#AusReadingMonth25 Quentin McDermott

Version 1.0.0

by Quentin McDermott (no photo)

Finish date: 17.10.2025
Genre: Australian non-fiction
Rating: A
#NonFicNov25

Good News: Meadow’s Law is a now-discredited legal concept once used to adjudicate cases involving multiple instances of sudden infant death syndrome(crib or cot deaths) linked to a single caregiver. Discredited….but it still took Kathy Folbigg 20 years to prove her innocence…and finally released in June 2023 in Australia !

Good News: This is an utterly fascinating and meticulously researched account of one of Australia’s most infamous criminal cases, written by investigative journalist Quentin McDermott.

Bad News: How could any judicial system be so CRUEL? Repeatedly Kathy applied for appeal…and rejected every-single-time….even with conclusive scientific proof that there was a reasonable doubt in her conviction.

Personal: I rarely read True Crime but if the book is on the shortlist for…I must read it. Chapters 1-13 (part 1) were filled with Ms Folbigg’s personal background and the descriptions of the deaths of four infants (19 weeks – 18 months) over 10 years. Part 2-3 were page turners! I read the book in one day! Will the book win the prize? I don’t think so …there are many more impressive books on the shortlist.

AusReadingMonth25 The Winter Road

This is what illegal  land clearing (deforestation) looks like in NSW, Australia.

by Kate Holden

Finish date: 16.10.2025
Genre: Australian non-fiction
Rating: B
#NonFicNov25

Good News: There is an art to writing the perfect prologue to a book…that will grab and then drag me into the book. Bravo, Kate Holden!

Bad News: I’ve struggled with this book more than I expected. My first impression was not favourable but I let my mind digest this impulse and think more about the book and its broader meaning to somebody who is Australian.

Good News: I learned more about the ecology of the land of Moree Australia and Coppa Creek. It is not easy to understand the deep and complicated relationships Australians have with the land, colonisation and the destruction of the treasured environment that began with European settlement.

Personal: The book has more layers to it than I realised during  my reading. I had to research it more to try to understand why this book won The Walkley Award for Best Book 2021. I’ve read many Walkley winners and trust the jury to know a winner when they see it. Why did I not see that The Winter Road was a winner?

I expected a true crime book similar Helen Garner’s This House of Grief dealing with a legal and criminal case that was riveting to read. Do not expect that in The Winter Road . Ms Holden worked for four years researching documents etc and interviews with people involed to draw attention to the broader issue of land clearing and environmental destruction.

I was not enthusiastic about the book….but later realised Ms Holden was not to hear to please me but explain how deforestation changed Australian lives and shattered families for a generations.

#AusReadingMonth25 Geoff Raby

by Geoff Raby (np photo)

Finish date: 14.10.2025
Genre: Australian non-fiction
Rating: A
#NonFicNov25

Good News: What did I learn? Book core message is a discussion of China and Russia in the past, present and future. Watch out for the broader strategic positioning by China in Central Asia (exchange of ambassadors in 2023 b/t Beijing and Kabul) ! Unlike Russia that insists on invading its neighbours…China creates a greater emphasis on regional connectivity and cooperation with neighbouring countries. Never forget that …Afghanistan’s rich mineral resources are vital for industrial supply chains.

Good News: What did I learn? Geopolitics is complicated…and China a a very “smart cookie”! Despite China’s support for Russia Ukraine thinks of the long-term advantages: China as a potential peace mediator, China as a major global power and Ukraine’s largest trading partner.

Personal: I never heard of Geoff Raby. He was the former Australian Ambassador to China, serving from 2007 to 2011…and as extra added attraction…he can write and make geopolitics interesting!  

Strongest point of the book: It takes  into account the effects of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on Russia’s relationship with China…even though Xi  professed to his “friendship with Russia…without limits.” China is not stupid.

It is taking a very balanced stand on the situation behind the scenes and sees long-term trade advantages with  Ukraine when the war is over!  If you are interested in the actual ‘tug and pull’ of geopolitics ….this is a great book!

Will Geoff Raby win The Walkley Award?

He has a small chance…but this book will speak more  to a “niche” history buffs audience.

#Walkley Awards 2025 Longlist

1. It turns out I have a busy few weeks ahead of me
2. …reading Australian non-fiction for  #NonFicNov25.

1. Here are the 8 longlisted books for the Walkley Book Award 2025.
2. The Walkley Award can be compared to the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction in the USA.
3. Three shortlisted finalists will be announced on 16 October 2025.
4. The winner of the Walkley Book Award will be announced on November 27 2025.
5. So many great NF books…just waiting for me in Australia.

