Latest news with #Allen&Unwin
The Advertiser
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Movie star opens up about the accident that nearly killed him
What's new: Adelaide's Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of notorious cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, while Australian journalist John Lyons details the "extraordinary efforts of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Jeremy Renner. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. On New Year's Day, 2023, actor Jeremy Renner needed to clear mountains of snow from his Nevada driveway to enable his visiting family to go skiing. So the star of The Hurt Locker fired up a snowcat to bulldoze the road. The accident that followed should have killed him. Renner was run over by the six-tonne machine, and his account of the calamity is bloodcurdling. "I can promise you this much at least: The sounds of being crushed are just as terrifying as the visual," he writes. Renner's injuries were catastrophic. This is the story of his survival and recovery. Candice Chung. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. "A meal is a shape. It is a container into which we pour our cravings." At 35, when a 13-year relationship with her first love ends, food journalist Candice Chung must decide if she wants her retired Cantonese parents to join her as she reviews restaurants. Will they eat together in polite silence as the children of immigrants might traditionally expect? Or will this be her opportunity to finally broach the reasons they have drifted so profoundly apart over the years? This tender, intimate but brave memoir has a meditative tone and structure and should delight lovers of food who treasure its sacred place in family and culture. John Lyons. ABC Books. $34.99. Australian journalist John Lyons has made three trips to wartime Ukraine. The first two were on assignment with the ABC. The third was on his holidays, which allowed him to absorb what was happening in the country without the need to file daily news. It was on this trip that he learned the most, doing what regular Ukrainians do and, most importantly, taking the time to talk to everyday people. He found that resourceful civilians from every walk of life are doing their part. This is a story about the "extraordinary efforts ... of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Mark Lilla. Hurst Publishers. $44.99. Humans are driven by the need to know, right? We are curious, we want to discover, look around the corner, explore over the horizon. Or do we? Mark Lilla examines the opposite compulsion: "the will not to know, the will to ignorance". This is not about those who are indifferent to learning, who simply don't want to expend the energy. This is about people who have "developed a particular antipathy toward the search for knowledge, whose inner doors are fastened tight against anything that might cast doubt on what they believe they already know". Starting to sound familiar to anyone? Sinead Stubbins. Affirm Press. $34.99. Apparently work doesn't have to define your life and corporate programs to build team bonds and boost employee engagement might not always deliver healthy outcomes - especially for those of us with messy bits in our personalities and our personal lives (you know, the bits that make us individuals). This wicked little satire of white-collar workplace culture follows Edith and a select group of her co-workers at ad agency Winked as they are sent to an elite three-day work retreat in the remote mountains, run by an outfit called Consequi. She hopes to impress her bosses and escape a looming restructure. But so do her, um, work friends. Madeleine Cleary. Affirm Press. $34.99. Inspired by what she has described as her own family's secret, salacious past - "my great-great-great grandmother was a colonial 'common prostitute'" - Melbourne-raised former Canberra diplomat Madeleine Cleary threads fictional mystery and romance into a grim but fascinating chapter of Australia's hardscrabble past, bringing to richly detailed life the women so often overlooked by history. It's 1863 and a serial killer stalks the notorious red-light district of the goldrush-rich city of Melbourne, endangering poor Irishwoman Johanna Callaghan who hopes to make a living at the glamorous Papillon brothel, and respectable journalist Harriett Gardiner who is intent on unmasking the murderer. Cynthia Timoti. Macmillan. $22.99. Think Crazy Rich Asians meets Always Be My Maybe and you'll get the Asian rom-com gist of this sweetly flirty debut novel about Ellie Pang, a young woman fed up with the meddling of her overbearing parents after she is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Ellie sets out on her own to open her dream bakery - selling sugar-free treats, of course - but needs help to renovate. The man for the job is none other than Alec, the childhood crush who broke her heart - and it just so happens he needs a fake girlfriend to seal a business deal. But can they fake that they're in love? Georgia Rose Phillips. Picador. $34.99. Family is everything to Anne. And Anne demands everything from her family. That's because Anne knows how devastatingly easy it is to lose your family. The debut novel from Adelaide-based Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, notorious founder and leader of the cult known as The Family. What formative traumas during her 1920s childhood shaped her later abuse of illegally adopted children through the 1960s and '70s at Lake Eildon in Victoria? Where the author's imagined psychological portrait of Hamilton-Byrne and the disturbing facts of The Family diverge may require further reader research. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page and bookmark it so you can find our latest books content with ease. What's new: Adelaide's Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of notorious cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, while Australian journalist John Lyons details the "extraordinary efforts of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Jeremy Renner. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. On New Year's Day, 2023, actor Jeremy Renner needed to clear mountains of snow from his Nevada driveway to enable his visiting family to go skiing. So the star of The Hurt Locker fired up a snowcat to bulldoze the road. The accident that followed should have killed him. Renner was run over by the six-tonne machine, and his account of the calamity is bloodcurdling. "I can promise you this much at least: The sounds of being crushed are just as terrifying as the visual," he writes. Renner's injuries were catastrophic. This is the story of his survival and recovery. Candice Chung. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. "A meal is a shape. It is a container into which we pour our cravings." At 35, when a 13-year relationship with her first love ends, food journalist Candice Chung must decide if she wants her retired Cantonese parents to join her as she reviews restaurants. Will they eat together in polite silence as the children of immigrants might traditionally expect? Or will this be her opportunity to finally broach the reasons they have drifted so profoundly apart over the years? This tender, intimate but brave memoir has a meditative tone and structure and should delight lovers of food who treasure its sacred place in family and culture. John Lyons. ABC Books. $34.99. Australian journalist John Lyons has made three trips to wartime Ukraine. The first two were on assignment with the ABC. The third was on his holidays, which allowed him to absorb what was happening in the country without the need to file daily news. It was on this trip that he learned the most, doing what regular Ukrainians do and, most importantly, taking the time to talk to everyday people. He found that resourceful civilians from every walk of life are doing their part. This is a story about the "extraordinary efforts ... of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Mark Lilla. Hurst Publishers. $44.99. Humans are driven by the need to know, right? We are curious, we want to discover, look around the corner, explore over the horizon. Or do we? Mark Lilla examines the opposite compulsion: "the will not to know, the will to ignorance". This is not about those who are indifferent to learning, who simply don't want to expend the energy. This is about people who have "developed a particular antipathy toward the search for knowledge, whose inner doors are fastened tight against anything that might cast doubt on what they believe they already know". Starting to sound familiar to anyone? Sinead Stubbins. Affirm Press. $34.99. Apparently work doesn't have to define your life and corporate programs to build team bonds and boost employee engagement might not always deliver healthy outcomes - especially for those of us with messy bits in our personalities and our personal lives (you know, the bits that make us individuals). This wicked little satire of white-collar workplace culture follows Edith and a select group of her co-workers at ad agency Winked as they are sent to an elite three-day work retreat in the remote mountains, run by an outfit called Consequi. She hopes to impress her bosses and escape a looming restructure. But so do her, um, work friends. Madeleine Cleary. Affirm Press. $34.99. Inspired by what she has described as her own family's secret, salacious past - "my great-great-great grandmother was a colonial 'common prostitute'" - Melbourne-raised former Canberra diplomat Madeleine Cleary threads fictional mystery and romance into a grim but fascinating chapter of Australia's hardscrabble past, bringing to richly detailed life the women so often overlooked by history. It's 1863 and a serial killer stalks the notorious red-light district of the goldrush-rich city of Melbourne, endangering poor Irishwoman Johanna Callaghan who hopes to make a living at the glamorous Papillon brothel, and respectable journalist Harriett Gardiner who is intent on unmasking the murderer. Cynthia Timoti. Macmillan. $22.99. Think Crazy Rich Asians meets Always Be My Maybe and you'll get the Asian rom-com gist of this sweetly flirty debut novel about Ellie Pang, a young woman fed up with the meddling of her overbearing parents after she is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Ellie sets out on her own to open her dream bakery - selling sugar-free treats, of course - but needs help to renovate. The man for the job is none other than Alec, the childhood crush who broke her heart - and it just so happens he needs a fake girlfriend to seal a business deal. But can they fake that they're in love? Georgia Rose Phillips. Picador. $34.99. Family is everything to Anne. And Anne demands everything from her family. That's because Anne knows how devastatingly easy it is to lose your family. The debut novel from Adelaide-based Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, notorious founder and leader of the cult known as The Family. What formative traumas during her 1920s childhood shaped her later abuse of illegally adopted children through the 1960s and '70s at Lake Eildon in Victoria? Where the author's imagined psychological portrait of Hamilton-Byrne and the disturbing facts of The Family diverge may require further reader research. