There’s a bumper selection of new books to read this May.

‘Inconvenient women’,mortality and a controversial work by Joan Didion:13 new books to delve into

From a book that its own author may not have approved of to a beautiful and confronting photography collection,there’s a bumper crop of releases this month.

  • Jason Steger

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Leonardo diCaprio playing Jay Gatsby.

A century on,this Great American Novel still captivates readers

F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is said to contain some of the most perfect sentences ever written about America.

  • Jane Sullivan
Kinney and his Wimpy Kid protagonist.

Homework,bullies and pets:Jeff Kinney on why kids love his books

The American author’s Diary of A Wimpy Kid series is the fourth bestselling book series of all time - and not just in kids’ books.

  • John Bailey
Katie Kitamura’s novel demonstrates that stories themselves are equal parts light and shadow.

This hotly anticipated novel explores the dark embers of the psyche

In the third instalment of her fictional triptych,Katie Kitmaura wields her words with scalpel-like precision to explore the demands women are “expert at negotiating”.

  • Jessie Tu
Melbourne Writers Festival director Veronica Sullivan.

Festivals have ‘privileged literary works’ over popular,commercial fiction:Veronica Sullivan

As the new director of the Melbourne Writers Festival,Veronica Sullivan has tried to create a program with broad appeal.

  • Kylie Northover
Jane Caro:“I didn’t write my first best-selling novel until I was 65.”

I may have been late to my writing career,but this is why it’s a blessing

For a long time,I was a bit sheepish about my late start,but I don’t feel like that now.

  • Jane Caro
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“A convincing sex scene is like fight choreography:you want it to be safe.”

‘Is it sexier to swerve?’:Actor Toby Schmitz pivots to his fallback plan

The TV and theatre performer discusses how to endure working out,who he likes spending money on and writing a convincing sex scene.

  • Benjamin Law
We think of desire as being something intrinsically human. But these drugs seem to indicate that it’s just science.

‘Miracle’ weight-loss drugs shut down desire,but where’s the fun in that?

Drugs such as Ozempic cut our craving for food. But they can’t control our hunger for all the good things in life.

  • Jacqueline Maley
Irish writer Colum McCann’s new book is called Twist.

When the internet cut out,Colum McCann boarded a ship – and found his next novel

The writer joined the crew of the Leon Thevenin as they trawled the bottom of the ocean looking for a break in a cable.

  • Jane Sullivan
Book covers

Why do all book covers look the same now?

That book looks so familiar to you … because it is.

  • Michael Sun