burns likes rabbiting, chemistry experiments, writing sci-fi stories and drinking sweet sherry. The year he starts high school a modern new teacher comes to the town and changes the course of his life.

I read this over a few days, enjoying the characters, plot and descriptive writing.

Author: Nicole Mones

Title: The last Chinese chef

                                                        Sarah’s pick

Maggie, a food writer, goes to Beijing after hearing her late husband may have fathered a child there. She meets Sam, a chef descended from a chef who cooked for the last Emperor of China. Within the story is another story- excerpts from "The last Chinese chef", written by Sam’s father.

Sam and his family teach Maggie about the history and philosophy of Chinese food and culture, and there is no sweet and sour sauce in sight!