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page and bookmark it so you can find our latest books content with ease. What's new: Adelaide's Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of notorious cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, while Australian journalist John Lyons details the "extraordinary efforts of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Jeremy Renner. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. On New Year's Day, 2023, actor Jeremy Renner needed to clear mountains of snow from his Nevada driveway to enable his visiting family to go skiing. So the star of The Hurt Locker fired up a snowcat to bulldoze the road. The accident that followed should have killed him. Renner was run over by the six-tonne machine, and his account of the calamity is bloodcurdling. "I can promise you this much at least: The sounds of being crushed are just as terrifying as the visual," he writes. Renner's injuries were catastrophic. This is the story of his survival and recovery. Candice Chung. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. "A meal is a shape. It is a container into which we pour our cravings." At 35, when a 13-year relationship with her first love ends, food journalist Candice Chung must decide if she wants her retired Cantonese parents to join her as she reviews restaurants. Will they eat together in polite silence as the children of immigrants might traditionally expect? Or will this be her opportunity to finally broach the reasons they have drifted so profoundly apart over the years? This tender, intimate but brave memoir has a meditative tone and structure and should delight lovers of food who treasure its sacred place in family and culture. John Lyons. ABC Books. $34.99. Australian journalist John Lyons has made three trips to wartime Ukraine. The first two were on assignment with the ABC. The third was on his holidays, which allowed him to absorb what was happening in the country without the need to file daily news. It was on this trip that he learned the most, doing what regular Ukrainians do and, most importantly, taking the time to talk to everyday people. He found that resourceful civilians from every walk of life are doing their part. This is a story about the "extraordinary efforts ... of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Mark Lilla. Hurst Publishers. $44.99. Humans are driven by the need to know, right? We are curious, we want to discover, look around the corner, explore over the horizon. Or do we? Mark Lilla examines the opposite compulsion: "the will not to know, the will to ignorance". This is not about those who are indifferent to learning, who simply don't want to expend the energy. This is about people who have "developed a particular antipathy toward the search for knowledge, whose inner doors are fastened tight against anything that might cast doubt on what they believe they already know". Starting to sound familiar to anyone? Sinead Stubbins. Affirm Press. $34.99. Apparently work doesn't have to define your life and corporate programs to build team bonds and boost employee engagement might not always deliver healthy outcomes - especially for those of us with messy bits in our personalities and our personal lives (you know, the bits that make us individuals). This wicked little satire of white-collar workplace culture follows Edith and a select group of her co-workers at ad agency Winked as they are sent to an elite three-day work retreat in the remote mountains, run by an outfit called Consequi. She hopes to impress her bosses and escape a looming restructure. But so do her, um, work friends. Madeleine Cleary. Affirm Press. $34.99. Inspired by what she has described as her own family's secret, salacious past - "my great-great-great grandmother was a colonial 'common prostitute'" - Melbourne-raised former Canberra diplomat Madeleine Cleary threads fictional mystery and romance into a grim but fascinating chapter of Australia's hardscrabble past, bringing to richly detailed life the women so often overlooked by history. It's 1863 and a serial killer stalks the notorious red-light district of the goldrush-rich city of Melbourne, endangering poor Irishwoman Johanna Callaghan who hopes to make a living at the glamorous Papillon brothel, and respectable journalist Harriett Gardiner who is intent on unmasking the murderer. Cynthia Timoti. Macmillan. $22.99. Think Crazy Rich Asians meets Always Be My Maybe and you'll get the Asian rom-com gist of this sweetly flirty debut novel about Ellie Pang, a young woman fed up with the meddling of her overbearing parents after she is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Ellie sets out on her own to open her dream bakery - selling sugar-free treats, of course - but needs help to renovate. The man for the job is none other than Alec, the childhood crush who broke her heart - and it just so happens he needs a fake girlfriend to seal a business deal. But can they fake that they're in love? Georgia Rose Phillips. Picador. $34.99. Family is everything to Anne. And Anne demands everything from her family. That's because Anne knows how devastatingly easy it is to lose your family. The debut novel from Adelaide-based Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, notorious founder and leader of the cult known as The Family. What formative traumas during her 1920s childhood shaped her later abuse of illegally adopted children through the 1960s and '70s at Lake Eildon in Victoria? Where the author's imagined psychological portrait of Hamilton-Byrne and the disturbing facts of The Family diverge may require further reader research. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page and bookmark it so you can find our latest books content with ease. What's new: Adelaide's Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of notorious cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, while Australian journalist John Lyons details the "extraordinary efforts of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Jeremy Renner. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. On New Year's Day, 2023, actor Jeremy Renner needed to clear mountains of snow from his Nevada driveway to enable his visiting family to go skiing. So the star of The Hurt Locker fired up a snowcat to bulldoze the road. The accident that followed should have killed him. Renner was run over by the six-tonne machine, and his account of the calamity is bloodcurdling. "I can promise you this much at least: The sounds of being crushed are just as terrifying as the visual," he writes. Renner's injuries were catastrophic. This is the story of his survival and recovery. Candice Chung. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. "A meal is a shape. It is a container into which we pour our cravings." At 35, when a 13-year relationship with her first love ends, food journalist Candice Chung must decide if she wants her retired Cantonese parents to join her as she reviews restaurants. Will they eat together in polite silence as the children of immigrants might traditionally expect? Or will this be her opportunity to finally broach the reasons they have drifted so profoundly apart over the years? This tender, intimate but brave memoir has a meditative tone and structure and should delight lovers of food who treasure its sacred place in family and culture. John Lyons. ABC Books. $34.99. Australian journalist John Lyons has made three trips to wartime Ukraine. The first two were on assignment with the ABC. The third was on his holidays, which allowed him to absorb what was happening in the country without the need to file daily news. It was on this trip that he learned the most, doing what regular Ukrainians do and, most importantly, taking the time to talk to everyday people. He found that resourceful civilians from every walk of life are doing their part. This is a story about the "extraordinary efforts ... of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Mark Lilla. Hurst Publishers. $44.99. Humans are driven by the need to know, right? We are curious, we want to discover, look around the corner, explore over the horizon. Or do we? Mark Lilla examines the opposite compulsion: "the will not to know, the will to ignorance". This is not about those who are indifferent to learning, who simply don't want to expend the energy. This is about people who have "developed a particular antipathy toward the search for knowledge, whose inner doors are fastened tight against anything that might cast doubt on what they believe they already know". Starting to sound familiar to anyone? Sinead Stubbins. Affirm Press. $34.99. Apparently work doesn't have to define your life and corporate programs to build team bonds and boost employee engagement might not always deliver healthy outcomes - especially for those of us with messy bits in our personalities and our personal lives (you know, the bits that make us individuals). This wicked little satire of white-collar workplace culture follows Edith and a select group of her co-workers at ad agency Winked as they are sent to an elite three-day work retreat in the remote mountains, run by an outfit called Consequi. She hopes to impress her bosses and escape a looming restructure. But so do her, um, work friends. Madeleine Cleary. Affirm Press. $34.99. Inspired by what she has described as her own family's secret, salacious past - "my great-great-great grandmother was a colonial 'common prostitute'" - Melbourne-raised former Canberra diplomat Madeleine Cleary threads fictional mystery and romance into a grim but fascinating chapter of Australia's hardscrabble past, bringing to richly detailed life the women so often overlooked by history. It's 1863 and a serial killer stalks the notorious red-light district of the goldrush-rich city of Melbourne, endangering poor Irishwoman Johanna Callaghan who hopes to make a living at the glamorous Papillon brothel, and respectable journalist Harriett Gardiner who is intent on unmasking the murderer. Cynthia Timoti. Macmillan. $22.99. Think Crazy Rich Asians meets Always Be My Maybe and you'll get the Asian rom-com gist of this sweetly flirty debut novel about Ellie Pang, a young woman fed up with the meddling of her overbearing parents after she is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Ellie sets out on her own to open her dream bakery - selling sugar-free treats, of course - but needs help to renovate. The man for the job is none other than Alec, the childhood crush who broke her heart - and it just so happens he needs a fake girlfriend to seal a business deal. But can they fake that they're in love? Georgia Rose Phillips. Picador. $34.99. Family is everything to Anne. And Anne demands everything from her family. That's because Anne knows how devastatingly easy it is to lose your family. The debut novel from Adelaide-based Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, notorious founder and leader of the cult known as The Family. What formative traumas during her 1920s childhood shaped her later abuse of illegally adopted children through the 1960s and '70s at Lake Eildon in Victoria? Where the author's imagined psychological portrait of Hamilton-Byrne and the disturbing facts of The Family diverge may require further reader research. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page and bookmark it so you can find our latest books content with ease.
