Who Cares? Life on welfare in Australia (Eve Vincent, MUP)
Tuesday, 25 October 2022
What is it like to live on welfare in Australia today? In Who Cares? researcher Eve Vincent endeavours to answer this question, with a special focus on the experiences of...
Compulsion (Kate Scott, Hamish Hamilton)
Tuesday, 25 October 2022
Lucy is a music journalist with a penchant for 80s party dresses, long, languorous walks, and throwing decadent dinner parties for her friends. Robin is the dark-eyed, softly spoken man...
A Man and His Pride (Luke Rutledge, Michael Joseph)
Tuesday, 25 October 2022
In Luke Rutledge’s A Man and His Pride, 26-year-old Sean Preston navigates the realities of being in his 20s—work, relationships, sexuality, mental health—against the backdrop of Australia’s 2017 same-sex marriage...
Headland (John Byrnes, A&U)
Wednesday, 19 October 2022
It’s a well-worn storyline for Australian crime fiction: a detective arrives in a small town only to discover that danger lurks beneath quaint country manners; the detective is usually running...
The Last Love Note (Emma Grey, Michael Joseph)
Wednesday, 19 October 2022
Recently widowed, Kate Whittaker is trying her hardest to navigate the grief of losing her husband, Cam, while also being a single mother to their young son. That’s not to...
The Matchmaker (Saman Shad, Viking)
Wednesday, 19 October 2022
Playing cupid for the Sydney Pakistani community is Saima Khan in The Matchmaker. Pairing lovers is second nature for Saima until the handsome, young white-collar Kal (Khalid) Ali unwittingly saunters...
Why Does it Still Hurt? (Paul Biegler, Scribe)
Tuesday, 11 October 2022
The way we understand pain evolves, and it is misunderstood even within the medical community. Part physical, part psychological, it is notoriously difficult to study. In Why Does it Still...
Sydney: A biography (Louis Nowra, NewSouth)
Tuesday, 4 October 2022
Melbourne-born Louis Nowra moved to Sydney as an adult and has never lost his passion for his adopted home. Whether he’s describing the city’s mercurial weather, its elegant convict-designed colonial...
An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb (Louise Wolhuter, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 4 October 2022
‘Twisty mystery’ is the delightfully accurate descriptor on the AI sheet for this character-based drama. Yet before its mysterious elements begin unspooling, the characters and setting are firmly established, endearing...
The Teal Revolution (Margot Saville, Hardie Grant)
Tuesday, 27 September 2022
Australia's 2022 federal election brought a major upset: six independent female candidates—colloquially known as ‘the teals’ for the signature colour they adopted (a blend of green and Liberal blue)—catapulted into...
Tjitji Lullaby (Michael Ross & Zaachariaha Fielding, illus by Lisa Kennedy, ABC Books)
Tuesday, 27 September 2022
A lyrical storytelling beauty aligned with rich bedtime qualities of calm and serenity featuring diverse Australian wildlife. Tjitji Lullaby, the hardcover board book for babies to two-year-olds, originates from the...
Minds Went Walking (curated by Jock Serong, Mark Smith & Neil A White, Fremantle Press)
Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Minds Went Walking is a collection of responses to the work of singer-songwriter Paul Kelly. Curated by Jock Serong, Mark Smith and Neil A White, this is a no-rules collection...
Nice and Slow (Sarah Ayoub, illus by Mimi Purnell, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 20 September 2022
With the soothing sensation of a lullaby, Nice and Slow lulls its young audience into a peaceful state of mindfulness, joy and creativity, while encapsulating the importance of quality time...
Going to Big School (Laura Sieveking, illus by Danielle McDonald, Scholastic)
Tuesday, 13 September 2022
Appealing to a diverse readership, Going to Big School inhabits the viewpoints of two children, Ava and Jack, on their first day at school. With contrasting personalities, Ava and Jack...
