Nonfiction
Australian Abstract by Amber Creswell Bell
The introduction to Amber Creswell Bell’s new survey of Australian abstract art begins by parsing a loose definition of the form. Abstract art is nonrepresentational, nonfigurative, nonobjective, a language for ‘the other’. It is a process that cracks open the…
Rethinking Our World: An Invitation to Rescue Our Future by Maja Göpel (trans. David Shaw)
Humankind is in the midst of environmental and social crisis. Business as usual is not an option. Dr Maya Göpel is a political economist who is motivated to impel her readers to question the very rules and concepts upon which…
The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us If We Let Them by Peter Wohlleben
The latest book by bestselling German author of The Hidden Life of Trees is a fascinating deep dive into the latest research from the world of forestry, including how trees are adapting to climate change, and what we can…
Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time by Sheila Liming
Hanging out is to be in the moment, to become engaged with our less-than-perfect, or maybe just-perfect lives, without feeling constrained by the demands of work. Hanging out is discouraged by a constant engagement with social media and the digital…
Reclaim: Understanding Complex Trauma and Those Who Abuse by Dr Ahona Guha
In Reclaim, clinical and forensic psychologist Dr Ahona Guha examines the causes and impacts of trauma. Guha works both in private practice and as a forensic psychologist within the prison system. Her understanding of the complex nature of trauma…
Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia by David Graeber
When I’m looking for something to read, I usually start lurking in nonfiction; and more often than not, I find myself wandering through the history section looking for my next book. I’m rarely content with fiction; I have seen enough…
Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock by Jenny Odell
In 2019, Jenny Odell renegotiated our understanding of attention with How to Do Nothing, invoking the perennial self-help bogeyman of social-media distraction to lure readers into a deftly researched and beautifully written manifesto for our collective reorientation towards nature…
Barron Field in New South Wales: The Poetics of Terra Nullius by Thomas H Ford & Justin Clemens
Beware the lawyer poet who takes your land and beautifies his theft with literature. In 1817, Barron Field arrived to take the position of Judge of the Supreme Court of Civil Judicature in the colony of New South Wales, the…
Underground Lovers: Encounters with Fungi by Alison Pouliot
Some people chase the sun, or the snow, around the world each year; Alison Pouliot follows autumn. Splitting most of her time between Victoria and Switzerland, she roams far and often in pursuit of fungi and its close collaborators. Climbing…
Abandon Every Hope: Essays for the Dead by Hayley Singer
In Abandon Every Hope, Hayley Singer asks us to sit with our grief and discomfort in the wake of a pandemic, amid global suffering and the horrors of capitalism. She implores us to see and reckon with not just…
Browse our reviews by category