The Spinoff
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
All the finalists in the 2025 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
Announcing all the books – and their authors, illustrators, translators and publishers – in the running for this year's New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The winter months are an apt time to celebrate the creators of books that feed future creators of books. With long nights and days punctuated by weather, here's an opportunity to gather around the best Aotearoa has to offer and their promises of armchair adventure. There were 156 entries to the awards this year (slightly down on 2024's 176). The judging panels were assisted by 450 reviews submitted by school students from 51 schools around Aotearoa. Among this year's finalists are books that, according to convenor of judges Feana Tu'akoi, present 'big ideas from our past, present and possible dystopian futures are considered in absorbing and thoughtful ways, providing springboards for deeper discussion. Themes include identity, connection, mental health, our histories, traditional wisdom, indigenous languages, and the importance of being exactly who we are.' Before we dive into some analysis of each category, a recap of what they are and the monies attached. There are six categories: Picture Book, Junior Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, Illustration and te reo Māori. Winners are announced at a ceremony at Pipitea Marae in Wellington on August 13 and will each take home $8,500. Of those winners, one will be named the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year and will receive an extra $8,500. The Best First Book prize winner gets $2,500. The Bookhub Picture Book Award finalists Ten Nosey Weka by Kate Preece, illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu) (Bateman Books) Titiro Look by Gavin Bishop (Tainui, Ngāti Awa), translated by Darryn Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rereahu) (Gecko Press, Lerner Publishing Group) You Can't Pat a Fish by Ruth Paul (Walker Books Australia) Picture books are an artistic collaboration. Words, text, design and format all have to work together perfectly. These finalists are all pros. Gavin Bishop, Ruth Paul, Juliette MacIver have all been here before, as have illustrators Lily Uivel and Isobel Joy Te Aho-White. Kate Preece is new to the awards with her first-of-a-kind counting book revolving around those curious, sneaky wee birds, the weka. In this interview with The Sapling, Preece explains how the book is tri-lingual and is the first to include Ta rē Moriori, the indigenous language of Rēkohu, where Preece now lives. Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award finalists Brown Bird by Jane Arthur (Penguin Random House New Zealand) Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat by Li Chen (Penguin Random House New Zealand) The Apprentice Witnesser by Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin) The Raven's Eye Runaways by Claire Mabey (Allen & Unwin) V iolet and the Velvets: The Case of the Missing Stuff by Rachael King, illustrated by Phoebe Morris (Allen & Unwin) This is all very … strange, for me. I love writing. I love writing novels for young readers because at heart I am still a young reader. It's extremely odd to be writing with this books editor hat on about this award with my author hat on. But the books editor is saying well done to the author and the author is chuffed (if not quite awkward). Mostly because of the company my first novel is keeping here. Back for the second year in a row is the unstoppable Rachael King (who was also a finalist in 2024 for The Grimmelings); I adored Jane Arthur's self-described 'quiet novel' about a character who now looms large in my mind. Bren MacDibble is an absolute powerhouse writer whose work is admirable for its voice, its world building and its control. And Li Chen's Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat has stunning visual worldbuilding and a cute as leading cat. Note the mystery theme: definitely a trend I've noticed in international publishing. Young readers love intrigue just as much as anyone! Young Adult Fiction Award finalists Bear by Kiri Lightfoot, illustrated by Pippa Keel Situ (Allen & Unwin) Gracehopper by Mandy Hager (One Tree House) Migration by Steph Matuku (Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga) (Huia Publishers) The Mess of Our Lives by Mary-Anne Scott (One Tree House) The Paradise Generation by Sanna Thompson (umop apisdn press) Writing for young adults is a tall order. Young adults (otherwise known as teenagers) can be a tough crowd. What all of these books do is simply tell a story, build worlds, with teenage protagonists at the heart of them. Kiri Lightfoot's Bear is akin to acclaimed Patrick Ness novel, A Monster Calls, in that it uses a metaphoric beast to represent Jasper's rage, fear and consuming emotional undertow. Steph Matuku (no stranger to these awards) has written a brilliant dystopian sci-fi that reflects our present-day conflicts all too well. The Mess of Our Lives by Mary-Anne Scott is a story of overcoming an extremely challenging home life; while Mandy Hager (also no stranger to these awards) has written a story that centres on themes of identity and inclusion. First-time author Sanna Thompson is the wild card here: you can read an excerpt from The Paradise Generation over on Kete Books. Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction Finalists Black Magic by David Riley, illustrated by Munro Te Whata (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Makefu) (Reading Warrior) Dear Moko: Māori Wisdom for our Young Ones by Hinemoa Elder (Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Ngāpuhi nui tonu) (Penguin Random House New Zealand) Ruru: Night Hunter by Katie Furze, illustrated by Ned Barraud (Scholastic New Zealand) The Treaty of Waitangi / Te Tiriti o Waitangi by Ross Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Kāi Tahu) (Oratia Books) Tui Pea Luva by Mele Tonga Grant, illustrated by Luca Walton (Mila's Books) Huge names! These books are so crucial for education at home and at school: they condense complex subjects and present them in fluid, learnable ways via text, image and design. I love Ruru: Night Hunter for its immersive journey through the nightlife of our little owls. Ross Calman's The Treaty of Waitangi | Te Tiriti o Waitangi is extremely useful: highly illustrated, clearly written, an all-ages text, really. Mila's Books are the only all-Pasifika publishing house in the world and they consistently put out books made by and for Pasifika children and families. Tui Pea Luva is Grant's poetry collection which passes down the wisdom of Pasifika women. David Riley's Reading Warrior is a multi-faceted organisation that publishes books, creates projects in collaboration with communities, runs workshops and puts student writing into print. Black Magic continues Reading Warrior's focus on sporting heroics with the story of how we got our all black uniforms with a silver fern. Russell Clark Award for Illustration Alice and the Strange Bird by Isaac du Toit (Isaac du Toit) Hineraukatauri me Te Ara Pūoro, illustrated by Rehua Wilson (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa), written by Elizabeth Gray (Ngāti Rēhia, Ngāti Uepōhatu, Tama Ūpoko ki te awa tipua, Ngāti Tūwharetoa anō hoki) (Huia Publishers) Poem for Ataahua, illustrated by Sarah Wilkins, written by Alistair Te Ariki Campbell (Reading Warrior) Sad Sushi, Anna Aldridge (Anna Aldridge) You Can't Pat a Fish by Ruth Paul (Walker Books Australia) It's always amazing to me how illustrators find angles, perspectives, and wordless narratives that bring a text to life. Sarah Wilkins' illustrations for Poem for Ataahua first caught my eye on Instagram: they're stunning, ethereal. Wilkins is longlisted for the World Illustration Awards 2025 for this same work (selected from 5000 entries from 81 countries). I also adore Ruth Paul's bold style: there's such comedy in the images that work so well with Paul's rollicking rhyme (hard to do but Paul does it so well). Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award Finalists A Ariā me te Atua o te Kūmara by Witi Ihimaera (Te Whānau a Kai, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Ngāti Porou), illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu), translated by Hēni Jacob (Ngāti Raukawa) (Penguin Random House New Zealand) *Hineraukatauri me Te Ara Pūoro by Elizabeth Gray (Ngāti Rēhia, Ngāti Uepōhatu, Tama Ūpoko ki te awa tipua, Ngāti Tūwharetoa anō hoki), illustrated by Rehua Wilson (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa) (Huia Publishers) Ka mātoro a Whetū rāua ko Kohu i Rotorua by Hayley Elliott-Kernot, translated by Te Ingo Ngaia (Taranaki, Ngāruahine, Te Ātiawa, Waikato-Maniapoto, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Whānau-a-Karuai ) (Round Door Design) Ko ngā Whetū Kai o Matariki, ko Tupuānuku rāua ko Tupuārangi by Miriama Kamo (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga), illustrated by Zak Waipara (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Ruapani, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata), translated by Ariana Stevens (Poutini Ngāi Tahu) (Scholastic New Zealand) * Ngā Kupenga a Nanny Rina by Qiane Mataa-Sipu (Te Waiohua, Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pikiao, Cook Islands), illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu) (Penguin Random House New Zealand) * Indicates a finalist book originally written in te reo Māori A specialist judging panel was enlisted to analyse the merits of these books either translated into te reo Māori or originally written in te reo Māori. Many familiar names here including Mirama Kamo and Zak Waipara (who were finalists in 2019 for Ngā Whetū Matariki i Whānakotia, translated by Ngaere Roberts); and Witi Ihimaera and Isobel Joy Te Aho-White who were finalists in 2023 with Te Kōkōrangi: Te Aranga o Matariki (translated by Hēni Jacob). NZSA Best First Book Award Finalists Brave Kāhu and the Pōrangi Magpie by Shelley Burne-Field (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Rārua, Te Ātiawa, Sāmoa) (Allen & Unwin) Play Wild by Rachel Clare (Bateman Books) The Raven's Eye Runaways by Claire Mabey (Allen & Unwin) The Witch of Maketu and the Bleating Lambs by Anika Moa (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri), illustrated by Rebecca ter Borg (Penguin Random House New Zealand) The Writing Desk by Di Morris (Bateman Books) I don't think many of us on this list ever expected to see our names alongside queen Anika Moa. I loved her book based on the character in her superbly creepy song. Shelley Burne-Field is a gorgeous writer (you can read about why she writes for children on The Spinoff). Di Morris' The Writing Desk is a stunning graphic account of the lives of colonial women; and Rachel Clare's Play Wild is a guide to having little adventures outside (reminiscent of Giselle Clarkson's The Observologist, though more geared towards using natural materials to aid imaginative play). Thanks to the English and bilingual judging panel: Convenor of judges Feana Tu'akoi, a Kirikiriroa-based writer; Don Long, a children's and educational publishing expert; Linda Jane Keegan, a Singaporean-Pākehā writer and reviewer; Stacy Gregg (Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Pukeko, Ngāti Maru Hauraki), recipient of the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year at the 2024 NZCYA awards; and Mero Rokx (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai), an education specialist who is on the English-language and bilingual panel, as well as Te Kura Pounamu panel. And to the panel judging te reo Māori entries: Convenor Mat Tait (Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Kuia), a freelance artist, illustrator, writer and te reo Māori tutor based in the Motueka area; Justice-Manawanui Arahanga-Pryor (Ngāti Awa ki Rangitaiki, Ngāti Uenuku, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki), a kaitakawaenga / library programming specialist; and Maxine Hemi (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne), a kaiako with over 30 years' experience teaching. And praise be for those who make the awards possible: Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, the Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa, Wellington City Council, BookHub presented by Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand, New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa, the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, the Mātātuhi Foundation, and NielsenIQ BookData. The Awards are administered by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa.
Sydney Morning Herald
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Estranged sisters and a curious gift: 14 new books to get stuck into this month
It may be the start of winter and things outside are cooling down, but there's no loss of heat in the book world, with a bumper crop of books being published this month. This selection includes an astonishing memoir, speculative fiction, love and other disasters in the `90s and so much more. Salvage Jennifer Mills Picador, $34.99 In her fifth, speculative novel, the always imaginative Jennifer Mills plunges us into the lives of sisters Jude and Celeste. Jude is on an Earth plagued by climate disaster, war and antagonism, struggling to survive in the Freelands. Celeste, meanwhile, is trapped on some sort of spacecraft designed to help plutocrats escape the benighted world. But when something falls from the sky, we learn the full, human story of the estranged sisters. The War Within Me Tracy Ryan Transit Lounge, $34.99 In the second of her Queens of Navarre series, poet and novelist Tracy Ryan turns her focus from Marguerite of Navarre to her daughter, Jeanne d'Albret. It's a story of royal and religious conflict as Jeanne escapes an arranged marriage to find love with Antoine, with whom she reigned before the Counter-Reformation pitted them on opposing sides of the long-running French wars of religion. Ryan is working on a third instalment, To Share His Fortune. A Beautiful Family Jennifer Trevelyan Allen & Unwin, $32.99 There's an irony in the title of New Zealand writer Jennifer Trevelyan's much-anticipated coming-of-age debut as the narrator, 10-year-old Alix, discovers much more about her family and its secrets during a summer holiday in 1985. From Kahu, a boy she meets on the beach, she learns the story of Charlotte, a girl who drowned two years earlier and whose body has never been found. Together, they try to find out the truth of her death, which reveals truths not bargained for. A Different Kind of Power Jacinda Ardern Penguin, $55 Jacinda Ardern became prime minister of New Zealand at the age of 37, and the way she dealt with the travails of high office along with the many major crises in NZ won her international admiration. Just think of her humane response to the appalling attack on the Christchurch mosques. Is there really a different way for politicians − and others − to lead? She argues forcefully that kindness and empathy are crucial. Let's hope other leaders take note of her methods. Our New Gods Thomas Vowles UQP, $34.99 Whether Thomas Vowles becomes a new god of literature remains to be seen, but judging by this debut novel set in the queer world of Melbourne he can certainly write gripping fiction. Ash is new to town and has quickly been befriended by James, who takes him to a party where his boyfriend, the charismatic and mysterious Raf, is DJing. But when Ash decides to leave, he stumbles across Raf outside and what he witnesses him doing is unsettling. Soon Ash is mixed up in something he really doesn't understand. The Death of Stalin Sheila Fitzpatrick Black Inc., $27.99 Black Inc. has made a point of publishing crisply written short books and essays that dissect global and local issues. In The Death of Stalin − not to be confused with Armando Iannucci's satirical film − Australia's pre-eminent Soviet historian tells us about the immediate change of direction after March 5, 1953, that was driven largely by the appalling director of the secret police, Lavrentiy Beria. In the simultaneously published Bombard the Headquarters, Linda Jaivin chronicles the disasters of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Aftertaste Daria Lavelle Bloomsbury, $32.99 Daria Lavelle's first novel is a bit bonkers really. Kostya's beloved dad is dead, but suddenly he tastes his father's favourite Ukrainian dish, pechonka. Over the years, aftertastes of food appear 'in his mouth like messages', until he discovers that by preparing specific foods or drinks he can bring the dead back from the purgatorial food hall where they are marooned. So, Kostya opens a restaurant to ease them to their next stage of death – but then things go a bit berserk. Foreign Country Marija Pericic Utimo Press, $34.99 Another pair of estranged sisters. When Eva gets a surprise letter from Elisabeta at her new apartment in Berlin she's puzzled to find it contains an airline ticket back to Australia. They've been apart for years, but Eva sets off to the Blue Mountains only to find that Elisabeta is dead and she is left to sort the debris of her life. Tucked into an absorbing narrative about the interaction of past and the present are documents and photos to provide a visual