CATHERINE JINKS Panic. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
In her new novel, Panic, Catherine Jinks provides a timely take on online mobs, conspiracy theorists, and sovereign citizens. Bronte is a young woman who, along with most of her generation, records pretty much everything about her life online. One drunken rant,...
TODD LEY Smashed: Tennis prodigies, parents, and parasites. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Todd Ley’s account of his time as a tennis prodigy may be one of the most important books you will ever read on tennis. Todd Ley was born into a dysfunctional family. His father, who he refers to as ‘Mad Max’, was ‘a traumatised yet charismatic character,...
MELANIE CHENG The Burrow. Reviewed by Sanchana Venkatesh
The arrival of a pet rabbit proves confronting as well as comforting for the fractured family in Melanie Cheng’s second novel. Amy, Jin, and their ten-year-old daughter Lucie live in an inner-city suburb of Melbourne. Set towards the end of the pandemic lockdowns,...
JONATHAN WATTS The Many Lives of James Lovelock: Science, Secrets and Gaia Theory. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Jonathan Watts relates the extraordinary life of scientist, engineer, Gaia theorist and spy, Englishman James Lovelock. James Lovelock is best known as the ‘father’ of the Gaia theory, which claims that the Earth ‘functioned like an organism to maintain a habitable...
MARTINE KROPKOWSKI Everywhere We Look. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Martine Kropkowski’s debut crime fiction delves into the devastating consequences of the epidemic of violence against women. Melissa, Bridie and Cassandra are friends, bonded over the sorts of things that connect young mothers – pressure, expectation, exhaustion and...
HELEN GARNER The Season. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Helen Garner’s account of a single season of her grandson’s AFL team is about more than football. Helen Garner may have begun her career as a novelist, but she has long been admired for her non-fiction, which has been defined by its fearless honesty and unflinching...
EVA MENASSE Darkenbloom. Reviewed by Ann Skea
In Austrian writer Eva Menasse’s new novel, the residents of a small border town are shaken when uncomfortable truths from the past come to light. Darkenbloom is a fictitious small town on the Austrian–Hungarian border: ‘A region where great spiritual, national, and...
MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ Annihilation. Reviewed by James Arbuthnott
The controversial author of Atomised sets his new – and possibly last – novel in the world of French politics. In Annihilation, Michel Houellebecq scaffolds a political thriller in order to mourn the decay of Western European life. Bodies, relationships and politics...
CHER The Memoir Part 1. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell
Cher is a genuine superstar who has had an extraordinary career across music, film and television. Now her memoir recounts how she got there. Cher prefaces Part 1 of her long-awaited memoir by recalling her reaction to seeing Elvis Presley performing at 1956 concert...
PETER GODWIN Exit Wounds. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Peter Godwin’s memoir charts a life of exile, ranging from the horror of civil war to family eccentricity and life in London and New York. Exit Wounds is a curious title for a memoir, especially when Godwin, early in the book, tells of an illustrated lecture on...
MARK SMITH Three Boys Gone. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Mark Smith’s first novel for adults is both a psychological thriller and an exploration of a shocking moral dilemma. Mark Smith, a Victoria-based educator, is best known as the author of the critically acclaimed YA Winter Trilogy and If Not For Us, a very enjoyable YA...
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