Shark Arm: A shark, a tattooed arm and two unsolved murders (Phillip Roope & Kevin Meagher, A&U)
Thursday, 31 October 2019
Shark Arm is an offbeat true crime book that begins with a shark throwing up a man’s tattooed arm in front of onlookers at a Coogee aquarium in 1935. The...
I See, I See (R Henderson, A&U)
Thursday, 3 October 2019
This extremely clever book will be loved by kids, who will want to turn it upside down to read it again as soon as they finish it—and it will be...
True West (David Whish-Wilson, Fremantle Press)
Thursday, 26 September 2019
Opening on a Western Australian freeway in 1988, True West immediately introduces Lee Southern, a teenager on the run from the militaristic bikie gang in which he grew up. Such...
Nothing New: A history of second-hand (Robyn Annear, Text)
Thursday, 26 September 2019
Opportunity shops—or op shops, as they’re lovingly referred to—are a well-established and much-loved feature of the Aussie retail landscape. In this entertaining and insightful history, Robyn Annear looks at where...
The Great Divide (L J M Owen, Echo)
Thursday, 26 September 2019
In her fourth novel, L J M Owen, author of the ‘Dr Pimms, Intermillenial Sleuth’ series, gives us Australian rural crime at its most atmospheric: mist-shrouded streets, ruined vineyards, an...
Maurice Blackburn: Champion of the people (David Day, Scribe)
Thursday, 26 September 2019
Maurice Blackburn (1880–1944) was an influential member of the Australian Labor Party and a barrister, specialising in cases defending socialist causes. He held seats at both the state and federal...
The Tiny Star (Mem Fox, illus by Freya Blackwood, Puffin)
Thursday, 5 September 2019
Individually, a new book by either Mem Fox or Freya Blackwood, both award-winners and bestselling children’s book creators, would be welcomed by their readers. This book combines the two, with...
Invisible Boys (Holden Sheppard, Fremantle Press)
Thursday, 5 September 2019
In the coastal town of Geraldton, several young men struggle with the restrictions placed on them by culture, parental expectations and peer pressure. With the threat of violence a constant,...
Wearing Paper Dresses (Anne Brinsden, Macmillan)
Thursday, 29 August 2019
Life is tough in the Mallee in the 1950s, and when city sophisticate Elise, brimming with artistic and musical talent, is uprooted with her young children to her father-in-law’s wheat...
There Was Still Love (Favel Parrett, Hachette)
Tuesday, 6 August 2019
Favel Parrett’s third novel, There Was Still Love, is a meticulously observed and masterfully crafted immigrant story about a displaced Czech family. The novel oscillates in nearly every way—between the...
The Man in the Water (David Burton, UQP)
Thursday, 1 August 2019
Four years after his award-winning YA memoir How to be Happy, David Burton returns with The Man in the Water, a coming-of-age mystery novel with an undercurrent of grief and...
All of the Factors of Why I Love Tractors (Davina Bell, illus by Jenny Løvlie, Little Hare)
Thursday, 1 August 2019
A little boy called Frankie, accompanied by his mother, visits the library and borrows his favourite book about tractors. He is already well versed in all the characteristics and functions...
Being Black ’N Chicken, & Chips (Matt Okine, Hachette)
Thursday, 25 July 2019
It’s 1998. Mike Amon is almost 13 and about to start high school. All he wants is to be good enough at athletics to be chosen for the Dobson Dash,...
How to Make a Movie in 12 Days (Fiona Hardy, Affirm Kids)
Thursday, 4 July 2019
Hayley, 11, has one mission in life: to make a movie. Ever since Grandma—who was going to make it with her—died, the need is much greater than before, especially since...
Ollie and Augustus (Gabriel Evans, Walker)
Thursday, 4 July 2019
When Ollie (‘small—like a pickling jar or a shoe box’) starts school, he worries that his beloved pet Augustus (‘large—like a fridge or a table’; a vast creature of indeterminate...