contrast with the emotional discoveries that Eva makes about her sister. The Prime Minister's Potato and Other Essays Anne-Marie Condé Upswell, $29.99 Historian and museum curator Anne-Marie Condé says she meditates on 'how the past can be understood through the interactions of people, places and things'. Her titular essay in this diverse and rather lovely collection tells of a curious 1942 gift from one William Frith to John Curtin as a 'cure for your akes and Pains'. Other essays dwell on the Australian War Memorial, Barry Humphries' character Sandy Stone, and the man who owned the house outside which the school bus would drop Condé each afternoon. The Name of the Sister Gail Jones Text, $34.99 Gail Jones is becoming positively prolific − this is her fourth novel in five years. She has turned away from the literary figures of her previous two books to what might be called literary crime. Who is this 'Jane', found wandering at night on a highway near Broken Hill? Freelance journalist Angie sees a feature in the predicament of the unknown woman, while her detective friend Bev is in charge of the case. Both want to discover the backstory, 'the maw of possibilities, deep down and red'. New Skin Miranda Nation Allen & Unwin, $32.99 Miranda Nation has runs on the board writing and directing the 2018 thriller Undertow and writing the TV series Playing Gracie Darling, due later this year. Which is clearly quite a big one for her as now comes publication of her first novel, one that features an intense first love between two medical students in the '90s, the drugs, the sex, the parties and then flashing years forward to the consequences and emotional hangovers. It's all a question of timing. Things in Nature Merely Grow Yiyun Li Fourth Estate, $32.99, June 4 Yiyun Li's memoir is an account of the death of her two sons, Vincent and James, by suicide six years apart. It is remarkable for its clear-sightedness and sensitivity. The Chinese-born novelist argues that children have to have the space to become fully themselves, and writes: 'I loved them, and I still love them, but more important than loving is understanding and respecting them, and this includes, more than anything else, understanding and respecting their choices to end their lives.' Apple in China Patrick McGee Simon & Schuster, $36.99 June 4 Apple has got itself into something of a jam. As Financial Times journalist Patrick McGee puts it, the tech company's relationship with China 'has become politically untenable, yet the business ties are unbreakable'. Today, 90 per cent of all Apple's production takes place in China. With Apple's future 'inextricably linked to a ruthless authoritarian state', McGee also argues that today's China wouldn't be what it is without the company. Donald Trump may yet have more to say about all this. A Wisdom of Age Jacinta Parsons ABC Books, $34.99, June 6 Following on from A Question of Age, Jacinta Parsons delves into women's 'felt senses' to learn what it means to be human and how this understanding is changed by accumulated years. Through talking to many women around the country, she focuses on the disconnect between the way women who are ageing are treated in society and how they actually feel inside. Ageing, she writes, is not a malady that needs fixing, 'it needs for us to embrace it for what it offers us'.
The Age
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Estranged sisters and a curious gift: 14 new books to get stuck into this month
It may be the start of winter and things outside are cooling down, but there's no loss of heat in the book world, with a bumper crop of books being published this month. This selection includes an astonishing memoir, speculative fiction, love and other disasters in the `90s and so much more. Salvage Jennifer Mills Picador, $34.99 In her fifth, speculative novel, the always imaginative Jennifer Mills plunges us into the lives of sisters Jude and Celeste. Jude is on an Earth plagued by climate disaster, war and antagonism, struggling to survive in the Freelands. Celeste, meanwhile, is trapped on some sort of spacecraft designed to help plutocrats escape the benighted world. But when something falls from the sky, we learn the full, human story of the estranged sisters. The War Within Me Tracy Ryan Transit Lounge, $34.99 In the second of her Queens of Navarre series, poet and novelist Tracy Ryan turns her focus from Marguerite of Navarre to her daughter, Jeanne d'Albret. It's a story of royal and religious conflict as Jeanne escapes an arranged marriage to find love with Antoine, with whom she reigned before the Counter-Reformation pitted them on opposing sides of the long-running French wars of religion. Ryan is working on a third instalment, To Share His Fortune. A Beautiful Family Jennifer Trevelyan Allen & Unwin, $32.99 There's an irony in the title of New Zealand writer Jennifer Trevelyan's much-anticipated coming-of-age debut as the narrator, 10-year-old Alix, discovers much more about her family and its secrets during a summer holiday in 1985. From Kahu, a boy she meets on the beach, she learns the story of Charlotte, a girl who drowned two years earlier and whose body has never been found. Together, they try to find out the truth of her death, which reveals truths not bargained for. A Different Kind of Power Jacinda Ardern Penguin, $55 Jacinda Ardern became prime minister of New Zealand at the age of 37, and the way she dealt with the travails of high office along with the many major crises in NZ won her international admiration. Just think of her humane response to the appalling attack on the Christchurch mosques. Is there really a different way for politicians − and others − to lead? She argues forcefully that kindness and empathy are crucial. Let's hope other leaders take note of her methods. Our New Gods Thomas Vowles UQP, $34.99 Whether Thomas Vowles becomes a new god of literature remains to be seen, but judging by this debut novel set in the queer world of Melbourne he can certainly write gripping fiction. Ash is new to town and has quickly been befriended by James, who takes him to a party where his boyfriend, the charismatic and mysterious Raf, is DJing. But when Ash decides to leave, he stumbles across Raf outside and what he witnesses him doing is unsettling. Soon Ash is mixed up in something he really doesn't understand. The Death of Stalin Sheila Fitzpatrick Black Inc., $27.99 Black Inc. has made a point of publishing crisply written short books and essays that dissect global and local issues. In The Death of Stalin − not to be confused with Armando Iannucci's satirical film − Australia's pre-eminent Soviet historian tells us about the immediate change of direction after March 5, 1953, that was driven largely by the appalling director of the secret police, Lavrentiy Beria. In the simultaneously published Bombard the Headquarters, Linda Jaivin chronicles the disasters of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Aftertaste Daria Lavelle Bloomsbury, $32.99 Daria Lavelle's first novel is a bit bonkers really. Kostya's beloved dad is dead, but suddenly he tastes his father's favourite Ukrainian dish, pechonka. Over the years, aftertastes of food appear 'in his mouth like messages', until he discovers that by preparing specific foods or drinks he can bring the dead back from the purgatorial food hall where they are marooned. So, Kostya opens a restaurant to ease them to their next stage of death – but then things go a bit berserk. Foreign Country Marija Pericic Utimo Press, $34.99 Another pair of estranged sisters. When Eva gets a surprise letter from Elisabeta at her new apartment in Berlin she's puzzled to find it contains an airline ticket back to Australia. They've been apart for years, but Eva sets off to the Blue Mountains only to find that Elisabeta is dead and she is left to sort the debris of her life. Tucked into an absorbing narrative about the interaction of past and the present are documents and photos to provide a visual contrast with the emotional discoveries that Eva makes about her sister. The Prime Minister's Potato and Other Essays Anne-Marie Condé Upswell, $29.99 Historian and museum curator Anne-Marie Condé says she meditates on 'how the past can be understood through the interactions of people, places and things'. Her titular essay in this diverse and rather lovely collection tells of a curious 1942 gift from one William Frith to John Curtin as a 'cure for your akes and Pains'. Other essays dwell on the Australian War Memorial, Barry Humphries' character Sandy Stone, and the man who owned the house outside which the school bus would drop Condé each afternoon. The Name of the Sister Gail Jones Text, $34.99 Gail Jones is