Michaela Kolowski

And while you mentioned that we could throw in a few things that we hadn't before, By Sea and Stars, I think, is really a special read.

It's nonfiction by Trent Dalton, back on the nonfiction run.

It's a collection of essays that he published.

If you're interested in Australian history or just interested in really good historical writing, they're short essays.

They were published in that old kind of George Eliot way where they were published in little short essays and now they've all been compiled into a beautiful, slim volume.

And the idea that Trent Norton has talked about is that when he first went to do this research on Arthur Phillips' vision for Australia and what it could be like,

He visited people at the Australian National Museum who said, and the Maritime Museum, he said, promise us that you'll tell the story with a view from the ship and a view from the shore.

And so Trent Dalton, with his beautiful ability to bring tiny characters and tiny details into perspective and into life.

has written this really interesting look at Arthur Phillip and what the voyage was like for the fleets of the convicts who were sent to Australia.

And it's whatever your view on whether we need to read more about this aspect of Australian history or whether we need other voices, it's actually fascinating to read.

And there's a lot I learned from that.