Books
The Course of Love review: Alain de Botton returns to novels to look at romance
Simon Caterson 12:15am Alain de Botton contends that falling in love is just the start of the journey, far from the end.
Australia's bestselling books: Nora Roberts' Obsession holds on to the top spot
The ever-popular Nora Roberts keeps top spot for the second successive week.
Ben Elton goes from We Will Rock You to Shakespeare as a surprise 'half Aussie'
ELISSA BLAKE The critics mauled his Queen stage musical when it opened, but it continues to draw the crowds. And Ben Elton isn't done yet.
Kate Tempest: Hip-hop artist, musician and poet tries her hand at fiction
Caroline Baum Kate Tempest is prodigiously and variously gifted – hip-hop, rap, poetry, music. Now she has produced a novel – and it took only a week to write.
Where the Trees Were review: Inga Simpson's talents as a writer come to the fore
Peter Pierce There are signs of the creative-writing regimen to which Inga Simpson has submitted. However, her natural talents as a writer overcome such disquiet.
Avalanche review: Julia Leigh's intimate account of her IVF experiences
Gretchen Shirm Julia Leigh embraces the messiness of human experience, capturing not only the facts of her IVF treatment, but the nuance of her internal responses to it.
'The street swings backwards...' – S.J. Finn's poem titled Falling Forward
S.J. Finn S.J. Finn's poem begins in a suburban street.
A Very Expensive Poison review: The killing of Alexander Litvinenko
Steven Carroll The killing of Alexander Litvinenko is part of a new Cold War, says Luke Harding.
The Battle for Home review: A Syrian architect on life, conflict and aesthetics
Steven Carroll Marwa Al-Sabouni's book is part record of the conflict, part memoir and part philosophical meditation on the nature of architecture and aesthetics in response to war.
The Hospital by the River review: A record of a missionary life in Ethiopia
Steven Carroll Catherine Hamlin's memoir incorporates a portrait of Ethiopia from the post-war era, through coup and civil war, until now, is evocative and sometimes dramatic.
Road Series review: On the road with a poetic musician
Steven Carroll Hugo Race, who has made 20 albums with a wide variety of styles and influences, takes the reader on a 31-year road trip.
How I Met My Son review: How to deal with a child who rejects its initial gender
Katherine Wilson How I Met my Son: A Story of Love that Transcends Gender is about "a bunch of schmucks from Queensland, and one of us happens to be transgender".
Bookmarks: News and views from the book world
JASON STEGER Will Prince's memoir ever see the light of day?
Book review: Ahead of Us, by Dennis Haskell
Melinda Louise Smith Dennis Haskell's latest collection of poetry tenderly deals with the subject of his late wife's battle with cancer.
Book review: murder mystery What Remains is Canberra author Tracey Lee's fine debut novel
Robert Willson Tracey Lee's What Remains is an impressive first novel, with two more in the series to come.
The mystery of the Sydney Hilton bombing endures
On Monday February 13 1978 a bomb hidden in a garbage bin exploded as it was emptied into the back of a garbage truck, killing three people outside the Hilton Hotel, where inside some of the most powerful world leaders were meeting.
Swedish author Jonas Jonasson, the hitman and God
LINDA MORRIS Swedish author Jonas Jonasson borrows God for his latest comedy caper.
Women's body parts missing from book covers
SUSAN WYNDHAM You can't entirely judge a book by its cover, but you can judge a book cover.
Our Man Elsewhere review: The forgotten brilliance of Alan Moorehead
Ann Moyal Alan Moorehead was one of Australia's greatest writers, but he made his name overseas as a journalist during World War II. This new biography introduces him to a new audience.
Our Tiny, Useless Hearts review: A modern-day farce that scrutinises the family
Helen Elliott Toni Jordan, an elegant and informed writer who might also have shone as a stand-up comedian, is just the writer to catch the merriment of farce as it flies and flick it back between the book covers.
Turning Pages: In praise of Charlotte Bronte and the greatness of her work
Jane Sullivan We should celebrate Charlotte Bronte on her 200th anniversary as a writer of great achievement who remains relevant today.
Dark Fires Shall Burn review: Anna Westbrook's murder story in post-war Sydney
Dianne Dempsey The time is 1946 and in inner-city Sydney a critical housing shortage, impoverishment, post-war trauma and lawlessness have created a ferment of chaos and danger.
Killing Season Uncut review: The full story of the politics and the documentary
Richard Ferguson The story is not simply a retelling of the Rudd-Gillard Wars, but Sarah Ferguson also includes her own adventures trying to get this documentary up.
