Happy’s Best New Books of 2021 (19th July – 25th July)
Updated weekly by the fine folk at Happy Mag, these are the best new books that this week has to offer from Australia and around the world!
Emily Austin – Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead
Story setups don’t come any more tantalising than this one. Through a series of miscommunications, a young, atheist lesbian called Gilda lands a job at the neighbourhood Catholic church. Adding further to the complications, the previous occupier of the receptionist job has died, and Gilda promptly becomes morbidly fascinated by the circumstances surrounding her death. If you like your comedy on the darker side, you’ll have many a laugh with this sharply observant novel.
9.3
BUY HERE
EMILY AUSTIN
EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM WILL SOMEDAY BE DEAD
Jennifer Otter Bickerdike – You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone
Nico has often been misconstrued, written off as simply a ‘muse’ for the male artistic visionaries in her sphere. This new comprehensive biography skewers the lazy labelling and presents Nico as an artist in all her complexity. Already lauded by contemporaries like Iggy Pop, You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone is a masterful account of Nico’s artistry and ongoing influence.
9.1
BUY HERE
JENNIFER OTTER BICKERDIKE
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE ALONE
Rhiannon Wilde – Henry Hamlet’s Heart
In Henry Hamlet’s Heart, Rhiannon Wilde places a nostalgic, coming-of-age romance in a queer framework. Henry is a mess of confusion as his schooling life winds down to an end. Amidst the lectures from teachers about upcoming exams, Henry finds falling for someone he’s not supposed to. Wrapped up the gauzy visions of Brisbane at springtime, it’s a YA debut that lingers in the memory.
8.7
BUY HERE
RHIANNON WILDE
HENRY HAMLET’S HEART
Tanya Talaga – Seven Fallen Feathers
North America is currently enduring a reckoning with its colonial past. As such, Seven Fallen Feathers is presented in an urgent context. Talaga looks at the past (both relatively distant and shockingly recent) deaths of Indigenous students in Canadian residential schools. This detailed investigation from Talaga tells the stories of seven individual students and their tragic endings. Though it focuses on a single city, its resonance is global.
9.0
BUY HERE
TANYA TALAGA
SEVEN FALLEN FEATHERS
Catherine Deveny and Dr Steve Ellen – Mental
Thankfully, conversations around mental health have evolved significantly in recent years. But still, it can be mystifying. Eminent psychiatrist Dr Steve Ellen and comedian Catherine Deveny are on a mission to help readers become their own mental health experts. With personal accounts and expertly-honed perspectives on mental health, it’s a refreshingly practical examination of this all-important topic (note: this is a new edition featuring a new chapter on dealing with the challenges of Covid-19).
8.9
BUY HERE
DR STEVE ELLEN AND CATHERINE DEVENY
MENTAL
Jaivet Ealom – Escape from Manus
This is a gripping account of Jaivet Ealom’s escape from life in limbo on Manus Island, Australia’s offshore detention facility. Taking inspiration from the hit TV show Prison Break, Ealom planned his exit right down to the most minute of details. But even after leaving the island, his journey toward eventual freedom had only just begun. An extraordinary tale of survival against the odds.
8.6
BUY HERE
