A Piece of Red Cloth (Leonie Norrington, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Djawa Burarrwanga & Djawundil Maymuru, A&U)
Tuesday, 3 December 2024
The best fiction allows the reader to enter times, cultures and places otherwise inaccessible. Children’s fiction writer Leonie Norrington was commissioned by her adoptive mother, Yolŋu woman Clare Bush, to...
Somebody Down There Likes Me (Robert Lukins, A&U)
Tuesday, 3 December 2024
Somebody Down There Likes Me begins with a limousine pulling up to a defunct gas station near a United States ghost town, setting an apt tone for a novel that...
Jungle Escape (Nathan Luff, Walker)
Tuesday, 3 December 2024
Jungle Escape is the latest middle-grade title by Nathan Luff, author of Bad Grammar and the Family Disasters and Nerd Herd series. This stand-alone novel is filled with comedic mishaps, deliberate misunderstandings, and...
The Governor, His Wife and His Mistress (Sue Williams, A&U)
Tuesday, 26 November 2024
The latest, standalone historical fiction from Sue Williams, The Governor, His Wife and His Mistress, is a prequel to her bestselling and critically acclaimed novels Elizabeth & Elizabeth and That...
Three Boys Gone (Mark Smith, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 26 November 2024
Award-winning writer Mark Smith is a familiar name on the young adult shelves, with his acclaimed Winter trilogy finding its way onto school lists nationwide. Venturing into fiction for adult...
Gustav Glows with Gold (Kathy Creamer, illus Patricia Ward, Little Pink Dog)
Tuesday, 26 November 2024
Kathy Creamer, co-founder of indie children’s publisher Little Pink Dog Books, lovingly introduces upper-primary readers to the captivating work of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt in her creative nonfiction picture book...
The Serpent Rider (Yxavel Magno Diño, Bloomsbury Children’s)
Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Inspired by Filipino folklore, Yxavel Magno Diño’s debut novel, The Serpent Rider, is a mesmerising middle-grade fantasy. All Tani wants is for her bakunawa egg to hatch so she can...
The Pool (Hannah Tunnicliffe, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 19 November 2024
In Hannah Tunnicliffe’s latest novel, The Pool, a motley group of southside Melburnians meets for a summer party. The young families are connected through work and children, but they’re not really...
That Island Feeling (Karina May, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Set on a sleepy, scenic Australian island and featuring oysters, wine and flirty banter, That Island Feeling is the summer romance book for 2025. The novel follows Andie and her...
Figuring Out Thirty: Decoding the Decisive Decade (And What Really Matters) (Bridget Hustwaite, Penguin)
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Bridget Hustwaite (How to Endo) is well known as an author and podcaster for her valuable insights into women’s health. Her latest book, Figuring Out Thirty: Decoding the Decisive Decade...
Saturday, Sunday (Natalie Kate Forbes, illus Danny Snell, Affirm)
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Weekends are so busy for families, with the competing demands of sports and activities, seeing friends and extended family, shopping for the week and more. Saturday, Sunday captures this frantic...
Unfinished Business (Shankari Chandran, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
The first in Miles Franklin–winning author Shankari Chandran’s Ellie Harper political thriller series, Unfinished Business mirrors the themes of the author’s past books (Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, Safe Haven):...
Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle (Melissa Garside, illus Lauren Mullinder, Riveted Press)
Tuesday, 5 November 2024
Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle is debut author Melissa Garside’s exciting junior novel about a creative and prolific 10-year-old inventor. Lexie has been mentored by her grandfather, but...
The Wedding Party (Rebecca Heath, Head of Zeus)
Tuesday, 5 November 2024
In her latest thriller, The Wedding Party, Rebecca Heath (The Summer Party, The Dinner Party) masterfully tells the gripping story of three families connected by a tragic incident that occurred...
The Spirit Circle (Tara Calaby, Text)
Tuesday, 5 November 2024
Tara Calaby’s The Spirit Circle is a thrilling sapphic historical fiction set in 19th-century Victoria, exploring the passage of loss and grief and the importance of platonic and romantic bonds....
