Read This

Trent Dalton’s debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, has sold more than a million copies worldwide, making Trent one of Australia’s most successful contemporary authors. His latest book is called Lola in the Mirror, and it’s the third – and perhaps final – in a loose trilogy following young people in peril on the fringes of society. This week, Michael sits down with Trent to discuss this new work, where his boundless enthusiasm comes from, and his plans for the future.
Reading list:Boy Swallows Universe, Trent Dalton, 2014All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton, 2018Lola in the Mirror, Trent Dalton, 2023
The Opposite of Success, Eleanor Elliott Thomas, 2023Boy Friends, Michael Pederson, 2022
You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.
Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and TwitterGuest: Trent Dalton

Robyn Davidson was just 27 when she trekked across the Australian desert. This epic journey was captured in her 1980 memoir Tracks, which became a national and international success. Her new book, Unfinished Woman, is her attempt to grapple with both her own life before and after Tracks, and with the story of her mother, who committed suicide when Robyn was only 11 years old. This week, Michael sits down with Robyn to discuss fear, loneliness and how she completed her self-proclaimed “impossible memoir”. 
Reading list:Tracks, Robyn Davidson, 1980Unfinished Woman, Robyn Davidson 2023
See below for some of the First Nations Writers that Michael recommends reading:Tara June Winch, Melissa Lucashenko, Alexis Wright, Ally Cobby Eckerman, Tony Birch, Anita Heiss, Evelyn Araluen, Chelsea Watego, Kirli Saunders, Ellen van Neerven, Larissa Behrendt, Aileen Moreton Robinson, Jackie Huggins, Kim Scott, Jane Harrison, Nardi Simpson.
You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.
Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and TwitterGuest: Robyn Davidson

For many Australians, facing the reality of this country is a task that has proved enduringly difficult, both at a public and a political level. For investigative journalist David Marr, finding the right way to tell the stories that allow us to see the truth of our history is a personal quest and one that has led to his latest book. This week, Michael talks with David about shame – both personal and national – and why his family agreed that he had to write Killing for Country.
Reading list:Patrick White: A Life, David Marr, 1991My Country: Stories, Essays & Speeches, David Marr, 2018Killing for Country, David Marr, 2023
Septology, Jon Fosse, 2022The Hummingbird Effect, Kate Mildenhall, 2023
You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.
Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and TwitterGuest: David Marr

Melissa Lucashenko writes about big ideas and brutal experiences, but she does so with grace, with generosity and – maybe above all else – a rich sense of humour. This week, Michael sits down with Melissa for a conversation about her new book, Edenglassie, and they discuss history, eccentric characters, and why writing a love story is a revolutionary act.
Reading list:Hard Yards, Melissa Lucashenko, 1999Too Flash, Melissa Lucashenko, 2002Mullumbimby, Melissa Lucashenko, 2013Too Much Lip, Melissa Lucashenko, 2018Edenglassie, Melissa Lucashenko, 2023
The Fortunes of Richard Mahony, Henry Handel Richardson, 1925For the Term of His Natural Life, Marcus Clarke, 1874The Secret Hours, Mick Herron, 2023Gunflower, Laura Jean McKay, 2023
You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.
Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and TwitterGuest: Melissa Lucashenko

George Saunders is one of literary fiction's most acclaimed living writers. Along with his many collections of short stories, he also published the Booker Prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo. This week, Michael chats with him about his life and career, and George reveals the three words that made him a writer.
Reading list:CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, George Saunders,1996Pastoralia, George Saunders, 2000In Persuasion Nation, George Saunders, 2006Tenth of December: Stories, George Saunders, 2013Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders, 2017A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life, George Saunders, 2021Liberation Day: Stories, George Saunders, 2022
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce, 1916To Have and Have Not, Ernest Hemingway, 1937The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway, 1952The Little Disturbances of Man, Grace Paley, 1959Ordinary Gods and Monsters, Chris Womersley, 2023
You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.
Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and TwitterGuest: George Saunders

If you've tuned into ABC Radio over the past few decades, you've likely heard the dulcet tones of Daniel Browning's voice. In his new book Close to the Subject, Daniel reveals himself to be just as brilliant a storyteller on the page as he is over the air waves. This week, Michael speaks with Daniel about what 30 years in broadcast journalism has taught him about art, life, and being brave.
Reading list:Close to the Subject, Daniel Browning, 2023Unfinished Woman, Robyn Davidson, 2023The Last Devil To Die (The Thursday Murder Club Book 4), Richard Osman, 2023
You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.
Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and TwitterGuest: Daniel Browning

Eleanor Catton was just 28 when she won the Booker Prize for her novel The Luminaries. Her much anticipated follow-up, Birnam Wood, is an eco thriller, a Shakespearean tragedy, a satire and novel of manners all rolled into one. This week, Michael sits down with Eleanor to discuss her latest book and the dangers of feeling ideologically certain.
Reading list:The Rehearsal, Eleanor Catton, 2008The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton, 2013 Birnam Wood, Eleanor Catton, 2023
The People's Platform, Astra Taylor, 2014Green Dot, Madeleine Gray, 2023Songs for the Dead and the Living, Sara M Saleh, 2023
You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.
Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and TwitterGuest: Eleanor Catton

Kate Grenville has spent her career bringing history to life, often using the lives of her own family to tell stories about the kinds of voices who are often left out of the official record. This week, Michael heads to Kate's house to discuss her latest novel, Restless Dolly Maunder, and why she is preparing for the chance that someday someone’s going to rifle through her life and make up their own stories.
Reading list:Lilian's Story, Kate Grenville, 1985Joan Makes History: A Novel, Kate Grenville, 1988The Idea of Perfection, Kate Grenville, 1999The Secret River, Kate Grenville, 2005One Life: My Mother's Story, Kate Grenville, 2015The Case Against Fragrance, Kate Grenville, 2017Restless Dolly Maunder, Kate Grenville, 2023
The Bee Sting, Paul Murray, 2023
You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.
Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and TwitterGuest: Kate Grenville

Writer and journalist Sarah Krasnostein initially found Australian fiction alienating, but that all changed when she picked up Peter Carey's seminal work True History of the Kelly Gang. This week Sarah discusses how reading that book challenged her expectations and why many people who own Peter Carey's work might be surprised to discover what his books are actually saying.
Reading list:The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life In Death, Decay & Disaster, Sarah Krasnostein, 2019On Peter Carey: Writers on Writers, Sarah Krasnostein, 2023
The Fat Man in History and Other Stories, Peter Carey, 1974Jack Maggs, Peter Carey, 1987Oscar and Lucinda, Peter Carey, 1988True History of the Kelly Gang, Peter Carey, 2000
You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.
To register for Sarah’s event at the State Library Victoria on Friday 1 September at 6:30pm, click here.
Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and TwitterGuest: Sarah Krasnostein

Back in 2015, Daniel Lavery took over Slate's long running advice column, Dear Prudence, using his sometimes snarky, often hilarious, and always insightful writing to respond to other peoples’ confessions. This week he chats with Michael about how his own experiences – of transitioning, of family estrangement, of falling in love – all informed the ways he talked to those anonymous commenters on the internet.
Reading list:Dear Prudence: Liberating Lessons from Slate.com's Beloved Advice Column, Daniel M. Lavery, 2023Something That May Shock and Discredit You, Daniel M. Lavery, 2020Middlemarch, George Eliot, 1871
God Forgets About the Poor, Peter Polites, 2023Would that be Funny? Growing up with John Clarke, Lorin Clarke, 2023
You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.
Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and TwitterGuest: Daniel M. Lavery