New biography & memoir — Readings Books

Cover image for American Prometheus

American Prometheus

Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin

Physicist and polymath, as familiar with Hindu scriptures as he was with quantum mechanics, J. Robert Oppenheimer – director of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb – was…

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Cover image for Eat Your Mind: The Radical Life and Work of Kathy Acker

Eat Your Mind: The Radical Life and Work of Kathy Acker

Jason McBride

The first full-scale authorized biography of the pioneering experimental novelist Kathy Acker, one of the most original and controversial figures in 20th-century American literature.

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Cover image for Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit and Glamour of an Icon

Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit and Glamour of an Icon

Kate Andersen Brower

The first authorised biography of eternal legend Elizabeth Taylor.

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Cover image for The Rooster House: A Ukrainian Family Secret

The Rooster House: A Ukrainian Family Secret

Victoria Belim

A family history told across four generations as a young woman searches for traces of her great-uncle who disappeared during the 1930s, and through it, Ukraine’s complex relationship with its…

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Cover image for Pageboy: A Memoir

Pageboy: A Memoir

Elliot Page

The Oscar-nominated star who captivated the world with his performance in Juno finally shares his truth.

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Cover image for The House With All the Lights On

The House With All the Lights On

Jessica Kirkness

The House With All The Lights On is a lyrical exploration of family, identity and history, and what it is to be a member of a family where the most…

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Beyond the Story

BTS, Myeongseok Kang

Published in celebration of BTS’s 10th Anniversary, and written over 3 years of in‑depth coverage, in interviews by Myeongseok Kang, BTS shares personal, behind-the-scenes stories of their journey so far.

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Helena Rubinstein

Angus Trumble

The captivating story of the first global cosmetics empire, the fascinating woman who built it, and the past she preferred to leave behind

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In/Out

Steph Lentz

At once a gripping recount, a heartfelt apology and a scathing take-down, In/Out charts Steph's course from inside Christian fundamentalism, out of the closet and into a fuller sense of…

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The Shape of Dust

Lamisse Hamouda

The Shape of Dust is a haunting appraisal of the way Australia treats its citizens, both at home and abroad.

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Cover image for Border Crossings: My Journey as an Outsider

Border Crossings: My Journey as an Outsider

Mohammad Chowdhury

Whether negotiating the mind-games of border security services or performing ablutions in a London bathroom, Mohammad Chowdhury's life travelling the world brings daily challenges.

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Cover image for Reaching Through Time

Reaching Through Time

Shauna Bostock

The powerful story of a Bundjalung woman's journey to uncover her family history.

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Cover image for Line in the Sand

Line in the Sand

Dean Yates

Dean Yates was the ideal warzone correspondent: courageous, compassionate, dedicated. After years of facing the worst, though, including the Bali bombings and the Boxing Day tsunami, one final incident undid…

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Babi Yar

A. Anatoli

The powerful rediscovered masterpiece of Kyiv during the Second World War, told by a young boy who saw it all.

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Fighting Fate

Justin Yerbury

Pursued by 'the beast' of motor neurone disease, groundbreaking scientist Justin Yerbury wrote this extraordinary memoir entirely with eye movements. It is the sharpest possible lens on the value of…

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Broke

Sam Drummond

A memoir about downward mobility, disability and the power of hope.

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Not Like Other Dads

Sean Szeps

A fearless, frank and funny memoir about reinventing the rules of parenting

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My Friend Anne Frank

Hannah Pick-Goslar

In this never-before-seen memoir, Bergen-Belsen survivor Hannah Pick-Goslar shares incredibly powerful words on the final untold portrait of her childhood friend, Anne Frank.

The inspiring and heartbreaking true story of…

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Cover image for Half Deaf, Completely Mad: The Chaotic Genius of Australia's Most Legendary Music Producer

Half Deaf, Completely Mad: The Chaotic Genius of Australia’s Most Legendary Music Producer

Tony Cohen, John Olson

The music and mayhem behind the seminal sounds of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Models, Hunters & Collectors, The Saints, The Go-Betweens, Cold Chisel, The Cruel Sea and so…

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Love Language

Linda Marigliano

A compelling, relatable and powerfully moving memoir of people-pleasing, family and what it means to love and be loved, from radio presenter and podcaster Linda Marigliano.

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Cover image for Getting Better: Stories of trauma and recovery

Getting Better: Stories of trauma and recovery

Michael Rosen

The stunning new memoir from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Many Different Kinds of Love

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Cover image for Eleven Letters to You

Eleven Letters to You

Helen Elliott

Helen Elliott's Eleven Letters to You is a profoundly original memoir, an intimate account of growing up in the suburbs of Melbourne in the fifties and sixties, before feminism.

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Cover image for Paris for Beginners

Paris for Beginners

Rachael Coopes

Gorgeous travel memoir set in Paris from Play School presenter, award-winning screenwriter and author of Find Your Strength, Rachael Coopes. For fans of Eat Pray Love,Almost French…

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Cover image for Honey, Baby, Mine

Honey, Baby, Mine

Laura Dern, Diane Ladd

A collection of deeply personal conversations from award-winning actress and activist Laura Dern and the woman she admires most, her mother - legendary actress Diane Ladd.

