Deep Water: The world in the ocean
James Bradley. Penguin. $36.99.
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This book by the award-winning Sydney critic and fiction and non-fiction writer Bradley is both a hymn to the beauty, mystery and wonder of the ocean, and a reckoning with our complex relationship to the natural world. Weaving together science, history and personal reflection it explores the way the ocean connects every living being on Earth, the origins of the environmental catastrophe that is overtaking us and the question of what lies ahead.
Power of Balance: A Life of Changemaking
Kerryn Phelps. Hardie Grant. $49.99.
Dr Kerryn Phelps served as president of the Australian Medical Association, deputy lord mayor of Sydney, and as a key leader of Australia's LGBT+ community. Little did she know, as she celebrated the historic marriage equality win in 2017, that she would be back just one year later as a member of parliament, having been elected as an independent by the people of Wentworth after a leadership coup ousted prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. In her memoir, she explores her struggles and achievements in medicine, media and politics and reflects on the ideas and passions that have motivated and sustained her during these times.
Barbara Tucker: The Art of Being
Edited by Hermina Burns. MUP. $45.
Much more than a muse, Barbara Tucker was a vital partner in the artistic success of her husband, Albert. This book, inspired by accounts of family, friends and admirers attending her memorial, contains speeches, essays, memoirs and a photo journal. There are contributions from Heide Museum of Modern Art and other institutions that benefited from her foresight and generosity. Tucker emerges as a complex person with a great gift for friendship, as well as an artist's advocate, agent, defender and facilitator who should carry her own story.
Servo: Tales from the Graveyard Shift
David Goodwin. Hachette. $34.99.
Many of us have done our time in the retail trenches, but service stations are undoubtedly the frontline, as Melburnian David Goodwin found out when he started working the weekend graveyard shift at his local servo. From his first night shift, David absorbed a consistent level of mind-bending lunacy, encountering everything from giant shoplifting bees and balaclava-clad goons hurling cordial-filled water bombs from the sunroof of their BMW, to anarcho-goths high on MDMA releasing large rats into the store from their matching Harry Potter backpacks. He eventually made it out of the servo circus and lived to tell the tale.
The Wonder of It All
Barbara Taylor Bradford. HarperCollins. $39.99.
The Somme, 1916. James Falconer stands in the trenches, awaiting the command to go over the top. Away from his business empire in London, he is simply a soldier. When a face from the past offers James the chance to repair his fractured relationship with his estranged daughter, Leonie, he must decide if he can hold different things dear - and make space in his life for love. But the war has left terrible scars, both personal and professional. James must weather myriad storms as he attempts to right past wrongs and build a new life.
Sanctuary
Garry Disher. Text. $34.99.
Grace is a talented thief. She was taught by experts and she's been practising since she was a kid. She specialises in small, high-value items - stamps, watches - and she knows her Jaeger-LeCoultres from her Patek Philippes. But it's a solitary life, always watchful, always moving. It's not the life she wants. Lying low after a run-in with an old associate, Grace walks into Erin Mandel's rural antiques shop and sees a chance for something different. A normal job. A place to call home. But someone is looking for Erin. And someone's looking for Grace, too. And they are both, in their own ways, very dangerous men.
Still See You Everywhere
Lisa Gardner. Penguin. $34.99.
Missing persons specialist Frankie Elkin is on an isolated island off the coast of Hawaii. Her mission: to find Lani, the missing sister of a Death Row serial killer known as the Beautiful Butcher who is awaiting execution in just three weeks' time. According to the Butcher's sources, Lani is being held captive by her millionaire ex-boyfriend on the island. The only way to gain access is for Frankie to go undercover. But can Frankie really trust the word of a serial killer? Plus, this island is no paradise, with deadly creatures and suspicious co-workers and an incoming tropical storm about to cut her off from the outside world.
The Mystery Writer
Sulari Gentill. Ultimo Press. $34.99.
Theo is determined to make her mark in the literary world and heads to the US to stay with her brother Gus and focus on her writing. She befriends a famous author, Dan Murdoch, at a local bar - and then he turns up dead. Suddenly, Theo finds herself as the prime suspect. She realises that Dan may not have been the person he seemed to be, and there is something sinister going on in the world of publishing. Desperate to clear her name and uncover the truth, Theo sets out on a quest to find out who killed Dan and why. She uncovers a web of deceit, conspiracy, and hidden motives and soon her own life is in danger.
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