NewtownReviewofBooks

Sydney's original online review of books, est. March 2012 by editors Jean Bedford & Linda Funnell. On Gadigal land.

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

Happy New Year!
Before we dive into 2026, it's time to look back at the reviews we published in 2025 to see which were our readers' favourites.
Check out the reviews that made the list:
https://t.co/n1XX2NQMvO
#BookReviews #BestOf2025 #ReadersFavourites

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

Australian authors: here's a chance to pitch your work to screen professionals with the Queensland Writers' Centre's Adaptable program.
Applications close 27 Jan. Find out more:
https://t.co/gMIv6HAWP9
@qldwriters #WritingCommunity #opportunities

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

A 'giant of Australian letters' and a 'generous and inspirational teacher' – writers, friends and colleagues remember Jean Bedford, who died last Thursday, 11 December 2025.
https://t.co/8XcyDG1Vfp
#JeanBedford #AustralianWriters #Vale

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

NRB mourns Jean Bedford
Writer and editor Jean Bedford has died after a long illness. Author of 8 novels, including Sister Kate and 3 detective novels, Jean was co-founder of NRB & co-editor 2012-2019.
A tribute is planned for NRB next week. If you wld like to contribute pls DM.

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

ICYMI this week's reviews:
Robert Goodman on Alix E Harrow's time-travel novel The Everlasting
Catherine Pardey on Stuart Everly-Wilson's crime family novel The Maskeys
Ann Skea on Lyn Dickens' novel of colonial South Australia, Salt Upon the Water https://t.co/URoRzkyU7v

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

Lyn Dickens’s novel of an independent woman in colonial South Australia explores prejudice, power and identity: "distinctive, imaginative, carefully researched and very enjoyable"
Ann Skea reviews Lyn Dickens' Salt Upon the Water
https://t.co/F3kxMtR8Lj
@WakefieldPress #histfic

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

"Stuart Everly-Wilson takes you right inside the Maskeys fictional world and keeps you there, entertainingly, for three hundred or so pages."
Catherine Pardey reviews Stuart Everly-Wilson's new novel The Maskeys:
https://t.co/9NhP3GLzJu
@transitlounge2 #AustralianFiction

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

"The Everlasting is ultimately about the way people use stories to create a national identity...[via a] time-travel driven plot with engagingly flawed main characters."
Robert Goodman reviews Alix E Harrow's The Everlasting:
https://t.co/80W4CoUamM
@MacmillanAus @UKTor #SFF

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

ICYMI this week's reviews:
Robert Goodman on Claire North's new sci-fi Slow Gods
Ann Skea on Thomas Schlesser's art history novel Mona's Eyes
Braham Dabscheck on Luke Kemp's Goliath's Curse: The history and future of societal collapse
https://t.co/URoRzkyU7v
#BookReviews

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

"a work of the highest order. He has examined a myriad of complex aspects of the human condition, including whether or not we are heading towards extinction."
Braham Dabscheck reviews Luke Kemp's Goliath's Curse:
https://t.co/gY9fVi0CHp
@PenguinBooksAus #Oligarchs #Politics

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

"for anyone who loves art, this book is a delight."
Ann Skea reviews Thomas Schlesser's novel Mona's Eyes:
https://t.co/nqKSdr3ygL
@AllenAndUnwin #FrenchWriters #ArtHistory

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

"In her latest book..North moves into the realms of modern space opera, and once again brings something new to the table... [using] her science fiction stylings to consider large, real-world issues."
Robert Goodman reviews Slow Gods:
https://t.co/TVQJMPfUoe
@hachetteaus #SFF

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

ICYMI this week's reviews of two new novels from Australian authors:
Amelia Dudley on Keshe Chow's dark fantasy For No Mortal Creature
Annette Hughes on Erin Hortle's second novel A Catalogue of Love
https://t.co/URoRzkyU7v
@PenguinBooksAus @SimonSchusterAU #AustFiction

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

"the exhilaration of surfing is crafted with such precision, it’s hard to believe Neika is the work of Hortle’s exceptionally vivid imagination.. irresistible."
Annette Hughes reviews Erin Hortle's new novel A Catalogue of Love
https://t.co/xEZbjPxPbU
@PenguinBooksAus #AustFic

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

"gripping, full of misunderstandings and their often terrible consequences...this is a beautiful, original story about grief, letting go and finding your place"
Amelia Dudley reviews Keshe Chow's new dark fantasy For No Mortal Creature:
https://t.co/qRG9bLPfSb
@PenguinBooksAus

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

ICYMI this week's reviews:
Braham Dabscheck on Richard Denniss's Dead Centre: How political pragmatism is killing us
Ann Skea on Nicola Barker's latest novel TonyInterruptor
Find them at https://t.co/URoRzkyU7v
@TheAusInstitute @GrantaBooks @AllenAndUnwin
#BookReviews

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

TonyInterruptor is "often very funny and it certainly demonstrates the dissembling, self-delusion and dishonesties of our everyday lives."
Ann Skea reviews Nicola Barker's new novel:
https://t.co/m9i7n5b2TR
@GrantaBooks @AllenAndUnwin #NicolaBarker

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

"a clear and concise examination of the timidity of Australian politicians to tackle major issues central to Australia’s long-term needs."
Braham Dabscheck reviews Richard Denniss's Dead Centre: How political pragmatism is killing us:
https://t.co/v7IjWBwF2q
@TheAusInstitute

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

ICYMI this week's reviews:
Ann Skea on Mariana Enriquez's memoir Somebody is Walking on Your Grave: My cemetery journeys
Amelia Dudley on T Kingfisher's new novel Hemlock and Silver
Find them at: https://t.co/URoRzkyU7v
@GrantaBooks @AllenAndUnwin @MacmillanAus
#BookReviews

[NewtownReviewofBooks @NewtownBooks]

"This novel is not just for fellow plant biologists or anyone else fascinated by poisonous plants .. It’s hilarious and charming and heartbreaking .."
Amelia Dudley reviews T Kingfisher's Hemlock and Silver:
https://t.co/DVD82T7y5P
@MacmillanAus
#SFF #Poison #BookReview