becoming positively prolific − this is her fourth novel in five years. She has turned away from the literary figures of her previous two books to what might be called literary crime. Who is this 'Jane', found wandering at night on a highway near Broken Hill? Freelance journalist Angie sees a feature in the predicament of the unknown woman, while her detective friend Bev is in charge of the case. Both want to discover the backstory, 'the maw of possibilities, deep down and red'. New Skin Miranda Nation Allen & Unwin, $32.99 Miranda Nation has runs on the board writing and directing the 2018 thriller Undertow and writing the TV series Playing Gracie Darling, due later this year. Which is clearly quite a big one for her as now comes publication of her first novel, one that features an intense first love between two medical students in the '90s, the drugs, the sex, the parties and then flashing years forward to the consequences and emotional hangovers. It's all a question of timing. Things in Nature Merely Grow Yiyun Li Fourth Estate, $32.99, June 4 Yiyun Li's memoir is an account of the death of her two sons, Vincent and James, by suicide six years apart. It is remarkable for its clear-sightedness and sensitivity. The Chinese-born novelist argues that children have to have the space to become fully themselves, and writes: 'I loved them, and I still love them, but more important than loving is understanding and respecting them, and this includes, more than anything else, understanding and respecting their choices to end their lives.' Apple in China Patrick McGee Simon & Schuster, $36.99 June 4 Apple has got itself into something of a jam. As Financial Times journalist Patrick McGee puts it, the tech company's relationship with China 'has become politically untenable, yet the business ties are unbreakable'. Today, 90 per cent of all Apple's production takes place in China. With Apple's future 'inextricably linked to a ruthless authoritarian state', McGee also argues that today's China wouldn't be what it is without the company. Donald Trump may yet have more to say about all this. A Wisdom of Age Jacinta Parsons ABC Books, $34.99, June 6 Following on from A Question of Age, Jacinta Parsons delves into women's 'felt senses' to learn what it means to be human and how this understanding is changed by accumulated years. Through talking to many women around the country, she focuses on the disconnect between the way women who are ageing are treated in society and how they actually feel inside. Ageing, she writes, is not a malady that needs fixing, 'it needs for us to embrace it for what it offers us'.
The Advertiser
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Matildas star opens up about her eating disorder and IVF treatments
What's new: Logie-winning ex-AFL player Tony Armstrong has released his second book for children, Maggie the Dragon, and Matildas player Katrina Gorry's new memoir shares her story of football, motherhood and breaking down barriers. Katrina Gorry with Robert Wainwright. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. Billed as "a Matilda's story of football, motherhood and breaking down barriers", Katrina Gorry's memoir kicks off with some very classy front-cover endorsements. Former PM Julia Gillard describes the book as "full to the brim with love of family, of friends, of football" and Olympian Cathy Freeman calls it "a powerful testament to grit, endurance and agility". These talented and tenacious women would know a thing or two about the kind of courage, focus and resilience that has sustained Gorry through an eating disorder, IVF treatments, the birth of daughter Harper, meeting partner Clara Markstedt, the arrival of second child Koby and her on-again, off-again passion for soccer. Christie Brinkley with Sarah Toland. HarperCollins. $36.99. Christie Brinkley says it was the drinking that blew up her famous marriage to Billy Joel. "Booze was the other woman," she writes in her new memoir. But she thanks the piano man for being "an integral part of my life for decades" and giving her "one of my greatest gifts, my daughter Alexa Ray - and the title for this book". Over five decades in modelling, Brinkley has graced more than 500 magazine covers. She appeared in the 1983 music video for Joel's hit Uptown Girl after meeting him - in true celebrity style - on St Barts in the Caribbean, where fellow supermodel Elle Macpherson was also vying for his attention. Jacqueline Kent. NewSouth Books. $34.99. Jacqueline Kent profiles some of Australia's best-known writers of the 20th century. Her focus is the women who were the daughters of the suffragists of the early 1900s and the mothers of the feminists of the 1960s and 1970s. This generation, Kent writes, were "the bright and articulate women who went through two world wars, endured a massive economic depression and saw the rise of fascism and communism". The stories of writers such as Miles Franklin, Mary Gilmore, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Dymphna Cusack and Ruth Park are presented against the backdrop of the social and political events of the time. Grantlee Kieza. ABC Books. $35.99. Annette Kellerman was an early 20th century long-distance swimmer, fearless high-diver and vaudeville entertainer who became the first Australian woman to star in a Hollywood silent movie. Kellerman, who died in 1975, was also a pioneer of the one-piece swimsuit for women, refusing to wear the pantaloons of the time and helping to change fashion forever. After appearances as a mermaid in aquatic adventure movies, Kellerman shocked conservative audiences by appearing nude in A Daughter of the Gods in 1916. Her life of adventure included jumping into a pool of live crocodiles for a film and starting her own clothing line. Joseph Earp. Pantera Press. $34.99. Writer, painter and poet Joseph Earp explores the pain and pleasure of art and love through the comedic misadventures of painter Ellie Robertson, who wins a prestigious art prize at the age of 30 only to be immediately gripped by panic about what she's supposed to do next. Her solution: to paint portraits of all of her exes. She hopes the bizarre project will help her rediscover her passion and come to grips with her past relationships. But not everyone she has dated is happy to hear from her, which leads to some bittersweet truths about the emotional corner she has painted herself into. Tony Armstrong and illustrated by Emma Sjaan Beukers. Lothian Books. $24.99. When AFL-player-turned-TV-star Tony Armstrong visited his old primary school in Albury late last year to launch the promotional tour for his first book, George The Wizard, he told The Border Mail he preferred to entertain and inspire kids rather than write about his footy or Logies exploits: "When I'm older and on my last gravy train, I'll write a memoir!" His follow-up picture book with illustrator Emma Sjaan Beukers is set in the same vibrantly coloured fantasy world. A story about being loved for who you are, it follows dragon Maggie as she befriends wizard George and conquers the fiery hiccups triggered by her anxiety. Dervla McTiernan. HarperCollins. $34.99. Detective Cormac Reilly returns in the latest thriller from Dervla McTiernan, the former Irish lawyer now Perth-based crime novelist. Her murder mystery this time takes an archaeological twist as Reilly investigates a corpse discovered in a bog in Galway. For decades, the ancient boglands of Northern Europe have given up uncannily preserved bodies that are thousands of years old, some bearing strange injuries suggesting ritual torture or human sacrifice. But it turns out the Galway find is not historical but the body of Thaddeus Grey, a local high school principal who disappeared two years ago. So, why does his body show ritualistic mutilations? Letters to Our Robot Son Cadance Bell. Ultimo Press. $34.99. Mudgee-raised, Bathurst-based author and documentary film-maker Cadance Bell shared the story of her life growing up transgender in a small country town in her 2022 memoir The All of It: A Bogan Rhapsody. Her first novel, a science-fiction fable, follows a sweet little robot named Arto as he explores a desolate, post-human future Australia. In his quest to understand his existence, Arto is guided by a mysterious letter from the past and joined by a cheeky kitten companion. When he meets another robot named Indi, she claims to be his sister. But Arto begins to suspect she might be the reason the humans are all gone. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page. Bookmark the page so you can find our latest books content with ease. What's new: Logie-winning ex-AFL player Tony Armstrong has released his second book for children, Maggie the Dragon, and Matildas player Katrina Gorry's new memoir shares her story of football, motherhood and breaking down barriers. Katrina Gorry with Robert Wainwright. