Elvis and Me by Gillian Wills: how a woman and a horse saved each other

Candida Baker 12:15am As a lifelong horse lover, I've learned that people who advertise horses for sale make second-hand car dealers look like saints.

Books that changed me: Tara Lal

12:15am Tara Lal is a firefighter in Sydney trained in suicide prevention, mental health, first aid and crisis intervention. She is also a registered physiotherapist. Tara's first book, Standing On My Brother's Shoulders (Watkins), is a memoir written as a dialogue with her late brother, who suffered from depression.

Bookshop: The Abyssinian Contortionist, a life full of twists and turns

Thuy On 12:15am New releases for adults and children.

Book review: Craig Munro charms, entertains in Adventures in the Art of Editing

Peter Craven 12:15am Read this book. It's a precious instance of what we get so little: a precise sense of the riches of our cultural past.

Jane Caro on her book, working mothers and having it all

Jane Caro 11:45pm Re-entering the workforce after having children brings a unique set of challenges for women, writes Jane Caro.

Book reviews: Sweet Wattle Creek, The Secret Years, The Patterson Girls

KAREN HARDY 11:45pm Karen Hardy reveals discovery is the thread running through this week's crop of fiction.

Something for the Pain review: Gerald Murnane's poignant memoir of the turf

Peter Pierce The novelist Gerald Murnane's memoir of horse racing and punting is a ruefully funny and sometimes poignant narrative,

Hope Farm review: Peggy Frew's second novel and the price children pay

Jessica Au Hope Farm aligns itself with other novels such as Atonement or The Go-Between in which children – out of rashness, anger or even ignorance – act out to terrible consequences.

The Waiting Room review: Leah Kaminsky and the migrant dilemma in Israel

Anne Susskind Leah Kaminsky's Dina stares at the carobs, pine trees and bulbul birds of Haifa, but part of her sees the Australian magpies and lorikeets in the wattle trees. Very much a migrant experience, except most migrants seek out a better life and safety. She has to push aside her fears of bomb scares and more.

The Natural Way of Things review: Charlotte Wood's profound and fine new novel

Kerryn Goldsworthy This is an extraordinary novel: inspired, powerful, at once coherent and dreamlike. While it's rich in symbols and implications, much of it is brutally realist in mode.

Riddledom review: David Astle gets to the heart of why some of us love riddles

Dianne Dempsey In order to discuss the nature of riddling, author and crossword-setter par excellence David Astle starts by trying to define the riddle's illusive meaning.

Turning Pages: The lost or forgotten classic novels that should be back in print

jane Sullivan There are so many classic books that drift out of print. It's a tragedy that they are neglected.

Short reviews of fiction from Australia and overseas

Kerryn Goldsworthy Short reveiws of fiction by Eliza Vitri Handayani, Alison Croggon, Alexander McCall Smith, and Sandra Leigh Price.

Les Murray looks back to his roots and his poetic sense of place

JASON STEGER Les Murray considers the influence of his home on his poetry and reflects on a year that has seen him publish two books.

Stalin's Team review: Dangers of playing on the winning side in the Soviet Union

Ian Cummins Being one of Stalin's chosen colleagues was never a guarantee of a long career, as Sheila Fitzpatrick discovers.

David Astle: Today's ad-speak is faster, creamier and extra large

David Astle Whiskers. Tumbler. Crispy Cream. (Imagine if brands obeyed the laws of spelling.) Fruit Loops. Flicker. Fillet of Fish. (Billboards may seem bearable, grocery aisles no longer a place of profound irksomeness.)