THIS IS ME

He’s best known as drag diva Courtney Act, but beneath the wig, eyelashes and fabulous frocks is Shane Jenek, the boy from Brisbane. As revealed in his explosive memoir, he conquered shame, bullying and social conventions to show the world who he really is.

Royal insider

Behind Palace gates with Juliet Rieden

The bookshelf Prepare to be hooked ...

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell, Century

The Last Exiles by Ann Shin, HarperCollins

Leaving HOME

We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride & Jo Piazza, HQ

Love and LOSS

My story My impossible choice

Kristine Rawlinson had a successful career as an NDIS community engagement officer, but when her husband, Neal, was left disabled by a catastrophic infection, she was shocked by how hard it was to get the support they needed.

Ready for a festive battle

When it comes to getting prepped for the Christmas season, the early bird gets the tinsel.

Storytime

The Raffles Affair by Vicki Virtue, Penguin

Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser, Allen & Unwin

CONTEMPORARY FICTION

OUT OF AFRICA

In a quest to save wild African lions from extinction, filmmaker Rogue Rubin went undercover, posing as a big game trophy-hunt photographer and putting her own life at risk. She reveals her terrifying journey.

Muddy People by Sara El Sayed, Black Inc

Memoir

Gin by Shonna Milliken Humphrey, Bloomsbury

Pocket BOOK

Devotion by Hannah Kent, Picador

Historic ROMANCE

The birth of hope

In 2020, the number of children in foster care rose to 46,000, and almost half of those are in NSW. With many moving from place to place with no solution in sight, one inspiring young woman is determined to end the cycle.

Murder in Larrimah

The curious investigation into the disappearance of Paddy Moriarty and his kelpie Kellie in a tiny Northern Territory 12-person community.

Love under fire

Keith Payne VC is an Aussie hero, bravest of the brave, but managing the pain beyond the glory has proved a tough battle for Keith, his unfailingly supportive wife, Flo, and their five sons.

Our happy place

When high-profile political journalists Annabel Crabb and Leigh Sales started a podcast characterised by their own madcap friendship, it showed them what happiness is all about.

A patchwork of love

When Helen Comport’s son was critically injured in the war in Afghanistan, she was inspired to gather a community of quilters to wrap our veterans and their families in gratitude.

SLAVERY IN THE SUBURBS

There is a common misconception that slavery is a matter for the history books, but millions of people are still enslaved today – shockingly, some of them right here in Australia.

When Rachel met Deborah

They always admired each other from afar but when Rachel Griffiths and Deborah Mailman finally joined forces in TV’s Total Control they were not only in fan-girl heaven, they became instant friends.

What's really going on with Princess Charlene?

Why has she spent so much of this year away from Prince Albert and their children in Monaco? The word on the streets of this glamorous principality is that Princess Charlene might never return!

WHO KILLED THE BEATLES?

Millions of words and hours have been spent on the break-up of the Beatles. But now, half a century on, the history books are being rewritten, old scapegoats exonerated and new culprits brought to light.

Women of the land

There are so many inspiring women championing courage, kindness and resilience in the bush. Here are just a few who we’ll be thinking of on October 15, the United Nations International Day of Rural Women.

My post-50 joy

When author Charlotte Wood hit 50 something incredible happened – a surge of power and optimism backed with the wisdom of decades that is still with her six years later.

Great read

Reading room

Olivia - Letting Go Of Fear

In an exclusive interview from her farm in California, Dame Olivia Newton-John talks about her bonds with family and nature, and how these two helped her through the dark days of the COVID crisis in the United States.

Stephanie Alexander - The Making Of A Food Lover

In her long-awaited cookbook Home, Stephanie Alexander shares essays and dishes that are the bedrock of her repertoire. It is a celebration of a life spent exploring the sensual and social delights of food with recipes that will be cooked, shared and talked about for years.

Remember the time

September 16, 1956, television arrives in Australia

Territory dreaming

Leave behind the big smoke and lose yourself in the sprawling, solitary vistas of Kakadu and Arnhem Land.

There's Always A Silver Lining

Before she joined ABC TV’s News Breakfast, Lisa Millar conquered her darkest fears, covered 10 terror attacks, loved deeply and lost those dearest to her. In an intensely candid interview she shares her tears, laughter and joy.