BOOKS OF THE MONTH
JULY BOOK OF THE MONTH The Yield | Tara June Winch | $32.99 | Penguin Random House So, so beautiful – and like nothing I’ve ever read. There are passages of sublime prose; sentences that shook me and took me new places; and parts that made me bawl for everything that’s been and being lost, stolen and damaged for First Nations people in Australia. The Yield follows the story of August who, after spending years overseas, returns to find her ancestors’ land – her family’s home – being repossessed by a mining company. The words of her grandfather, Albert Gondiwindi, weave through August’s story. Albert’s dictionary is a masterpiece and some of the most moving prose I’ve read. The Yield is my favourite Australian book this year – and it might be yours, too! — Emma Co.
AUGUST BOOK OF THE MONTH The Pillars | Peter Polites | $32.99 | Hachette The Pillars is Polites in cracking form. Familiar themes from his debut novel, Down The Hume – the perspective of a young, gay man of Greek descent in Western Sydney — have been given a broader canvas and mixed with the hotly topical issue of fast-buck, shoddy building standards and their possible disastrous consequences… Family dynamics, cultural perceptions, prejudices and moral relativism colour the story, as does Polites’ personal strain of dark humour. But, what gives this great new Australian novel its greatest life force is its author’s intimate knowledge of Western Sydney and its inhabitants and the artfulness with which he chisels them into the page… — James
SEPTEMBER BOOK OF THE MONTH Sand Talk | Tyson Yunkaporta | $32.99 | Text Publishing Sand Talk is exciting and bursting with ideas; it is an invitation to listen and understand, as well as an offering of hope for future sustainability systems. Yunkaporta is writing about indigenous culture’s sustainability and turns this practice and thinking onto contemporary society to offer solutions for today, turning the current mode of Western thinking up-side down. Through yarning with a range of custodians of the land, Yunkaporta has brought oral history alive through the written text. It has created a fire in my belly. Fans of Dark Emu have their next read right here. — Dean
NEW IN THE NOOK Only as the Day is Long | Dorianne Laux | $41.95 | John Wiley A collection from a true master of the form. Precise, heartfelt, and often overwhelmingly beautiful, Laux’s earthy and lyrical paeans to survival, healing, and celebration are a real source of solace in our trying times. For fans of Ada Limón, Mary Oliver, and Joy Harjo. — Zak
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Halal if you Hear Me: The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 3 | Ed. Fatima Asghar & Safia Elhillo | $35.99 | Haymarket Books
Making Kin Not Population: Reconceiving Generations | Ed. Donna Haraway & Adele Clarke | $23.99 | Prickly Paradigm Press
Two formidable talents in contemporary poetry edit this groundbreaking, mind-altering anthology. The collection sheds light on the diverse ways people celebrate, and lay claims to, a Muslim identity, highlighting the identity’s intersections and nuances. Essential reading. — Zak
Conversations about population growth and sustainability have long been morally and politically fraught, entangled as they are in histories of transnational inequality, colonialism, and eugenics. Drawing together essays by leading antiracist, ecologically-concerned, feminist scholars, Haraway and Clarke reframe the conversation in productive and thrilling ways. — Zak
