The Florida store selling books banned from schools

SPOTLIGHT | Banned aid

Writer Lauren Groff’s new bookshop, The Lynx, will have a focus on books banned in Florida’s school districts.

If you haven’t yet discovered the American writer Lauren Groff, then you should – and not just for her books (although they’re very, very good). Her five novels and two short-story collections are wildly different in theme, but all are intricately wrought, deeply evocative, quietly subversive and often hilariously funny. Her most recent work, The Vaster Wilds, follows a servant girl who escapes to the wilderness from a plague-affected settlement in 17th-century Virginia (The Guardian describing it as “the Book of Job meets Bear Grylls”).

But the New Yorker, who reluctantly moved to Florida almost two decades ago for her husband’s work, is making headlines for a new reason. This (northern) spring, in an act of defiance against the state’s neo-fascist spree of book-banning in many Floridian school districts, Groff and said husband, Clay Kallman, will open a bookstore, The Lynx, in their hometown of Gainesville. The Lynx will be a full-service bookshop but with a special focus heavily on prohibited books and works by local BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) and LGBTQI+ writers. It’s going to be a weighty section since more than 700 books have been removed from Orange County’s school shelves alone, including works such as Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith), Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert) and Angels and Demons (Dan Brown). Even Groff’s own Fates and Furies made the hit-list because, she suspects, of “the sex scene. Also, I … think it’s because Barack Obama really liked it and put it on his list,” she tells e-zine Literary Hub. Deborah Cooke

READ / Life of Brian

Cooper’s novel is an ode to all the quiet Brians out there.

What does a life, well lived, look like? Big questions are prompted by the seemingly small story of Brian, the unassuming central character in Jeremy Cooper’s 2023 novel (Fitzcarraldo Editions; $28). Brian lives alone in North London, pushes a pen at Camden Council and lunches at the same cafe every day. Friendless and isolated from family, he’s a man of such obsessive habits he’s thrown a loop by the closure of his long-time laundrette. One day, a visit to the British Film Institute’s Southbank multiplex sparks a new passion: cinema. A developing love of film and the connections he makes with other BFI regulars bring new meaning to his life. An ode to those quiet people who go unnoticed in our clamorous world, Brian, for all its gentle rhythms, is a compelling read. Paul Connolly

GROOVE / The professionals

What do you get when you combine two lawyers, a radiation therapist, a Red Cross worker and the South Australian tattooist of the year?

Is West Thebarton the most overqualified band in Australia? The six-piece group, named after the Adelaide suburb where it rehearses, includes two lawyers, a radiation therapist, a Red Cross worker – oh, and the 2023 South Australian Tattooist Of The Year. Their new album, Mongrel Australia, showcases their fiery, three-guitar attack, with impassioned frontman Ray Dalfsen going for the jugular, whether he’s singing about life’s highs (the celebratory George Michael) or lows (the gut-wrenching Neck Pains). “I’ve waited my whole life just to see some change to my land,” he roars in Modern Australia, a song that sounds like a raw rock ‘n’ roll update of Goanna’s Solid Rock. Out March 22. Barry Divola

SHOP / Fun and games

Lenovo’s Legion Go offers gaming action on the run.

Handheld gaming has grown up over the past two years, with manufacturers becoming adept at stuffing powerful technology into devices the size of your palm. Lenovo’s new effort, the Legion Go (from $1499), can play any PC game you throw at it and has a vivid, 8.8-inch screen that’s a joy to look at. With a battery life of about three hours and graphics power comparable to most laptops, the Legion Go is a great, on-the-go option for gamers aged eight to 80. The device isn’t perfect – it carries a hefty price tag to match its stocky size – but for those wanting a portable powerhouse, there are few better options. David Swan

HYDRATE / Double shift

This cup can keep you quenched from your morning coffee to your afternoon workout.

Elevating performance of its acclaimed, shatterproof ceramic cup ($65 for 450ml), Melbourne’s Sttoke has launched Hydrate+ ($40), an ingenious trio of add-ons comprising two extra lids (a sports cap with straw and a regular hydration cap) and an extension compartment that boosts the cup’s capacity by 150ml. In other words, users can now convert their morning mug into a gym-ready water companion. Because why settle for anything less than multifunctional elegance? Frances Mocnik

PLAY / Yes, chef!

The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is on the menu.

The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is creating a stir (and a sizzle and a splash) this month with events large and small in restaurants, bars and event spaces around town. There’s no need to book for the tasty celebration weekend in Federation Square (March 23-24), where events include Celebrity Sausage (snag a bun from entertainers, including Clare Bowditch), Baker’s Dozen (cakes, crullers and croissants galore) and the Pizza Sessions, where some of the city’s best pizzaiolos get topping. Highlights of the packed dinner series include Manish Mehrotra from New Delhi’s Indian Accent – one of India’s most acclaimed restaurants – cooking at Daughter in Law on March 20 and 21 ($270). Dani Valent

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