Non Fiction
Pull
Dr Brennan Spiegel. Scribe. $36.99.
The human relationship to gravity, writes Brennan Spiegel, is like a fish's relationship to water. "We live our lives in it, are shaped by it, yet rarely notice its constant influence on our existence." Spiegel, a professor of medicine, examines how gravity - the invisible force irresistibly pulling us towards earth - affects our bodies and minds. Human anatomy is designed to resist gravity, but that doesn't always work, he says, linking some chronic illnesses such as back pain and irritable bowel syndrome to "gravity intolerance". Thriving, Spiegel says, is not about escaping from gravity, but instead learning to live in harmony.
A Hymn To Life
Gisele Pelicot. Bodley Head. $36.99.
When her husband of 50 years was caught by a supermarket security guard filming up women's skirts, Gisele Pelicot was asked to go to the local police station in Carpentras, France. "I am going to show you some photographs and videos that you are not going to like," she was told. Her world was about to shatter. Police had discovered Pelicot's husband had been drugging her, raping her and allowing strangers to do the same in their family home for 10 years. This memoir recounts her harrowing ordeal and courage in waiving her right to anonymity as 50 perpetrators faced court. "Shame must change sides," she declared.
Orwell's Ghosts
Laura Beers. Hurst Publishers. $29.99.
The philosophy of George Orwell, author of 1984 and Animal Farm, was rooted in two key principles: free speech and truth in speech. Says historian Laura Beers: "Famously, in 1984, Orwell defines freedom as the freedom to say that two plus two equals four - not the freedom to say that two plus two equals five. This tension - between the right to speak freely and the responsibility to uphold truth - remains central to debates today". As progressives denounce Trump's relentless untruths as "Orwellian" and conservatives accuse media of "Orwellian" censorship, Beers carefully explains Orwell's enduring wisdom and warnings for our polarised age of cancel culture, misinformation and rising authoritarianism.
A Theory of Happiness
Kim Hyung Seok. Bloomsbury Publishing. $29.99.
"Looking back, the years I had the most achievements were from the age of 60 to my 80s. People retire around this age and stop thinking about problems that society faces. But I thought I had a lot to share and give at the time, which turned out to be true." So says 105-year-old Kim Hyung Seok, North Korean-born South Korean philosopher. At 103, his book 100 Years of Wisdom earned him Guinness World Records recognition as the world's oldest male author. He breaks his own record with A Theory of Happiness. His lessons for a happy life? Avoid anger, express gratitude and strive for tranquility and sincerity.
Fiction
The Drowning
Fiona Lowe. HQ Fiction. $32.99.
This engrossing seaside mystery features a family at war over an inheritance and a body on a beach. CC Cilento's best childhood memories are of spending summer holidays at the Friend family's house on the beach with her cousins: James, Ollie, Felix and Lily. When the now-adult siblings inherit the shack - along with an unexpected fifth share to CC - what starts out as a way to keep the family connected quickly spirals into an emotional power struggle. Two of the siblings want to keep the family legacy intact, two want to sell. What does CC want? Then, a body is found on the beach.
Like Follow Die
Ashley Kalagian Blunt. Ultimo Press. $34.99.
Corinne Gray's life is a mess. When homicide detective Kyle Nazarian knocks on her door, she knows why. He wants to talk about her son. Ben was an average teen in Sydney's eastern suburbs, dating his first girlfriend and trying to find an after-school job. But when his luck soured, Ben was drawn to the internet's darkest corners of toxic masculinity. And then, he did the unthinkable. When Kyle arrives, Corinne sees a chance to finally explain her boy's terrible trajectory. This psychological thriller from the author of 2023's Dark Mode and 2025's Cold Truth explores the complexities of parental responsibility in the digital age.
The Persian
David McCloskey. Swift Press. $34.99.
In the fourth espionage thriller from former CIA analyst David McCloskey, Kamran Esfahani is a Persian Jewish dentist of modest means and middling business ability from Stockholm. He dreams of a bungalow near the ocean in California, so when an agent from Israel's intelligence service, Mossad, turns up one day to ask him to set up a practice in Tehran in return for a generous stipend, he agrees. The clinic is a front that helps Mossad to sabotage, kidnap and assassinate inside Iran. When Kamran is captured, his brutal interrogators force him to confess, but will they learn his secret?
What The Bones Know
Kirstyn McDermott. HQ Fiction. $32.99.
Ballarat author Kirstyn McDermott has set her new novel in fictional Kiln Creek, which she says would sit within the river valleys and high plains of north-eastern Victoria. It's a contemporary gothic tale of guilt, grief and redemption as single mum Jude struggles with work, a controlling ex-husband, a 10-year-old daughter prone to sleepwalking and a mother showing signs of dementia. Returning to the family farm to care for mum Nance, Jude begins to wonder if her life is haunted. When a ghost gum falls in a storm, revealing the bones of a small child and a pair of red sneakers, dark secrets are unearthed.
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