Our latest reviews
Don’t Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews
C.G. Drews’ return to young adult fiction is a gloriously gothic exploration of fairytales, isolation and obsessive friendship, set in an elite boarding school and a dark, untouched forest.
Andrew feels too fragile to exist properly in the world, thanks…
Out of the Box: A One-Stop Guide to Navigating Neurodivergence by Madonna King & Rebecca Sparrow
Finally, we have the first Australian book on parenting a neurodivergent child! The authors surveyed 1,300 families who have an immediate family member, mostly children, who identify as neurodivergent. They also interviewed 600 educators about neurodiversity in the classroom and…
Enchantment by Birds: A History of Birdwatching in 22 Species by Russell McGregor
Reading, like birdwatching, draws participants of every plumage, from the studious (ornithologists), to the appreciative (birdwatchers) and the voracious list-tickers among us (twitchers). Russell McGregor’s Enchantment by Birds is for all types of readers and birders – it’s a history…
Noble Fragments: The Maverick Who Broke Up the World’s Greatest Book by Michael Visontay
At home, my bookshelves abound with volumes regarding art collectors and collections, and book collectors, mostly relating to the research and recovery of looted and dispersed objects. I love reading about the rich and complex histories of collectors of paintings…
The Season by Helen Garner
Helen Garner came late to football. In her new book, The Season, she reflects on how she only started to appreciate it in recent years, as Melbourne bounced in and out of lockdowns. She writes, ‘I saw it as…
A Season of Death: A Memoir by Mark Raphael Baker
There is no need for this review to talk about the contribution Mark Raphael Baker made to Melbourne with his continual quest for understanding the role of faith and Judaism, here in Australia and across the world. He was simply…
Didion & Babitz by Lili Anolik
Didion & Babitz is a compelling exploration of the artistic views and contrasts between Joan Didion and Eve Babitz, each author famous for chronicling a gritty and glamorous era of Hollywood in their own distinctive style.
Didion, always a writer…
Murriyang: Song of Time by Stan Grant
Stan Grant needs no introduction. When he retired from the ABC in 2023 after a string of racial abuse, just months before the Voice to Parliament Referendum, he said, ‘Don’t mistake [First Nations Australians’] love for weakness – it is…
Black Convicts: How Slavery Shaped Australia by Santilla Chingaipe
The history of slavery in Australia is a history that has been largely silenced. In 2020, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison went as far as to claim that ‘there was no slavery in Australia’. In Black Convicts, Santilla Chingaipe problematises…
Australian Gospel: A Family Saga by Lech Blaine
Buckle in, because Lech Blaine’s story about his family will blow your mind. It reads like a crime novel, but it took Blaine 11 years to write this tale because he wanted to be accurate. He interviewed hundreds of people…
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