Review
A melancholy family saga, a year of mudlarking and other new books
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
Latest
Get your kids off their screens with our pick of 2024’s kids’ books
Lure your kids away from their screens these holidays with our top pick of picture books, middle-grade and young adult fiction.
- by Frances Atkinson
Retelling of Iranian embassy siege is as gripping as an action film
Ben MacIntyre’s thrilling account of the siege that gripped the world offer some astonishing new details.
- by Simon Caterson
Alex Miller’s novel skilfully explores the redemptive power of art
Miller has often drawn on the experience of art and artists and The Deal is no exception.
- by Michael McGirr
Australian gothic, cat ladies and an elegy to oceans: eight new books
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction titles.
- by cameron woodhead and Fiona capp
I am baffled by Nikki Gemmell’s new ‘feminist’ novel
Wing features a cast of truly awful, nasty people. What is Gemmell trying to achieve here?
- by Helen Elliott
Woman who cried Woolf: contradictory voices bring us closer to truth
Michelle de Kretser’s seventh novel blends genres of essay, fiction and memoir.
- by Jo Case
How R.E.M. became ‘the most improbably successful group in music’
From sleeping on floors and a legendary first gig in a church, even from the beginning R.E.M. were determined to bend the mainstream to their will.
- by Daniel Herborn
Stephen Fry’s retelling of The Odyssey is funny, thrilling and relatable
Don’t be put off by the dactylic hexameter, this reimagining of Homer’s epic poem is a breezy read.
- by Eddie Hampson
A moving insight into one Palestinian family’s generations of survival
Award-winning author, playwright and poet Samah Sabawi’s memoir follows her family from Palestine under British rule to Redland Bay in Queensland.
- by Sarah Ayoub
A road trip from hell, trailblazing essays and other new books
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases, from outback crime to cultural and economic history.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/book-reviews-1q4