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DANCE
Clan: Bangarra Dance Theatre
Stephen Page and Greg Barrett
Allen & Unwin, A$59.99
Next year marks the Bangarra Dance Theatre's 25th birthday and this heavy hard-cover coffee table book is a celebratory tome of exquisite photography. Aside from introductory notes from Page, the group's artistic director, and Barrett, the photographer, there's no text. The photos are glossy and beautiful.



DEBUT
<p></p>A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing
Eimear McBride
Text, A$22.99
The first thing you notice about this debut novel is its fractured prose. It is narrated in stream-of-consciousness style and it takes a while to navigate the obtuse language, but if you get past it, the book is about a girl in rural Ireland and her older brother, born with a brain tumour.

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REPORTAGE
Running With the Blood God
Matthew Thompson
Picador, A$32.99
Matthew Thompson attempts to "chase down mavericks in order to touch the freedom they carry in themselves and spark in others". In four regions (Iran, the Philippines, Serbia and Kosovo, and America), Thompson seeks free spirits of all description, including freedom fighters, protesters, rebels and artists. His gonzo journalism sees him squarely in the action, which colours his reportage and gives his words credibility.
THE BOOK THAT CHANGED ME: TONY PARK
Biggles of 266 Squadron
Captain W.E. Johns
This is the first book I can remember reading. My mum started me reading at an early age and picked up on my interest in aeroplanes. Biggles seems very politically incorrect these days, but I decided if I couldn't be a fighter pilot, then I'd write ripping yarns.

Tony Park grew up in Sydney's western suburbs and has worked as a journalist and PR consultant. He is the author of 10 novels set in Africa, the latest of which is The Prey