by NRB | 14 Mar 2013 | Non-fiction |
The greatest mystery is the human brain, and Oliver Sacks is the ultimate detective. Oliver Sacks is a neurologist who writes with the imagination of a poet and with the sharp curiosity of the dedicated scientist. He delights in the variety of human experience and in...
by NRB | 12 Mar 2013 | Crime Scene, Fiction, Non-fiction |
History, mystery, truth and fiction; these two books expose the underbelly of south-east Queensland. In complete control of the genre, Matt Condon adds his own secret herbs and spices to his collection of murder mysteries: an uncanny knack for writing great...
by NRB | 5 Mar 2013 | Non-fiction |
Lies, puritans and hypocrites: England’s class system and the notorious Profumo Affair of the early 1960s. I can safely say I’ve never read a book with as many hyphenated names in it as this. As the author, with his own double-barrelled name, plots the comings...
by NRB | 11 Feb 2013 | Non-fiction |
This book invites readers to drink from a beautifully blended philosophical cup. Philosophers occupy a diffident space in Australian public life. No antipodean philosopher dominates debates here in the manner of Europeans like Slavoj Žižek or Bernard-Henri Lévy,...
by NRB | 17 Jan 2013 | Crime Scene, Non-fiction |
Crime novelist Anne Perry began her life as Juliet Hulme, who in 1954 was convicted of murder. Heavenly Creatures, Peter Jackson’s eerie film about the Parker-Hulme murder (starring Kate Winslet) is not easily forgotten. Set in 1954 in Christchurch, New Zealand, it...
by NRB | 10 Jan 2013 | Non-fiction |
This colonialist seized his chance and became known as the man who founded Singapore. Raffles and Singapore go together like a horse and carriage; it is impossible to think of one without the other. Thomas Stamford Raffles was an unlikely empire builder. Born into...
by NRB | 19 Dec 2012 | Crime Scene, Non-fiction |
This sensitive account of a family tragedy details the terrible consequences when the mental health system fails. How’s this for a great horror/who-done-it plot? Nick Waterlow is a world-renowned art curator, past director of the Biennale, with an Order of...
by NRB | 12 Dec 2012 | Non-fiction |
The forests of Britain entwine with retellings of Grimms’ fairytales in Sara Maitland’s imaginative investigation. This book is definitely for the bedside or the beach, perhaps for life. It offers a long leisurely exploration under the guidance of a sort...
by NRB | 6 Dec 2012 | Non-fiction |
Neil Young reveals and Pete Townshend conceals in these contrasting rock & roll memoirs. The rock & roll confidential has occupied one of the least edifying shelves in the bookstore. The hazy memories of too many girls and too many drugs were shaped by...
by NRB | 21 Nov 2012 | Fiction, Non-fiction, SFF |
This book of essays and stories adds new perspective to Stephenson’s interests and plot devices. Reviewing a collection of essays is a tricky task at the best of times, since they have often been written over a long period, with differing levels of experience,...
by NRB | 12 Nov 2012 | Non-fiction |
This memoir is a passionate account of a conductor’s lifetime enthusiasm for music. Give Me Excess of It is an immensely enjoyable book. Richard Gill and I are much of an age, both NSW Conservatorium students (though we never met there), and so many of his...
by NRB | 7 Nov 2012 | Non-fiction |
According to Germaine Greer, the revolution for women’s equality hasn’t even begun. Whether you agree with Greer or not, The Unfinished Revolution: Voices from the Global Fight for Women’s Rights makes it abundantly clear that the revolution is nowhere near finished....
JUNE WRIGHT Mother Paul series. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm6 December 2024June Wright has faded from view, but in 1948 her novel Murder in the Telephone [ … ]
ANDREW O’HAGAN Caledonian Road. Reviewed by Catherine Pardey5 December 2024This new novel from the author of Mayflies is set in London, but Glasgow is [ … ]
IAIN RYAN The Dream. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith3 December 2024Iain Ryan’s latest novel continues his fascination with 1980s Queensland and [ … ]
MARINA YUSZCZUK Thirst. Reviewed by Ann Skea28 November 2024Argentinian writer Marina Yuszczuk puts her twist on the vampire novel in [ … ]