Another week, another dazzling list of brand new reads to indulge in. Who would have thought – 1999 was the Best. Movie. Year. Ever. There’s also the new Booker Prize shorlisted work from Lucy Ellman and the latest Meanjin. Keep Clear details Tom Cutler’s reckoning with Asperger’s and with They Called Us Enemy, the life of George Takei is explored through through the graphic novel form. Here’s the list for this weekend. 
Best. Movie. Year. Ever., Ducks, Newburyport, Keep Clear, They Called Us Enemy and the latest Meanjin are on the reading list for this weekend.
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott and Harmony Becker
Best known for his role on Star Trek, George Takei also has a history of activism. This keen sense of justice was forged through his childhood stint in a Japanese internment camp in World War II. This graphic memoir examines what it means to be American and how his experiences shaped his future. More at IDW. 
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman
Ambitious, devastating and hilarious, Ellman’s portrait of a Midwestern mother with a lot on her mind has already found its way onto the shortlist for the Booker Prize. A comprehensive statement on modern America that’s bound to be a future classic. See Text for more details.
Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen by Brian Raftery
With today’s proliferation of streaming and the so called “golden age” of TV series, it’s hard to imagine that a mere two decades ago the silver screen enjoyed its greatest period of innovation. In 1999, Fight Club, The Matrix, Magnolia and American Beauty all emerged. These and a host of other innovative cinema titles have cultural reverberations to this day. Via Simon & Schuster.
Keep Clear: My Adventures with Asperger’s by Tom Cutler
At the age of 55 and after a breakdown, Tom Cutler received the diagnosis that puts the behaviours of his life into perspective: Asperger’s Syndrome. Cutler’s memoir is a heartwarming account of his life through the lens of his obsessions and eccentricities. More details at Scribe.
Meanjin Vol. 78, No. 3 edited by Jonathan Green
This quarterly snapshot of contemporary Australian literary talent is an institution. The latest features essays on the urgency of climate change, the intersection of politics and race, memoir and poetry. For more information, visit Melbourne University Press. 