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Cover image for Emboldened

Emboldened

Belinda Alexandra

A compelling and poignantly written blend of memoir and history, sharing stories of great resilience, purpose, passion and connection in the face of crushing challenges - stories which inspired the…

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Cover image for The Secret Gate

The Secret Gate

Mitchell Zuckoff

The incredible, true story of a breathtaking rescue in the frenzied final hours of the US evacuation of Afghanistan - and how a brave Afghan mother and a compassionate American…

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Cover image for Radical: A Life of My Own

Radical: A Life of My Own

Xiaolu Guo

The world can seem strange and lonely when you step away from your family and everything you have tried to call your own. Yet beauty may also appear. In the…

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Cover image for Motherland: What I've Learned about Parenthood, Race and Identity

Motherland: What I’ve Learned about Parenthood, Race and Identity

Priya Joi

A thought-provoking and nuanced memoir on motherhood, race and identity

M(other)land will be a powerful response to the absence of an inclusive and accessible blueprint for navigating life as a…

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Cover image for Graft: Motherhood, Family and a Year on the Land

Graft: Motherhood, Family and a Year on the Land

Maggie MacKellar

A gorgeously written reflection, set in Tasmania, on motherhood, farming, nature and home.

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Cover image for The Year My Family Unravelled

The Year My Family Unravelled

Cynthia Dearborn

A superbly written and surprising memoir about hope, redemption, self-worth, and the tangled and often contradictory impulses of love.

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Cover image for Flourish

Flourish

Antonia Case

Packed with insight into life’s big questions, Flourish will take you on a riveting journey in search of what matters most.

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Cover image for Fat Girl Dancing

Fat Girl Dancing

Kris Kneen

Fat Girl Dancing is a frank, beautiful and triumphant ode to self-respect from one of Australia's most original and acclaimed writers.

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Cover image for Everything and Nothing

Everything and Nothing

Heather Mitchell

A powerful, immersive and intimately candid memoir exploring the light and shade that co-exist in love, family and the arts, from celebrated stage and screen actor Heather Mitchell

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Cover image for I Had a Father in Karratha

I Had a Father in Karratha

Annette Trevitt

A legacy of an eldest daughter’s determination to honour her father and lay him to rest.

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Cover image for Heartbake

Heartbake

Charlotte Ree

Reminiscent of Michelle Zauner's Crying in H Mart and Dolly Alderton's Everything I Know About Love, Charlotte Ree's Heartbake is part memoir, part recipe book, and part joyous battle cry…

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Cover image for Inconceivable: Heartbreak, Bad Dates and Finding Solo Motherhood

Inconceivable: Heartbreak, Bad Dates and Finding Solo Motherhood

Alexandra Collier

Written with warmth, intelligence and humour, Alexandra Collier's inspiring memoir takes us on the wild ride of becoming a mother on your own terms.

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Cover image for Did I Ever Tell You This?

Did I Ever Tell You This?

Sam Neill

Sam Neill's unmissable memoir is revealing, heart-warming and often hilarious, as he recounts the unpredictable turns of fortune that have defined his life and career.

In this unexpected memoir, written…

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Cover image for Infidelity and Other Affairs

Infidelity and Other Affairs

Kate Legge

What do you do when your partner's infidelity upends your life? When you confront living on your own? In amongst parents dying, careers ending and becoming a grandparent?

As a…

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Cover image for The Crossing

The Crossing

Sophie Matterson

An epic story of leaving everything behind to find purpose, adventure and love by crossing 4750km of rugged Australian terrain with five wild camels, from the winner of the 2022…

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Cover image for A Joyful Life

A Joyful Life

Rosemary Kariuki, Summer Land

An extraordinary memoir of one migrant's resilience, not just to survive, but shine.

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Cover image for Jimmy Little: A Yorta Yorta Man

Jimmy Little: A Yorta Yorta Man

Frances Peters-Little

In this first biography of the man and his music, Jimmy Little: A Yorta Yorta Man tells the incredible story of one of Australia's most acclaimed Aboriginal pop and country…

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Cover image for Tanya Plibersek: On Her Own Terms

Tanya Plibersek: On Her Own Terms

Margaret Simons

A fascinating portrait of one of Australia's most influential women

'Unputdownable ... If you're looking for an entertaining and informative insight into the rollercoaster ride of Australian politics over the…

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Cover image for The Last Daughter

The Last Daughter

Brenda Matthews

An unmissable First Nations memoir that tells of the shattering experience of being stolen, The Last Daughter is a story of heartbreak and healing that offers a path forward for…

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Anaximander

Carlo Rovelli

The bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics tells the thrilling story of one of the greatest intellectual leaps of all time.

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Cover image for Life So Full of Promise

Life So Full of Promise

Ross McMullin

Life So Full of Promise, his second multi-biography about Australia’s lost generation of World War I, features a collection of interwoven stories set in that defining era.

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Cover image for Aphrodite's Breath

Aphrodite’s Breath

Susan Johnson

Aphrodite's Breath is a strikingly original, funny and forensic examination of love and finding home, amid the stories of the people, olives and wonders of the birthplace of Aphrodite.

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Cover image for Inner Song: A Biography of Margaret Sutherland

Inner Song: A Biography of Margaret Sutherland

Jillian Graham

Did Margaret Sutherland achieve more for Australian music than any other composer?

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Cover image for Love, Pamela

Love, Pamela

Pamela Anderson

A memoir covering the life of Canadian actress, model, and activist, Pamela Anderson.

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