BOHUMIL HRABAL All My Cats. Reviewed by David A Mitchell
Novelist Bohumil Hrabal’s memoir explores the roots of cruelty by examining the author’s relationship with his many cats. Published in Czech in 1986, novelist Bohumil Hrabal’s non-fiction work All My Cats is now available in English, translated by Paul...
MICHELLE TOM Ten Thousand Aftershocks. Reviewed by Mary Garden
Michelle Tom’s memoir weaves together the experience of being in an earthquake and the reverberations of family trauma. In 2011, Michelle Tom’s house was damaged by the deadly magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch that killed 185 people. In her debut memoir...
NORMAN SWAN So You Think You Know What’s Good For You? Reviewed by Suzanne Marks
Dr Norman Swan investigates the evidence for common assumptions we make about what is and isn’t good for our health. Despite its 432 pages, a brief description of Swan’s book could be ‘a health compendium for busy people’. Part memoir, part handbook, it ranges...
LUCIA OSBORNE-CROWLEY My Body Keeps Your Secrets. Reviewed by Sanchana Venkatesh
Lucia Osborne Crowley explores how trauma affects our bodies, recounting her own experiences and those of others. ‘Despite our best efforts,’ writes Lucia Osborne-Crowley, ‘the body finds a way to express what the mind cannot.’ Through a combination of memoir,...
MARK WILLACY Rogue Forces: An explosive insiders’ account of Australian SAS war crimes in Afghanistan. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
In Rogue Forces journalist Mark Willacy documents the disturbing truth about war crimes committed by Australia’s SAS forces in Afghanistan. Lord Acton is the one who said ‘power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ He added, ‘Great men are...
BARRY NICHOLLS Second Innings: On men, mental health and cricket. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
In this poignant memoir Barry Nicholls melds family and personal history with reflections on cricket and mental health. According to Beyond Blue, men in Australia are known for ‘bottling things up’, which increases the risk of depression or anxiety being untreated –...
AC GRAYLING The Frontiers of Knowledge. Reviewed by Chris Maher
AC Grayling ranges across multiple disciplines as he presents the case for a broader understanding of the world. At this year’s Sydney Writers Festival, renowned philosopher and author AC Grayling implored the audience to become multi-literate, that is to read widely...
DAVID LINDENMAYER The Great Forest; MEG LOWMAN The Arbornaut. Reviewed by Ann Skea
David Lindenmayer’s homage to the beauty of the Victorian Central Highlands and Meg Lowman’s memoir of a career spent among the treetops both explore the importance of our forests. These two books are very different but the purpose of both is the same: to...
MICHAEL HOLDING Why We Kneel, How We Rise. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Michael Holding assembles a stellar array of champions to discuss their experiences of racism, Black achievements on and off the field, and finding a way forward. Michael Holding was a champion fast bowler and a member of the all-conquering West Indies cricket team...
CATHERINE RAVEN Fox and I: An uncommon friendship. Reviewed by Ann Skea
A reclusive scientist and a wild fox form an unusual bond in Catherine Raven’s memoir. I needed to be thinking of how my relationship with the fox began and why we rendezvoused every day at 4.15 p.m. We were meeting, after all, under odd and uncomfortable...
CLAIRE DUNN Rewilding the Urban Soul. Reviewed by Tracy Sorensen
Part memoir, part urgent appeal, Claire Dunn’s new book explores how our urban lives can become more intimate with nature. For many of us, the world of lockdown has been about life inside four walls: comfy clothes, home schooling and baking experiments under the...
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