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WBN reviews >

I See, I See (R Henderson, A&U) 

3 October 2019
This extremely clever book will be loved by kids, who will want to turn it upside down to read it again as soon as they finish it—and it will be...

True West (David Whish-Wilson, Fremantle Press) 

26 September 2019
Opening on a Western Australian freeway in 1988, True West immediately introduces Lee Southern, a teenager on the run from the militaristic bikie gang in which he grew up. Such...

Nothing New: A history of second-hand (Robyn Annear, Text) 

26 September 2019
Opportunity shops—or op shops, as they’re lovingly referred to—are a well-established and much-loved feature of the Aussie retail landscape. In this entertaining and insightful history, Robyn Annear looks at where...

The Great Divide (L J M Owen, Echo) 

26 September 2019
In her fourth novel, L J M Owen, author of the ‘Dr Pimms, Intermillenial Sleuth’ series, gives us Australian rural crime at its most atmospheric: mist-shrouded streets, ruined vineyards, an...

Invisible Boys (Holden Sheppard, Fremantle Press) 

5 September 2019
In the coastal town of Geraldton, several young men struggle with the restrictions placed on them by culture, parental expectations and peer pressure. With the threat of violence a constant,...

Wearing Paper Dresses (Anne Brinsden, Macmillan) 

29 August 2019
Life is tough in the Mallee in the 1950s, and when city sophisticate Elise, brimming with artistic and musical talent, is uprooted with her young children to her father-in-law’s wheat...

There Was Still Love (Favel Parrett, Hachette)

6 August 2019
Favel Parrett’s third novel, There Was Still Love, is a meticulously observed and masterfully crafted immigrant story about a displaced Czech family. The novel oscillates in nearly every way—between the...

The Man in the Water (David Burton, UQP) 

1 August 2019
Four years after his award-winning YA memoir How to be Happy, David Burton returns with The Man in the Water, a coming-of-age mystery novel with an undercurrent of grief and...

Ollie and Augustus (Gabriel Evans, Walker)

4 July 2019
When Ollie (‘small—like a pickling jar or a shoe box’) starts school, he worries that his beloved pet Augustus (‘large—like a fridge or a table’; a vast creature of indeterminate...

The Trespassers (Meg Mundell, UQP)

27 June 2019
Meg Mundell’s second novel has been hotly anticipated since her debut, Black Glass, showed her to be a writer of extraordinary imaginative prowess, with a commitment to exploring themes of...

R W R McDonald’s ‘The Nancys’

5 June 2019
'Cheerfully scattered, this glittering, occasionally grisly and highly original novel is recommended for those who like the bawdiest parts of Phryne Fisher, but stands proudly on its own. Hopefully more...

On Drugs (Chris Fleming, Giramondo)

30 May 2019
Philosopher Chris Fleming’s memoir is a searching, considered account of drug and alcohol use and the mechanisms of addiction. Fleming traces his history of marijuana, codeine-based painkillers and alcohol consumption,...

Taking Tom Murray Home (Tim Slee, HarperCollins) 

30 May 2019
This debut novel and winner of HarperCollins’ Banjo Prize is based on the ingenious premise of a funeral-protest that raises awareness of the pressures facing dairy farmers from banks, supermarkets...

Something to Believe In (Andrew Stafford, UQP) 

30 May 2019
This memoir is rock journalist Andrew Stafford’s first book since his 2004 milestone Pig City, which mapped Brisbane music ‘from the Saints to Savage Garden’. Named after a Ramones song,...

Gregg Dreise’s ‘My Culture and Me’

15 May 2019
‘This book is perfect for Indigenous children who are finding their place in the revitalisation of Indigenous culture around Australia and will also appeal to primary school-aged children learning about...