1. This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial by Helen Garner
2. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
3. The Good Fight by Wayne Swan
4. Optimism: Reflections on a Life of Action by Bob Brown
5. Adultery by Paulo Coelho
6. All the Birds Singing by Evie Wyld
7. Will to Win by Don Miller
8. We are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
9. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
10. The Life of I: The New Culture of Narcissism by Anne Manne

Our top seller for last week is Helen Garner’s new work of non-fiction, This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial, which follows the court case of Robert Farquharson. A separated husband, Farquharson was driving his three sons home to their mother when his car left the road and plunged into a dam. The boys, aged ten, seven and two, drowned. Garner follows the subsequent murder trial which asked, was this an act of revenge or a tragic accident?

Our reviewer writes, ‘It would be misleading to say this is an enjoyable read, but it ripples with the strength of Garner’s prose: she portrays the courtroom vividly, bringing the parading barristers, Farquharson’s indignant sisters and string of frustrated expert witnesses all piercingly to life. Over the days that I read this book I felt like I sat there with her, behind the scrimmage of journalists, a sullen, sunken Farquharson just beyond my direct gaze. … This is a gut-wrenching, tense study of a murder trial, brilliant in its precision and perception.’

Read the full review here.