Nonfiction
The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw
I knew nothing about Ruth Shaw or her Two Wee Bookshops in beautiful tiny Manapouri on New Zealand’s South Island. An author photo in her memoir shows a smiling older woman and I assumed I was going to read a…
Childless: A Story of Freedom and Longing by Sian Prior
The question of whether or not to have children was never one that held any ambivalence for Sian Prior: she always wanted to have children of her own. She had many concernsabout the future of the planet and its impending…
The Most Important Job in the World by Gina Rushton
‘Should I have children?’ This deceptively simple and universally common question is what inspired journalist Gina Rushton to investigate the complex ecosystem of ‘motherhood’ in our uncertain present. In 2019, Rushton received a diagnosis that doctors told her would likely…
On Helen Garner: Writers on Writers by Sean O’Beirne
Sean O’Beirne first read Helen Garner when he was 17 years old. Reading Monkey Grip, what struck him immediately was the voice, the confident voice stating, ‘this is me, this is what and who I am, and I don’t…
Skin Deep: The Inside Story of Our Outer Selves by Phillipa McGuinness
How often do you think about your skin? Its biology, its cultural signifiers, its protective qualities and weaknesses? It’s the largest organ in our body (although this book taught me this is up for debate with some experts arguing for…
Burning Questions by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood needs no introduction. But here’s one anyway. Born in Ottawa, Canada in 1939, Atwood has published more than 50 works of fiction, poetry, critical essays, works of nonfiction, children’s books and graphic novels. She has won countless awards…
Sweat: A History of Exercise by Bill Hayes
Bill Hayes is deeply fascinated by the human body. A writer and photographer best known for his generously moving memoir Insomniac City, Hayes has built a career in weaving history, science, literature and details from his own life into…
The Cost of Labour by Natalie Kon-yu
As a feminist, birthing parent and mother, The Cost of Labour validates much of what I have thought, felt and experienced since I entered the foetal abyss. Beyond just validation, it offers facts, figures, case studies, historical context and anecdotes…
Making Australian History by Anna Clark
It is generally proposed that history is written by the victors. Anna Clark, however, may argue that it is written by historians – which makes it no less biased. Australian history is famously contested, from the ‘history wars’ to the…
Found, Wanting: A Memoir by Natasha Sholl
When Natasha Sholl was 22, she woke up to the horror of her long-term boyfriend Rob dying beside her, his heart stopping with no warning. In the wake of such an incomprehensible tragedy, Sholl shut down, struck numb as she…
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