Non Fiction

Cooking might seem like a chore — but some argue creating space to make a time-intensive meal from scratch is an act of self-care and can even help you heal through hard times.

Culture, family, colonisation and resistance are some of the themes uniting these acclaimed literary works by First Nations writers from Australia.

A juicy memoir, a Pulitzer Prize winner and a rediscovered Italian classic feature in our holiday reading guide.

Broken Hill residents say they remember the collective sadness in the town when it lost its only book store. Things have changed since then.

From "an incredible debut" to a novel that "celebrates the joy that can be found in an ordinary, imperfect life" — these are our favourite reads of 2023.

Much anticipated new works by winners of the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Booker Prize are the books our critics couldn't put down this month.

Her novella, Cold Enough for Snow, has seen the Melbourne author win the Prime Minister's Literary Award for fiction, while journalist-turned-farmer Sam Vincent won the non-fiction category for his book, My Father and Other Animals.

A new book recounts how an unprecedented grassroots campaign in the town of Biloela saved a refugee family from deportation.

Miles Franklin and Stella Prize-winning authors come back with stunning offerings, while other writers make their debut in our best books of the month. Go on, dive in. 

When both people in a relationship are writers, creative space is a fault line. So are matters such as who looks after the kids, inspiration turf wars, and jealousy about success. Still, it's often the wives who ultimately choose writing over wedded bliss, writes Kerrie Davies.

A beautiful grifter, a defiant prodigy and a political prisoner star in this month’s best books, which our critics describe variously as "utterly engaging", "beguiling" and "profound".

Indigenous author Debra Dank has won a record four out of 14 NSW Premier's Literary Awards and $85,000 for her memoir of family and place, and says she hopes its success draws attention to the "soul-destroying" destruction of her Country.

Earlier this month, a key commentator said the issue of women writers "not being taken seriously in this country" was "solved", and credited the Stella Prize. But Stella’s co-CEO disagrees.

Actor Pamela Anderson releases a new book and a Netflix documentary, saying she's never loved anyone like the musician father of her children, who she divorced after he was violent.

You may think you've heard it all and don't need to read Prince Harry's book — but the media coverage only gives you part of the picture.

He was a British MP who faked his own death to start a new life in Melbourne. But what's the truth about the elusive, alleged spy John Stonehouse?

From a book that "everyone should read" and another that'll "take your breath away" plus oodles of historical fiction — these are our favourite reads of 2022.

Nicolas Rothwell has won the Prime Minister's Literary Award for fiction, beating out strong contenders in Hannah Kent and Tony Birch.

A mystery novel inspired by The Teacher's Pet, a WWI story featuring Miles Franklin, and the overdue biography of a celebrated Australian writer are in our top reads this month.

A spin on the colonial ‘missing child tale’, a collection of essays dissecting horror and a Miles Franklin nominee’s small masterpiece are among our critics' top picks for the month.

Our critics’ picks include a historical melodrama based on a real-life maybe murder, a romp through the illegal dance halls of 20s London and a gloriously biting satire set in Rwanda.

Go Ask Alice takes readers on the wild journey of a teen dabbling in psychedelic drugs and sliding into a psychotic breakdown. The story behind the diary is somehow even more perplexing.

Australia's most famous medical scientist and immunologist, Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty, has released his memoir 'Empire, War, Tennis and Me'.

We asked acclaimed writers, critics and book lovers to recommend great reads for the time-poor among us. They came back with thrilling page-turners, beloved classics and a few gems you've probably never heard of.

Science accelerated the world's population, shrunk our world, made us richer and brought us closer together. Yet science has put in our hands the capacity to destroy life on the planet. This is our deal with the devil, writes Stan Grant.