Review

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Fungi, snakes and Virginia Woolf: 10 new books

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

  • Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp

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Luna Park features 17 rides, carnival games, the state heritage-listed Coney Island funfair, the Big Top and Crystal Palace.

Conmen, crims and crooked cops: a rollercoaster ride through Luna Park’s history

Helen Pitt unearths wonderful anecdotes and tantalising trivia in her history of the famous amusement park.

  • Pat Sheil
Hilary McPhee says there is a lot of cautiousness in Australian publishing, thanks to the country’s defamation laws.

How two women changed the patriarchal world of Australian publishing

Hilary McPhee’s memoir is the story of how she and Diana Gribble discovered a new wave of local voices, such as Helen Garner and Tim Winton.

  • Helen Elliott
Author Louise Milligan.

Louise Milligan’s follow-up to Pheasants Nest is vivid and haunting

The award-winning journalist continues the story of her protagonist Kate Delaney in her second novel.

  • Sue Turnbull
 Leonardo Sciasci

How a novelist took on the Sicilian Mafia – and lived to tell the tale

Sicilian novelist and critic Leonard Sciascia fearlessly exposed the Mafia’s intersection with politics and business.

  • Gregory Day
Alex Sarkis’ new novel is a coming-of-age story set in Sydney’s west.

A vibrant western Sydney setting gives this love story an edge

Author Alex Sarkis’ coming-of-age story is like catching up with an old cousin.

  • Sarah Ayoub
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Book Reviews 2025

Book Reviews

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

There’s a bumper crop of new books to read this month.

The controversial Lionel Shriver returns and a star tells (almost) all: 16 books to read

Candid memoirs and long-awaited returns, there is a bumper crop of new books – including a novel that may be Looking for Alibrandi for a new generation.

  • Jason Steger

Liza Minnelli says she was ‘humiliated’ by Lady Gaga at the Oscars

The stage and screen legend dishes on drugs, former husband David Gest and even claims she invented Michael Jackson’s moonwalk moves in her unflinching new memoir.

  • Cameron Woodhead

From pulse-pounding thrillers to a centenarian’s guide to happiness: 10 new books

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

  • Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll