The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson (Belinda Lyons-Lee, Transit Lounge)
Tuesday, 6 May 2025
Ghosts from the past awaken strange obsessions in Belinda Lyons-Lee’s second novel, The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson, a gothic retelling of the stranger-than-fiction history of Robert Louis Stevenson's...
Cloudmaker (Helen Milroy, Magabala)
Tuesday, 6 May 2025
Acclaimed author-illustrator Helen Milroy, a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, returns with a creation story in her distinctive style, as seen in Sunny...
‘Great Big Beautiful Life’ top new entry; ‘Cosy Calm’ Australian bestseller
Friday, 2 May 2025
Top 10 bestsellers The Let Them Theory (Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins, Hay House) Sunrise on the Reaping (Suzanne Collins, Scholastic) Great Big Beautiful Life (Emily Henry, Penguin) Fearless (Lauren...
Books in the media this weekend, 3–4 May
Friday, 2 May 2025
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. This week’s round-up will be updated as information becomes available. National The Saturday Paper Losing It...
Salvage (Jennifer Mills, Picador)
Tuesday, 29 April 2025
In Salvage, Jennifer Mills (The Airways, Dyschronia) weaves a haunting, speculative tale of two sisters navigating the fallout of a fractured world. Jude, rootless and always on the move, once...
Fault Lines: Australia’s Unequal Past (ed by Seumas Spark & Christina Twomey, Monash University Publishing)
Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Fault Lines: Australia’s Unequal Past is a powerful essay collection that invites readers to engage with past and ongoing injustices embedded in Australia’s national story. Edited by Seumas Spark and...
A Lemon for Safiya (Jemima Shafei-Ongu, illus Nisaluk Chantanakom, Lothian)
Tuesday, 29 April 2025
A Lemon for Safiya is a gentle and respectful story about a family’s compassionate response to a disoriented older woman whose ‘eyes held a sadness as deep as the ocean’....
Lady’s Knight (Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner’s latest novel, Lady’s Knight, is a tantalising forbidden love story for the ages. Gwen has spent years manning the village blacksmith under the guise of...
Wait Here (Lucy Nelson, S&S)
Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Lucy Nelson’s debut short story collection, Wait Here, is a striking reflection on women’s lives in all their beautiful complexity. Through narratives of varying lengths, Nelson deftly incorporates many perspectives...
The Bookshop on Lemon Tree Lane (Mike Lucas, illus Sofya Karmazina, Little Hare)
Tuesday, 29 April 2025
The Bookshop on Lemon Tree Lane by Mike Lucas (What We All Saw, Let’s Build a Backyard) is a charming story about the comfort of familiar places and the emotions...
A new top Australian cookbook; and a triply cosy week of bestsellers
Monday, 28 April 2025
Top 10 bestsellers The Let Them Theory (Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins, Hay House) Sunrise on the Reaping (Suzanne Collins, Scholastic) Fearless (Lauren Roberts, S&S Children’s) Easy Dinner Queen (Steph...
Books in the media this weekend, 26–27 April
Thursday, 24 April 2025
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. This week's round-up will be updated as information becomes available. National The Saturday Paper Consider...
An Academic Affair (Jodi McAlister, S&S)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Jodi McAlister, who has previously written for young adults, made her adult rom-com debut with the Marry Me, Juliet trilogy. Continuing in this genre, An Academic Affair introduces us to...
A Beautiful Family (Jennifer Trevelyan, A&U)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
The narrator of Jennifer Trevelyan’s debut, A Beautiful Family, is 10-year-old Alix, a likeable and perceptive child. When her family arrive at their summer holiday house, she and her new friend Kahu...
The Secret Year of Zara Holt (Kimberley Freeman, Hachette)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
The Secret Year of Zara Holt is a compelling novel inspired by the real-life story of Dame Zara Bate, wife of former Australian prime minister Harold Holt. While many know...
Foreign Country (Marija Peričić, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
In Marija Peričić’s lyrical and haunting third novel, the foreign country is the site of dislocation and alienation wrought by migration, grief and trauma. Croatian-Australian nurse Eva, who resides in...
Gone (Michel Streich, T&H)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Writer and illustrator Michel Streich tackles the sensitive subject of loss and the mysteries surrounding death in his accessible and poignant picture book, Gone. The story centres on a child who...
Golden (Jade Timms, Text)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Jade Timms’s affecting debut novel, Golden, shortlisted for the 2023 Text Prize, is a charming book about friendship, first love, and reclaiming happiness after a devastating trauma. Seventeen-year-old Eddie’s cheerful...
Fearless debuts at number one; children’s books chart
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Top 10 bestsellers Fearless (Lauren Roberts, S&S Children's) The Let Them Theory (Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins, Hay House) Sunrise on the Reaping (Suzanne Collins, Scholastic) Cozy Corner (Coco Wyo,...
Books in the media this weekend, 19–20 April
Thursday, 17 April 2025
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. National The Saturday Paper Foxglovewise (Ange Mlinko, Faber) I Am Nannertgarrook (Tasma Walton, Bundyi) Uprising (Stephen Gapps,...
The Pull of the Moon (Pip Smith, UWAP)
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
In this bold, brave and boundary-pushing young adult novel, author Pip Smith (Half Wild) draws on her experience teaching asylum seekers and years of research to explore complex social themes....
The Girl in the Painting (Dee White, illus Sarah Anthony, Walker)
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
The Girl in the Painting is a beautifully told narrative nonfiction picture book that gives voice to a quiet figure in one of Australia’s most iconic artworks. Based on the...
Our New Gods (Thomas Vowles, UQP)
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Twisty and menacing, the new psychological literary thriller Our New Gods – set in Melbourne’s queer scene – is unsettling and memorable. Debut author Thomas Vowles hooks the reader early,...
Music Camp (Penny Tangey, UQP)
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Penny Tangey (Granbad, As Fast As I Can) returns to middle grade with Music Camp, a story set during a selective five-day interschool music camp. Miley lives with her mum...
Terraglossia (Debra Dank, Echo)
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Debra Dank, a Gudanji/Wakaja and Kalkadoon woman from the Barkly Tablelands in the Northern Territory and critically acclaimed author of We Come with This Place, returns with her powerful new...
New novel tops Australian bestsellers; Let Them retakes number one
Friday, 11 April 2025
Top 10 bestsellers The Let Them Theory (Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins, Hay House) Sunrise on the Reaping (Suzanne Collins, Scholastic) Cozy Cuties (Coco Wyo, Penguin) Nobody’s Fool (Harlan Coben,...
Books in the media this weekend, 12–13 April
Friday, 11 April 2025
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. National The Saturday Paper Flesh (David Szalay, Jonathan Cape) Human/Nature: On Life in a Wild...
Combined print and ebook 2024 bestsellers
Wednesday, 9 April 2025
Top 10 print bestsellers RecipeTin Eats: Tonight (Nagi Maehashi, Macmillan) RecipeTin Eats: Dinner (Nagi Maehashi, Macmillan) Here One Moment (Liane Moriarty, Macmillan) It Ends with Us (Colleen Hoover, S&S)* Atomic...
My Name Is Jemima (Olivia Muscat, illus by Allison Colpoys, Scribble)
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
My Name Is Jemima is a heartwarming and informative picture book that introduces young readers to the life and work of guide dogs and teaches children about disability, independence and...
Rise of the Witch (Everglade #1) (Kitty Black, illus Rebecca Crane, Affirm)
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
Take one part Enid Blyton’s The Enchanted Wood, add a sprinkle of Diana Wynne Jones and a dash of Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a...
