ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

Welcome to the ANZ LitLovers blog —- where you can find reviews and commentary about literary fiction, classics and (less often) non-fiction from Australia and New Zealand.  There are also regular blog posts about contemporary international fiction with a special interest in translations, and the classics.

Lisa Hill is a keen reader who lives in Melbourne, Victoria.  Her natural habitat is a library.  (She has one in her own home.)  When not reading, she can be found buying, coveting,  sorting, re-arranging, cataloguing, blogging or talking about books, with occasional trips overseas to admire other libraries.

The ANZ LitLovers blog won the Words category in the Best Australian Blogs Awards in 2012, and has also been featured in ‘Bookworms on the Web‘ by Jane Sullivan at the SMH.

Publishers and authors wishing to submit books for review, please visit the Comments and Reviews Policy page, then use the Contact Form below to get in touch.

The Kulin Nation, source: Nick Carson at English Wikipedia

ANZ LitLovers comes to you from the traditional lands of the Bunerong / Boonwurrung people of the Kulin Nation.  The city said to have been founded by John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner is now called Melbourne but the traditional lands of the Kulin nation were called Naarm.  The Kulin Nation is a collective of five Aboriginal nations: Wurundjeri, Bunerong / Boonwurrung, Wathaurrung, Daungwurrung and Dja DjaWrung.

I shouldn’t need to declare this, but since disclosure policies about the use of AI are emerging, I think it’s prudent to advise readers that nothing you will read here on this blog comes from AI except for one post where I compared reviews I had written with ones written by ChatGBT. Every word you read here is my own original work.

Transparency statement:

I joined Fishpond’s Affiliate Program but have not linked to their products for a very long time.  However it is possible that I might receive a token commission if you buy a book using links to this bookseller, or if you visit  Fishpond via the logo on the site and subsequently buy a book from them.  Any commission received in this way contributes a modicum towards the ISP costs of the ANZLL website, towards the subscription that I pay to keep it free of other intrusive advertising, towards the exorbitant cost of posting books to my friends here and overseas and towards my compulsive book buying habits. To support Australian publishing, links to the Fishpond Affiliate Program go to Australian editions of the books as much as possible.  This is to support local online suppliers of Australian and New Zealand books. Fishpond offers free postage on every order.

This blog is maintained by Lisa Hill. Ramblings, reviews, rants and raves are all by Lisa Hill unless otherwise noted.

Please note:

The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows 10% of the number of words on this website to be reproduced and/or communicated by any Australian educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or the body that administers it) has given a notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under Part VB of the Act. For details of the CAL licence for educational institutions contact: Copyright Agency Limited, Level 15, 233 Castlereagh St, Sydney NSW 2000 Ph 612 93947600 Fax 612 93947601 Email: info@copyright.com.au Except for personal use or as permitted under the Act (e.g. for the services of the Crown or in reliance on one of the fair dealing exceptions i.e. a fair dealing for the purposes of research or study) no part of this website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the copyright owner Lisa Hill at using the Contact Form below or as attributed on individual blog posts.

AUTHORS AND PUBLICISTS PLEASE READ MY REVIEW POLICY BEFORE USING THIS ENQUIRY FORM TO OFFER A BOOK FOR REVIEW:
CLICK HERE

The ANZ LitLovers reading group

 ANZ LitLovers is an online reading group for Australian and New Zealand lovers of literary fiction.  Members are keen readers of all ages who discuss books and book-related topics by email.

Members come from all over ANZ, but gatherings take place whenever the opportunity arises.  Bookshops and writing festivals are popular venues.

ANZLL defines ANZ literature as any book of literary fiction written by a Kiwi or an Aussie, (including expats) or set in Australia or New Zealand.  The group chooses mainly contemporary literary fiction, but includes a ‘classic’ choices and occasional international titles, and enjoys friendly and relaxed chat about other books we read as well.

Members nominate books for discussion, and vote at the end of each year.   While it is not expected that everyone will join discussions for every title, all members are asked to contribute regularly to sharing their BBRLM (Best Book Read Last Month) and annual Top Tens.

ANZ LitLovers is a Yahoo reading group, and there is no cost to belong.  Membership is by invitation, but enquiries from keen readers from Australia or New Zealand are welcome any time.  If you’d like to join, contact

ANZLitLovers-owner@yahoogroups.com  or capel@tpg.com.au   (NB This is the contact email for the reading group, not for Lisa Hill at this blog.)

ANZ LitLovers Yahoo group history

ANZ LitLovers was founded in January 2002 by  Kim Dwyer (at left) in Noosa, Queensland, and Lisa Hill in Melbourne, Victoria.

After a long struggle with breast cancer, Kim died peacefully at home with her family on May 13th, 2005.

Kim was a very special person to us all.  We loved her warm and generous spirit, her sense of humour,
her passionate opinions about the world’s injustices, and her wisdom.
Those of us who were privileged to know her will never forget her.

Gardenias were her favourite flower.
This one blooms in Lisa’s garden in  memory of Kim.

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 This page was last updated on 19/2/24