The Briar Book of the Dead
A.G. Slatter, Titan, $27.99

Lush fantasy set in a world of witchcraft, The Briar Book of the Dead blends horror and folklore and family strife. Ellie Briar comes from a long line of witches, but she has always been the odd one out. She was born without magic. That makes her less obnoxious to the church – which has ceased persecuting the family, in exchange for protection against the Darklands and the terrifying Leech Lords who hold sway there. Trained as a steward, Ellie is responsible for diplomacy with the church. When her grandmother dies and her cousin Audra becomes the new Briar Witch, however, Ellie suddenly discovers latent magic, an ability to speak with the dead that leads her into a world of necromancy and dark family secrets. Slatter’s narrative is slow-going at first, but it’s worth persisting. The novel builds a gothic atmosphere, ghosted by the fatal reality of European witch persecutions, that fans of supernatural horror and dark fantasy should enjoy.

NON-FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK
A Brief History of Thought – Unfinished
John Bryson, Broadcast Books, $38.99

Readers of John Bryson’s masterpiece, Evil Angels, will know that he was attuned to the microscopic and the cosmic, able to see how our lives play out against the backdrop of deep time.

This posthumously published book takes on the elusive subject of consciousness through a series of interlinked essays focusing on its evolutionary drivers, both biological and cultural. Of particular interest for him is the way traditional religions stymied the expansion of human consciousness by resisting change, and how the arts defied this sclerosis. While the historical sweep of this collection is vast, Bryson’s precise use of language and ability to convey complex ideas in honed, clear prose makes him a sure guide through this daunting terrain. A selection of his poetry provides a fitting and moving conclusion: “If the purpose of a life/ is to provide generation, the duty’s done.”

Critic Swallows Book
Ed., Catriona Menzies-Pike, Sydney Review of Books, $34.95

It’s hard to imagine a pithier title for a collection of book reviews and essays. While echoing the bestseller Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton, this is not a homage. If anything, it’s a caveat against swallowing the hype around any book. For Catriona Menzies-Pike, Dalton is “the definitive novelist of Scott Morrison’s Australia” promulgating a “deeply conservative vision of nationhood and identity”. Key to this celebration of 10 years of the Sydney Review of Books is a sense of perspective: an appreciation of an author’s oeuvre within the social conditions that shaped it. At the same time, each review gives voice to the reviewer’s personal response and style, their understanding of why literature matters and what it can tell us about ourselves. As Tegan Bennett Daylight observes, “perhaps the best definition of good writing” is that it opens a space of “safe aloneness”, a suspended awareness of self that allows us to remain fully present and connected.

Sons of Beaches
Bill McDonough, Ultimo Press, $36.99

Bill and Guy McDonough were school swimming champions long before they found fame in the rock band Australian Crawl. They grew up on the Mornington Peninsula and the early death of their father marked them both, spurring them as musicians and song-writers. Also on their school swim team were James Reyne and Brad Robinson, who would become two of the founders of the band. The siblings’ relationship is the heart of this memoir, with Bill taking on the role of his rebellious younger brother’s keeper. In unvarnished prose, McDonough documents their travel adventures, the band’s rise to fame in Australia, his sacking as drummer and his devastation after Guy’s death in 1984 from complications related to his drug addiction. For all the sadness and the ruthlessness of the music industry, Sons of Beaches captures the camaraderie behind the band’s best songs.

Feel Good Productivity
Ali Abdaal, Cornerstone Press, $36.99

The term “productivity” is generally understood in grim economic terms. How employers can get more for less. Ali Abdaal’s feel good productivity philosophy puts an upbeat spin on the idea of productivity by focusing on how individuals can empower themselves and change their experience of work.

Under the influence of positive psychology, he emphasises the centrality of mood and mindset in your performance, output and enjoyment of work and life. His self-help advice is to introduce an element of fun or play into your routine, reframe attitudes to failure, set concrete, achievable goals, resist over-commitment, and face the fears that can hold you back. It’s sensible and useful up to a point. What Abdaal doesn’t address is that productivity is a structural issue and that positive thinking can only take you so far in a workplace that does not promote human flourishing.

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