

Our books columnist delves into an eclectic selection this month: two excellent new literary novels by Charlotte Wood and Lucy Treloar set in isolated rural Australia, the moving life story of ‘The Fonz’, and Kaz Cooke’s companion to menopause.
This month, our columnist examines three books that seek to understand the increasing polarisation of the post-2020 world.
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This month, our columnist explores five books that interrogate changing values and ethics: a biography of writer Frank Moorhouse, a schoolyard psychological thriller, two novels with true crimes at their centre, and a book by a researcher who goes undercover with extremists.
This month our book lover recommends two novels that satirise the idea of diversity as the new privilege, a debut memoir in essays both heartbreaking and deeply empathetic, and journalist Chris Masters’ account of his shocking exposé of flawed war hero Ben Roberts-Smith.
This month our columnist looks at the trend of the “sad girl novel” and recommends several sparkling, often humorous new books that go beyond the usual tropes to interrogate human nature and constructed identities.
Perceptions of normality and what constitutes a normal life are challenged in this month’s recommended reading, including Kris Kneen’s excoriatingly honest Fat Girl Dancing, Australian sound engineer and producer Tony Cohen’s cracking memoir, and a book celebrating neurodivergent love.
What do we do with the art of monstrous men? That’s the question posed by one of the books our columnist delves into this month. She also recommends two new Australian novels, and a searing examination of Gone with the Wind.