Book Reviews
What’s good, what’s bad, and what’s in between in literature? Here we review the latest titles.
Looking for a new book? Here are 10 new titles to try
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
Drifters, vagrants and loners: a lyrical journey through Australia’s interior
The world through which an unnamed narrator journeys, accompanied by various companions, is one you can hear and smell.
- by Declan Fry
This yarn about the links between wool and war might surprise you
Australia’s large-scale sheep pastoralism and the northern hemisphere’s industrialisation of woollen textiles allowed the huge armies of the 20th century to exist, a new history argues.
- by Ken Haley
These personal portraits of extinct species may well make you cry
Feelings of grief are unavoidable when reading about the species that have disappeared due to human encroachment.
- by Simon Caterson
Searching for something to read? Here are 10 new books
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
Conspiracies, mysterious deaths and a surprise guest: 14 new books to read this month
Why not make the most of the last month of winter by hunkering down with a new book?
- by Jason Steger
This biography does fullest justice to the maddest stories imaginable
Frances Wilson explores of the early life and work of the late Scottish novelist and poet Muriel Spark.
- by Peter Craven
Princess Diana’s enduring legacy, from conspiracy theories to drag culture
A new “cultural autopsy” examines the late royal as a global cultural obsession.
- by Nathan Smith
What drives the human instinct to create art?
Critic Quentin Sprague attempts to answer questions about art, obsession and creativity through spending time with Australian artists.
- by Gabriella Coslovich
A darkly funny look at artists – their egos, failures and bad behaviour
Murray Middleton’s short stories deals with filmmakers, musicians, actors, playwrights, photographers and writers in varying states of creative frustration.
- by Jack Cameron Stanton
Looking for something to read? Here are 10 new books to try
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction titles
- by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
‘Without an ounce of relatability’: getting to the real Gwyneth Paltrow
Amy Odell’s biography illuminates many of the unglamorous parts of of one of Hollywood’s most divisive figures
- by Nathan Smith
Instead of doomscrolling, have a laugh at these Black Mirror-esque stories
Alex Cothren’s satirical short story collection includes a tale of a haunted pokie machine and a ‘smart’ home that becomes a little too smart...
- by Jack Cameron Stanton
Here are 10 new books for your bedside reading pile
Our reviewers cast their eyes over recent fiction and non-fiction releases.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
Strange ideas take root in this ambitious story about our climate crisis
Rhett Davis’ second novel imagines a world in which people choose to show solidarity with the Earth by becoming trees.
- by Gus Goswell
How a bloke with a stutter changed the way we talk about wages
I feared this book might be as boring as all get out. Silly me.
- by Jenna Price
The bonkers story of how a prank created America’s conspiracy culture
A fake government report intended as an anti-war satire became a viral phenomenon before the term existed.
- by Antony Loewenstein
This deep-dive into Europe’s golden age is scholar-meets-influencer
Historian Ada Palmer’s examination of the Renaissance won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but she does bust some myths.
- by Luke Slattery
Looking for something to read? Here are 10 new books
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction titles.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
Forget scholars – this guide to filmmaking goes straight to the sources
Film critic and academic Adrian Martin’s new book allows filmmakers to speak for themselves in ways that open up connections between them that might never be apparent from their work.
- by Tom Ryan
This dark corporate satire will distract you from your own work woes
Sinead Stubbins takes aim at deranged wellness culture in her debut novel.
- by Eddie Hampson
Helter smelter: Was pollution a factor in a spate of US serial killings?
Caroline Fraser makes a provocative argument that the proliferation of serial killers in the US’ Pacific Northwest in the 1970s and ’80s is linked to the area’s toxic air.
- by Pat Sheil
Here are 10 new books to add to your must-read list
Need a new read? Our reviewers have done the work for you
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
A powerful, razor-sharp culinary and coming-of-age memoir
Besha Rodell, now The Age’s chief restaurant critic, reveals a fractured family life and a fascinating journey through the restaurant industry.
- by Michael McGirr
A gripping new thriller from the author who gives pulp fiction a good name
The latest instalment in C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett series explores the peculiarly American chaos that is also known as the state of the nation.
