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It’s only Tuesday, but it’s been a good week so far for Australian non-fiction and for those of us looking to get our hands on some great new books to read. First off, the shortlist for the 2012 Indie Awards has been announced and it has highlight four of Australia’s best non-fiction books released in [...]

I like Anh Do. I’ve been impressed with how likable, affable, down-to-earth, and funny he’s been each time I’ve seen him on TV. So I’m not entirely sure why I didn’t want to read his book. Or maybe I do, although I’ll admit my reasons are entirely superficial and arbitrary. Even though I’m a massive [...]

It never ceases to amaze me how a writer can be celebrated, award-winning, and absolutely massive in one country and yet entirely unknown in another. I found that was the case with Canadian writer Wayson Choy, whose name until recently drew a blank with me (and with, I’m guessing, most other Australians). Choy’s first book, [...]

I don’t read Stephen King. Not out of some high-literary disdain for someone who’s written so much and sells so well to the general Joes. Not because he’s not a good writer. But precisely because he is. King has proved himself time and again throughout his 50-something books that he can create an intensely believable [...]

Christmas Eve brought with it the arrival of a book I’d ordered months ago. As with almost everything, it was already available in the US, and I wasn’t entirely sure when the Australian release date was. So, it was something of a pleasant and perfectly timed surprise to find this book on my doorstep. I [...]

I should probably issue a disclaimer that I not only know this author, I consider him one of my best friends. I should probably also disclose that my brother rates a mention within the book’s chapters and I get one at the end (at least, I think it’s me). But I would also like to [...]

What surprises me most about harrowing memoirs is the matter-of-fact aplomb with which they’re so often conveyed. Kay Howarth’s Ten Hail Marys is no exception, with the Australian first-time author pragmatically detailing her experiences growing up both as an Indigenous Australian and as a pregnant teenager in St Margaret’s home for unwed mothers where she [...]