Culture
Books
Beautiful beginnings: the first books that made their marks in 2023
First books can sometimes slip under the radar, but here are 10 that really caught the eye.
- by Nicole Abadee
Latest
How a podcast about failure became a phenomenal success
When Elizabeth Day started a podcast about failure, she thought “maybe a dozen people” would listen. Now there more than one million monthly listeners.
- by Lenny Ann Low
A propulsive mystery of secrets in a closeted world
Erina Reddan sets her absorbing domestic drama in the shadow of a mysterious gated community.
- by Jessie Tu
No glamour in this prize-winning portrayal of a traumatised addict
Mick Cummins steers away from any glorification of drugs in his debut novel.
- by James Antoniou
New books: What’s in store in 2024
There are masses of books already scheduled for publication next year. Here is just a selection of them
- by Jane Sullivan
From Mao to the CIA, how books have been vehicles and victims of war
Some 500 million books were lost, destroyed or abandoned during World War II. The retreating British left 200,000 Penguin paperbacks in Belgium and France.
- by Stuart Kells
Murder, mayhem, villainy! 10 best crime reads of 2023
This year was a bumper year for crime fiction, especially books written by Australians.
- by Sue Turnbull
Eight books: A romantic thriller and a Zen way to face climate change
Our reviewers cast their eyes over recent fiction and non-fiction publications.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
Tracing your family history is one thing, writing it is the knack
Graeme Davison’s beautifully written family history tells how he established his identity by default.
- by Simon Caterson
Like Kafka’s The Castle, Prague is both welcoming and entirely elusive
Initially disappointed that the Prague of my pre-Velvet Revolution childhood had succumbed to unfettered commercialism, my disappointment soon passed.
- by Bram Presser
A nice voice? Narrating an audiobook takes a whole lot more
Audiobooks proved increasingly popular in Australia in 2023 – here’s how narrators tackle the task.
- by Helen Pitt