•  All Women Want – Alyx Gorman
• A Bunker in Kyiv – John Lyons – READING
• Meadow’s Law – John Lyons  – READING
• Great Game On: The Contest for Central Asia and Global Supremacy – Geoff Raby
• Naku Dharuk The Bark Petitions – Clare Wright
• The Chairman’s Lounge –  Joe Aston – REVIEW
• Mean Streak  – Rick Morton – REVIEW
• The Holy and the Broken – I. Flescher – REVIEW

#Australian Pol Book 2025 Royce Kurmelovs

by Royce Kurmelovs

Finish date: 10.10.2025
Genre: Australian non-fiction
Rating: A+++
#NonFicNov25

Good News:  This book just opened up my eyes so I could see what the fossil fuel industry knew (1980s) and 40 year story of how the oil industry delayed action on climate change and concealed the evidence that the greenhouse effect was NOT A HOAX!

Good News: Royce Kurmelovs is one of Australia’s most important freelance journalists/authors. He is an excellent writer….the ” hook” in the first chapters was riveting!

Good News: By reading this book discovered the BBC Documentary ( parts 1-4 available on You Tube) Big Oil v The World. BBC Documentary. The story of what the fossil fuel industry knew about climate change more than four decades ago. So if you don’t have time for this book….have a look at the documentary. I was shocked!

Personal: So sad to read that Exxon in 1984 told the oil industry that the greenhouse effect was actually real, the climate will actually change and the oil industry had better prepare to defend itself. (ch 7 “No Regrets). The oil industry’s main objective was to NOT to solve the problem of climate change…but just DEFEND itself! There was so much info in this book with the emphasis on Australia’s role in trying to to delay action on climate change. #EyeOpener

#Australian Political Book 2025 Andrew Fowler

by Andrew Fowler (no photo)

Finish date: 09.10.2025
Genre: Australian non-fiction
Rating: B
#NonFicNov25

Good News: Very informative…but at times just textbook dull. There are tidbits of info that amazed me…but you have to look for them! Australian think tank – funded by US Dept. of Defense (…that’s strange) — Australia gives away its leverage….by deepening its alliance with USA. — Reveals PM Morrison’s secret mission to sink the French deal for AUKUS — Australia’s future is more than ever dependant on whoever is in the White House!

Bad News: The book is a slow burn (ch 1-7) but improves! (ch 8-12)…so don’t give up!

Personal: Whatever you hear about the meeting between Trump and PM Albanese 20 Oct 2025 about AUKUS deal …the USA is calling all the shots! It is true…Australia’s sovereignty is sinking. Australia had no more leverage,…they have to take whatever the US is offering. This book is enlightening and shows us (…among other tidbits of info) what really was going on behind closed doors… at secret meeting with PM Scott Morrison, PM Boris Johnson, President Biden and Sec. of State Anthony Blinken June 2021 in Cornwall at the G7. I don’t think this book will win The Australian Political Book of the Year…but I could be wrong.

#Update 08.10.2025

October 2025:         #AusReadingMonth25  Non-fiction

1. The Chairman’s Lounge –  Joe Aston – REVIEW
2. Mean Streak  – Rick Morton – REVIEW
3. Nuked –  Andrew Fowler – READING
4. Slick: Australia’s Toxic Relationship with Big Oil – Royce Kurmelovs  – READING
5. The Winter Road – K. Holden – READING

September 2025:      #RIPXX

1. The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror – Edith Nesbit (22 stories) – REVIEW
2. Revenge (11 stories)  – Yōko Ogawa – REVIEW
3. The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco (gothic mystery) – REVIEW
4. The Castle of Otranto – H. Walpole – REVIEW
5. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – A. Christie – REVIEW
6. Carmilla – J. Sheridan Le Fanu – REVIEW
7. The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix mini-series) – E.A. Poe – REVIEW
8. The Shining – S. King – REVIEW
9. Howls from the Dark Ages: An Anthology of Medieval Horror (short stories) – REVIEW
10. The Turn of the Screw – H. James (novella) – REVIEW
11. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – R.L. Stevenson (novella) – REVIEW
12. Fiend – Alma Katsu – REVIEW
13. Poor Things – Alasdair Gray – REVIEW
14. The Halloween Tree (novella) – Ray Bradbury (pg 148) – REVIEW

#Australian Political Book 2025 Rick Morton

by Rick Morton (no photo)

Finish date: 06.10.2025
Genre: Australian non-ficti0n
Rating: A+++
#NonFicNov25

Good News: Cosmic irony: Mean Streak is deeply critical of The Australian government…yet it wins Prime Minister’s Literary Award 2025 for nonfiction! It felt I was reading an absurdist play…

…how inaccurate the debts could be (pure fiction created by the Robodebt software)  and how many people would never realise or be able to find their records …because they don’t exist!

Bad News: Technical info you need to understand in the book: Centrelink (delivers social security payments and services to various groups of people in Australia)…informed people they owed payments on monies created using an illegal method of income averaging. Complicated? Yes… Illegal ? …Yes, but the Australian government saw it as a “money grab”.

