What to read this week

A lush hardback by Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter, and a tribute to Modernist design feature in our Notable Books this week.

What to read this week.

Telling: Stories of Resilience is a powerful project of truth-telling. Commissioned by the Nairm Marr Djambana Aboriginal Corporation in Victoria and published by Magabala Books, Australia’s leading Indigenous publishing house, the anthology brings together the voices of twelve extraordinary Elders from Victoria.

Telling.

Each Elder presents a condensed version of their life story; we journey through early life experiences, unthinkable challenges, and remarkable triumphs. They all end with a message of hope, sharing their wisdom and vision for future generations. The stories each leave their own impressions, but when read together, the theme of collectivity emerges, with the vital importance of community and connection continually resurfacing. This is a nourishing read to end a difficult year.

Zen in the Garden.

Zen in the Garden is an absolute gem of a book. Miki Sakamoto is an author originally from Japan but now a long-term resident of Germany. In this, she establishes an insightful philosophy of living through meditations on gardening. Sakamoto filters her personal experiences through a Zen Buddhist lens, conveyed with a poet’s lyricism and attention to the beauty of the natural world. While it is certainly a book about plants, it is also about so much more. Through Sakamoto’s eyes, mindful gardening becomes a form of “active, outwardly directed meditation” with the power to transform your entire way of being in, and relating to, the world. Gentle, accessible and awe-inspiring, Zen in the Garden is perfect for gifting this festive season.

Songs from the Kitchen Table.

Archie Roach’s straightforward words and music stand as anthems for the dispossessed. He shared his love of music with his life partner, and groundbreaking Indigenous songwriter, Ruby Hunter, who passed away a decade before Archie’s own death in 2021. Songs from the Kitchen Table is the first significant tribute to Ruby, and an important record of their partnership. It includes lyrics to 80 of Archie’s songs and 30 of Ruby’s, including Archie’s Took the Children Away and Ruby’s Down City. Beautifully illustrated, and containing rare photographs, album covers, stories, artwork, and handwritten lyrics, this is a powerful commemoration of two of Australia’s most iconic and important musicians, and a love story for the ages.

West Heart Kill.

Plenty of novels claim to be “unlike anything you have ever read”, but this one really does deliver. Its distinctiveness becomes brilliantly apparent from the opening pages, where the reader is addressed as “a veteran of murder” – we are invited to engage with the text as complicit sleuths, rather than passive observers. A fascinating combination of direct address, word puzzles, quizzes and intertextual asides follow. West Heart Kill is as much about the craft and psychology of crime novels as it is itself a crime novel. It is one of those books that you will finish in a day, and then find yourself thinking about for weeks. Reading buddies are recommended, because you will want to debrief after.

The Boy Who Slept Through Christmas.

Matt Lucas is a comedian known for his starring role on the smash-hit series Little Britain. He has written a number of kids’ books, including the hilarious My Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Silly Book of… series. The Boy Who Slept Through Christmas is Lucas’ first book in musical form – and indeed, “possibly the world’s first musical novel”, as he writes in his acknowledgments. It is a delightful, immersive book that combines text, illustrations and music. The book includes easy-to-scan QR codes throughout, each pulling up a fantastic original musical number that Lucas has written and recorded himself. This is destined to become a Christmas reading (and singing) classic to share with the whole family, young and old.

Kill Your Husbands.

In this follow-up to his popular thriller and audible original Kill Your Brother, best-selling author Jack Heath takes readers on a twisty, wild, and extremely fun ride. Three couples in their thirties, friends from high school, are on an isolated weekend getaway in the bush. Despite the tension between them, a game of truth or dare leads to a partner swap with the lights off. When the lights come back on, one of them is dead. There is no phone, no internet and no way of leaving – and the killer has not finished yet. Heath is the author of more than 40 novels for both children and adults. Kill Your Husbands is a nailbiting, funny, rollercoaster of a read, perfect for the holidays.

The New Modernist House.

Patricia Callan grew up in a “classic 1970 McGlashan Everist house in the suburbs”. Years later, she began featuring mid-century homes online, first in a blog, and more recently on her popular Instagram account. Now, as mid-century modern continues its revival, Callan has collated examples of renovated modernist homes, gardens and furniture in a coffee table book. Particularly stunning is Alexander House in Sydney’s northern beaches. Jaw-dropping in form and potential, this dilapidated residence was summarily overlooked by agents, who instead spruiked its 1400 square metres of land as a “development opportunity.” Thanks to Callan, these homes are now in high demand. For those who can only dream, The New Modernist House is the next best thing.

The Talented Mrs Greenway.

Tea Cooper is an author of best-selling historical fiction. The Talented Mrs Greenway explores the life of the wife of renowned convict architect, Francis Greenway. Greenway, of course, designed many well-known Australian buildings, such as Sydney’s St. James Church, the Supreme Court and St Matthew’s Church in Windsor. His wife, Mary, was an enigmatic woman whose story is brought to vivid life here. The novel asks, whose hand really shaped Sydney? It is a question answered through Cooper’s meticulous research, compelling prose and, as always, superb storytelling. The Talented Mrs Greenway is as fascinating as it is enjoyable, with Cooper once again writing a woman back into the forefront of history.