The Tassie Book Club - November 2025 - The Hobart / Launceston Magazine

The Tassie Book Club – November 2025

by Hobart Magazine

The Woman Booker Prize Club is a local Hobart book club. Here they share their thoughts on books by Tasmanian authors, set in Tasmania, or about Tassie topics. Over to the club!

Both books this month highlight our connections to nature and how it helps us navigate grief and loss. Two exceptional books that should definitely be making your Christmas lists.

A Catalogue of Love by Erin Hortle (Simon and Schuster, August 2025) Review by Emily Schade

We’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of Erin’s second book after being completely wowed by her debut novel, The Octopus and I, back in 2020.

The Catalogue of Love tackles big themes: love and grief, gender stereotypes, consent, the bond between step-parents and children and how a relationship with the natural world can shape who we are. With so much to cover, the book could feel disjointed and chaotic, but Erin has crafted a gentle, reflective coming-of-age story that left me feeling serene and contemplative.

This is the story of Neika, a Bruny Island local whose love of surfing and coastal life is inseparable from who she is. Growing up with her brother, father, and her father’s partner Sean, she navigates being a female surfer, school, crushes, moving interstate and coming home.

Erin’s insights into the quiet challenges women face, in the water, academia and their own heads, feels both intimate and universal. The Catalogue of Love is Neika’s story but it’s also the story of so many of us who are finding our way.The layers of this story subtly point to the author’s research expertise, and the insights shared through the complex characters highlights her personal wisdom.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Penguin, March 2025) Review by Kathryn Montgomery

Wild Dark Shore is an immersive thriller, set on the fictional research station island of Shearwater, sitting halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica. Think Macquarie Island with its unforgiving elements, plus ghosts of the past and several whodunnits.

The Salter Family, the island’s remaining inhabitants, have been tasked with sorting the contents of a seed bank to be transported off the island, but not everything can be saved as climate change takes its toll through rising sea levels. Dominic and his three children, Raff, Fen and Orly are surviving their final months on the island when a mysterious woman, Rowan, is washed up onshore during a violent storm.

They all carry secrets, weighed down by the loss of loved ones and places that matter to them deeply. This is balanced through hope and their motivation to protect the natural environment through their vital work in preserving for the future.

Hauntingly beautiful, tragic, hopeful, devastating are just a few of the words to describe this excellent thriller. In the darkest moments, there are sparks of hope but don’t be fooled, there are unexpected twists that made me gasp out loud! A bestseller for good reason and would make a fabulous Christmas present for anyone who wants to be whisked away to wild, dark shores!

Book Chatter Yanry Liu, of Mount Nelson, has put us all to shame by self-publishing his first novel – he’s nine-years old! The Path Beyond the Shadows is a fantasy adventure following a brave young heroine in a world full of gods and mysteries. Yanry hopes to inspire other young writers, and is donating any profits from book sales to children’s charities. You can find his novel at Libraries Tasmania.

If you have ambitions of writing your own book, there’s plenty of help to get you started in our City of Literature, Hobart, and beyond:

Liz Evans and Lucy Christopher (+ guests) are leading the first Faber Writing Academy course in Tasmania – Writing a Novel Feb-Sept next year (faberwritingacademy.com.au).
Check out upcoming workshops and courses with TasWriters (taswriters.wildapricot.org) and consider submitting your work to Island magazine (islandmag.com).
Start or join a writing group (e.g. Write Here Launceston, the Fellowship of Australian Writers – Tasmania) to make space and time for writing, with others to support you and keep you accountable to your ambitions.

Keen to chat books with us? Find us on Instagram @thewomanbookerprizeclub or email thewbpc@gmail.com

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Worker shortage is currently universal, there isn’t an industry that’s exempt. For Kelvin Smith, four years ago he decided there was a very obvious solution to the shortage facing the construction industry, and all that was needed was a little time, empathy and a helping hand. Integrate Workforce is a Hobart-based labour company with one requirement: a refugee/ migrant background. He’s also the outdoor piano man in his free time.

Landscape artist and creative Elliott Nimmo is enjoying discovering Hobart’s vibrant art scene and local environment after relocating here from London to pursue his art.

Even though Tasmania is known for its mild summers, it doesn’t take much to get sunburnt. Tasmania experiences extreme ultraviolet (UV) levels, but contrary to popular belief this isn’t due to the hole in the ozone layer, which is actually south of the continent.While higher UV levels often occur at the same time as higher temperatures, the two are not linked. Instead, UV levels are determined by the angle of the sun in the sky: the higher the sun, the higher the UV. In December and January, the position of the sun over Tasmania gives the state a UV index of 11 or more on most days, which is classified as “extreme” on the UV index. Tasmania’s lack of humidity and generally clear skies contribute to the stinging feeling of the sun. UV can reflect off buildings and water, making it possible to get a higher dose of UV from these reflected rays, even in the shade.

Setting up shop during a pandemic was a risky move, but if the crowd at Dāna Eating House (Dāna) on a Friday night is anything to go by, it’s one that’s paid off. With tables of diners chatting and laughing over drinks, the music and conversation buzzes off the monstera-leaf-green walls. Low-hanging rattan lights and worn wooden floorboards give the newly opened South-East Asian fusion venue in Hobart’s CBD a relaxed vibe.

A Holyman flagged ship hasn’t steamed up the River Derwent since 1984 but the company’s name still proudly adorns its former offices at 5 Morrison Street, Hobart.

Widening the Tasman Bridge to allow 3.5 metres on each side is a big win for walkers and cyclists.

Need a laugh? Check out @theinspiredunemployed feed on Instagram.

Rain, hail and shine, the school crossing guards are always there to help with a smile on their face.

It’s hard to believe it’s not standard practice to have a working phone in every aged care room - shared phones make private conversations impossible and increase the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Just when you think your cousins are alright. NZ Opposition Leader Judith Collins took aim at Tassie during her recent (unsuccessful) campaign, calling us Australia’s “poor cousin.” She also seems worried about us nabbing tech businesses, “It’s a lovely part of the world but do you necessarily want to go there with your high- tech business? Possibly not,” she said. We beg to differ!