EMILY TESH The Incandescent. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Emily Tesh’s magical fantasy is as much about the art of teaching as it is about dealing with demons. There are so many magical academy books now that they have become a definable sub-genre. While the first fantasy book to feature a magic school was Ursula K Le Guin’s...
LAURIE WOOLEVER Care and Feeding: A memoir. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Laurie Woolever – cook, writer, and fixer for chef Anthony Bourdain – enjoyed the glamour of a celebrity lifestyle. But it came with a price. Laurie Woolever’s memoir opens with an introduction noting that none of us has very much control over anything in life,...
JO HARKIN The Pretender. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Jo Harkin’s novel is a fresh and rollicking take on the mystery of fifteenth-century pretender to the English throne, Lambert Simnel. Perhaps the best part of John’s life (and the funniest) is when he is still ‘a small village boy’, ‘short of words’ but full of...
PHIL CRAIG 1945: The Reckoning. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
This conclusion to Phil Craig’s Finest Hour trilogy shows how, far from marking an end to war and suffering, 1945 created more of it. The world is imperfect, the relationships between and within nations held together by decaying, infected band aids and fraying string....
GEORGIA ROSE PHILLIPS The Bearcat. Reviewed by Linda Godfrey
Phillips’ debut novel fictionalises the early life of Anne Hamilton Byrne, the real-life leader of the notorious Australian cult The Family. Anne Hamilton Byrne invented her own philosophy, attracted adherents, and wielded spiritual power over them. She claimed to be...
FAITH TIBBLE The Crown of Thorns. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Historian Faith Tibble examines the origin of one of the most famous images in the Christian world and how it changed over the centuries. Almost everyone, whether they are Christian or not, is familiar with the image of Jesus on the cross, his head bound with a...
KAREN VIGGERS Sidelines. Reviewed by Mary Garden
Karen Viggers’ fifth novel centres on a junior soccer team, but the ambitions and rivalries of the parents are the real story. Although I’m not a footy fan, I bought Sidelines at last year’s Port Fairy Writer’s Festival after hearing Karen Viggers speak passionately...
RAINA MACINTYRE Vaccine Nation. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Professor Raina MacIntyre was a prominent voice during Covid. Now she fears the backlash against vaccination will have devastating effects. We dodged a bullet – or did we? The panic created by Covid-19 has (apparently) gone away. Somehow or other policy-makers...
KELLY GARDINER and SHARMINI KUMAR Miss Caroline Bingley Private Detective. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Gardiner and Kumar give Caroline Bingley a larger and more exciting role than she ever had in Pride and Prejudice. Caroline Bingley’s unpopularity in Pride and Prejudice stems largely from her behaviour and motivations, which clash with the values celebrated in...
KERRIE DAVIES Miles Franklin Undercover. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Author Kerrie Davies explores Miles Franklin’s life in the decades after the success of My Brilliant Career. A book is written in solitude and in a crowd, at night, in the early morning, on weekends, and in thoughts and in dreams. So writes Kerrie Davies in her...
SALLY ROONEY Intermezzo. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Irish writer Sally Rooney is known for her succession of bestselling literary novels. Intermezzo is her best yet. In her first novel, Conversations with Friends, a young woman, Frances, enters into an obsessive affair with an older man, a jaded, not overly successful...
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STEVE MINON First Name, Second Name. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith12 June 2025Winner of a Queensland Literary Award, Steve MinOn’s debut novel charts the [ … ]
EMILY TESH The Incandescent. Reviewed by Robert Goodman11 June 2025Emily Tesh’s magical fantasy is as much about the art of teaching as it is [ … ]
LAURIE WOOLEVER Care and Feeding: A memoir. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart10 June 2025Laurie Woolever – cook, writer, and fixer for chef Anthony Bourdain – enjoyed [ … ]
JO HARKIN The Pretender. Reviewed by Ann Skea5 June 2025Jo Harkin’s novel is a fresh and rollicking take on the mystery of [ … ]