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. Billed as "a Matilda's story of football, motherhood and breaking down barriers", Katrina Gorry's memoir kicks off with some very classy front-cover endorsements. Former PM Julia Gillard describes the book as "full to the brim with love of family, of friends, of football" and Olympian Cathy Freeman calls it "a powerful testament to grit, endurance and agility". These talented and tenacious women would know a thing or two about the kind of courage, focus and resilience that has sustained Gorry through an eating disorder, IVF treatments, the birth of daughter Harper, meeting partner Clara Markstedt, the arrival of second child Koby and her on-again, off-again passion for soccer. Christie Brinkley with Sarah Toland. HarperCollins. $36.99. Christie Brinkley says it was the drinking that blew up her famous marriage to Billy Joel. "Booze was the other woman," she writes in her new memoir. But she thanks the piano man for being "an integral part of my life for decades" and giving her "one of my greatest gifts, my daughter Alexa Ray - and the title for this book". Over five decades in modelling, Brinkley has graced more than 500 magazine covers. She appeared in the 1983 music video for Joel's hit Uptown Girl after meeting him - in true celebrity style - on St Barts in the Caribbean, where fellow supermodel Elle Macpherson was also vying for his attention. Jacqueline Kent. NewSouth Books. $34.99. Jacqueline Kent profiles some of Australia's best-known writers of the 20th century. Her focus is the women who were the daughters of the suffragists of the early 1900s and the mothers of the feminists of the 1960s and 1970s. This generation, Kent writes, were "the bright and articulate women who went through two world wars, endured a massive economic depression and saw the rise of fascism and communism". The stories of writers such as Miles Franklin, Mary Gilmore, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Dymphna Cusack and Ruth Park are presented against the backdrop of the social and political events of the time. Grantlee Kieza. ABC Books. $35.99. Annette Kellerman was an early 20th century long-distance swimmer, fearless high-diver and vaudeville entertainer who became the first Australian woman to star in a Hollywood silent movie. Kellerman, who died in 1975, was also a pioneer of the one-piece swimsuit for women, refusing to wear the pantaloons of the time and helping to change fashion forever. After appearances as a mermaid in aquatic adventure movies, Kellerman shocked conservative audiences by appearing nude in A Daughter of the Gods in 1916. Her life of adventure included jumping into a pool of live crocodiles for a film and starting her own clothing line. Joseph Earp. Pantera Press. $34.99. Writer, painter and poet Joseph Earp explores the pain and pleasure of art and love through the comedic misadventures of painter Ellie Robertson, who wins a prestigious art prize at the age of 30 only to be immediately gripped by panic about what she's supposed to do next. Her solution: to paint portraits of all of her exes. She hopes the bizarre project will help her rediscover her passion and come to grips with her past relationships. But not everyone she has dated is happy to hear from her, which leads to some bittersweet truths about the emotional corner she has painted herself into. Tony Armstrong and illustrated by Emma Sjaan Beukers. Lothian Books. $24.99. When AFL-player-turned-TV-star Tony Armstrong visited his old primary school in Albury late last year to launch the promotional tour for his first book, George The Wizard, he told The Border Mail he preferred to entertain and inspire kids rather than write about his footy or Logies exploits: "When I'm older and on my last gravy train, I'll write a memoir!" His follow-up picture book with illustrator Emma Sjaan Beukers is set in the same vibrantly coloured fantasy world. A story about being loved for who you are, it follows dragon Maggie as she befriends wizard George and conquers the fiery hiccups triggered by her anxiety. Dervla McTiernan. HarperCollins. $34.99. Detective Cormac Reilly returns in the latest thriller from Dervla McTiernan, the former Irish lawyer now Perth-based crime novelist. Her murder mystery this time takes an archaeological twist as Reilly investigates a corpse discovered in a bog in Galway. For decades, the ancient boglands of Northern Europe have given up uncannily preserved bodies that are thousands of years old, some bearing strange injuries suggesting ritual torture or human sacrifice. But it turns out the Galway find is not historical but the body of Thaddeus Grey, a local high school principal who disappeared two years ago. So, why does his body show ritualistic mutilations? Letters to Our Robot Son Cadance Bell. Ultimo Press. $34.99. Mudgee-raised, Bathurst-based author and documentary film-maker Cadance Bell shared the story of her life growing up transgender in a small country town in her 2022 memoir The All of It: A Bogan Rhapsody. Her first novel, a science-fiction fable, follows a sweet little robot named Arto as he explores a desolate, post-human future Australia. In his quest to understand his existence, Arto is guided by a mysterious letter from the past and joined by a cheeky kitten companion. When he meets another robot named Indi, she claims to be his sister. But Arto begins to suspect she might be the reason the humans are all gone. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page. Bookmark the page so you can find our latest books content with ease. What's new: Logie-winning ex-AFL player Tony Armstrong has released his second book for children, Maggie the Dragon, and Matildas player Katrina Gorry's new memoir shares her story of football, motherhood and breaking down barriers. Katrina Gorry with Robert Wainwright. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. Billed as "a Matilda's story of football, motherhood and breaking down barriers", Katrina Gorry's memoir kicks off with some very classy front-cover endorsements. Former PM Julia Gillard describes the book as "full to the brim with love of family, of friends, of football" and Olympian Cathy Freeman calls it "a powerful testament to grit, endurance and agility". These talented and tenacious women would know a thing or two about the kind of courage, focus and resilience that has sustained Gorry through an eating disorder, IVF treatments, the birth of daughter Harper, meeting partner Clara Markstedt, the arrival of second child Koby and her on-again, off-again passion for soccer. Christie Brinkley with Sarah Toland. HarperCollins. $36.99. Christie Brinkley says it was the drinking that blew up her famous marriage to Billy Joel. "Booze was the other woman," she writes in her new memoir. But she thanks the piano man for being "an integral part of my life for decades" and giving her "one of my greatest gifts, my daughter Alexa Ray - and the title for this book". Over five decades in modelling, Brinkley has graced more than 500 magazine covers. She appeared in the 1983 music video for Joel's hit Uptown Girl after meeting him - in true celebrity style - on St Barts in the Caribbean, where fellow supermodel Elle Macpherson was also vying for his attention. Jacqueline Kent. NewSouth Books. $34.99. Jacqueline Kent profiles some of Australia's best-known writers of the 20th century. Her focus is the women who were the daughters of the suffragists of the early 1900s and the mothers of the feminists of the 1960s and 1970s. This generation, Kent writes, were "the bright and articulate women who went through two world wars, endured a massive economic depression and saw the rise of fascism and communism". The stories of writers such as Miles Franklin, Mary Gilmore, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Dymphna Cusack and Ruth Park are presented against the backdrop of the social and political events of the time. Grantlee Kieza. ABC Books. $35.99. Annette Kellerman was an early 20th century long-distance swimmer, fearless high-diver and vaudeville entertainer who became the first Australian woman to star in a Hollywood silent movie. Kellerman, who died in 1975, was also a pioneer of the one-piece swimsuit for women, refusing to wear the pantaloons of the time and helping to change fashion forever. After appearances as a mermaid in aquatic adventure movies, Kellerman shocked conservative audiences by appearing nude in A Daughter of the Gods in 1916. Her life of adventure included jumping into a pool of live crocodiles for a film