Culture
Books
Punk angels and spiders with hands: Welcome to the New Weird
Weird fiction may have been around for a long while, but it’s making its presence felt in new and different ways.
- by Jane Sullivan
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Towel, hat, book: 10 best beach reads to pack this summer
Looking for the perfect read while you lounge on the shore? We have a solid, sandy list of potential delights.
- by Nicole Abadee
10 books to help you bring in the New Year
A new year means fresh offerings in our bookshops. Here are 10 books that will be published this month to hit the summer-reading spot.
- by Jason Steger
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
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