Christmas 2021 Giveaway #2
Our Christmas giveaways continue with more great books to celebrate the festive season. To go in the draw to win all four of these books, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Christmas 2′ in the subject line and your name and address in the...
ELIZABETH STROUT Oh William! Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
The author of the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge revisits some familiar faces in her new novel, Oh William! Oh William! follows the same ensemble of characters as Elizabeth Strout’s finely honed novel My Name is Lucy Barton, and the accompanying collection of...
Christmas 2021 Giveaway #1
It’s almost the end of the year! Let us help you celebrate with these four fab books to get you through the festive season. To go in the draw to win all four, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Christmas 1′ in the subject line and your...
WENDY JAMES A Little Bird. Reviewed by Kim Kelly
The ninth novel from Wendy James is a classic page-turning mystery that is both psychologically complex and authentically Australian. Best known as the ‘queen of domestic noir’, James brings a keen understanding of social and political history to her richly layered...
CAROLE ANGIER Speak, Silence: In search of WG Sebald. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Carole Angier’s biography of writer WG Sebald examines his German origins, English exile, and his hugely influential books. In the preface to Speak, Silence, Carole Angier addresses the difficulties of writing Sebald’s biography when so many significant aspects...
SOSUKE NATSUKAWA The Cat Who Saved Books. Reviewed by Robin Riedstra
Japanese author Sosuke Natsukawa’s second novel brings together a cat and a bookshop, and contains more than its slim volume suggests. The Cat Who Saved Books is like a TARDIS. It has simple language and is only 224 pages, yet in many ways it is ‘bigger on the...
BRONWYN ADCOCK Currowan. Reviewed by Emma Foster
Bronwyn Adcock provides a searing insider’s account of the bushfire that terrorised the NSW South Coast during Black Summer, and warns that fires on this scale will happen again. It’s impossible not to be moved by Currowan, the debut book by award-winning journalist...
HILMA WOLITZER Today a woman went mad in the supermarket. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Hilma Wolitzer’s stories capture the extraordinary within the ordinary in this collection that showcases her work from the 1960s to now. A woman went mad in the supermarket … well, haven’t we all felt like that at times, especially if we have had two small...
HENRY GEE A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 billion years in 12 chapters. Reviewed by Robin Riedstra
Henry Gee manages to convey 4.6 billion years of history and a planet’s sense of yearning in one slim volume. Douglas Adams wrote in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry...
NICK EARLS Wisdom Tree: Five Novellas. Reviewed by Michelle McLaren
This month’s Flashback Friday explores Nick Earl’s entwined Wisdom Tree novellas from 2016: Gotham, Venice, Vancouver, Juneau, and NoHo. The Tolstoy quotation about unhappy families could easily have been the epigraph to every one of the five novellas that...
JAY PARINI Borges and Me. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Jay Parini’s memoir provides an insight into the famous South American author as the two of them tour the Scottish Highlands. It doesn’t matter if you have never read any of the work of the famous Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges, neither had Jay Parini when...
Recent Posts
CHRISTINE BALINT A Single Witness. Reviewed by Ann Skea14 May 2026Christine Balint’s fourth novel takes inspiration from the courage of a teenage [ … ]
VERONICA ROTH Seek the Traitor’s Son12 May 2026Set in a future Earth, the first instalment of Veronica Roth’s new [ … ]
FRANCESCA DE TORES Cast Away. Reviewed by Ann Skea7 May 2026The new novel from the author of Saltblood again traverses the high seas, this [ … ]
CLARA BRACK The Secret Landscapes: On not pleasing your mother. Reviewed by Sandra Hogan5 May 2026Clara Brack finds her own voice in exploring the differences between her [ … ]