Biography and memoir
Half Deaf, Completely Mad by Tony Cohen with John Olson
As a wannabe hippy, young Tony Cohen found enough trouble with his school, parents and the law for his family to decide to help him find a job in the music business. Obsessed with music, he did work experience at…
Heartbake by Charlotte Ree
Heartbake is a call to arms written by a tenacious and hungry woman. This is the type of book you read because you understand that reading another person’s story can give voice to your experiences and, good lord, it is…
Fat Girl Dancing: A Memoir by Kris Kneen
Kris Kneen is quite the force in Australian literature. Fat Girl Dancing, their latest memoir, confirms Kneen as an outstanding writer. This is a memoir of fatness, and Kneen’s journey with their body, both in terms of gaining and…
Graft: Motherhood, Family and a Year on the Land by Maggie MacKellar
In any study of nature, there must be some attempt to grapple with the cycles of life. Maggie MacKellar has perhaps had more cause than most to contemplate these rhythms. In Graft, which is billed as a memoir of…
I Had a Father in Karratha by Annette Trevitt
Following the sudden death of her father, Annette Trevitt becomes a regular visitor to Karratha as the executor of her father’s will. What follows is an almost three-year journey to untangle the web he has left behind. Between Karratha and…
Did I Ever Tell You This? by Sam Neill
I feel like I have known Sam Neil my whole life. I cannot remember a time when he wasn’t on my screen. And it is always a joy to see him. His memoir (of sorts) is exactly what I expected…
The God of No Good by Sita Walker
It’s hard to believe that The God of No Good is Sita Walker’s first book. Almost from the outset, Walker establishes the stakes: ‘Love and pain are two fangs of the same snake. You cannot be pierced by one without…
Still Pictures: On Photography and Memory by Janet Malcolm
The cliché says that a picture is worth a thousand words, but it’s hard to imagine erudite and prolific Janet Malcolm ever letting a photo do all the talking. In the posthumously published Still Pictures: On Photography and Memory…
Wandering with Intent: Essays by Kim Mahood
This is a rich and enjoyable collection of writings that combines Kim Mahood’s reflections on art and literature with her unique life experiences. Moving between desert and coast, between the sparsely populated remote interior and densely populated cities, the 17…
Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati
Once upon a time in a tiny walled medieval village in Tuscany, with roughly 180 inhabitants, not long before a great plague descended, a woman returned to her birthplace. This beautiful place made of stone and brick had elliptical, concentric…
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