Personal: The Robodebt debt scheme was a government conspiracy. It was illegal, they knew it yet they did it. It ruined people’s lives. Professor David Schmidtchen from public sector management at UNSW Canberra sums it up perfectly: “Robodebt has become more than just a failed welfare program…it now represents what happens when governments automate processes without proper oversight.”

Here is another excellent example of Australian NF.   Mean Streak has a VERY good chance of winning #AusPolBook 2025. But I still have 2 books on the shortlist that I must be read. I would be surprised if  Rick Morton did not win!
Morton’s writing expressed deep and sincere feelings (empathy)  about the Robodebt debacle. Morton also has a great sense of humour. He made me laugh describing a lawyer trying desperately to come up with a reasonable explanation “…Pulford (lawyer) reached deep into the scrabble bag…” (pg 250)

Another gem:
“It’s turtles all the way down”. (pg 416)
“Turtles all the way down” is often invoked whenever explanations seem to rely on a never-ending chain of further explanations or causes. It is a whimsical metaphor for suggesting there may never be a “bottom turtle” or ultimate reason for things.

#Australian Political Book 2025 Joe Aston

by Joe Aston (no photo available)

Finish date:
Genre: Australian Non-fiction
Rating: A+++
#NonFicNov25 

Bad News: The first 30% of the book is a real challenge to read for me, a non Australian!. It is filled with corporate names, politicians, COVID influenced policies…layoffs, downsizing worldwide workforce, attempt to de-unionize the transportation sector…baggage handlers for instance. I did not give up…but skimmed when necessary.

Good News: I continued reading but found that Aston delves VERY deeply into the details or complexities of Qantas to the point where I felt it distracts from the main issue: chaos and mismanagement at the top! But this is not a bad thing…the public has a right to know the details! This is from my perspective of one not living in Australia. I never heard of this Qantas debacle until I read this book. Perhaps Aussie readers will feel that Joe Aston by lifting the cover of a very nasty stew of mismanagement, deceiving shareholders and customers and an astonishing look at CEO Alan Joyces’s hubris is just what Australia needs.

Good News: I was shocked to read how Qantas, which was considered one of the best airlines years ago, treated its customers during the “reign” of CEO Alan Joyce as someone being beneath consideration or not valuable enough for respect. Who does the CEO think decides whether the airline will survive…it is the people who use it! Dùh. Alan Joyce was the CEO of Qantas for nearly 15 years, from November 28, 2008, until his early resignation (just 2 months from retirement) on September 5, 2023. He left with his tail between his legs.

Good News: What does this say about Qantas when their CEO Alan Joyce (2008-2023) was the company’s biggest liability. Joe Aston tells us what was really going on behind the scenes at Qantas! Impressive investigative journalism that shook the Australian National Airline to its core.

Personal: My first impression was “this will never win the Australian Political Book of the Year“….but when I considered the absolute chaos in the airline and how it treated its customers with such disdain…perhaps The Australian public will award Joe Aston for finally saying what should be said…ripping the band-aid off and expose the corporate greed. The book is very revealing but the writing style (…getting into the weeds of the topic) could be a hurdle that many readers are not willing to jump…but do finish the book as the last three chapters are a rollercoaster ride!

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce  – PM Australia Anthony Albanese –  Australian Financial Review journalist Joe Aston

#October Reading List – Australian non-fiction

1. Some of the most memorable non-fiction  books
2. …that I read were by Australian authors.
3. So if you are looking for some books for #NonFicNov25
4. …have a look at these selections.
5. Does anyone have any Aussie non-fiction suggestions?

READ:…all of these books were excellent NF!

• Bulldozed – Niki Savva  
• Toxic – R. Flanagan 
• Red Zone – P. Hartcher
• Hazelwood – T. Doig
• City On Fire: The Fight For Hong Kong – A. Dapiran
• The Altar Boys – S. Smith 
• After the Count – Stephanie Convery 
• Brett Whiteley: Art, Life and the Other Thing – Ashleigh Wilson
• Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell – Milligan, L.
• Atomic Thunder – E. Tynan
• The Palestine Laboratory – A. Loewenstein 

My  October Reading list: 

1. The Chairman’s Lounge –  Joe Aston – REVIEW
2. Mean Streak  – Rick Morton – REVIEW
3. Nuked –  Andrew Fowler – REVIEW
4. Slick: Australia’s Toxic Relationship with Big Oil – Royce Kurmelovs REVIEW
5. The Holy and the Broken – I. Fletcher – REVIEW
6. The Winter Road – K. Holden – REVIEW
7. Bunker in Kiev – John Lyons – REVIEW
8. Meadow’s Law – Quentin McDermott – REVIEW
9. Great Game On: Contest for Central Asia – Geoff Raby –  REVIEW