Nonfiction
The History of Rock ’n’ Roll in Ten Songs by Greil Marcus
When Greil Marcus’s editor suggested he write a history of rock ’n’ roll, he not surprisingly felt it was ‘a terrible idea, that it had been done to death’. Thankfully, Marcus did not shy from the task; instead, he reinterpreted…
This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial by Helen Garner
It’s difficult to loudly sing the praises of a book that covers such a harrowing subject. I had anticipated the release of Helen Garner’s new non-fiction since early in the year, though the title of the work, in itself, seems…
How I Rescued My Brain by David Roland
Through his work as a forensic psychologist, David Roland spent years grappling with matters of the mind. Indeed, the emotional pressure of supporting his patients in their mental-health problems coupled with personal and financial stresses led to Roland’s own struggles…
Hack Attack by Nick Davies
In July of this year, Andy Coulson, former editor of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World and David Cameron’s disgraced director of communications, was sentenced to serve 18 months in jail for his part in one of the greatest scandals…
The Whitlam Mob by Mungo MacCallum
It’s hard to understand now what it would have been like to have the same government in Australia for 23 years. Different prime ministers, but still: the same party, the same ideas, sitting on top of the country, all the…
Warning: The Story of Cyclone Tracy by Sophie Cunningham
It’s almost 40 years since Cyclone Tracy destroyed the northern city of Darwin on the night of 24 December, 1974. Australia had not known a natural disaster like it since European colonisation. Seventy-five people died, hundreds more were injured and…
Britten’s Century: Celebrating 100 Years of Britten edited by Mark Bostridge
For my current studies, I’m mostly reading books about twentieth-century composer Benjamin Britten. This week I finished Britten’s Century, a collection of essays about the composer by musicians and scholars, published for the Britten centenary (2013). The book offers…
Stop the Presses! by Ben Hills
In this account of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, Ben Hills describes the causes and consequences of the broadsheets’ decline. Having worked for 30 years at both papers, Hills is a ‘lifer’ who is personally and professionally…
The Prince by David Marr
There is, throughout this book, the satisfaction of seeing Cardinal George Pell put under the bright light of reason. The Catholic Church dresses Pell and all it’s other ‘princes’ up in gold, and hides them, literally, with clouds of sweet-smelling…
Have You Seen Simone? by Virginia Peters
In 2005, German backpacker Simone Strobel went missing from a caravan park in Lismore, New South Wales. When her body was found six days later – naked and barely hidden beneath palms nearby – the suspicion fell on her boyfriend…
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