Welcome to our most popular reviews of the year. Is your favourite among them?
It’s that time of year when we go through our stats to learn which reviews appealed to readers most. Is one of your favourite books on the list? Or perhaps there are a few titles you’d like to add to your holiday reading pile?
This is our final post for 2024. We’ll be back with more reviews in January. Huge thanks to all our readers for your continued support, and to our wonderful contributors – we wouldn’t be here without you.
A very happy and book-filled festive season to you all.
TRENT DALTON Lola in the Mirror
Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Homelessness, a mother and daughter on the lam – Trent Dalton’s third novel sprinkles magic dust on Brisbane’s grim underbelly.
Read the review of Lola in the Mirror.
TIM WINTON Juice
Reviewed by Robert Goodman
The opening of Tim Winton’s new novel Juice cannot help but put readers in mind of Cormac McCarthy’s seminal work The Road. A man, possibly an ex-soldier, and a young girl travel in a vehicle across a blasted future landscape.
Read the review of Juice.
MARY GARDEN My Father’s Suitcase
Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Mary Garden has written a fascinating and brutally frank memoir of her troubled relationship with her sister and the impact it has had on her life and her relationship with her family.
Read the review of My Father’s Suitcase.
GARETH GORE Opus
Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Opus Dei likes to operate in the shadows; Gareth Gore brings its activities – including allegations of human trafficking – into the light.
Read the review of Opus.
JOE ASTON The Chairman’s Lounge
Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
There’s more to Joe Aston’s book about Australia’s national carrier Qantas than access to a luxury airport lounge.
Read the review of The Chairman’s Lounge.
GARRY DISHER Sanctuary
Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Meet Grace. She’s a very good thief, having been taught by experts and practising since she was a kid. Specialising in small, high-value hauls, she’s mobile and extremely astute – this is a woman who knows her Jaeger-LeCoultre watches from the Patek Philippes.
Read the review of Sanctuary.
CAMERON STEWART Why Do Horses Run?
Reviewed by Ann Skea
The protagonist of Cameron Stewart’s novel finds solace in solitude as he walks through Australia, encountering both kindness and cruelty.
Read the review of Why Do Horses Run?
MELISSA LUCASHENKO Edenglassie
Reviewed by Michael Jongen
As I was reading it, Edenglassie received the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction. It is an ambitious novel and as I read I was already certain that Melissa Lucashenko had written a remarkable story of colonialism, displacement and modern Indigenous life.
Read the review of Edenglassie.
NICK BRYANT The Forever War
Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
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 democracy, freedom, liberty and progress. But Nick Bryant, who has devoted most of his career to reporting on events in the United States, wants to debunk such notions.
Read the review of The Forever War.
RORY STEWART Politics on the Edge
Reviewed by Tom Patterson
Rory Stewart’s memoir of his ten years as a Conservative MP reveals the instability of UK politics in the decade to 2020.
Read the review of Politics on the Edge.
Tags: Cameron | Stewart, Gareth | Gore, Garry | Disher, Joe | Aston, Mary | Garden, Melissa | Lucashenko, Nick | Bryant, Rory | Stewart, Tim | Winton, Trent | Dalton
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