Growing Up Queer in Australia (ed by Benjamin Law, Black Inc.)
Thursday, 27 June 2019
Mapped across a spectrum of ages and eras, sexualities and ethnicities, Growing Up Queer in Australia captures the resilience and strength of queer people coming of age in Australia. Edited...
A River with a City Problem: A history of Brisbane floods (Margaret Cook, UQP)
Thursday, 27 June 2019
Who can forget the image of a disheveled Premier Anna Bligh, in the midst of the devastating 2011 Brisbane floods, making her ‘We are Queenslanders’ speech? In the aptly titled...
The Trespassers (Meg Mundell, UQP)
Thursday, 27 June 2019
Meg Mundell’s second novel has been hotly anticipated since her debut, Black Glass, showed her to be a writer of extraordinary imaginative prowess, with a commitment to exploring themes of...
The Wooleen Way: Renewing an Australian resource (David Pollock, Scribe)
Thursday, 27 June 2019
David Pollock, a second-generation pastoralist from Western Australia, describes a wicked environmental problem in his memoir The Wooleen Way. Animals produced for food—beef in particular—eat native grasses and plants, degrading...
Dion Beasley & Johanna Bell’s ‘Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back’
Thursday, 13 June 2019
'Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back transcends the picture book genre, much in the way that Shaun Tan’s work does. Beasley’s story also presents the rare point of view...
All That Impossible Space (Anna Morgan, Lothian)
Thursday, 6 June 2019
Lara Laylor just wants to get through year 10 without too much drama, but between a controlling best friend and the shadow of an older sister with a much bigger...
Vincent and the Grandest Hotel on Earth (Lisa Nicol, Puffin)
Thursday, 6 June 2019
Not 10 pages after inheriting his grandfather’s ostensibly magical shoeshine kit, Vincent is scouted to shine shoes at the Grandest Hotel on Earth—a job that entails far more than it...
R W R McDonald’s ‘The Nancys’
Wednesday, 5 June 2019
'Cheerfully scattered, this glittering, occasionally grisly and highly original novel is recommended for those who like the bawdiest parts of Phryne Fisher, but stands proudly on its own. Hopefully more...
Storytime: Growing up with books (Jane Sullivan, Ventura)
Thursday, 30 May 2019
Storytime is a delightful collection of essays by literary journalist Jane Sullivan on her favourite childhood books, revisited as an adult. Best known as the scribe behind the Saturday Age’s...
On Drugs (Chris Fleming, Giramondo)
Thursday, 30 May 2019
Philosopher Chris Fleming’s memoir is a searching, considered account of drug and alcohol use and the mechanisms of addiction. Fleming traces his history of marijuana, codeine-based painkillers and alcohol consumption,...
Taking Tom Murray Home (Tim Slee, HarperCollins)
Thursday, 30 May 2019
This debut novel and winner of HarperCollins’ Banjo Prize is based on the ingenious premise of a funeral-protest that raises awareness of the pressures facing dairy farmers from banks, supermarkets...
Something to Believe In (Andrew Stafford, UQP)
Thursday, 30 May 2019
This memoir is rock journalist Andrew Stafford’s first book since his 2004 milestone Pig City, which mapped Brisbane music ‘from the Saints to Savage Garden’. Named after a Ramones song,...
Lee Kofman’s ‘Split: True Stories of Leaving, Loss, and New Beginnings’
Wednesday, 29 May 2019
'The emotional range, honesty and deep introspection make Split read like a map of the human heart. While the subject matter is separation and loss, an equally strong theme is...
Kathryn Lefroy’s ‘Alex and the Alpacas Save the World’
Wednesday, 22 May 2019
'Readers will easily relate to strong and courageous Alex, who also carries her own set of personal doubts and grudges as she navigates relationships and grows as a person in...
Gregg Dreise’s ‘My Culture and Me’
Wednesday, 15 May 2019
‘This book is perfect for Indigenous children who are finding their place in the revitalisation of Indigenous culture around Australia and will also appeal to primary school-aged children learning about...