- by Tom Ryan
Looking for a new book? Here are 10 new titles
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
James Frey wrote his new book in 57 days. He doesn’t want Oprah to read it
Twenty years after saying sorry to Oprah for fabricating parts of his bestselling book, the writer of A Million Little Pieces makes an unapologetic return.
- by Thomas Mitchell
A seismically moving account of living with the unimaginable
Pulitzer Prize finalist Yiyun Li’s new book examines the aftermath of the unthinkable loss of both her sons.
- by Declan Fry
Love, loss and found family among America’s lower working class
Ocean Vuong’s new novel lays bare the abjectness of conditions some face, but The Emperor of Gladness is not all grim.
- by Cameron Woodhead
Ten new books to add to your reading pile
Our reviewers cast their eyes over recent fiction and non-fiction releases.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
The gripping story of how smuggled books helped end the Cold War
In an account that reads more like a spy thriller than a political history, British author Charlie English recounts the story of how the CIA smuggled books behind the Iron Curtain
- by JP O'Malley
Tech bros, incels, dating apps: is this the literary equivalent of doomscrolling?
Tony Tulathimutte’s short stories are imbued with an undercurrent of loneliness and a cast of chronically online characters wired by the same algorithms.
- by Flynn Benson
The shocking tale of a filmmaker forced to work with the Nazis
Daniel Kehlmann’s new book is a work of fiction, but is inspired by the life of Austrian filmmaker G.W Pabst
- by Peter Craven
13 new books to read this month
There are plenty of new books out if you’re planning to hunker down in this cool month.
- by Jason Steger
Review
The TV star who would make the ideal Beijing cellmate
Cheng Lei’s resilience in the face of adversity is admirable, but the tragedy of her three years in detention is that she should never have endured them.
- by Michael Ruffles
Looking for something new to read? Here are 10 of the latest books
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction books
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
This hilarious, moving book confirms that women are the superior sex
Emma Pattee’s debut novel is a funny and heart-wrenching feminist survivalist tale.
- by Jessie Tu
A deep dive into Bitcoin’s enduring riddle: The identity of its inventor
A former WIRED writer details his 15-year search for the true identity of “Mr Nakamoto”, the pseudonym behind the cryptocurrency.
- by Kurt Johnson
A deep dive into romcoms, from 1930s screwball comedies to today
This guide to the genre is endearingly affectionate in its embrace of the romantic comedy in cinema.
- by Tom Ryan
Ten new fiction and non-fiction books to add to your reading list
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
Billionaire Barry Diller - married to Diane von Fürstenberg - comes out in new memoir
The former CEO of Paramount Pictures reveals how he hid his sexuality, while also sharing his business acumen and revealing juicy Hollywood anecdotes.
- by Nathan Smith
A haunting tribute to the bonds between humans and animals
Poet Robbie Coburn’s verse novel explores the potential power of the relationship between horses and humans to transform a troubled life.
- by Candida Baker
This new cli-fi novel envisages a more hopeful apocalypse
Jennifer Mills’ science-fiction novel portrays the before and after of an ecological apocalypse.
- by Jack Cameron Stanton
Still keeping some secrets, Beyoncé’s mother opens up
Tina Knowles’ memoir is a moving meditation on black motherhood – but don’t expect any celebrity gossip.
- by Nathan Smith
This moody Australian crime thriller is utterly absorbing
Award-winning author Gail Jones’ new novel is set in Sydney and Broken Hill, both of which are vividly alive in the text.
- by Carmel Bird
Looking for a new book? Here are 10 recent releases
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
The discarded suitcase that unearthed a mystery – and an obsession
When musician Dean Manning found an old suitcase on a Sydney nature strip, it kick-started a years-long obsession about the owner’s true identity.
- by Michael Dwyer
A terrifying tour of Silicon Valley’s deluded plans for a techno-utopia
Science journalist Adam Becker investigates the visions of the tech billionaires and their vision of an AI dominated future ... in space.
- by Pat Sheil
A dark satire of girlboss feminism and the cult of beauty
Chloe Elisabeth Wilson’s debut novel takes place inside a hipster cosmetics company in Melbourne.
- by Jessie Tu
Erica Jong is a feminist icon, but to her daughter she’s ‘an alcoholic narcissist’
Molly Jong-Fast has written a moving, but searing portrait of growing up with a “fame hungry” celebrity mother.
- by Nathan Smith