by NRB | 2 Oct 2024 | Non-fiction |
Katherine Wiles’ life as a professional opera singer seems glossed with sunshine in this memoir. You will sing and it will work out. You will find your place in the world. Just keep knocking on all those doors. Katherine Wiles has always had this voice in her head,...
by NRB | 25 Sep 2024 | Non-fiction |
Researcher Lynne Kelly explains the groundbreaking discovery of the gene that enables humans to store knowledge – and create art. What makes us human? The question is philosophic, but increasingly the answer concerns DNA. We share 98.7 per cent of our genetic matter...
by NRB | 20 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
Maggie Walters’ memoir goes beyond the clichés of Hollywood to describe what it’s like living with mental illness. Maggie Walters was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder) 30 years ago. On the outside, she is like...
by NRB | 14 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
Fintan O’Toole takes a fresh look at the world’s most famous playwright and the resonances his plays hold for our own time. Fintan O’Toole takes issue with the way Shakespeare has commonly been taught and discussed since the nineteenth century. In particular, he...
by NRB | 13 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
Ariane Beeston’s memoir chronicles her experience of postpartum psychosis, a devastating but little-understood condition. Because I’m Not Myself, You See casts a spotlight on an issue I knew nothing about. Postpartum psychosis is the most severe form of postpartum...
by NRB | 8 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
A mysterious man named the Pirate and the beautiful island of Corfu feature in this memoir from the author of The Sorrow Stone. It is September 1990. Kári Gíslason and his friend Paul have been hitchhiking across Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Italy. They are now on a...
by NRB | 25 Jul 2024 | Non-fiction |
In the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, our need to understand the US feels more immediate than ever. What sort of society is America? Can it, in fact, even be regarded as a society? The country has an exalted view of itself as a land of...
by NRB | 18 Jul 2024 | Non-fiction |
Sam Elkin’s memoir encompasses the politics of the queer community and the realities of gender transition. Sam Elkin has written an intriguing memoir which encompasses his transition to a transmasculine male and his work for the pilot queer legal service set up within...
by NRB | 11 Jul 2024 | Non-fiction |
At last, a wonderfully comprehensive biography of tennis legend Harry Hopman, who captained Australia’s Davis Cup teams to 16 wins from 21 Challenge Round finals. It is fortunate that Michael Sexton took on the task. A gifted writer, whose credits include the...
by NRB | 4 Jul 2024 | Crime Scene, Non-fiction |
Love a good word list? More than 50 years since it was first compiled, this glossary of prison slang is a fascinating window into the past. In the early 1970s, two researchers for the yet-to-be-published Macquarie Dictionary, Sue Butler and Vanessa Mack, asked the...
by NRB | 2 Jul 2024 | Non-fiction |
Andrew Fowler argues that the AUKUS submarine deal compromises Australia’s sovereignty and exposes the country to the danger of nuclear waste. Vassal state: a state with varying degrees of independence in its internal affairs but dominated by another state in its...
by NRB | 13 Jun 2024 | Non-fiction |
Geoffrey Robertson argues that the United Nations needs to establish a new court in order to bring Vladimir Putin to justice. Geoffrey Robertson is an internationally renowned lawyer specialising in human rights, and is a champion of the role of the courts in...
ANNA DOWNES Red River Road and LISA KENWAY All You Took From Me. Reviewed by Justine Ettler3 October 2024These two new crime thrillers from Australian writers Anna Downes and Lisa [ … ]
ANTONIA PONT The Memory Library. Reviewed by Ann Skea1 October 2024Memories are not merely recounted in Antonia Pont’s novella. How would you like [ … ]
ALINA BELLCHAMBERS The Order of Masks. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley26 September 2024Spies, magic, intrigue, and the human cost of an expanding empire all feature [ … ]
