Section Archive: Review

Book review: Feast. Pray. Love.

In this new Lenten resource, Andy Hamilton SJ explores the many paths we take on our Easter journey, inviting us to let memory be our guide. Reviewed by Tracey Edstein.

Posted on: February 18, 2025

Read, watch, listen: top picks to bring in the New Year

In this edition, The Good Oil has gathered recommendations from some of our readers and writers on what to read, watch and listen to over Christmas and the New Year.

Posted on: December 8, 2024

What lessons can be learned from the failure of the Voice Referendum?

In his new book, Frank Brennan SJ declares the 2023 Referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament “a disaster” and asks what lessons can be learned.

Posted on: November 18, 2024

For Life: A memoir of living and dying – and flying

This new book by Ailsa Piper is a moving insight into the experience of loss, hope and starting again, aided by the healing power of nature. Reviewed by Tracey Edstein.

Posted on: September 15, 2024

Every Day is New: Prayers and Reflections for Ordinary Time

‘Every Day is New’ by Michael McGirr is driven by the author’s belief that God might be humming a slightly different tune in your ear today than yesterday or tomorrow.

Posted on: August 20, 2024

Why God? Stories to Inspire Faith, by Richard Leonard SJ

This book is a collection of personal and engaging stories that speak of the power of God working in creation and through unlikely individuals and places. Reviewed by Tracey Edstein.

Posted on: June 14, 2024

Classroom drama tackles uncomfortable truths at the chalkface

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Film, The Teachers’ Lounge is a drama about the power dynamics in a school system where every decision feels like a mistake.

Posted on: April 15, 2024

Bright Shining: how grace changes everything

In her new book Bright Shining: how grace changes everything, Australian author and broadcaster Julia Baird explores that most mysterious but necessary of human qualities: grace. Reviewed by Tracey Edstein.

Posted on: February 13, 2024

The man who knew too much

A memoir by Irish author Fintan O’Toole, We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958, was reviewed by Tracey Edstein for this edition of The Good Oil.

Posted on: August 15, 2023

Film review: Freedom Is Beautiful

Freedom Is Beautiful follows the journey of two extraordinary Kurdish refugees, Farhad Bandesh and Mostafa (Moz) Azimitabar, who fled persecution in Iran and arrived in Australia seeking asylum in 2013.

Posted on: June 17, 2023

BOOK REVIEW: A love letter from God

In his new book, The Law of Love: Modern Language for Ancient Wisdom, Father Richard Leonard SJ makes a positive contribution in addressing the tension between Christian liberty and obedience.

Posted on: November 15, 2022

Film review: The Quiet Girl

The Quiet Girl is the story of Cait, a neglected girl who is sent away from her overcrowded, dysfunctional family to live with relatives in rural Ireland for the summer.

Posted on: September 19, 2022