Book News, Reviews, Author Interviews & Recommendations

Cover of <i>The Crying Place</i> by Lia Hills contains evocative and beautifully realised portraits, especially of women ...

The Crying Place review: an eloquent vision of Australia's interior

An intriguing story about dealing with grief, appeasing ghosts and expiating guilt.

Could Jane Austen have been poisoned?

Jane Austen: Theories abound about her early demise.

The cause of Jane Austen's mysterious death at age 41 has been much pondered over the years. Was it a hormonal disorder? Cancer? Complications from drinking unpasteurised milk?

Footrot Flats creator Murray Ball dead

Cartoonist Murray Ball at his desk at his Gisborne home.

Footrot Flats creator Murray Ball has died. He was aged 78.

Comedian adds bestselling children's author to credits

Now top of the pops with Kids: Peter Helliar and his first children's book, Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase.

The advantage of a celebrity television profile in book publishing has been underlined again with Peter Helliar's first outing as a children's book author.

New book tells how rude, nude TV soap shocked Australia

The show that shocked staid Australia: actor Abigail, who played bombshell Bev Houghton in 1970s TV series <i>Number ...

A Melbourne super-fan of risque 1970s soap Number 96 interviewed more than 50 cast and crew for new book.

Then there were six: The Stella Prize shortlist

This year's Stella Prize longlist has been whittled down to six books all of which deal powerfully with women's issues, be it racism, violence against women or mortality.

Big business has created 'alternative facts' for decades

Big Tobacco provided the playbook now used by opponents of action on climate change.

A Washington swamp Trump won't drain: professional liars whose job is to sway public policy.

Ancient text that explains Trumpism

Greek historian Thucydides and US President Donald Trump.

Forget modern dystopian novels. Greek history offers a far better guide to today's US President.

Louis' view from the heart of the 'Loo

Louise Nowra and Coco hold forth outside the Old Fitzroy.

Modern-day Woolloomooloo is a remnant of the old, wild Sydney.

Taking on the gods

Neil Gaiman delves into emotions and motivations in his latest novel.

Neil Gaiman's latest book is a light-hearted retelling of the ancient northern stories about the creation of the world.

Wordplay: Using language to shake the system

Good propaganda is worth spreading.

Stephen King trolls Trump’s tweets as only a horror writer could

Stephen King has taken aim at President Trump in a series of hilarious, but haunting, tweets.

There's a fan theory that best-selling author and master of horror fiction Stephen King predicted the rise of Donald Trump in his novel about a clairvoyant who foresees a demagogic salesman win the U.S. presidency and start a global war.

Line of Fire review: extraordinary tale of a little-known tragedy

Townsend uses fiction writing techniques to tell this forgotten true story

Eating Ourselves Sick review: an expose of our poor modern diet

<I>Eating Ourselves Sick</I> by Louise Stephens.

Louise Stephen wants to empower people to take back their own health

We Are The Change We Seek review: the powerful speeches of Barack Obama

<I>We Are The Change We Seek</i> by Barack Obama.

Read these speeches and weep for what America has lost.

Looking for Rose Paterson review: the revealing letters of Banjo Paterson's mother

Looking for Rose Paterson by Jennifer Gall.

A rewarding treatment of the letters of Rose Paterson.

Turning Pages: the case for 'sensitivity readers'

Becky Albertalli's novel The Upside of Unrequited.

Writers creating characters of different identities can now seek help from specialised readers.

The Slow Waltz of Turtles review: confusing mix of whimsy, exoticism and seriousness

Cover of The Slow Waltz of Turtles, by Katherine Pancol

French writer Katherine Pancol's novel suffers from an unevenness of tone

Norse Mythology review: Neil Gaiman takes on the gods

Neil Gaiman's anthology, he says, is merely one re-telling around the eternal campfire.

Poet receives telephone call of a lifetime

Poet Ali Cobby Eckermann has won a life-changing literary prize.

It's described as a telephone call of a lifetime: that moment when an unsuspecting writer receives the ground-shaking news that they have won one of the world's richest prizes for literature.