Xmas books
If you didn't get these 2016 books for Christmas, pick up a copy for yourself.
Books
Book reviews: Artful Animals
Stephanie Owen Reeder explores the engaging escapades of a range of picture-book animals
A slice of the Jaipur Literary Festival pops up in Melbourne
Melbourne will get a taste of an Indian writers festival with a pop-up festival being held in February
Accolades flow for Melbourne author on US debut
She's already sold the film rights to her first novel, The Dry, but praise from the New York Times is more than welcome to Jane Harper.
A mind-blowing happy birthday to Doobie, Moog and every 50-year-old in the dictionary
Vin Diesel won't appreciate me saying this, but the Hollywood he-man is turning 50 this year. Not that he looks that old. Are you kidding me? My cousin Vinnie can bench-press 300 kilos. If your Whirlpool's broken, you could always scrub your laundry on that man's abs, but birthday candles don't lie.
A messy symphony that almost hits the ultimate crescendo
The best pop songs start out like something you want and then build up to something so much more.
Litbits January 14, 2017
Literary news and events in Canberra.
Comic look at the trials of mothering
Lauren Sams' novel is probably best read as a cautionary tale for new mothers.
With the wave of a wand, J. K. Rowling tops bestseller lists
Bringing back Harry Potter has returned J.K. Rowling to the top of the bestseller lists in a year when children's titles dominated sales in Australian bookshops.
The Conversation Yearbook: The best writing from the academic website
The best of these highlights from The Conversation interrogate the reality behind news report beat-ups of academic findings.
The Semiotics of Emoji: The future of the new visual langauge
Marcel Danesi maintains a healthy level of scepticism about the applications and future of the emoji.
George Lucas: The secrets of a film-maker
Want to know about the making of George Lucas' films? This biography is the book for you.
Treasure Palaces: The impact great museums have had on noted writers
The most memorable essays in Treasure Palaces capture how personal transformation can take place within the halls of these impersonal institutions.
History of Wolves: An impressive tragic novel
We learn quickly that a small child has died. But the question is how and why?
Little Deaths: A new look at a famous New York murder case
Emma Flint is the latest in a string of writers to base a book, play or movie on the notorious case of Alice Crimmins and the murder of her two children.
In the Valley of the Weed: A savage satire of neoliberalism
Michael Wilding's hybrids of satire and crime fiction are too funny to be called bleak, but conceal a complex seriousness of purpose.
Margaret the First: A novel take on a 17th-century writer
Margaret the First takes a real figure from 17th-century English history – a ''lady writer'' – and reimagines her life.
Karen Lamb: books that changed me
Karen Lamb is the author of the biography Thea Astley: Inventing Her Own Weather (UQP), shortlisted for six national literary awards, and co-winner of the 2016 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Non-Fiction. She teaches literature and communication in Sydney.
Sex, booze and backstabbing in a failed utopia
T.C. Boyle's new novel explores the tensions which might arise among a colony of people on another planet.
Quality leisure time one big game
Far from a fan of regimented leisure, William McInnes enjoys the party side of a dinner.
Strangers in Their Own Land: A visit to the forgotten people in the US
Arlie Russell Hochschild visits the geographic heart of the American right to discover what resonates with the people who opted for a Donald Trump presidency.
Win, Lose or Draw: A fond farewell to Cliff Hardy and his creator
The final Cliff Hardy outing – and Peter Corris' farewell to writing – has echoes of Hardy's first appearance in a novel that had a big influence on Australian crime writing.
Divergent author Veronica Roth enters her brave new fictional world
Veronica Roth will be distracted from her concern at the advent of President Donald Trump by the launch of Carve the Mark, the follow-up to her smash-hit Divergent trilogy.
String Theory: A novelist's brilliant writing on tennis
The American novelist David Foster Wallace understood that the compensation of not being a great player was that he might be able to describe the four-dimensional world champions inhabit.
Group fiction: The book club that wrote a book – well, two actually
The group of friends formerly known as The Book Sluts are at it again, with another outback saga.
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