Philomella and the Impossible Forest (Doris Brett, HGCP)
Tuesday, 7 February 2023
Philomella is having a perfectly ordinary terrible day when she stumbles across a door that shouldn’t be there that leads to a library which is, frankly, impossible. Sick of being...
The Half Brother (Christine Keighery, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 7 February 2023
Psychological thriller The Half Brother is the first adult novel by Christine Keighery, a prolific author of children’s and young adult books. The novel opens with alternating chapters from the...
The Anniversary (Stephanie Bishop, Hachette)
Tuesday, 7 February 2023
The Anniversary is a book that’s hard to describe: the writing is quiet, meandering, full of thoughts on art and the act of creative expression. And yet, it is also...
The Last Daughter (Brenda Matthews, Text)
Tuesday, 7 February 2023
The Last Daughter might be one of the most important books an Australian could read. In particular, it counteracts misconceptions and disinformation about the Stolen Generations. Brenda Matthews, proud Wiradjuri...
Books in the media this weekend, 4–5 February
Friday, 3 February 2023
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. National The Saturday Paper Is Mother Dead (Vigdis Hjorth, Verso) The Passion of Private White...
A Joyful Life (Rosemary Kariuki with Summer Land, Hardie Grant Explore)
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
During the summer break, I had the pleasure of reading A Joyful Life by Rosemary Kariuki in one day. As a woman of colour who has experienced trauma, I was...
Anchored (Debra Tidball, illus by Arielle Li, EK Books)
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
A sensitive tale of connection near, far and across the waters, Anchored is a hopeful, heartwarming story demonstrating to young children that no matter the distance between them and a...
The Quiet and the Loud (Helena Fox, Pan)
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Helena Fox, author of award-winning debut How It Feels to Float, returns with another powerful, heart-tugging YA novel. Nine years after her dad disappeared under the lake, 18-year-old George is...
Return to Valetto (Dominic Smith, A&U)
Tuesday, 24 January 2023
This is the sixth novel from Australian-American author Dominic Smith, perhaps best known locally for his 2017 ABIA-winning novel The Last Painting of Sara de Vos. The fictional Valetto, in...
The God of No Good (Sita Walker, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 24 January 2023
The memoir of Brisbane schoolteacher Sita Walker begins with divorce papers and a side of vanilla custard slice. But there are much more pressing things on Walker’s mind than the...
Nightbirds (Kate J Armstrong, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Magic is illegal in Simta, punishable by death, but that does not mean it does not exist. Matilde, Æsa, and Sayer are nightbirds: privileged girls who have the ability to...
Everywhen (ed by Ann McGrath, Laura Rademaker & Jakelin Troy, UNSW Press)
Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Since the colonisation of Australia, representations of Indigenous peoples and Indigenous worldviews created by anthropologists, archaeologists and historians (among other disciplines) have rendered Indigenous subjectivities and ontologies as lesser. Everywhen:...
Books in the media this weekend, 28–29 January
Tuesday, 24 January 2023
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. National The Saturday Paper Bad Cree (Jessica Johnson, Scribe) Little Plum (Laura McPhee-Browne, Text) Too...
Books in the media this weekend, 21–22 January
Friday, 20 January 2023
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. National The Saturday Paper Abandon Every Hope (Hayley Singer, Upswell) All the Rage (Paulie Stewart,...
The Glow (Sofie Laguna, illus by Marc McBride, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 17 January 2023
The Song of Lewis Carmichael brought us the excellent pairing of author Sofie Laguna and illustrator Marc McBride. The Glow is their latest collaboration, a thrilling sci-fi adventure with a...
Children of Tomorrow (J R Burgmann, Upswell)
Tuesday, 17 January 2023
J R Burgmann’s debut novel is an intergenerational story that foresees a century of environmental devastation. We begin in the present day, when one of our protagonists, Arne, bears witness...
One Illumined Thread (Sally Colin-James, Fourth Estate)
Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Fans of Sarah Winman and Pip Williams will love Sally Colin-James’s debut novel One Illumined Thread, an intriguing story of three women separated by centuries yet inextricably connected by their...
Books in the media this weekend,14–15 January
Friday, 13 January 2023
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. ACT The Canberra Times Art is Life (Jerry Saltz, Ilex Press) The Complete Guide to...
Dark Mode (Ashley Kalagian Blunt, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Dark Mode opens with the graphic discovery of a woman disturbingly murdered in the same way as the infamous, unsolved case of the Black Dahlia. Also disturbing for Reagan Carsen,...
Once a Stranger (Zoya Patel, Hachette)
Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Following on from her debut memoir No Country Woman, Zoya Patel’s novel Once a Stranger tackles the same themes of cultural bereavement, being caught between two different worlds and the...
Matt Formston: Surfing in the Dark (John Dickson, illus by Philip Bunting, Berbay)
Tuesday, 10 January 2023
People who are blind, who achieve incredible feats, are the linchpin of ‘Big Visions’, an exciting new nonfiction picture book series from Berbay Books and Vision Australia, aimed at 7–12-year-olds...
Sea Glass (Rebecca Fraser, Wombat Books)
Tuesday, 6 December 2022
Rebecca Fraser is a vibrant voice in Australian junior fiction. Her novel Sea Glass is the beautifully executed story of 11-year-old Cailin, a pre-teen who is stuck with her mother...
The Hotel Witch (Jessica Miller, Text)
Tuesday, 6 December 2022
With a cast of larger-than-life characters that almost pop off the page, The Hotel Witch is the wonderfully imaginative new adventure from Jessica Miller, who previously brought us The Republic...
Tanya Plibersek: On her own terms (Margaret Simons, Black Inc.)
Tuesday, 6 December 2022
Swept unexpectedly at only 28 into the safe seat of Sydney, Tanya Plibersek was the golden girl at the heart of Labor politics when the party was looking to increase...
Viking Women (Lisa Hannett, Thames & Hudson)
Tuesday, 6 December 2022
Literature academic and speculative fiction author Lisa Hannett has written an evocative account of the varied lives of women during the Viking era. Hannett uses her vast knowledge of Vikings...
Books in the media this weekend,10–11 December
Tuesday, 6 December 2022
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. Books of the year 2022 ArtsHub 10 Underrated Books in 2022 Australian Book Review Books...
Books in the media this weekend, 3–4 December
Friday, 2 December 2022
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. National The Saturday Paper Admissions: Voices within mental health (ed by David Stavanger, Radhiah Chowdhury...
You Made Me This Way (Shannon Molloy, Fourth Estate)
Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Known for his feature journalism as well as his acclaimed memoir of teenage struggle, Fourteen, Shannon Molloy has turned his keen eye to a more expansive project in You Made...
The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About (Elfy Scott, Pantera)
Tuesday, 29 November 2022
In The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About, Sydney-based journalist and podcast presenter Elfy Scott uses her talent for explaining complicated issues in accessible ways to examine the myths and...
Books in the media this weekend, 26–27 November
Friday, 25 November 2022
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. National The Saturday Paper Chokepoint Capitalism (Rebecca Giblin & Cory Doctorow, Scribe) The God of No...