The Senility of Vladimir P review: Michael Honig's fierce satire on Russia
Cameron Woodhead You get the sense in The Senility of Vladimir P that Putin would find the novel's singular blackness easy to spin.
Everyone Brave is Forgiven review: Chris Cleave's wartime romance echoes Waugh
Cameron Woodhead The prejudices and blinkers of the characters' upbringing are challenged by the cruel reality of the Blitz.
Like I Can Love review: Kim Lock's domestic noir full of secrets and melodrama
Cameron Woodhead This is competent commercial fiction that creates a stark sense of place and incorporates a range of social issues.
Girls on Fire review: Robin Wasserman treads familiar territory
Cameron Woodhead The geek girl made cool is ultra-familiar terrain.
Fifty Nerds of Grey: Twitter parody turns erotic book into followers
LINDA MORRIS A Twitter feed parodying E.L. James Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and celebrating geeks across the world has amassed a following of more than 220,000.
Writer Katherine Brabon wins 2016 Vogel's Literary Award for The Memory Artist
MELANIE KEMBREY The winner of the coveted Vogel's Literary Award - which launched the careers of Tim Winton, Kate Grenville and Gillian Mears - has been announced.
Bestsellers: Helen Garner takes top spot in independent bookshops
Helen Garner's new collection on non-fiction has hit top spot in the independent bookshop charts.
Telling the stories of characters with Down syndrome
Sarah Kanake Few novels feature them, and even fewer narrate the story.
Prince Charles has a crack at Hamlet to mark 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death
Richard Vernalls The Prince of Wales became the Prince of Denmark as he joined acting royalty on stage to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.
Bookshop - a round-up of the latest releases April 24
Thuy On Emily Maguire's novel explores violence against women including the media's fixation on photogenic victims.
J.K. Rowling hints at new Harry Potter storyline secrets
LINDA MORRIS J.K. Rowling visits London set of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and urges its creators to not give away its secrets.
Between a Wolf and a Dog review: Georgia Blain's cool eyed-look at family crises
Dorothy Johnston Part of the reason Between a Wolf and a Dog succeeds so well is that everything in the novel is heartfelt without being in the least sentimental.
The Summer before the War review: Helen Simonson on love and war in rural England
Daphne Guinness It is 1914 when Beatrice Nash, 23, arrives at the small coastal town of Rye and is about to start a new life. But the spectre of war looms.
David Astle's Wordplay: When it's time to leave, have the right phrase at hand
David Astle Surely every couple has one, don't they? A secret sign or phrase that means it's time to hit the road, now
Bookmarks: News and views from the book world
JASON STEGER Monica Lewinsky's experience is exactly the sort of thing that inspired Charlotte Wood to write her Stella-winning novel.
Litbits: April 23, 2016
RON CERABONA This week, entries for the 2016 Australian Catholic University Prize for Poetry open, celebrate Shakespeare, meet chef Justine Schofield, and much more.
Ian Lowe: Books that changed me
Emeritus professor at Griffith University and prolific author Ian Lowe reveals the books that inspired and changed him throughout his life.
A spin through literary New York
SUSAN WYNDHAM Seven days in New York has the cultural density of a month in most other places.
Living on Paper review: A wonderful opportunity to meet Iris Murdoch again
Stephanie Dowrick With exemplary skill the editors have collected and framed with highly readable, illuminating commentaries the only self-portrait Iris Murdoch will have.
The Age of Genius: A.C. Grayling on when thinking left behind the medieval times
Steven Carroll A.C. Grayling singles out one century in which the key turned in the lock and the door opened on to the universe we recognise today as ours – the 17th.
We Need Silence to Find Out What We Think review: Shirley Hazzard's fine essays
Andrew Riemer I find Shirley Hazzard the thinker, essayist and cultural commentator compelling and authoritative – even though I do not entirely share some of her literary and cultural convictions.
The Other Mrs Walker review: When the reader plays the detective
Kerry Goldsworthy This story stretches over almost a century and pieces together clues to establish the identity of an old woman found dead in her Edinburgh flat.
The Secret Heiress review: All the Gothic elements plus a little bit more
Kerryn Goldsworthy The Secret Heiress has all the ingredients but this Gothic cake doesn't rise.
The Beekeeper's Secret review: A dark strain to a sweet confection
Kerryn Goldsworthy A former Catholic nun faces a dilemma about a long-held secret.
Eleanor review: A fantastic vision of twins and hidden dimensions of experience
Kerryn Goldsworthy Jason Gurley's unusual fantasy imagines experience re-enact itself within a family.
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