art

A lasting legacy to the cultural and social impact left by the Fremantle Biennale, this book is an illustrated monograph that speaks to the theme of CROSSING 21. Contextualising Walyalup’s (Fremantle’s) history and the subsequent layering of colonial and contemporary narratives, the book holds a collection of essays, reflections, poems and correspondences, illustrated by the works of contemporary artists, writers, community leaders and Whadjuk Noongar Traditional Owners. Crossings Bilya Bidi is itself a love letter, a site-responsive and a heartfelt attempt to speak back to place.

Fremantle Biennale, 2021

music

Music Is History focuses on the years 1971 to the present, not only the country’s most complex and rewarding half-century when it comes to the ways that pop culture and culturally diverse history intersect and interact, but also the years that overlap with Questlove’s own life. Music Is History moves fluidly from the personal to the political, examining events closely and critically, unpeel and uncover previously unseen dimensions and encouraging readers to do the same. Whether he is exploring how Black identity reshaped itself during the blaxploitation era, analysing the assembly-line nature of disco and its hostility to Black genius, or remembering his own youth as a pop fan and what it taught him about America, Questlove finds the hidden connections in the American tapestry.

Abrams Books, 2022

Some of our staff members have rounded up their favourite reads of 2021.

---

Alan

1. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
2. The Book of Words by Jenny Erpenbeck
3. Cowboy Graves by Robert Bolano
4. Toddler Hunting and Other Stories by Taeko Kono
5. The Nutmeg’s Curse by Amitav Ghosh
6. Take Me To The River by Julian Bolleter
7. A Lover’s Discourse by Xiaolu Guo
8. Nina Simone’s Gum by Warren Ellis
9. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
10. The Metronome by Jennifer Maiden
11. Dostoevsky by Joseph Frank

---

Anne

1. What Artists Wear by Charlie Porter
2. Matrix by Lauren Groff
3. The Practise of Not Thinking by Ryunosuke Koike
4. The Believer by Sarah Krasnostein
5. How to End a Story by Helen Garner
6. The First Time I Thought I was Dying by Sarah Walker
7. Snapdragon by Kate Leyh
8. These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
9. Utsuwa: Japanese Items for Everyday Use by Kylie Johnson and Tiffany Johnson
10. Stone Fruit by Lee Lai

---

Edie

1. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
2. No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
3. Homecoming by Elfie Shiosaki
4. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
5. Selected Stories 1968-1994 by Alice Munro
6. At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop
7. Real Life by Brandon Taylor
8. The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
9. Yokai by Koichi Yumoto

---

Gideon

1. Dateline Jerusalem by John Lyons
2. Zorba the Greek by Niko Katanzakis
3. I Am David by Anne Holm
4. Inside Man by KJ Parker
5. Three by Ann Quin
6. Describing the Past by Ghassan Zaqtan
7. Gaza by Finkelstein

---

Jaimie

1. Night Sky With Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
2. The Dancer in Your Hands by Jo Pollitt
3. Nobody by Alice Oswald
4. The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
5. The Black Unicorn by Audre Lorde
6. Slug by Hollie McNish
7. Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
8. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

---

Kat

1. To The River by Olivia Laing
2. Rag and Bone by Lisa Woollett
3. Well Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith
4. Small Bodies of Water by Nina Mingya Powles
5. There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuro Tsumura
6. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
7. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
8. The Girl and the Mountain by Mark Lawrence 

---

Kristy

1. Dropbear by Evelyn Araluen
2. Social Queue by Kay Kerr
3. Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton and Aśka
4. Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty
5. Happy Endings by Bella Green
6. Skimming Stones Maria Papas
7. How to End a Story by Helen Garner
8. Still Life by Sarah Winman
9. All About Yves by Yves Rees

---

Max

1. The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner
2. Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong
3. Butterfly Mother: Miao (Hmong) Creation Epics from Guizhou by Jin Dan and Mark Bender
4. The Ancient Andean States by Henry Tantaleán
5. Tibetan Folk Tales by Frederick Hyde-Chambers
6. Wild Thought by Claude Lévi-Strauss

---

Ren

1. Love by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees
2. Hello Little Fish by Lucy Cousins
3. Busting by Aaron Blabey
4. Bumblebee Grumblebee by David Elliot
5. How To Say Hello by Sophie Beer

---

Ross

1. Monkey King by Wu Cheng’en, translated by Julia Lovell
2. Once More Unto the Breach: Samurai Warriors and Heroes in Ukiyo-e Masterpieces by Ei Kakau
3. The Bedside Book of Birds by Graeme Gibson
4. Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
5. From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga by S. H Fernando
6. Auspicious Animals: The Art of Good Omens by Jun’ichi Uchiyama
7. Scalped by Jason Aaron, illustrated by R. M. Guéra

---

 

Language / Psychology / True Crime 

A fascinating look at the way language can be used to compel and control us, for better or worse. Amanda Montell became interested in the language of cults by talking with her father, who grew up in the rehab-turned-cult organization Synanon. She was fascinated with the codewords and mantras of the group and Cultish (as in Spanish or English) compares the linguistic tools and quirks of cults and cult-adjacent groups from the People’s Temple to QAnon and CrossFit. I’ve heard that absolutely anyone can be in a cult; and not just because certain people are more susceptible to ‘brainwashing’. Its that cults exploit the fundamental human desire to belong, with tricks like having a secret exclusive language, a mistrust of outsiders, and a promise of personal transformation. Montell explores the overlaps of MLMs (multi-level marketing schemes), wellness gurus and conspiracy theorists and their exponential growth and reach via social media. Cultish dips into history, methodology and reportage. Its a breezy, episodic read with robust academic bones beneath.

HarperCollins 2021

fiction 

Hanya Yanagihara started writing To Paradise shortly after the 2016 US election in an atmosphere of partisan politics and uncertainty, well before COVID 19 hit and so it is a strange coincidence that her novel deals with epidemics. To Paradise has three sections set one hundred years apart, and features themes familiar to readers of her 2015 phenomenon, A Little Life: Illness, vulnerability, shame, what it means to bond with one another and the pain of isolation. It began as a reimagining of Henry James’ serialized novel, Washington Square, one where gay marriage was legal. In this alternate 1893 New York of the first part, a fragile and fretful young man from a wealthy family lives a sheltered life until he falls headlong for an impoverished music teacher with a mercenary bent. In 1993 a young Hawaiian man grapples with the past he hides from his older lover and the well-heeled circles they move in as the AIDS crisis stalks the margins. The final section of the book presents a bleak 2093, ravaged by pandemics, climate change and totalitarian rule. The main character is deeply damaged by the scorched-earth treatment taken as a child in the early days of the plague. Its a book with interesting devices across its three interconnected parts, like the repetition of character’s names, and the story taking place in the same house on Washington Square. It suggests the the rise and fall of fortunes and power structures, and how the idea of utopia is ultimately unattainable, although some of the threads end abruptly and sometimes, I felt frustrated with the ambiguity. But, as Yanagihara said in her interview early this year, “It never occurred to me to write something people want to read.”

Picador 2022