Fear and loathing on the campaign trail

The current Australian campaign may be dull but political campaigns were once the stuff of passion and high drama so the Conversation asked 10 experts to nominate their favourite book about the hustings.

Ten of the best

From Samantha Harvey’s spellbinding Booker winner Orbital to Percival Everett’s ambitious retelling of Huckleberry Finn, James, these are the books that made the most lasting impression on the Conversation’s expert reviewers.

A promised land

Obama’s account of his movement from lower reaches of Democrat politics to the White House is compelling reading. It is well written, and best digested slowly, chapter by chapter, anecdote by anecdote.

The joy of real books

As we emerge from a pandemic that has accelerated digital progress, we can’t let these developments obscure the place of real books in real — as opposed to virtual — lives.

Rescuing Australia’s lost literary treasures

A new project is digitising some of Australia’s most culturally-important lost books, getting them into libraries and answering some important questions.