Yarn Quest 1: The Search for the Story Realm (Brooke Scobie, illus Jade Goodwin, Penguin)
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Brooke Scobie’s debut series, Yarn Quest, begins with The Search for the Story Realm (with the next two books in the series releasing concurrently) and introduces friends Sibyl and Tane...
Slick: Australia’s toxic relationship with Big Oil (Royce Kurmelovs, UQP)
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
As citizens of the global West, we are learning that sitting with discomfort is necessary to create change. Slick, by journalist Royce Kurmelovs (Just Money, The Death of Holden), is...
The Youngest Son (John Byrnes, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
John Byrnes’s The Youngest Son follows the fortunes of three siblings from a working-class Sydney family in the 1930s and 40s. Bob, the titular youngest, naturally gets the largest share...
Hi from Outer Space (Fiona Katauskas, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Cartoonist and illustrator Fiona Katauskas’s debut middle-grade novel, Hi from Outer Space, is a wonderfully wacky sci-fi/comedy that will appeal to readers of Nat Amoore, Morris Gleitzman and Eve L...
Hester Hitchins and the Falling Stars (Catherine Norton, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
The year is 1866, and 11-year-old Hester’s life looks like something out of A Series of Unfortunate Events: her father is lost at sea, her mother dies giving birth to...
Woo Woo (Ella Baxter, A&U)
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
In Woo Woo, Ella Baxter’s raucous second novel after New Animal, art is terrible, a living spell, a parasite, a trick, and all there is. ‘Art is life,’ writes protagonist...
Six Figures While You Sleep (Kate Toon, Major Street)
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
Following the success of her first book, Six Figures in School Hours, copywriter, podcaster and self-made millionaire Kate Toon returns with Six Figures While You Sleep, a practical, no-nonsense guide to creating...
Shades of Me (Mel Brown, Rockpool)
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
Melinda Brown’s Shades of Me challenges the saying ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ by taking us through Brown’s ‘many lives through many Dreamings’, including her careers as a...
Djinang Bonar: Seeing Seasons (Ebony Froome, illus by Leanne Zilm, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
Written by Wardandi Noongar woman Ebony Froome, Djinang Bonar: Seeing Seasons is a lyrical picture book describing the six seasons on Noongar country in Western Australia. It cleverly incorporates Noongar...
Catherine Wheel (Liz Evans, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
Kate is starting over in the small town of Bridgewell after a bad break-up with Max. She works as a yoga instructor and volunteers at the local library, living in...
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Tooth Fairy (and some things you didn’t) (Briony Stewart, Lothian)
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
If you know a young person who has questions about the tooth fairy, then Briony Stewart’s latest picture book might just be perfect for you. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know...
Adventures Unlimited: The Land of Lost Things (Andy Griffiths, illus Bill Hope, Pan Australia)
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
Adventures Unlimited is the latest series from middle-fiction superstar Andy Griffiths, with the first instalment, The Land of Lost Things, full of the wacky, exuberant, imaginative shenanigans fans have come...
Art Hour at the Duchess Hotel (Sophie Green, Hachette)
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
Art Hour at the Duchess Hotel introduces four women who find themselves at the glamorous Duchess Hotel on the picturesque Mornington Peninsula in Victoria in 1999. We first meet Joan,...
Oscar vs the Grand Old Dude Named York (Ross Curnow, Walker)
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
A fresh and hilarious new voice in children’s literature springs forth from the page with delightful force in Oscar vs the Grand Old Dude Named York by debut novelist Ross...
Our Familiars: The meaning of animals in our lives (Anne Coombs, Upswell)
Wednesday, 29 May 2024
How do we become more attuned to the animals in our lives and challenge ourselves to recognise that their lives are as meaningful as our own? This is the project...
Pancakes for Plum (Rae Tan, Lothian)
Tuesday, 28 May 2024
Pancakes for Plum is a charming story about discovering what we love and following our hearts to find things that make us happy. Plum’s brothers are good at climbing and...
The Dragon’s Treasure (Mark Greenwood, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 28 May 2024
Buried treasure? Check. Old shipwrecks? Check. Mark Greenwood’s latest nonfiction book, The Dragon’s Treasure, begins his new History Hunter series and pulls together historical evidence to tell the story of...
The Honeyeater (Jessie Tu, A&U)
Tuesday, 28 May 2024
The Honeyeater is the second novel by Jessie Tu, acclaimed author of A Lonely Girl Is a Dangerous Thing. The story centres around Fay, an academic and emerging translator who works on...
Murder in Punch Lane (Jane Sullivan, Echo)
Tuesday, 28 May 2024
Jane Sullivan’s third novel, Murder in Punch Lane, transports readers to the grizzly underbelly of 1860s Melbourne. Actress Lola Sanchez doesn’t believe her best friend, theatre star Marie, died by...
Together We Fall Apart (Sophie Matthiesson, Pantera)
Tuesday, 21 May 2024
Together We Fall Apart is the debut novel from Sophie Matthiesson, who has woven elements of her own career trajectory into the story of her fictional protagonist, Clare. We follow...
The Last Trace (Petronella McGovern, A&U)
Tuesday, 21 May 2024
The Last Trace by award-winning author Petronella McGovern (The Liars) is true to her usual form, simmering with mystery and psychological twists. We meet Lachy, who should be enjoying an...
Big Time (Jordan Prosser, UQP)
Tuesday, 21 May 2024
I’m not sure what’s going on at UQP, but they seem to have developed a passion for speculative fiction, and I’m here for it. Their latest offering, Big Time, is...
All About the Brain (Gabriel Dabscheck, illus Kim Siew, Berbay)
Tuesday, 21 May 2024
Dr Gabriel Dabscheck’s All About the Brain is a fun and engaging exploration of one of the body’s most fascinating and mysterious organs. Before exploring the brain-body connection, the book...
The End and Everything Before It (Finegan Kruckemeyer, Text)
Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Moving, profound and deeply layered, The End and Everything Before It is a soulful debut novel from award-winning playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer. Emma arrives in a small harbour after drifting alone on...
Lost & Found (Tim Sharp, Pantera)
Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Lost & Found is the latest book by author, speaker and leader of Australia’s positive psychology movement, Dr Tim Sharp (aka ‘Dr Happy’). A self-help guide with a difference, it...
What Do You Call Your Dad? (Ashleigh Barton, illus Martina Heiduczek, ABC Books)
Tuesday, 14 May 2024
What Do You Call Your Dad? is a love letter to fathers by writer Ashleigh Barton (Freddie Spector, Fact Collector: Space Cadet) and illustrator Martina Heiduczek (Spies in the Sky), the...
Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra (Cassy Polimeni, illus Hykie Breeze, UWAP)
Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra by Cassy Polimeni (The Garden at the End of the World) is a beautifully written junior fiction story exploring themes of animal conservation, friendship...
The Book Star (Bec Nanayakkara, illus Joanna Bartel, Affirm)
Tuesday, 14 May 2024
The Book Star is a fun and engaging story about the importance of being yourself and following your interests. Centred around Book Week, this picture book offers a relatable situation...
The Mires (Tina Makereti, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Tina Makereti’s latest novel, The Mires, is a masterclass in social realism with just a touch of magic. Opening from the perspective of the swampland of the Kāpiti Coast in Aotearoa...
Living Hot (Clive Hamilton & George Wilkenfeld, Hardie Grant Books)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Living Hot by Clive Hamilton (Silent Invasion) and independent energy consultant George Wilkenfeld, provides a stark assessment of Australia’s response to climate change, emphasising that the inertia behind carbon emissions reduction...
