Harry Potter and the magic tome
Twenty years on from his first adventure, JK Rowling’s boy wizard continues to enchant readers.
Books
Delusion or massive conspiracy?
We expect a 384-page hatchet job on Cardinal George Pell from author Louise Milligan. Does she deliver?
Searching for meaning
Two authors offer different views on modern political thought in a world that has gone wrong.
Macarthur Park takes the cake
Veteran American songwriter Jimmy Webb’s Australian tour is bound to be peppered with anecdotes from his new memoir.
Picking up pieces of his past
This is a deeply beautiful book by a master craftsman that will remind you of your own parents.
Gold not always a safe bet
With another global financial crisis due soon, is gold really a safe bet for investors?
Sentences pack patrician punch
Michel Winock distinguishes himself as a biographer in his contextualised analysis of Flaubert’s fiction.
Tale will leave you terrified
This slim volume is best consumed in a single sitting, preferably with the lights on and the doors locked tight.
Ladies of legend
When Achilles saw the queen of the Amazons, he instantly fell in love. You can see why.
Awful apostrophes
Readers have responded wonderfully to my recent column on awful apostrophes and other grammatical gangsters.
Antidotes to misogyny
Two authors offer orginal takes on the issues of self harm and addiction.
Enigmas inside your head
We know (more or less) that anaesthesia works, but we don’t really know how or even exactly why it does.
Wanders of the urban world
To the flaneur, the sights, sounds and smells of city streets are the stuff of life.
Dylan’s belated Nobel lecture
Bob Dylan finally delivers the lecture required to keep the $1.2m prize money, eight months after he won the Nobel prize for literature | LISTEN
Keeping keen eye on the past
Barbara Fisher is one of a group of Australian women poets who started late and had to make up for ‘‘lost’’ time.
Islands of the imagination
The Phantom Atlas shows how places that are not there can endure, sometimes for centuries, on maps.
Blues bombshell’s consequences
In and around the chaos, Hari Kunzru weaves pertinent thoughts on race, exploitation and the power of music.
Growing up is hard to do
Briohny Doyle’s Adult Fantasy explores the holy trinity: career, house, family.
Strout’s uneasy truths
Elizabeth Strout again proves in this book of interwoven short stories that nothing is off limits in her writing.
Maternal warmth lights lives
Linda Shum became determined to make a difference after visiting an orphanage in China.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/books/page/190