and starting her own clothing line. Joseph Earp. Pantera Press. $34.99. Writer, painter and poet Joseph Earp explores the pain and pleasure of art and love through the comedic misadventures of painter Ellie Robertson, who wins a prestigious art prize at the age of 30 only to be immediately gripped by panic about what she's supposed to do next. Her solution: to paint portraits of all of her exes. She hopes the bizarre project will help her rediscover her passion and come to grips with her past relationships. But not everyone she has dated is happy to hear from her, which leads to some bittersweet truths about the emotional corner she has painted herself into. Tony Armstrong and illustrated by Emma Sjaan Beukers. Lothian Books. $24.99. When AFL-player-turned-TV-star Tony Armstrong visited his old primary school in Albury late last year to launch the promotional tour for his first book, George The Wizard, he told The Border Mail he preferred to entertain and inspire kids rather than write about his footy or Logies exploits: "When I'm older and on my last gravy train, I'll write a memoir!" His follow-up picture book with illustrator Emma Sjaan Beukers is set in the same vibrantly coloured fantasy world. A story about being loved for who you are, it follows dragon Maggie as she befriends wizard George and conquers the fiery hiccups triggered by her anxiety. Dervla McTiernan. HarperCollins. $34.99. Detective Cormac Reilly returns in the latest thriller from Dervla McTiernan, the former Irish lawyer now Perth-based crime novelist. Her murder mystery this time takes an archaeological twist as Reilly investigates a corpse discovered in a bog in Galway. For decades, the ancient boglands of Northern Europe have given up uncannily preserved bodies that are thousands of years old, some bearing strange injuries suggesting ritual torture or human sacrifice. But it turns out the Galway find is not historical but the body of Thaddeus Grey, a local high school principal who disappeared two years ago. So, why does his body show ritualistic mutilations? Letters to Our Robot Son Cadance Bell. Ultimo Press. $34.99. Mudgee-raised, Bathurst-based author and documentary film-maker Cadance Bell shared the story of her life growing up transgender in a small country town in her 2022 memoir The All of It: A Bogan Rhapsody. Her first novel, a science-fiction fable, follows a sweet little robot named Arto as he explores a desolate, post-human future Australia. In his quest to understand his existence, Arto is guided by a mysterious letter from the past and joined by a cheeky kitten companion. When he meets another robot named Indi, she claims to be his sister. But Arto begins to suspect she might be the reason the humans are all gone. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page. Bookmark the page so you can find our latest books content with ease. What's new: Logie-winning ex-AFL player Tony Armstrong has released his second book for children, Maggie the Dragon, and Matildas player Katrina Gorry's new memoir shares her story of football, motherhood and breaking down barriers. Katrina Gorry with Robert Wainwright. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. Billed as "a Matilda's story of football, motherhood and breaking down barriers", Katrina Gorry's memoir kicks off with some very classy front-cover endorsements. Former PM Julia Gillard describes the book as "full to the brim with love of family, of friends, of football" and Olympian Cathy Freeman calls it "a powerful testament to grit, endurance and agility". These talented and tenacious women would know a thing or two about the kind of courage, focus and resilience that has sustained Gorry through an eating disorder, IVF treatments, the birth of daughter Harper, meeting partner Clara Markstedt, the arrival of second child Koby and her on-again, off-again passion for soccer. Christie Brinkley with Sarah Toland. HarperCollins. $36.99. Christie Brinkley says it was the drinking that blew up her famous marriage to Billy Joel. "Booze was the other woman," she writes in her new memoir. But she thanks the piano man for being "an integral part of my life for decades" and giving her "one of my greatest gifts, my daughter Alexa Ray - and the title for this book". Over five decades in modelling, Brinkley has graced more than 500 magazine covers. She appeared in the 1983 music video for Joel's hit Uptown Girl after meeting him - in true celebrity style - on St Barts in the Caribbean, where fellow supermodel Elle Macpherson was also vying for his attention. Jacqueline Kent. NewSouth Books. $34.99. Jacqueline Kent profiles some of Australia's best-known writers of the 20th century. Her focus is the women who were the daughters of the suffragists of the early 1900s and the mothers of the feminists of the 1960s and 1970s. This generation, Kent writes, were "the bright and articulate women who went through two world wars, endured a massive economic depression and saw the rise of fascism and communism". The stories of writers such as Miles Franklin, Mary Gilmore, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Dymphna Cusack and Ruth Park are presented against the backdrop of the social and political events of the time. Grantlee Kieza. ABC Books. $35.99. Annette Kellerman was an early 20th century long-distance swimmer, fearless high-diver and vaudeville entertainer who became the first Australian woman to star in a Hollywood silent movie. Kellerman, who died in 1975, was also a pioneer of the one-piece swimsuit for women, refusing to wear the pantaloons of the time and helping to change fashion forever. After appearances as a mermaid in aquatic adventure movies, Kellerman shocked conservative audiences by appearing nude in A Daughter of the Gods in 1916. Her life of adventure included jumping into a pool of live crocodiles for a film and starting her own clothing line. Joseph Earp. Pantera Press. $34.99. Writer, painter and poet Joseph Earp explores the pain and pleasure of art and love through the comedic misadventures of painter Ellie Robertson, who wins a prestigious art prize at the age of 30 only to be immediately gripped by panic about what she's supposed to do next. Her solution: to paint portraits of all of her exes. She hopes the bizarre project will help her rediscover her passion and come to grips with her past relationships. But not everyone she has dated is happy to hear from her, which leads to some bittersweet truths about the emotional corner she has painted herself into. Tony Armstrong and illustrated by Emma Sjaan Beukers. Lothian Books. $24.99. When AFL-player-turned-TV-star Tony Armstrong visited his old primary school in Albury late last year to launch the promotional tour for his first book, George The Wizard, he told The Border Mail he preferred to entertain and inspire kids rather than write about his footy or Logies exploits: "When I'm older and on my last gravy train, I'll write a memoir!" His follow-up picture book with illustrator Emma Sjaan Beukers is set in the same vibrantly coloured fantasy world. A story about being loved for who you are, it follows dragon Maggie as she befriends wizard George and conquers the fiery hiccups triggered by her anxiety. Dervla McTiernan. HarperCollins. $34.99. Detective Cormac Reilly returns in the latest thriller from Dervla McTiernan, the former Irish lawyer now Perth-based crime novelist. Her murder mystery this time takes an archaeological twist as Reilly investigates a corpse discovered in a bog in Galway. For decades, the ancient boglands of Northern Europe have given up uncannily preserved bodies that are thousands of years old, some bearing strange injuries suggesting ritual torture or human sacrifice. But it turns out the Galway find is not historical but the body of Thaddeus Grey, a local high school principal who disappeared two years ago. So, why does his body show ritualistic mutilations? Letters to Our Robot Son Cadance Bell. Ultimo Press. $34.99. Mudgee-raised, Bathurst-based author and documentary film-maker Cadance Bell shared the story of her life growing up transgender in a small country town in her 2022 memoir The All of It: A Bogan Rhapsody. Her first novel, a science-fiction fable, follows a sweet little robot named Arto as he explores a desolate, post-human future Australia. In his quest to understand his existence, Arto is guided by a mysterious letter from the past and joined by a cheeky kitten companion. When he meets another robot named Indi, she claims to be his sister. But Arto begins to suspect she might be the reason the humans are all gone. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page. Bookmark the page so you can find our latest books content with ease.
