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...
The Humongous Humdingle Family and the Tiny House (Michelle Wilson, illus PJ Reece, EK Books)
Tuesday, 3 December 2024
In The Humongous Humdingle Family and the Tiny House, Michelle Wilson introduces readers to the eight human members of the multi-generational Humdingle family, and their many pets, who all live...
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...
A New Day (Emmaline Carroll Southwell, illus Heather Dryden, Affirm)
Tuesday, 26 November 2024
The opening lines of A New Day, Emmaline Carroll Southwell (Our Family Pledge) and Heather Dryden’s bright and hopeful picture book, immediately give readers a sense of security: ‘Today’s a...
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...
Panic (Catherine Jinks, Text)
Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Modern society is well versed in the evils of social media. From cyberbullying and trolling to revenge porn and deep fakes, there is no end to the new and horrifying...
Under the Sand (Millie Lewis, illus Marina Borkun, Five Mile)
Tuesday, 19 November 2024
A little girl named Elizabeth is digging on the beach for lost treasure when her spade hits something solid, and she ‘crie[s] out with pleasure’ … ‘What could it be,...
The Paradise Heights Craft Store Stitch-Up (Kate Solly, Affirm)
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Remember the easy warmth, dry humour and cosy storytelling of Kate Solly’s Tuesday Evenings with the Copeton Craft Resistance? Well, she’s done it again with The Paradise Heights Craft Store...
Cruel Is the Light (Sophie Clark, Penguin)
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
In a world both familiar to and hauntingly different from our own, the Vatican Empire has waged a centuries-long war with demons across Europe. After a series of unprecedented attacks...
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):...
The Worst Perfect Moment (Shivaun Plozza, Walker)
Tuesday, 5 November 2024
The Worst Perfect Moment is a dark comedy about finding yourself and finding the good in the bad. After dying in an accident, 16-year-old Tegan is ushered by Zelda, a...
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...
Gunnawah (Ronni Salt, Hachette)
Tuesday, 5 November 2024
In 1974, in the fictional rural Riverina town of Gunnawah, population 989, everyone knows everyone’s business … or so they think. After an unfortunate event the year before, 19-year-old Adelaide...
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...
Saltwater Cure: True Stories of the Transformative Power of the Ocean (Ali Gripper, Murdoch)
Tuesday, 29 October 2024
In Saltwater Cure: True Stories of the Transformative Power of the Ocean, journalist Ali Gripper (The Barefoot Surgeon) explores the profound connections people forge with the ocean. The book blends...
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...
Every Rock Has a Story: An A to Z of Australian Geology (Kitty van Cuylenburg, illus Cher Hart, CSIRO Publishing)
Tuesday, 29 October 2024
In Every Rock Has a Story: An A to Z of Australian Geology, Kitty van Cuylenburg invites readers to experience the magnitude of planet Earth by looking down and getting...
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...
Costa’s Garden (Costa Georgiadis, illus Brenna Quinlan, ABC Books)
Tuesday, 22 October 2024
Costa’s Garden follows an illustrated Costa Georgiadis as he shares his expansive garden and flowers with a group of children, encouraging them to see the world in a new way....
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...
