NewsBite

Book Reviews
Series

Book Reviews

What’s good, what’s bad, and what’s in between in literature? Here we review the latest titles.

51 stories

How Joe Biden’s inner circle lied about the president’s mental state

Journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson have written a damning account suffused with relentless agony, writes Bruce Wolpe.

  • by Bruce Wolpe
Advertisement
Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

I just read Jacinda Ardern’s memoir. No wonder she didn’t last

The former New Zealand prime minister’s memoir isn’t a dry political affair; it’s full of sympathy, love and empathy.

  • by Jenna Price
There’s a bumper selection of new books to read this June.

Estranged sisters and a curious gift: 14 new books to get stuck into this month

There are plenty of books heading our way as we head into winter. Here is a small sample.

  • by Jason Steger
Author Dominic Amarena

Australia has a rich tradition of fakers and forgers – this story offers a worthy addition

Dominic Amerena’s novel follows an unnamed, opportunistic narrator looking to make his name in the literary world.

  • by Declan Fry

For 20 years this novel has reduced the most hardened critics to tears

Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, published 20 years ago, has sold millions of copies and been translated into 50 languages.

  • by Jane Sullivan

Searching for your next read? Here are 10 new books

Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.

  • by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
Case is looking forward to touring Australia next year.

A haunting memoir of a broken girl saved by rock ‘n’ roll

Singer-songwriter Neko Case reveals a childhood of poverty and emotional cruelty in her compelling new memoir.

  • by Michael Dwyer
Advertisement
Actor, playwright and now novelist Toby Schmitz.

Prepare to be discombobulated by this bonkers crime caper

Australian actor and playwright Toby Schmitz has made an outlandish excursion into the crime genre.

  • by Sue Turnbull
Joe Carater, seen here in his 70s in 1983, was one of the Australians who fought in the Spanish Civil War.

The untold story of the Australians who helped fight Franco

The little-known story of a group of Australians whose principles and conviction led them to fight in the Spanish Civil War.

  • by Kurt Johnson
Author Kate Grenville.

This truth-telling book unsettled me, both mentally and physically

Kate Grenville’s moving book follows her pilgrimage through the places her family stories happened, to put the stories and the First Peoples back into the narrative.

  • by Helen Elliott
The Dream Hotel

In The Dream Hotel, even thinking about murder is enough to send you to jail

Laila Lalami imagines a world in which our dreams are monitored for clues to potential crimes.

  • by Madeleine Heffernan

Looking for something to read? Here are 10 new books

Our reviewers cast their eyes over 10 new fiction and non-fiction books.

  • by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
Merle Oberon in 1933.

The Hollywood legend who spent her career passing as white

This biography of Merle Oberon traces her roots from a life of poverty in India to the glamour of 1930s Hollywood, where she went to great lengths to hide her true identity.

  • by Brian McFarlane
Advertisement

An open marriage, wry humour and banned novels: 10 new books

Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.

  • by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll

These diaries of Joan Didion should never have been published

Notes to John is a crude, even aberrant, addition to Didion’s published writings.

  • by Nathan Smith
Author Caro Llewellyn.

A piercing, poignant tale about love, loss and writing

Caro Llewellyn’s Love Unedited is a read for the tender of heart and the independent of spirit.

  • by Vanessa Francesca

Suspense, spells and a deeply moving diary: 10 new books

Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction titles.

  • by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles.

How a seminal American artwork divided Australians

When Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles was bought in 1973 for $1.4 million by the Whitlam government, it sparked a national controversy.

  • by Michael McGirr
Bestselling novelist and romance evangelist Emily Henry.

Emily Henry’s new romcom proves again she is a formulaic genius

The bestselling author’s latest novel features all the tropes that her dedicated fans know and adore.

  • by Jessie Tu
Advertisement
Allende’s latest work has a stupendous dreamlike quality.

Isabel Allende’s new book is a bold, contradictory enchantment

The Chilean-American author’s latest work is moving, eloquent and breaks all the rules.

  • by Peter Craven

Online pile-ons and culture wars: How did we get here?

Philosopher A.C. Grayling dissects the evolution of cultural warfare and makes a sensible, if optimistic, case for an armistice of sorts.

  • by Pat Sheil

A Booker winner, a comedy and Hitler’s obsession with Einstein

Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.

  • by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
There’s a bumper selection of new books to read this May.

‘Inconvenient women’, mortality and a controversial work by Joan Didion: 13 new books to delve into

From a book that its own author may not have approved of to a beautiful and confronting photography collection, there’s a bumper crop of releases this month.

  • by Jason Steger
Katie Kitamura’s novel demonstrates that stories themselves are equal parts light and shadow.

This hotly anticipated novel explores the dark embers of the psyche

In the third instalment of her fictional triptych, Katie Kitamura wields her words with scalpel-like precision to explore the demands women are “expert at negotiating”.

  • by Jessie Tu
Tom Hanks’ daughter E A Hanks.

Tom Hanks’ daughter reveals a childhood marred by abuse at the hands of her mother

E.A. Hanks’ memoir recreates a road trip she once took with her late mother to seek answers to what was an “incomprehensible” childhood.

  • by Nathan Smith
Advertisement
Vials of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19.

