True story

Memoirs, biographies, essays and more. Here are the best non-fiction reads right now penned by A-list actors to feminist critics.

On Women (Penguin, $35) by Susan Sontag.

For the first time, trailblazing American critic, activist and thinker Susan Sontag’s feminist essays have been collected into a single, brilliant tome. This mustread book offers a searing and insightful vision of womanhood, digging into topics including ageing, power and the workforce with Sontag’s trademark incisive voice. Though these essays were mostly written in the 1970s during the height of second-wave feminism, they are still strikingly relevant for the modern reader. This is a collection to dip in and out of whenever you are in need of wisdom or a guiding hand and a perfect accompaniment to some of the other non-fiction works in Sontag’s celebrated canon, from

On Photography to Notes On ‘Camp’.

Love Language (Allen & Unwin, $34.99) by Linda Marigliano.

Presenter and podcaster Linda Marigliano unpacks the relationships in her life in this arrestingly open memoir. Scared that she has spent most of her life as a people pleaser, Marigliano digs deep into what it means to love and be loved, and to learn to love yourself, whether in the context of a complicated relationship with her mother or in her long-distance partnership.

Honey, Baby, Mine (Coronet, $32.99) by Laura Dern & Diane Ladd.

When actor Diane Ladd was prescribed long walks for her health, her daughter and fellow actor Laura Dern walked with her. The pair recorded their frank discussions about life and death, family and friendship, art and reality. The result is this moving book that explores the experience of being a mother, and a daughter.

On Our Best Behaviour (Bloomsbury, $34.99) by Elise Loehnen.

Former Goop chief content officer, Elise Loehnen, wants to reframe the way women think about the seven deadly sins. Sloth? Rest is actually essential to a well-lived life. Gluttony? Our desires maketh our selves. Envy? Rather than shameful, envy and jealousy can show us our true ambitions. A deeply considered and thought-provoking read.