by NRB | 14 Feb 2024 | Non-fiction |
Lol Tolhurst reflects on Goth as a post-punk cultural movement, its resonance with the Romantic era, and its enduring appeal. Lol Tolhurst’s first memoir, Cured: The tale of two imaginary boys, was his account of The Cure’s early days. Tolhurst was one of the band’s...
by NRB | 13 Feb 2024 | Non-fiction |
Rachel Maddow’s account of how Nazism gained a foothold among US politicians in the 1930s holds lessons for the present. When Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in early 1933, he embarked on a long-term plan not only to keep the United States out of a future...
by NRB | 30 Jan 2024 | Non-fiction |
The Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer reflects on his life and what it means to be a Vietnamese refugee in America. In 2015 Viet Thanh Nguyen published The Sympathizer, a novel that explored the Viet Nam war, particularly the involvement of America,...
by NRB | 19 Dec 2023 | Fiction, Non-fiction |
Which of our reviews did you enjoy the most in 2023? We’ve checked the stats and the results are in: here are our top 10 reviews of the year. Is your favourite among them? Or one of your favourite books? Or just a few things you’d like to add to your TBR...
by NRB | 12 Dec 2023 | Non-fiction |
Simon Butt reveals how and why corruption remains a problem at the highest levels of the Indonesian legal system. Simon Butt is a Sydney University law academic who has devoted much of his career to researching and writing on the operation of the Indonesian legal...
by NRB | 7 Dec 2023 | Non-fiction |
In Stories for Harry & Ray, Michael Sexton brings together 43 of his essays on sport. The result is a small gem. Fellow Adelaide sportswriter Michael Sexton has a number of impressive books to his name – 1964: A Season, A Game, A State; Chappell’s Last Stand;...
by NRB | 28 Nov 2023 | Non-fiction |
Robyn Davidson’s memoir delves into her family relationships and provides a window onto the ongoing trauma of sibling abuse. Robyn Davidson is best known for her international bestseller Tracks, about her trek across 2700 kilometres of Australian desert in 1977. Her...
by NRB | 2 Nov 2023 | Non-fiction |
David Marr’s account of his ancestors’ involvement with the Native Police and the murder of Aboriginal people is distressing and important. Several years ago, one of David Marr’s older relatives informed him that his great-great-grandfather Reginald...
by NRB | 10 Oct 2023 | Non-fiction |
Kate Fullagar puts the lives of Wangal man Bennelong and Governor Arthur Phillip into a larger context beyond the brief years they spent together. What we regard as the modern history of Australia commenced with Britain establishing a colony in New South Wales in...
by NRB | 26 Sep 2023 | Non-fiction |
From the ancient megalodon to Jaws, Big Meg feeds our fascination with huge and dangerous marine creatures. I was fascinated by the prospect of Big Meg: The story of the largest and most mysterious predator that ever lived, but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I...
by NRB | 21 Sep 2023 | Non-fiction |
In this account of Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation case, Chris Masters also examines the mental health challenges faced by veterans. Let us begin with the proposition that war is madness, and explore it through the lens of a particular soldier named Ben Roberts-Smith....
by NRB | 5 Sep 2023 | Non-fiction |
Anna Funder reveals the significant and unacknowledged contribution of Mrs Orwell to the famous writer’s career. Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them … The process has to be...