Does the US suffer from an abundance of good intentions?

A central focus for US progressives should be raising wellbeing by creating more for everyone, argue Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson in their new book.

  • by Andrew Leigh

Eight new books to take you from rock ‘n’ roll to the joy of nature

Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.

  • by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
Author and director Nora Ephron.

Two new books delve into the 20th century’s wittiest women

Nora Ephron and Dorothy Parker lived in different times but had much in common.

  • by Tom Ryan
Yoko Ono

This new biography of Yoko Ono is a compelling, if one-sided, read

Biographer David Sheff first met John Lennon and Yoko Ono shortly before Lennon was murdered in 1981, and has remained friends with Ono since.

  • by JP O'Malley
James Bradley’s new novel is climate noir.

James Bradley’s new novel subverts the classic crime-solving trope

Landfall, like Bradley’s previous two novels, centres on exploring the impacts and possible remedies to the human-induced climate crisis.

  • by Justine Hyde
Attorney-turned-author Scott Turow.

The master of courtroom drama returns with a new sequel

Scott Turow resurrects an old hero for the latest novel in his Kindle County legal series.

  • by Tom Ryan
Advertisement

From a gothic ghost story to a titillating memoir: eight new books

Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases

  • by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
Composer, conductor and critic Fritz Hart.

The former Age critic who helped the MSO bring music to the people

Largely unknown outside academic circles, Fritz Hart was a seminal figure in Melbourne music.

  • by Barney Zwartz
   We can all see clouds.

From scientists to artists, clouds have always enchanted us

This guide to identifying clouds reminds us of the close historical connection between art and science in capturing natural phenomena.

  • by Simon Caterson
Cordelia Fine: every adult woman in her household is brought a cup of tea in bed.

A witty guide to fixing the status quo that harms us all

Award-winning author and academic Cordelia Fine gives us a once-in-a-lifetime analysis of gender equality – and what needs to change.

  • by Jenna Price
Australian author Vijay Khurana.

An evocative exploration of adolescence, loneliness and masculinity

Australian author Vijay Khurana’s debut rewards being read multiple times.

  • by Declan Fry

Millennials, mums and an Australian mermaid: Eight new books

Our reviewers cast their eyes over recent fiction and non-fiction releases.

  • by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
Advertisement
Jane Caro found that confronting the illusion of safety helped her stop fearing danger.

Is this the most Australian crime thriller of all time?

Jane Caro’s Lyrebird is a well-crafted crime novel – and as Aussie as it gets.

  • by Sue Turnbull
Debut author Sophie Quick

This sharp satire features a conwoman you can empathise with

The anti-heroine in Sophie Quick’s debut novel scams people just enough to get by – because she’s a single mother with no support.

  • by Jessie Tu
Spotify was meant to be the key to unlocking the world’s music, to unleashing creativity. It’s anything but.

‘Streaming as surveillance’: How Spotify is poisoning music in the digital age

In Mood Machine, American music journalist Liz Pelly outlines the story of the music streaming giant’s conquest of the format.

  • by Michael Dwyer
When Penrose publishes it is not out of any professional obligation, only because he has something worth saying.

The genius physicist whose work was inspired by Escher

Roger Penrose, a mathematician and physicist, is still working at age 93.

  • by Pat Sheil
Colum McCann did extensive due diligence for the writing of Apeirogon.

A poetic thriller about humanity and connection in the internet age

Colum McCann’s new novel is, as its title suggests, a twisty literary thriller that breaks the rules.

  • by Peter Craven

From a twisty thriller to a moving Ukrainian war diary: eight new books

Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.

  • by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
Advertisement
Swiss author Christian Kracht.

This bonkers road-trip story is witty, boring and annoying. I loved it

Swiss author Christian Kracht’s novel follows a mother and son on a road trip across Switzerland squandering their riches.

  • by Helen Elliott

You don’t want to think of your doctor as human: Adam Kay

The former doctor turned author (turned humorist) says he “probably” has PTSD after the traumatic event at work that caused him to change professions.

  • by John Bailey
Flynn tells the story of a global catastrophe through the prism of one small town in Orpheus Nine.

This gripping parable could only exist in a post-pandemic world

Chris Flynn’s new novel has the uneasy thrall of a lockdown-era nightmare.

  • by Jordan Prosser
There’s a bumper crop of new books this April.

Steve Vizard probes the Gallipoli myth and Brooke Boney gets personal: This month in books

Plenty of new books hit the bookshops today, with more to come later in the month. Here are 15 of them.

  • by Jason Steger
Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.

Graydon Carter’s adventures with Trump, Deep Throat and Anna Wintour

The legendary editor’s memoir is a heady account of the golden era of magazines.

  • by Nathan Smith

Eight books for every reader, from a romcom to essays on big ideas

Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.

  • by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
Advertisement
Sittenfeld is often slyly funny and occasionally hilarious in this collection of short stories.

Lively, wise and slyly funny: Curtis Sittenfeld’s short-story collection

Long-term readers will recognise Sittenfeld’s voice and for fans of her bestselling Prep, there’s an added bonus.

  • by Daniel Herborn

Original URL: https://www.watoday.com.au/culture/books/book-reviews-20250526-p5m2c9.html