Nonfiction

Pixel Flesh: How Toxic Beauty Culture Harms Women by Ellen Atlanta

Reviewed by Nicole Vasilev

Pixel Flesh: How Toxic Beauty Culture Harms Women by Ellen Atlanta is a profoundly impactful addition to the discourse surrounding modern beauty culture. From coloniser cultures to the fetishisation of youth, each chapter delves into the web of toxic beauty…

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Hazzard and Harrower: The Letters by Brigitta Olubas & Susan Wyndham (eds)

Reviewed by Elke Power

Those who read the extract from Hazzard and Harrower in the April Readings Monthly will not be surprised to see it recommended here in the month of its release. While that small sample could hardly convey the astonishing scope of…

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Did I Ever Tell You? by Genevieve Kingston

Reviewed by Nicole Vasilev

Did I Ever Tell You? emerges as a testament to resilience and love, touching on topics of grief, love and family. Genevieve (Gwen) Kingston’s mother faced a terminal cancer diagnosis when Gwen was just three years old. Despite this, her…

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Give While You Live: A Practical Guide to More and Better Giving in Australia by Peter Winneke

Reviewed by Mark Rubbo

The 200 wealthiest families in Australia have an aggregate wealth of $563 billion and 56,000 Australians have assets worth more than $10 million. Many families have more money than they need to live comfortably yet, despite this wealth, only 46.4…

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Peripathetic: Notes on (un)belonging by Cher Tan

Reviewed by James Marples

Peripathetic is a collection of nine essays by Singapore-born Australian writer Cher Tan. The essays span a diverse range of topics, from the online punk and zine scenes in Singapore and the rise of open access file sharing platform ‘Pirate…

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Black Duck: A Year at Yumburra by Bruce Pascoe with Lyn Harwood

Reviewed by Joe Murray

In 2014’s Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe shared the untold story of Indigenous agriculture, suggesting a history very different to the orthodox colonial narrative and starting a political firestorm in the process. A decade later and he is back with…

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Monument by Bonny Cassidy

Reviewed by Joe Murray

Have you ever felt lost in your family history? Have you ever trawled deep into your complicated and often fraught past, finding stories that bewilder and fascinate in equal parts? In many ways, Bonny Cassidy’s Monument is that experience in…

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Slow Down by Kohei Saito & Brian Bergstrom (trans.)

Reviewed by Aurelia Orr

A manifesto for the 21st century, Slow Down is a compelling and thought-provoking read within which Japanese philosopher Kohei Saito offers a Marxist ecological critique on capitalism and degrowth economics. He examines how infinite expansion of our economy is irrefutably…

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Monument by Bonny Cassidy

Reviewed by Joe Murray

Have you ever felt lost in your family history? Have you ever trawled deep into your complicated and often fraught past, finding stories that bewilder and fascinate in equal parts? In many ways, Bonny Cassidy’s Monument is that experience in…

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Faking It by Toby Walsh

Reviewed by Julia Jackson

I could’ve parsed some keywords through Chat GPT to write this review, like a student with an imminent deadline, but I didn’t, because it’s not how I roll. Toby Walsh’s latest release is timely. Moreover, as a veteran bookseller with…

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