MIKEY ROBINS Reprehensible: extract
We’re delighted to bring you a tale of literary forgery and deception in eighteenth-century London in this extract from Mikey Robins’s latest book Reprehensible, an entertaining compendium of disreputable deeds from around the world and down the ages. There’s...
JAY KRISTOFF Truel1f3: Lifel1k3 Book 3. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley.
Truel1f3 delivers a satisfying conclusion to Jay Kristoff’s dystopian Lifel1k3 series, a tale of love, sacrifice and betrayal. ‘You built a world on metal backs. Held together by metal hands. And one day soon, those hands will close. And they’ll become fists.’...
PETER O’BRIEN Bush School and JOHN COOK with JON BAUER The Last Lighthouse Keeper. Reviewed by Ann Skea
These two memoirs of life in remote parts of Australia reveal the challenges of isolation. By the time Easter approached… I was feeling quite desperate: I had no company of my own age, I had an improper diet, I spoke with other adults only on Sunday afternoons...
Special Friday Giveaway
Here’s something to get the weekend off to a great start: a chance to win a swag of great books in our special Friday giveaway. To go in the draw to win all four titles, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Friday’ in the subject...
MICAIAH JOHNSON The Space Between Worlds. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Micaiah Johnson delivers a fresh take on multiple worlds and explores issues of power, nature and fate in her novel The Space Between Worlds. The idea of multiple worlds or multiple realities is a common one in science fiction. In her debut, The Space Between...
JAMES GARDNER The Louvre: The many lives of the world’s most famous museum. Reviewed by Ann Skea
James Gardner’s history of the Louvre includes emperors and architects, social and political upheaval, war and revolution – and great works of art. Before the Louvre was a museum, it was a palace, and before that a fortress, and before that a plot of earth, much...
CHRISTOPHER RAJA Into the Suburbs: extract
This week’s extract is from Christopher Raja’s memoir Into the Suburbs, a story of immigration and family, ambition and tragedy. It is also a resonant portrait of Australia through the eyes of an outsider. Christopher Raja spent the first eleven years of his life in...
LUKE HORTON The Fogging. Reviewed by Amy Walters
Luke Horton’s tense debut novel asks uncomfortable questions about intimate relationships. In hindsight, the end of a relationship can take on an air of inevitability. But is it possible to pinpoint the exact moment when it irrevocably breaks down? Or is the end...
KIM KELLY Her Last Words. Reviewed by Sally Nimon
Historical novelist Kim Kelly (author of Walking, Sunshine and Wild Chicory) turns to the 21st century in her new novel to deliver a tale of intrigue and literary ambition. What a strange year 2020 has been. The world has already had bushfires, floods, pandemics,...
MIA WALSCH Money for Something: extract
This week we have an extract from Mia Walsch’s memoir Money for Something: Sex work. Drugs. Life. Need. It’s a lively, insightful, frank and at times harrowing account of a young woman’s experiences as a sex worker. Her mental illness makes it difficult for her to...
VICTORIA HANNAN Kokomo. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, Victoria Hannan’s debut is a rewarding journey. Victoria Hannan’s Kokomo takes us deep into the conundrum of love, with its heartbreak and trauma. In this, her first...
Recent Posts
BERNICE BARRY The Names of a Hare. Reviewed by Ann Skea21 April 2026Set during England’s witch persecutions, Bernice Barry’s novel draws on [ … ]
FIONA WRIGHT Kill Your Boomers. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell16 April 2026Poet and essayist Fiona Wright’s funny and furious debut novel tackles [ … ]
INGA SIMPSON Once We Were Wildlife. Reviewed by Ann Skea14 April 2026These stories from the author of The Thinning and Understory are driven by [ … ]
ALAN FYFE The Cross Thieves. Reviewed by Paul Anderson9 April 2026Alan Fyfe’s second novel is a zany, punchy, circuitous literary picaresque set [ … ]