One Dark Night (Hannah Richell, S&S)
Tuesday, 29 October 2024
One Dark Night is Hannah Richell’s sixth novel. Like its predecessor, The Search Party, the story is a gripping, tangled web of mystery and intrigue from the opening paragraph to...
Revenge of the Toxic Space Potato (First Dog on the Moon, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 29 October 2024
Finding a fresh angle on superheroes in 2024 is no easy task—unless you’re the Indefatigable EnviroTeens, who effortlessly revitalise a tired genre with humour, action and underpants pastry. In First...
Yayoi Kusama (ed by Wayne Crothers & Miranda Wallace, NGV)
Tuesday, 22 October 2024
The book Yayoi Kusama from the National Gallery of Victoria captures the extraordinary 80-year legacy of the enigmatic artist, as showcased in the titular exhibition. This tribute to one of...
Tomorrow There Will Be Sun (A Hope Prize Anthology, S&S)
Tuesday, 22 October 2024
Armed with a mandate to celebrate hope, courage and resilience, the 20 stories in the anthology Tomorrow There Will Be Sun venture near and far, from the sheep-herding plains of...
Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger (Jackie French, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 15 October 2024
Jackie French once again showcases her meticulous research in an engaging historical fiction novel that will captivate upper middle-grade readers. In 1859, near the Ballarat goldfields, we meet Tigg, a...
Murriyang: Song of Time (Stan Grant, Bundyi)
Tuesday, 15 October 2024
In May 2023, journalist Stan Grant (Talking to My Country) stepped away from his role as host of ABC’s Q+A. His latest book, Murriyang: Song of Time, is a heartfelt...
The Dream (Iain Ryan, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 15 October 2024
Iain Ryan plunges the reader into a seedy underworld of police corruption and political scheming in his latest novel, The Dream. Set during a spiralling recession and the 1982 Brisbane...
Special Delivery (Leesa Ronald, A&U)
Tuesday, 8 October 2024
Leesa Ronald’s debut novel, Special Delivery, is an enemies-to-lovers rom-com with some hilarious side characters, steamy love scenes and a snarky, highly relatable protagonist. Poppy McKellar is unexpectedly pregnant, and...
The Wild Reciter: Poetry and Popular Culture in Australia 1890 to the Present (Peter Kirkpatrick, MUP)
Tuesday, 8 October 2024
Now a forgotten species, the wild reciter was once an entertainer who frequented small local parlours and music halls, reciting poetry to the public. Around a century ago, at a...
The Five Rules of Friendship (Jess Sanders, illus César Barceló, Affirm)
Tuesday, 8 October 2024
The Five Rules of Friendship by Jess Sanders (Life Lessons for Little Ones: You Are Enough) is a thoughtful and engaging picture book exploring friendship, for readers aged 5+. Sanders...
Train Japan (Steve Wide & Michelle Mackintosh, Hardie Grant Explore)
Tuesday, 8 October 2024
In today’s world, where information is instantly available, travel guides may seem less appealing. However, there are times when expert advice compiled in a beautifully designed guide is invaluable—such as...
Black Convicts (Santilla Chingaipe, Scribner)
Tuesday, 1 October 2024
In recent years, historians have increasingly shown that the past, especially in the West, was more multicultural than the monoculture so often portrayed. In Australia, where colonial history has consistently...
Thunderhead (Sophie Beer, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 1 October 2024
Thunderhead is the debut middle-grade novel by award-winning author and illustrator Sophie Beer. Thunderhead (the titular character’s online username—their name isn’t revealed until the end of the book) is an...
Tilly in a Tangle (Margrete Lamond, illus Monty Lee, Dirt Lane Press)
Tuesday, 1 October 2024
Tilly in a Tangle, written by Margrete Lamond (The Sorry Tale of Fox and Bear) and illustrated by Monty Lee (Grumpy Bear, Grouchy Bear), is a new picture book about...
The 113th Assistant Librarian (Stuart Wilson, Penguin)
Tuesday, 24 September 2024
The 113th Assistant Librarian is a fantastical story that opens with Oliver Wormwood sneaking out of his house to try to find the trade that is his Calling—his path in...
