what the frankie team is reading this month

Trying to pick your next read can be overwhelming when there are so many great books out there! Well, never fear… we’ve got some recommendations for books that’ll make you smile, think and maybe have a lil cry. We’ve asked the frankie team to share their recent fave books and what they thought about them. Here’s our list.

Sunbathing, Isobel Beech
I loved reading this book because it made me feel like I was in the Italian countryside, watering veggies and feeding stray cats just as the main character does. I soaked up all those delicious details. The underlying motive for the narrator travelling from Melbourne to Italy was dark and incredibly sad, yet I couldn’t help but feel hopeful and full reading this book. Isobel writes in a languid, relaxing way which made me feel like I was reading this with a large sun-warmed rock against my back. It’s a book about grief, friendship, complex parental relationships and the mind. As someone who has personal experience with mental health conditions, I found it relatable and revealing – I loved being right inside the character’s mind as she wanders through her feelings related to the death of her father. Sunbathing is shattering, but darkly funny and absurd at the same time.
- Emily Naismith, frankie writer and branded content director

Ten Steps to Nanette, Hannah Gadsby
Ten Steps to Nanette is equal parts gut-wrenching, enlightening, sobering, fascinating, empowering and funny. It was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, reflecting on Gadsby’s life as a queer, atypical-thinking woman, and her experiences of homophobia, violence and abuse, plus the long and ongoing path to self-acceptance and happiness. The backdrop of the political landscape in Tasmania where Gadsby grew up, and more recently around the insidious marriage equality debate, is also woven through the stories and provides some interesting (and very sobering) insights. It makes you think about actually living her life, which is, of course, the point! Understanding and insight equals empathy. I have so much respect for her.
- Claire Mullins, partnerships manager

Rattled, Ellis Gunn
Rattled is about the author’s experience being stalked, but it doesn’t fill you unnecessarily with fear (the test was I could sleep soundly after reading a chapter or two at night). It’s actually a super practical and educational tool if you’re interested in what to actually do (or not do) if you’re in a similar situation with a potential stalker. The story alternates between Ellis’s account of the stalking situation, stories related to misogyny throughout her life and a form of poetry about sexual harassment and assault. The three different streams of the book add up to build a detailed picture of Ellis’s life and the position of women in society in general. This is ultimately a hopeful and positive book which will inspire us (as in, everyone) to ensure women are safe and treated as equal in big structural ways, and our own personal everyday lives too.
- Emily Naismith, frankie writer and branded content director

Heartland, Jennifer Pinkerton
If you’ve ever used a dating app you’ll find something in Heartland you can relate to. This book gives us an insight into what modern dating looks like and where it’s going. It’s a mixture of interviews and the author’s own experiences which come together to paint a picture of how we navigate matters of the heart, and if that’s changing for better or worse. I liked the diversity of the people profiled in this book.
- Alice Buda, frankie senior designer

Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro
I didn't know a book that is narrated by a robot could be so heartfelt. Usually, I'm not one for science fiction, but I picked up this book not knowing anything about it and I was so surprised that I could not put it down. Klara is an AF (Artificial Friend) who goes to live with a family with a sick child. She's an empathetic, kind and hopeful robot who is constantly learning about the world and people around her. Weirdly, this book is about artificial intelligence as much as it is about what it means to love. It's quite hard to explain why Klara and the Sun works but it's very gentle, warm and thought-provoking.
- Emily Naismith, frankie writer and branded content director
 
These handy book recommendations were published in partnership with Allen & Unwin. For even more books to devour, check out the Allen & Unwin website.