Stillwater (Tanya Scott, A&U)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Tanya Scott’s debut, Stillwater, masterfully weaves together the past and present in a suspenseful, emotionally charged crime thriller. Luke Harris returns to his hometown of Melbourne seeking a 'normal life'...
In Spite of You (Patrick Lenton, Pantera)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Genuinely funny and smartly observed, In Spite of You channels the charm of classic rom-coms – idealistic and entertaining – but adds a fresh twist with a plot driven by...
Run (Sarah Armstrong, HGCP)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Sarah Armstrong’s latest middle-grade novel, Run, is a fast-paced survival tale that explores themes of trust, resilience and complicated families. It follows Armstrong’s previous titles for younger readers, Big Magic and Magic Awry, and her...
How to Train a Dad (Sally Barns, illus Noémie Gionet Landry, Affirm)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
How to Train a Dad, written by Sally Barns and illustrated by Noémie Gionet Landry, is a funny and imaginative picture book that presents itself as a manual for kids...
Plastic Budgie (Olivia De Zilva, Pink Shorts Press)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Olivia De Zilva’s autofiction debut Plastic Budgie is a sharply funny, sad and sentimental reflection on the people, places and cultural forces that shape us as we grow up. In the novel,...
The Ghost Walk (Karen Herbert, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
Ruby Rose Gillespie lives with cystic fibrosis and is admitted to the hospital for a fever on the same day the body of Dr Gabriel Beaufort – her high school...
Yilkari (Nicolas Rothwell & Alison Nampitjinpa Anderson, Text)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
Yilkari is a book that resists easy categorisation – it’s part character study, part travel narrative, part history lesson and part meditation on the connection between people and place. This...
A Gift from the Birds (Caroline Stills, Text)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
A Gift from the Birds is the first middle-grade novel by picture book author Caroline Stills. Winner of the 2024 Text Prize – and the final recipient before the prize...
The Giant (Sophie Masson, illus Lorena Carrington, MidnightSun)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
The award-winning duo of author Sophie Masson and illustrator Lorena Carrington reunite for The Giant. Their previous title, Satin, was a 2024 CBCA Notable book. In this mystical and poignant...
The Golden Sister (Suzanne Do, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
The Golden Sister is a fast-paced mystery set in a small fictional NSW coastal town, exploring complex and dysfunctional family dynamics and the impact of grief. Suzanne Do’s prose is...
Death at Booroomba (AL Booth, Ventura Press)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
On the eve of his deployment to the Western Front in 1915, Jack O’Rourke has a chance encounter with an elderly Russian man, Samuel Lomond, that will profoundly impact his...
Where the River Runs Free (Vikki Conley, illus Jedda Robaard, Windy Hollow)
Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Where the River Runs Free is a celebration of time spent outdoors by multi-award-winning author Vikki Conley (Where the Lyrebird Lives) and illustrator Jedda Robaard (The Littlest Penguin and the...
Cure (Katherine Brabon, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Katherine Brabon’s Cure is a natural extension and companion to her novel Body Friend; both are introspective literary works centred on women living with autoimmune diseases – conditions Brabon herself...
Deep History: Country and Sovereignty (ed by Ann McGrath & Jackie Huggins, UNSW Press)
Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Deep History: Country and Sovereignty is a layered and collaborative work that challenges dominant narratives and asks whose voices are heard in telling history. Edited by Jackie Huggins, a Bidjara...
Be a good girl, Valerie (Marcia van Zeller, Ventura Press)
Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Be a good girl, Valerie by Marcia van Zeller is a quietly absorbing novel set predominantly in 2018 Perth with flashbacks to 1974 Toronto and 1978 London. It explores enduring...
Dead Ends (Samantha Byres, UQP)
Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Is closure possible, or is it just a convenient fiction? This is the central question explored in Dead Ends, the meditative debut novel by Aotearoa New Zealand–born Naarm/Melbourne-based writer Samantha...
Love Overdue (Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus, A&U)
Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Love Overdue, the new novel by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus (Fancy Meeting You Here), is an uneven but ultimately charming contemporary romance for readers who enjoy Jodi McAlister (An...
What Kept You? (Raaza Jamshed, Giramondo)
Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Raaza Jamshed’s debut novel, What Kept You?, is a dazzling, poignant tale of defiance and metamorphosis in an ever-changing world. Whipping between the past and present, we first meet Jahan...
Modern Australian Baking (Christopher Thé, Hardie Grant)
Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Christopher Thé’s Modern Australian Baking is visually arresting, thoughtfully structured and creatively ambitious. Best known as the founder of Black Star Pastry and creator of the viral Strawberry Watermelon Cake,...
Edie Tells a Lie (Ingrid Laguna, Text)
Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Ingrid Laguna’s Edie Tells a Lie is a gentle story of friendship and family. After the loss of her father, Edie mourns the large family she wishes she had. Edie’s...
Nock Loose (Patrick Marlborough, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Patrick Marlborough’s Nock Loose is a wryly postmodern and cynically satirical novel that hits the ground running and never lets up. Marlborough scorns the ‘dire humourlessness’ of Australian literature in...
When Sleeping Women Wake (Emma Pei Yin, Hachette)
Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Expansive yet tightly plotted, When Sleeping Women Wake is a deeply empathetic novel that examines the devastation of war. Set in 1940s Hong Kong, it traces the city’s transformation from...
Who Might You Be? (Robert Henderson, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Inspired by the popular tangram puzzle, Who Might You Be? is a unique picture book that celebrates the power of transformation. Robert Henderson (I See, I See) has created a...
We Saw What You Started (Carla Salmon, Pan Australia)
Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Carla Salmon’s debut novel, We Saw What You Started, is set in Red Sands, a classic Australian coastal town with a ‘barefoot and boardshorts’ summer holiday vibe, where Instagram-worthy scenery...
The Silken Thread (Gabrielle Wang, Penguin)
Tuesday, 13 May 2025
When 12-year-old Moonie’s Ma Mi leaves home, an apparition of a boy, Little Dipper, appears. Moonie regularly sees three ghost siblings in her 1930s Carlton house, so she is unfazed...
The Frog’s First Song (Jazz Money, illus Jason Phu, UQP)
Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Award-winning Wiradjuri poet Jazz Money (how to make a basket, mark the dawn) and three-time Archibald Prize finalist illustrator Jason Phu have come together to create an uplifting, joyous tale...
Eden (Mark Brandi, Hachette)
Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Mark Brandi has established himself as a master of gritty yet lyrical thrillers that appeal to connoisseurs of Australian crime fiction since his explosive 2017 debut, Wimmera, which won him...
A Forbidden Alchemy (Stacey McEwan, S&S)
Tuesday, 13 May 2025
A Forbidden Alchemy is an enthralling romantasy that blends magic, politics and passion in a world on the brink of revolution. It follows a talented dreamer, a quick-witted loyalist, and...
The Pearl of Tagai Town (Lenora Thaker, Text)
Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Lenora Thaker’s debut novel, The Pearl of Tagai Town, is a fast-paced story that follows Pearl, a young Torres Strait Islander descendant, growing up in a northeastern Australian shantytown in the...
The Revisionists (Michelle Johnston, Fourth Estate)
Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Michelle Johnston’s third novel, The Revisionist, is a beautifully crafted story that follows the journey of Christine Campbell, a young woman with strong beliefs and misguided ambitions. Christine goes to great lengths...