Waiting for the Storks (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
Tuesday, 6 September 2022
Waiting for the Storks is the latest historical fiction title from Katrina Nannestad, transporting the reader to the Second World War and the time of Himmler’s Lebensborn Program, in which...
Tell Me Again (Amy Thunig, UQP)
Tuesday, 6 September 2022
Amy Thunig is an academic and social commentator on shows such as ABC’s The Drum. She also grew up in poverty, the child of parents battling drug addictions who provided...
Tiny Uncertain Miracles (Michelle Johnston, Fourth Estate)
Tuesday, 6 September 2022
Marick is unsure of his place in the world; he knew he wasn’t quite suited to the church, but he’s apprehensive that a new part-time job as a hospital chaplain...
Bold Types (Patricia Clarke, NLA Publishing)
Tuesday, 30 August 2022
Patricia Clarke started her career in journalism in 1951, a time when the industry was very much a man's world but women were making inroads. In Bold Types, Clarke gives...
Salonika Burning (Gail Jones, Text)
Tuesday, 23 August 2022
Award-winning novelist Gail Jones’s new offering adapts the First World War experiences of four very real people: British artists Grace Pailthorpe and Stanley Spencer, and Australians Olive King and Stella...
Men I Trust (Tommi Parrish, Scribe)
Tuesday, 23 August 2022
Scribe is proving itself to be at the forefront of local comics publishing with its second graphic release of 2022, Men I Trust by US-based Australian artist Tommi Parrish. The...
Koori Princess (Anita Heiss, Magabala)
Tuesday, 23 August 2022
Anita Heiss is an award-winning author who has published across the gamut of Australian writing: from adult fiction and memoir to children’s novels, she’s seemingly done it all. Koori Princess...
A Tiny Light (Alison Lester, UQP)
Tuesday, 23 August 2022
It’s always a delight when Alison Lester, one of Australia’s most well loved picture-book creators, releases a new story. A Tiny Light is her latest offering, a charming narrative in...
Willowman (Inga Simpson, Hachette)
Tuesday, 23 August 2022
In Inga Simpson’s heartfelt new novel Willowman, a gifted young cricketer and a dedicated batmaker live their lives in parallel to one another, their love of the game binding them...
Berani (Michelle Kadarusman, A&U)
Saturday, 20 August 2022
Berani is a powerful middle-grade story about animal activism set in Indonesia, by the Indonesian-Australian author of Music for Tigers. Weaving in two interconnected stories and three voices, including that...
Diary of a Rescued Wombat (Jackie French, illus by Bruce Whatley, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 16 August 2022
Who says prequels are only for YA epics and fantasy novel franchises? Jackie French and Bruce Whatley have decided it’s time for us to learn the backstory of the protagonist...
Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here (Heather Rose, A&U)
Tuesday, 16 August 2022
At the age of six, Heather Rose stood under a eucalyptus tree and pledged herself to a higher power: ‘I’m ready. Tell me what to do.’ Throughout her childhood in...
The Reindeer and the Submarine (Beverley McWilliams, Pantera)
Tuesday, 16 August 2022
Having previously been awarded a notable CBCA commendation for her picture book on aviator Captain Harry Butler, Beverley McWilliams now makes a quirky and charming foray into middle-grade fiction. The...
The Soulmate (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 16 August 2022
Sally Hepworth delivers another brilliant, page-turning domestic thriller with her eighth novel The Soulmate. Set in the idyllic coastal town of Portsea, sheltered from the hustle of city life, the...
To Greenland! (Pip Smith, illus by Beau Wylie, Scholastic)
Tuesday, 9 August 2022
To Greenland! is the joyous new picture book from Pip Smith and Beau Wylie, who last collaborated on Theodore the Unsure. This new adventure follows Ellie the elephant, who resides...
The Glass House (Brooke Dunnell, Fremantle Press)
Tuesday, 9 August 2022
When Julia’s elderly father, Don, finally agrees to move out of the family home and into an aged-care facility, Julia knows she has a lot of work ahead of her....
